Daniel with Sparrow in her shed. Photo by Charles J. Doane Daniel Hays, at age 63, is now almost 10 years older than his father David was when they sailed around Cape Horn together in a tiny 25-foot cutter named Sparrow. That was back in the mid-1980s. They co-wrote a book about their adventure and spent seven years pitching it. When finally it was published in 1995 as My Old Man and the Sea, it became an instant bestseller. A fine photograph of Daniel sailing Sparrow singlehanded graced the cover of the November 1995 issue of this very magazine. Inside, then-editor Patience Wales h ..read more

Be careful with cranking over the engine after a few attempts.  Photos courtesy of Tom Cunliffe Careful with the Cranking Running out of fuel or losing the engine by way of filters blocked with dirty diesel is bad enough, but ending up with an engine full of water transforms a serious nuisance into a catastrophe. One can lead to the other surprisingly easily. Cooling water exits the heat exchanger via the exhaust pipe to cool and quiet the gases. If the engine is cranked over for a long time without starting, there’s no exhaust gas pumping into the pipe, but the cooling water still gets p ..read more

The kite says it all on Phil’s former boat, a Quest 33s.  Photo: Bill Shea I lay in my suspended bunk and waited for the next wave to lift me up and slam me down onto the hard bench below. It was the middle of the night and about 12 hours into what would turn out to be a 36-hour low pressure system. The winds from the northeast were testing me and the boat on our way to Bermuda. I was glad that I could not see the walls of waves that the Gulf Stream slammed into the hull. The forecasted 30 knots of breeze had been true and then some, as I flew off of waves at speeds of up to 21 ..read more

A sailboat enters the magnificent Bay of Bonifacio on Corsica’s south coast.  Photo: Michaela Urban You may know Corsica as the island just north of Sardinia in the Mediterranean where, in August 2022, a violent derecho swept through with 140-mile-per-hour winds, tossing boats onto beaches like so much kindling and wreaking havoc across the island. The weather was unprecedented, but you could argue that it somehow fit the nature of this place, whose wild edges—both geographic and historic—make it one of the most mesmerizing islands in the Med. Fortunately, when I visited last ye ..read more

Big Weather Gear and SAIL Magazine have partnered to offer a chance to win a $250 gift card to redeemed at bigweathergear.com or in store at Helly Hansen Newport | BigWeatherGear, the largest and only privately owned Helly Hansen retailer in the country. Courtesy of Big Weather Gear Helly Hansen Newport | BigWeatherGear offers a wide-range of Helly Hansen outdoor sailing clothing, including race and regatta jackets, quick-dry pants, dock and board shorts, insulated vests, fleece, quick-dry polos, offshore sailing bibs and so much more! Enter today for a chance to win a $250 gift card in ..read more

The Rustler 42 Carrick barrels to the finish under a stunning sunset. Photo by Tim Wright/photoaction.com, courtesy of WWC You could argue that best thing about the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC) isn’t really the camaraderie, the energy, or even the excitement of taking on the big challenge of a transatlantic passage. It’s possible that next to the sailing itself, the best thing is the stories. It’s the way that hundreds of sailors young and old, veterans and newbies, embark on this shared experience yet have entirely singular adventures. And every time one of t ..read more

Anchored Med-style, Belamies lies in a protected arm of Croker Island.   Photo: Charles Scott We were anchored at the end of a narrow bay under glittering pink granite cliffs. A whiff of pine scented the air. From Belamies, our PDQ 36 catamaran, I swam ashore in the clear water. Lying on a rocky slab warmed by the sun, I closed my eyes and listened to ripples slap at my feet. Was I in Greece? The Pacific Northwest? Perhaps Croatia? Nope, much closer to home. This was Canada’s North Channel at the northern end of Lake Huron, a freshwater gem situated between the north shore ..read more

The leading edge of a cold front looms in the Bahamas.  Photo: Wendy Mitman Clarke Most sailors are well attuned to keeping an eye out for cold fronts, which can bring nasty, squally weather with strong winds and large seas. But there are times when the worst weather actually comes ahead of the cold front, and that’s when a pre-frontal trough is present. Sometimes, a pre-frontal trough can precede a cold front by up to 12 hours—translating to a couple hundred miles—so it’s well worth it learning how to identify them to better prepare yourself and your boat for what’s coming. To ..read more

Maybe you’ll remember back in 2014 when the Volvo 65 Team Vestas Wind, racing in the Volvo Ocean Race, slammed into the Cargados Carajos Shoals in the Indian Ocean in the middle of the night. Miraculously no one was killed or injured, but the boat was a total wreck, and the reef didn’t fare much better. The team of highly qualified, professional sailors had already sailed together from Alicante, Spain, to Cape Town, in leg 1 of the round-the-world race when the accident happened about 10 days into leg 2. “What the hell?” I remember thinking at the time. “How on earth did they do that?” A repo ..read more

Adam cruises in the Marshall 18 with his brother, Ryan (left), and dad, Paul (right). Photo: Ryan Cove Grizzly bears? Check. Tidal currents at up to 15 knots? Check. Wild weather? Check. This is the Race to Alaska (R2AK), 750 nautical miles of unsupported racing through Canadian wilderness from Port Townsend, Washington, to Ketchikan, Alaska. Oh, and you can’t have an engine…at all, even if it’s disabled. Instead of studying the Gulf Stream for another Bermuda race, I’m preparing for a different challenge this summer. Offshore racing is a blast, and there is nothing like seeing land ..read more