https://sailingmagazine.net/articles.sec-111-1-full-and-by.html Wed, 24 Apr 24 00:00:00 -0400 en hourly 1 https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2550-the-best-thing-about-the-new-bvis-is-what%25E2%2580%2599s-old%25E2%2580%2594the-wind-and-sea.html The first time I anchored in one of Jost Van Dyke’s perfect natural harbors, our boat shared the anchorage with only one other, a small, privately owned sloop. When I returned to the British Virgin...]]> https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2540-the-sea-is-not-kind-to-sailors-on-boats-that-fly.html I’ve heard people express sympathy for the men and women sailing in the Ocean Globe Race. That’s the 27,000-mile race that started last September and will go on for about eight months with short ...]]> https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2526-bold-sailor-image-will-survive-a-bit-of-caution-in-race-decisions.html What would sailors do without foul weather?  Sailors spin yarns. By definition, yarns are sea stories enhanced by exaggeration, but sometimes the subject matter needs no hyperbole to be a grippi...]]> https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2520-a-wacky-idea-turned-brilliant-and-walter-was-there-to-see-it.html I never met Jimmy Buffet, but I wrote about him. “Buffett was the muse, the piper who led sailors and wannabe sailors to the Caribbean to rent sailboats and live the dream.”—Full and By Se...]]> https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2507-better-sail-smart-and-fast-your-fans-are-watching.html The butchers at Bernie’s Fine Meats are yacht racing fans.  Bernie’s is an institution behind a downtown storefront dating to the early-20th century in the small city that is SAILING’s hom...]]> https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2494-an-old-sailboat-and-old-glory-dignify-a-powerboat-parade.html Some of the prettiest miles of the 3,000-mile-long Intracoastal Waterway are those between Gordon Pass and the tip of Keewaydin Island in southwest Florida. This 10-mile stretch is a natural waterway...]]> https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2489-a-brilliant-invention-is-energizing-sailing%25E2%2580%2594it%25E2%2580%2599s-called-a-bowsprit.html Sailing is the oldest form of transportation in the history of mankind, not counting walking.  Archaeologists say the first humans to settle on the Australian continent had to have traveled ther...]]> https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2480-the-sailing-ethic-shines-in-a-shipwreck-drama.html A sailboat sank in the middle of the Pacific Ocean on March 13. The four people on board were rescued by other sailors after nine hours in a liferaft and dinghy. We of the sailing community are ...]]> https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2473-kindred-spirits-found-along-the-race-course.html By rough count, more than 60 different people have sailed with me on my boats. No, I haven’t been operating a day charter business on the side. What I have been doing is sailing in sailboat races f...]]> https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2461-and-the-oscar-goes-to-%25E2%2580%2598top-gun%25E2%2580%2599-for-six-minutes-of-sailing.html There is a scene in “Top Gun: Maverick,” the sequel to the 1986 movie that made Tom Cruise a top gun at the box office, that is a thrilling depiction of humans speeding through the glories of the ...]]> https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2450-the-captain%25E2%2580%2599s-sunny-outlook-invites-a-mocking-moniker.html I am an admirer of the late William F. Buckley Jr.  Buckley was a man of politics, not as a practitioner, but as an acerbic commentator in his magazine and syndicated newspaper columns and ...]]> https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2441-our-tormentors-are-smaller-but-may-be-nastier-than-ahab%25E2%2580%2599s-whale.html Call me Ishmael.  I can relate to Moby-Dick’s narrator because I too have tales to tell of creatures tormenting sailors at sea. I’ve never been threatened by a whale trying to bite my leg o...]]> https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2427-all-hands-on-deck-to-tame-the-main.html Kudos to the crew. They were stellar in this year’s Chicago Mackinac Race. In fact, they were stellar before the race started.  They managed to be alert and engaged as I delivered a homily th...]]> https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2419-how-children-got-to-sail-a-mighty-maxi-yacht.html It has been said that whenever two sailboats are sailing near each other on the same course, it’s a race. The saying probably exaggerates the competitive nature of sailors. Still, who among us has ...]]> https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2412-let%25E2%2580%2599s-get-to-the-bottom-of-sailing%25E2%2580%2599s-big-problem.html It is a bond that has linked sailors from time immemorial, bringing us joy and sorrow, triumph and tragedy, marked by hubris and humility, angst and obsession, success and failure, all with egalitaria...]]> https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2402-gone-for-a-century-but-still-a-rock-star-sailor.html Who’s the most famous sailor of all time? A few candidates in random order: Ferdinand Magellan, first circumnavigator. Joshua Slocum, first solo circumnavigator. James Cook, explorer, pioneering...]]> https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2395-the-genoa-is-dead-long-live-the-jib.html Inventions hailed as some of the greatest gifts to mankind since a Mesopotamian genius made the first wheel in 3500 BC don’t always stand the test of time. The Segway comes to mind, speaking of whee...]]> https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2381-it%25E2%2580%2599s-rough-out-there-perfect-for-living-the-seafaring-ethic.html An Aussie friend and I made a pact. He would get me a berth in the Sydney Hobart race and I would do the same for him in the Chicago Mackinac race. We didn’t put this in writing, but even though th...]]> https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2369-the-first-man-to-sail-around-the-world-with-thousands-of-kids.html George Washington slept here.” That boast is painted or carved on antiqued signs on dozens of ancient houses in the state of New York. (It has been said that our first president really slept around....]]> https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2357-the-invention-that-made-sailing-safety-cool.html What does an industrial-looking metal contraption that uses a wind vane to steer sailboats have in common with women’s silk underwear? Read on. This magazine was born in 1966 and the half century-p...]]> https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2351-sails-are-our-engine-the-wind-is-our-fuel.html A friend finally threw in the towel after more than 12 excruciating hours in a doublehanded race sailed in a windless void so persistent that 80% of the fleet dropped out. He and his mate furled ...]]> https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2345-how-low-tech-carried-sailing-into-a-high-tech-world.html This magazine has reached another milestone, or waypoint if you wish, and that requires a genuflection at the altar of technology. Technology has taken SAILING to the point where, on its 55th anniver...]]> https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2333-why-even-sleepless-at-anchor-i-dream-of-chain.html I have nothing against the decadently plush accommodations flaunted by many of today’s monohulled and multihulled cruising boats. In fact, I am delighted to sail in their laps of luxury when cr...]]> https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2327-we%25E2%2580%2599ve-seen-the-america%25E2%2580%2599s-cup-winner-before%25E2%2580%259425-years-ago.html New ESCAPE 75. First customer is TNZ.” That was the headline above two photos that appeared on a Facebook page last fall. One of the pictures was of the just-launched 75-foot Team New Zealand Ameri...]]> https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2305-how-dare-they-threaten-sailors%25E2%2580%2599-navigation-nirvana.html Here’s a tip for productive use of that surplus time made available by pandemic protocols: Dive into your repository of disused sailing clutter and excavate your old loran receiver. You might need i...]]> https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2294-what-is-that-900-foot-high-monster-doing-in-our-backyard.html We used to publish “green issues” of SAILING. The theme of these special issues was protecting the water and air in which we sail. A cover line on the 2011 green issue read: “Save the sea: What ...]]> https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2281-a-new-age-of-sail-is-coming-bold-jack-tars-need-not-apply.html It’s blowing like stink. It’s blowing a hooley. It’s blowing dogs off chains. Anyway you want to say it, the breeze is up. The world and its waters are getting windier.  Increases in t...]]> https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2267-on-my-honor-i-will-not-be-a-jerk-on-the-starting-line.html I’m not qualified to fly an F-16 at Mach 2 (or any other speed) or climb El Capitan solo without a rope (or any other way), so I’ve had to find other outlets for occasional doses of adrenaline. On...]]> https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2256-consult-samuel-johnson-before-you-name-your-boat.html While being mildly entertained reading a novel titled “North of Havana,” one of Randy Wayne White’s water-based Florida capers, I bumped into this profound observation by the author: “It’s o...]]> https://sailingmagazine.net/article-2243-think-you-can-escape-the-pandemic-on-a-sailboat-good-luck.html When the coronavirus started taking over the dry-land world, I started planning my escape. It would be on sailboat, of course.     The First Mate and I would depart these troubled sho...]]>