2018 November 1
I thought they would roar off into the sunset after “Miami Vice,” the TV show that showcased their macho glory, went off the air.
That didn’t happen, but then I was sure the $4-per-gallon-
Home / Columns & Blogs / Full and By
2018 October 1
Full disclosure: A product endorsement is embedded in the following column. I affirm that no consideration was received for this, not even a free sample of the product or, sad to say, a paid advertisement in SAILING.
2018 August 23
He tells us in one of his sailing ditties that he’s the son of a son of a sailor. But he’s more than that—he’s a sailor himself. His latest sailboat graced the cover of the July/August issue of SAILING in a photograph of a turquoise-hulled 50-footer named Drifter carving a frothy white wake through turquoise Caribbean water. Yes, Jimmy Buffett is one of us. Schedule
2018 July 1
I witnessed an enormous spinnaker acting like a parachute-type sea anchor built for a battleship being pulled through the water on a kite string by a sailboat driven by strong wind and big waves.
2018 June 1
Jack tars in the Age of Sail were probably better athletes than today’s sailors. If they served before the mast, they had to be in order to survive scampering up the ratlines, crawling out on yards,
2018 May 1
A white yachting hat sporting an anchor badge on the crown and faux admiral’s scrambled eggs on the visor, blue yachting blazer with polished brass buttons, pleated Breton red pants adorned wit
2018 April 3
Batten down the hatches. Another sailing movie is setting sail.
At least I hope we have to secure the hatches in preparation for some stormy drama. The last sailing movie I saw induced a torpor
2018 March 1
We lost a subscriber last summer. That’s not unusual. It’s part of the ebb and flow of the magazine business, gain some readers, lose some. Yet this loss was remarkable because of the stature of the subscriber. Let me tell you about Rudy Haase.
2018 January 1
As a card-carrying member of the Mainstream Media (Ink-Stained Wretch Newspaper Division), I cringe whenever my brethren in national news organizations report on sailing.
They never get it quite righ
2017 November 1
Hurricane holes live in Caribbean legend as promises of survival in the hurricanes that scourge the islands. These scattered anchorages are invariably landlocked except for a skinny entrance channel and many are bordered by storm surge-absorbing mangrove.
2017 September 18
To paraphrase a viral White House comment about health care, nobody knew that safety at sea could be so complicated.
Some sailors think it can be simplified by applying rigid rules and rote procedure
2017 September 1
You can buy the best sailing instrument ever made for 40 bucks.
2017 July 1
Admit it. When you read Sailing Alone Around the World you pictured the author as sort of an eccentric geezer.
2017 June 1
Credit sailing schools with making sailing more egalitarian. Before there were sailing schools in any significant number, it was assumed that if you were a sailor you had been born with a silver shackle in your mouth.
2017 May 1
I have dreams about sailing. My boat is named Main Street, which may be why I sometimes dream I am sailing it on a street, weaving through motor vehicle traffic under a spinnaker. That’s really
2017 April 1
In the 1960s, my wife and my mother were (briefly) sailing TV stars. That is only a mild exaggeration. They appeared on television, on Chicago’s NBC affiliate no less, and in those days that qualified you as at least a minor celebrity.
2017 March 1
You’re supposed to learn from your mistakes.
What I learned from my biggest sailing mistake was that boat lust can lead a sailor astray just as surely and quickly as the other kind of lust.
2017 February 1
I’d like to set up a meeting between James Harrison and Rich Wilson. Rich could give James some tips about competing in sports.Harrison is a star linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers whose winning-is-everything attitude earned him $100,000 in fines for illegal hits in a single season. Wilson is a scholarly 66-year-old sailor.
2017 January 1
I’m going to introduce you to a man who has learned, refined and perfected the art of finding the simple joy of sailing.
For an activity that humans figured out eons ago, sailing can be complicated. Besides keeping up with advancing technology, it often demands serious planning. Cruises and races require organizing personnel and logistics. Even daysails with friends need arrangements to find dates and times that coincide with suitable weather.
2016 November 1
While the First Mate (that would be my wife) leaned over the lifelines in a game struggle to hold the boat off the dock, I gunned the diesel to blast out of the slip through a strong sideways breeze and nasty ferry wake. As the boat cleared the last piling (cleared on the second bounce, that is), I heard a commotion behind me, looked back and saw the First Mate hanging from the dock by her fingertips shouting some words that I couldn’t make out but I assume were unprintable.Schedule
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This rugged, comfortable cruiser has plenty of performance to make quick passages
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With a Down East bloodline, this cruiser can also make the most of sunny Caribbean sailing
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This small, attractive cruiser has plenty of options to suit every need
