Sept. 13/2021: In one sense we’ve been here before. Back in the 1970s, when the Arab oil embargo sparked a big increase in fuel prices, the market for recreational sailing vessels got a big shot in the arm while powerboat sales slumped. Now that fossil fuels are leading us into a different sort of impasse–ecologically,...
Sept. 2/2021: The majority of my summer cruising in Maine this year, aside from some brief solo forays into Casco Bay, has been conducted in Penobscot Bay. All things considered, it is pretty much my favorite place on the coast. Given the prevailing conditions this season–light winds, fair doses of fog, and the odd hurricane...
June 28/2021: For the first time since we acquired her in 2017 Lunacy spent the past winter on the hard in storage rather than floating about somewhere warm. This was primarily a function of the pandemic, which made a Caribbean venture problematic, but also it was about time to catch breath and focus on making...
June 23/2021: I’ve always loved the feel and ambiance of a traditional plank-on-frame wooden boat, but I’ve never been too crazy about the idea of actually owning and maintaining one. So this was a very fine opportunity, getting to take someone else’s 41-foot Aage Nielsen sloop on a short jaunt down the New England coast....
May 25/2021: Ahoy peeps! I should have mentioned this earlier. Tomorrow, Wednesday May 26, at 5:30 pm I’ll be giving a presentation on Maine Island cruising on behalf of the Maine Island Trail Association. The event is being co-sponsored by the Blue Water Sailing Club. Unfortunately, my co-presenter and good buddy Ben Ellison, per the...
May 19/2021: Editor’s Note… I was planning here to reprise a fine adventure I had back in May 2003, when I sailed from Cartagena, Colombia, to the western Caribbean islands of San Andrés and Providencia in a local race/rally called La Ruta de Morgan. My host and skipper was a very special man, Eric Thiriez,...
May 6/2020: Here is an amazing guy, who led an amazing life, and exited this world in a way any serious sailor might envy. Drowned, at age 90, after his 30-ft sailboat was caught by a wave and rolled as he attempted to cross the Ballina Bar at the mouth of the Richmond River in...
April 19/2021: When developing a concept vessel there’s really no reason to think small. Take this plastic-eating beast, for example. The Manta, a concept developed by the Sea Cleaners, a non-profit founded by Franco-Swiss sailor/adventurer Yvan Bourgnon, is projected to weigh in at 1,800 tons, with an overall length of 184 feet. Beam is 150...
March 30/2021: So… this is what I did last Friday. Instead of writing the next installment of my Waterlines column for SAIL Magazine, as planned, I got in my car on a whim and drove two and a half hours to Belfast, Maine, and bought this boat, a 1969 Tripp 29 named Teal. A very cool...
March 18/2021: If you read blogs like this you likely know this already, so I’ll not belabor the news. Hats off to Team NZ for their successful defense of the America’s Cup, consummated yesterday in their seventh race win over Luna Rossa, the Italian challenger. Insert celebratory video here: The most important thing now is...
