One nice perk of this boat scribe game is that manufacturers are often willing to loan you kit to test on your boat. Sometimes you aren't really interested in the gear, but agree to test it anyway just to be polite. Other times you are dying to get your hands on it, as you are...
With its classic long overhangs, perfectly pitched sheer line, wide side-decks, graceful cabin profile, and distinctive near-vertical transom, the Bermuda 40 has inspired severe lust in the heart of many a cruising sailor. Designed by Bill Tripp, Jr., it is without doubt one of the most attractive production sailboats ever conceived. The B-40, as it...
Thousands of vessels sneak past Cape Hatteras each year without mishap, but you should never assume its reputation as the Graveyard of the North Atlantic is undeserved. To get an idea of how dodgy a place it can be, you need only contemplate the fate of the various nav aids that have been stationed at...
I ran into Chuck Paine at the Newport show last Thursday and bought from him a copy of his new tome, My Yacht Designs and the Lessons They Taught Me. A s soon as I got home, I spent a good hour soaking up the luscious color photos of his more famous boats, as well...
Having blasted the bejesus out of the nether regions of poor Lunacy’s hull (see our last episode), I next needed to decide what anti-fouling paint to dress her up in to make her respectable again. In the Good Old Days we never worried about such things. When I was a boy, so much poison was...
I went windsurfing exactly once in my life about 20 years ago. The guy who rented me the thing, on a beach in Greece, groaned a bit when I explained I'd never sailed one before. He complained he'd be towing me back upwind with his skiff after my hour was up. I stuck my...
Soon after I purchased Lunacy and brought her north late in the summer of 2006 it became painfully obvious I would have to do something about her anti-fouling paint. On surveying the boat in Florida her bottom seemed reasonably fair with good paint adhesion. But soon after I hauled her out in Maine that fall...
Funny thing about sailboat masts and bridges: no matter how much clearance you actually have, when you're standing in the cockpit looking up it always looks like you're not going to make it. Of course, the people who think to put bridges in our way do try to provide information on how much space...
Just past Small Point at the western boundary of Casco Bay lies Popham Beach and the entrance to the Kennebec River, which, as I've mentioned before, is where I first started messing around in boats as a boy. We usually visit friends there during the summer and this year decided to sail Lunacy over for...
Our hurricane forecasting capabilities are now so excellent we normally have many days to fret over the advent of potentially catastrophic tropical weather. The much heralded approach of Hurricane Earl provides an excellent case in point. We here in the Northeast have seen him coming for about a week now and just two days ago...
