Our rational minds know a boat is made of wood, fiberglass, steel and aluminum, but deep down we believe they have hearts and souls. We love them when they carry us safely through foul weather and we look back fondly on the vessels that played a major role in our lives and the lives of our families.
Peanut butter cup?
Spring 2023 By Christopher Birch Fuel tanks are not like Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. The fortuitous merger of chocolate and peanut butter depicted in the classic Reese’s ad works. But an accidental mix of flavors inside your fuel tank won’t be a winning delicacy. Your
Read MoreBoatyard stories
As a kid, I was always at the boatyard with my dad whenever he worked on a Brogan family boat. It was 50/50 work and play, with a 100 percent chance of unexpected revelations.
Read MorePoints East Pram featured at WBS Family Week
Winter 2023 By Clint Chase For Points East Since the last installment on the Pram project, we have tested the pram, received much feedback, and done the design tweaks to the boat based on the prototype build and sea trials. In the words of one
Read MoreWindshield washer installation with a flying bridge
December 2022 By David Sharp After some trial and error installing them, we now have windshield washers aboard Carry On, our 2001 Cape Classic 30 trawler. My partner, Nancy, and I usually steer Carry On from her flybridge. However, when things get really rolly, it’s
Read MoreReplacing hope with certainty
December 2022 By Jack Farrell With a long winter ahead of us, one of the best ways to keep in touch with a passion for the ocean is to read about it. Ever since I bought my first little sailboat over 45 years ago, I
Read More‘ELDRIDGE’ is a gift
Last spring, my brother-in-law purchased a Catalina 22 he moors in Connecticut’s Clinton Harbor. My present for him was the latest edition of the “Eldridge Tide and Pilot Book.” Here’s why.
Read MoreThe 2022 Tetra rendezvous: Seeing red
December 2022 By Christopher Birch Like ketchup, fire engines and Carmine Hose, Tetras are red. Tom Hill built a white one once, but every other hull of this iconic Steve Redmond rowboat design I’ve seen has been painted red. I’m not sure how this tradition
Read MoreOne ton of a refit: a labor of love
What do you get when you cross a pair of friends who have loved sailboats for the last 50+ years, a one-tonner looking for a new owner, a pandemic and Penobscot Bay at one’s doorstep? One ton of refit.
Read MoreA star is born
Photo by Jack Farrell September 2022 By Jack Farrell Just short of five weeks into life with the Shining Star, I’m sitting in the wheelhouse between trips at our dock along the Piscataqua. The boat rolls nearly incessantly against the float dock as the weekend
Read MoreLast days in Utopia
August 2022 By Jack Farrell There is an old saying that the two happiest days of a sailor’s life are the day he buys the boat and the day he sells it. I’ll agree with the first part, but in most cases – for me
Read MoreMy first sailboat came with clothespins
August, 2022 By Christopher Birch The boat was a 1971 Tartan 30, and the previous owner turned her over to me broom clean. Every storage locker and shelf space in the cabin was bare. She was as empty as a frat house keg at dawn.
Read MoreTimes… they are a changin’
August 2022 By Ali Wisch Fabre “There is nothing permanent except change.” -Heraclitus As I write this, I’m sitting in my favorite giant palm tree towel. My hair, in a messy natural bun atop my head, smells like coconuts. In the distance, I hear a
Read MoreKeeping memories alive
July 2022 By Jay and Sally Thompson Thank you for keeping my memories of my years cruising the coast of Maine in focus! I had the opportunity to sail with a dear friend, Francis “Fran” Scheid, on his 36-foot Brewer design Marconi rigged wooden schooner
Read MoreBecoming a real sailor, again
July 2022 By Ali Wisch Fabre I’m sure many of you have heard the expression, “You’re not a real sailor unless you’ve run aground.” If that saying is true, I’ve been a real sailor from my very first delivery. And in case you were wondering
Read MoreVikings to set sail from Stony Creek
July 2022 By Susan Cornell Matthew Barnes’ passion for nautical is tattooed into his forearm, with the latitude and longitude of his home port, Stony Creek, at Connecticut’s Thimble Islands. A wooden boat builder, Barnes has been a woodworker for most of his life. In
Read MoreGirding is a thing
July 2022 By Randy Randall So, what is girding? Funny you should ask. Maybe some kind of medieval torture or that feeling you get in your stomach when the long sea swells go on forever? Well, it’s none of those. Girding (sometimes called tripping) describes
Read MoreA tale of 2 dinghies
A pair of venerable dinks, with a cumulative age of more than six decades, has for years served the Brighams and their five sailing vessels as tried-and-true tools in their quests for successful cruises.
Read MoreReflections
June 2022 By Ali Wisch Fabre As I was doing my due diligence, sifting through last year’s copies of Points East, reflecting on what I’d been reflecting on at the time, I grabbed our June 2021 issue and realized, to my surprise, that I hadn’t
Read MoreBoats are not cars. Take it easy
June 2022 By Randy Randall I know it may seem obvious, but boats are not cars. That said, every summer here at the marina, we have our share of bunged-up docks, bent props and smashed electrical towers, all because most new boat owners seem to
Read MoreNautical perfection on the small side
With a background in woodworking, and roots that extend to one of Maine’s most recognized islands, this Maine craftsman builds models that delight the senses.
Read MoreA beast of a boat
June 2022 By Jack Farrell Our new 46-foot Mussel Ridge lobster boat is nearing completion at an undisclosed location somewhere in southern Maine. The boat has been custom designed for its dual role as all-weather freight hauler and small passenger charter vessel for year-round operation
Read MoreTetra twins
May 2022 By Christopher Birch My new friend, Dick Eldridge, just built a rowboat, and Points East magazine is to blame. I’ve made mention of a favorite red rowboat in the pages of this magazine on several occasions. Dick read my ramblings on the merits
Read MoreA fond farewell to a beloved family boat
May, 2022 By Peg Ryan Editor’s note: The letter below was written by boater Peg Ryan following the sale of the 1961 Pearson Triton she and her husband Jim purchased in 1977. At the time, Jim was recovering from a heart attack and they hoped
Read MoreAbout those safety chains…
May 2022 By Randy Randall “Whoa!” We all yelled, but it was too late. The boat rolled off the trailer, tipped up in the air, and fell with a smash onto the pavement. Now we all stood around looking at the boat high and dry
Read MoreAll craft great and small
Nature’s mercy is something we appreciate aboard our smaller craft here in New England as well.
Read MoreFalling in: It’s going to happen. Be prepared.
It can happen in the blink of an eye. Wear a PFD to stay alive.
Read MoreA brief break from winter and a not-so-mild boat ride
March/April 2022 By Jack Farrell During a short break from winter’s grip in late February, the temperature along the coast rose briefly into the high 60s. At Star Island, unofficial capital of the Isles of Shoals, the care-takers had been out of fruit and vegetables
Read MoreA tale of two lobster boats
January/February 2022 By Jack Farrell We took delivery of our new Mussel Ridge 46 hull during a freezing rainstorm in the first week of January. After more than a year of planning and design, the hull and deck were completed just before Christmas in
Read MorePractice what you preach
January/February 2022 By Ali Wisch In an effort to be completely transparent, I feel the need to disclose something that’s been hanging over my head since our last issue came out. Considering my editorial was titled “Winter Warriors,” one might assume, or it may appear
Read MoreLost your tide chart? No problem!
December 2021 By Homer Shannon For Points East Boating in New England’s ocean waters requires that you pay attention to the tide. With local average tidal heights from three to twenty feet, ten feet being the norm for most of the ocean-facing coast, inattention to
Read MoreWinter warriors
December 2021 By Ali Wisch For Points East “Don’t knock the weather; nine-tenths of the people couldn’t start a conversation if it didn’t change once in a while.” – Kin Hubbard In the northeast, we are no strangers to the weather changing, nor are we
Read MoreBuilding the perfect boat
December 2021 By Jack Farrell For Points East After more than a year of planning, and a good measure of frustration, I got word from the builder a few weeks ago that work had begun on our new Mussel Ridge 46 lobster boat for freight
Read MoreA couple of aging vessels
Boat and owner share some characteristics. They're both getting older, but not ready to part yet.
Read MoreThoughts of separation – a confession
"I can't keep it from you any longer," I told my wife. It was a tough message to deliver, but I had to do it, for her sake.
Read MoreA small matter of style
October 2021 By David Buckman One of the most compelling elements of boat ownership, and life in general, is the protracted process of crafting a sense of style that complements our designs and pays respect to beauty, functionality and proportion. Though such ambitions may rarely
Read MoreComing of age on the waterI
October 2021 By Tim Plouff It is not unusual to see young people finding their way while messing about in a small boat in the harbor, on the lake, and up and down the rivers. For families living near or on the water, small boats
Read MoreThe lost oar
My father coached me to “Never get run over by the same trolley car twice.” Regrettably, I failed to abide and managed to accidentally set oars free in Buzzards Bay for a second time.
Read MoreThe return of Ticonderoga
October 2021 By Capt. Michael L. Martel Good men do not let good boats die. This thought, like an ancient proverb, came to me and stuck in my head following a recent conversation with Captain Guillaume Touhadian, Captain of the classic L. Francis Herreshoff sailing
Read MoreA life measured in boats
I’ve had 20 boats – six power and 14 sail – with an average length of 20.5 feet and cumulative LOA of 389 feet. Am I the victim of a sad waterborne addiction? Or just another boat fanatic? I think I fall somewhere in between.
Read More‘Boston, we have a problem…’
September 2021 By Christopher Birch “I just clogged up the toilet on the company plane and I need your help,” was how the scandalous text chain with my boat service customer started. “We’re going to be up for another four hours. There is only one
Read MorePanic in the fairway
Morgana was rocking gently in her slip without any new bumps, dings, or worse. I could, and had, docked Morgana in a slip for the first time! I had stayed the course despite my fears, inexperience, and self-doubt.
Read MoreLabor of love
August 2021 By Tim Plouff Multiple-generation Mainers can often trace their roots to lumbering or the sea. As the islands off the rugged coast were often the first places that original residents established a toe-hold in the new continent, islanders became the mothers-of-invention by necessity.
Read MoreSailor’s Jeopardy: It’s knot what you think
Where does "Slush Fund" actually come from? Pick up some valuable trivia to impress your boating friends.
Read MoreAdopting a kinder, gentler approach
August 2021 By Jack Farrell Five days after it happened, I’m still smarting over an unfortunate conversation on Channel 16 with a local lobster boat. The captain was apparently unhappy with my course, and made a rude, and let’s just say unprofessional comment about it.
Read MoreAn American dream
From suit and tie to overalls: Man emigrates to America to make fortune in automobile industry, then, at age 40, leaves fast-track to build and restore classic boats. Sounds like a novel.
Read MoreAh, the allure of a fast boat
August 2021 By Randy Randall When Bill Marston (my wife Jean’s father) started our marina in the early ’50s he called it Riverside Anchorage. He was an interesting guy. He was industrious and creative and always wanted a Jaguar car; but three kids, a mortgage,
Read MoreMy six rules for non-boaters
July 2012 By David Roper When visitors from landlocked places come sailing with us, it’s really sweet. They’re so excited, and try their best to assimilate to the sailing world, buying the proper boat shoes and sailing shorts, researching and trying out a few terms
Read MoreGift from a stranger
July 2021 By Jack Farrell One day last week I was called up to the front porch of the Oceanic Hotel to greet some visitors. Everett Hall and his son-in-law from nearby Cedar Island were there to talk about their float docks. Since Star Island
Read MoreAnhinga, and the lessons learned
Photo courtesy Roger Long June 2021 By Roger Long Senior year in high school was when I put away childish things and became fully obsessed with boats. I’d made a weeklong cruise in my 10’ dinghy with a boom tent the summer before on Lake
Read MoreThe little red boat that could
June 2021 By Christopher Birch In 1999, my father built a rowboat. He named her after his granddaughter Heidi, who was born the same year. The boat has provided excellent service for our family and especially for me. I calculate she has been towed and
Read MoreRight boat, right time
The boat was old, but the price was right and she served them well for many years.
Read MoreA very close call
May 2021 By Dave Paling Growing up in a coastal town, I was exposed early to boats and experiences on the ocean. I grew to love time spent on the water thanks to my father, a navy veteran whose DNA drove him to pursue fishing
Read MoreThe refit imperative
For mariners, the saying, “It’s the journey, not the destination,” is not the whole story. Complex drudgery may be needed before a season can even start– and sometimes you just have to laugh.
Read MoreWe are the lucky ones
May 2021 By Jack Farrell I stayed out of the dark and frozen boatshed during the coldest days of the winter except to grab some firewood piled under the sailboat before the snow fell. But during the unseasonably warm weather in late March I had
Read MorePumpouts suck: The dark art of emptying the holding tank
May, 2021 By Randy Randall For Points East The boys hate pumpouts. They say it’s a disgusting, smelly job, and only good for tips. They groan when someone calls in on the radio asking for one. But it’s a service we have to provide. Based
Read MoreRAS – Reluctant Acceptance Syndrome
March/April 2021 By Bob Muggleston One aspect of getting older, I’ve noticed, is the tendency to downplay or dismiss things that have been touted as “new and improved.” Especially when the thing being “improved” has been just fine for years, possibly even decades. Take the
Read MoreSaoirse was 40 feet of rusting vessel destined for the scrap heap. Now she’s home sweet home
One person’s candidate for the junk pile can be another’s gem. And thus it was that a beloved, but deteriorating, steel sailboat became a treasure for a couple in search of a new floating abode.
Read MoreHaving “the (dock) talk” with my doctor
Spring and the boating season was fast arriving. It was time for "The Talk." Yeah, THAT talk.
Read MoreThe in-between season
March/April 2021 By Jack Farrell At the end of a long flight home from a week’s visit with the grandchildren out west on the last night of February, it was immediately evident that winter was losing its hold on our coast. The landing lights switched
Read MoreEtchells cruising
March/April 2021 By Molly Mulhern Over the last 13 years I have always had a sailboat in the water. Then along came last spring, in which I found myself not only boatless, but dealing with a worldwide pandemic. Given the mass disruptions that were taking
Read MoreThe seven-year itch
March/April 2021 By Pam Humbert We were smitten when she first came into sight from the launch. It was a Pearson 30, the make of boat that had reached the very top of our short list after three years of pouring over advertisements, research and
Read MoreCapable hands
March/April 2021 By Paul Brown In the late 1980s I was relatively new to sailing, and had recently purchased a 1968 Thunderbird 26 I named Brownscow. Brownscow’s design was the result of a contest offered by a West Coast plywood company in 1958, and –
Read MoreSafety chains save the day
Midwinter 2021 By Randy Randall Whoa! Watch out! Bump . . . smash . . . bang. And there it sat. The 18-foot fiberglass boat was leaning over on one chine right dead center on the launch ramp about 40 feet from the water. No
Read MoreTaking stock of the fleet
Midwinter 2021 By Jack Farrell I’ve owned and been the steward of many boats over the course of my 65 years. I know as well as most that all boats need a little care, and that some need quite a lot of it. Boats also
Read MoreRestoring the family Thistle
Midwinter 2021 By Susan Olcott The boat sat in my grandparents’ basement in St. Louis under a water leak for 30 years. Today, it bobs up and down on my mooring in Casco Bay, Maine. Its white transom bears the original name, Hardalee, as well
Read MoreHorizon job
Midwinter 2021 By Christopher Birch In my daydream, I’m at the helm of a perfectly restored J-class yacht from yesteryear. Familiar faces dot the crew. Ted Turner is on the topping lift, and Dennis Conner is down below making sandwiches. It’s the final leg, and
Read MoreIf one is going to sink . . .
A 21-year-long relationship meets a soggy, although predictable, ending
Read MoreStalking the crew of S/V Delos
By Christopher Birch For Points East In the first 35 years of running my boat repair business, I installed exactly zero convection cooktops. Then one Monday morning two years ago, these ranges were suddenly all the rage. Three customers called me before I had drained
Read MoreTiny boats and huge yachts
As soon as you set foot on a big yacht you belong to someone, not to yourself, and you die of boredom. -Coco Chanel By David Roper For Points East Magazine Tiny boats and huge yachts. The allure is almost always there, despite
Read MoreNew ride for an old boat
By Tim Plouff Without a doubt, trailer-boating has proven to be a fast and efficient way for my wife and me to move up and down the coast of Maine, thus exploring the countless islands and various points of interest so close to shore. All
Read MoreA reunion with Aloft, and scanning for sharks
By Jack Farrell I’m sitting in the deep cockpit of our sailboat Aloft on a mooring off Peaks Island, Maine, in the shadow of the landing craft Lionel Plante that plays such a big role in construction at the Isles of Shoals. I’m fortunate to
Read MorePocket school ships
New England sailors, coaches and instructors share their thoughts about the boat designs, makes, models, rigs and sizes that have proven best for teaching all ages and abilities to work the wind.
Read MoreLaunch-day hijinks, and savoring the moments
It was another early-morning island supply run in mid-summer. Utopia slipped easily through the glassy swells for the seven-mile trip to the Isles of Shoals in the company of numerous grey seals and a single minke whale. The fish finder emitted a constant stream of
Read MoreIt’s small-boat adventure time
Over the years, as the owner of two full-displacement keelboats, I’ve often fantasized about going smaller. Don’t get me wrong: Big boats are fun, but sometimes, with all their inherent expenses and hassles, it just seems like there’s got to be a better way. The
Read MoreA boy, a boat and a dream
By Jim McGuire For Points East As a child with a wagon, I played boat in the puddles in the schoolyard across the street from our house in the Lippitt Hill section of Providence. I also used the wagon to go around my neighborhood collecting
Read MoreCaveat venditor – let the seller beware
Over the years, I’ve sold lots of stuff on the internet. Everything from Swedish cars to antique rototillers and, for the most part, the transactions have been fairly straightforward. Goodbye baby bike trailer – don’t let the door hit you on the way out –
Read MoreGoing to great lengths for next to nothing
By David Buckman In a lifetime of sailing there were no cruises richer in beauty, drama and intimacy than those we launched in the 1970s, when cash flow was tight, and we set out to discover the New England and Fundy coasts aboard an old
Read MoreLessons learned from the airline industry
After nearly 40 years of flying I have a serious side, and approached boating with an eye toward safety and situational awareness.
Read MoreMoby Dick? She’s alive and well
By Bob Muggleston For Points East Here’s a scenario I’ve thought about quite a bit lately: The year is 1939, and you’re aboard a boat tooling around Block Island Sound. Fog has rolled in, making visibility difficult. Horns sound. Suddenly, to starboard, something emerges from
Read MoreRebuilding a Tinkerbelle sister ship
By Roger Crawford For Points East In the late summer of 2019, I received a call from a gentleman named Steve who asked if I’d be interested in restoring a small wooden sailboat. Steve had wanted a project for himself, and after some searching found
Read MoreOf boats and beauty
By David Buckman For Points East There are few expressions of man’s genius more beautiful or enduring than a boat, and few endeavors more satisfying than boating. Anyone who’s drifted across the quiet waters of a lake, fetched along the coast, or crossed an ocean,
Read MorePrivateer end game
By Capt. Michael L. Martel For Points East I peer through the chain-link fence, fingers grasping the rusty wire, feeling like I’m on the outside of a detention center. The gate is locked. Inside is a sad collection of old and derelict boats. Some of
Read MoreCareful what you wish for
By Jack Farrell For Points East I’ve come to realize lately that I have a personality that is prone to obsession. While that may sound at first like a confession delivered in the first meeting of a 12-step program, I don’t think it’s necessarily a
Read MoreThe Snow Goose
Guest Perspective By Randy Randall For Points East Snow Goose was a Marblehead cruiser designed by Eldridge-McGinnis and built in the late ’50s at Marblehead Boatyard on the Biddeford side of the Saco River in Maine. My dad owned the boat for over 20 years,
Read MoreRot in the bullshead
By David Roper For Points East Editor’s note: Dave Roper is on vacation, so we’re cutting him a little slack this month. Here is one of our favorite columns of his, which ran in April, 2013. They owned a small inn on the coast of
Read MoreA fortuitous meeting
Guest Perspective By Dave Tew For Points East In 1975 I was a senior in college, and trying to figure out what to do with my life. At the time, the Western Electric Corp. offered a program in which they evaluated and sponsored soon-to-be-graduating college
Read MoreTo each his own
This summer a commercial airline pilot friend of mine, Travis, spent a lot of time researching sailboats. He did so because: 1) He’s interested in upgrading his current platform, a MacGregor 24 trailer sailer he inherited from his father-in-law; and 2) he’s vaguely interested in
Read MoreWhere there’s a will . . .
Wickford, Rhode Island, has always had more interesting characters than I can shake a stick at. Plenty of interesting stories abound there, as well. Not too long ago there was a distinguished older gentleman who was very active in community affairs, politics, and the yacht
Read MoreOur first boat: Lessons Learned
After we sold Gannet, our 30-foot 1969 Pearson Coaster, last spring, we reflected fondly on the 24 years we owned her, during which she taught us how to cruise the coast of Maine.
Read MoreA late-season delivery
Guest Perspective: Capt. Michael L. Martel I awoke in the darkness with a start, disoriented, only to eventually realize that I was still in my bunk, fully dressed and wrapped in my blanket against the cold. Even though the last two days had seen the
Read MoreWell done, Carl!
Frequent readers of this magazine know I bought my “big” boat, a 1966 Pearson Commander, four years ago for $750. They also know, thanks to this space, that most of the sailing I do is here in Essex Harbor on the Connecticut River, where
Read MoreFinding Minnie
By Pam Humbert For Points East It’s been almost 30 years since my mom called to talk about their big move, and the fate of one of the family’s small sailboats. “There’s some interest from Barry down the road for the Minifish,” she said. Her
Read MoreEast vs. West: It’s all about the boats
The sign hanging over the front counter of the Islander Grocery at Lummi Island in Puget Sound reads “Keep Lummi Weird.” Nearly three thousand miles from my familiar islands back home in Maine and New Hampshire, this sign captures the essence of a common island
Read MoreLa Dolce Vita
And it was a sweet life indeed aboard the 41-foot Concordia yawl Dolce, on a delivery from Boston to the Newport Boat Brokerage Show to be sold. No one bought her, but that isn’t my story.
Read MoreEdison’s other bright idea
In 1879, electricity innovator Thomas Edison baked cotton strands and bamboo splinters at high temperatures in order to carbonize them into a filament that could resist extreme temperatures. Can you say “carbon fiber?”
Read MoreAinsley’s excellent project (of mine)
This is a follow-up and reality check to my mid-winter 2019 column, “Ainsley’s Excellent Project,” about the prospects of rebuilding my daughter’s 1960-something, Town Class sloop, which was intended to be a “we” enterprise, but for a number of perfectly good reasons, turned out more
Read MoreSharpen the chisels, oil the tools
Editor’s note: Friend and frequent contributor Capt. Mike Martel is at it again: He’s tackling another old wooden boat. This after Privateer (a 40’ gaff-rigged auxiliary yawl built in 1930 in Maine, to a John Alden design), the boat he’d spent seven years restoring, suffered
Read MoreThe privilege of owning a Herreshoff classic
By Ben Emory For Points East In August of 2014, just as dark fell, the Fish-class sloop Perch, on her trailer, was dropped off at Brooklin Boat Yard on Maine’s Eggemoggin Reach. I’d purchased the Nathanael Herreshoff-designed boat sight-unseen, based on a YachtWorld.com ad and
Read MoreLadies, does this sound familiar?
Guest perspective/Capt. Laura Tecce Surely, many long-suffering spouses have heard this: “No one talk to me while I’m docking.” (But, if you can’t talk to him, how are you supposed to know what he’s doing or where he’s going?) Or how about this: “Throw the
Read MoreBeers and boats
How did these two disparate entities become so gloriously entwined? Well, it’s kind of a long story that spans the centuries, and Martha weaves the tale, strand by strand, into the around-the-buoys era.
Read MoreNature calling? Use your head
This means managing your marine toilet properly, emptying discharge from it to a holding tank, not overboard. For years, in Maine waters, I didn’t, but now I see the error of my old ways.
Read MoreIn search of clarity
Our coasting adventures always seem to be in a certain state of flux as we fathom new ways of addressing the epic sweep of them, and meld into the tried and true. Touching on life’s largest themes and nature’s most powerful forces, it’s about seeking
Read MoreNew life for an old jacket
Guest perspective/Mike Camarata I am 35 years old. My stitching is solid. My straps and handles are snug and strong. My zipper slides up and down as smooth as silk. My Coast Guard-required printing is very legible. My D-rings are bright and shiny. My belt
Read MoreHoly Cannoli! I like to sail
Smitten by the Masefield “Sea Fever” romance of sailing vessels, but hesitant to embrace the recreation of moving small boats with the wind, Tricia espouses powerboating. Years later, epiphany.
Read MoreHandsome is as handsome does
An interview with Mark Ellis, creator of the cat-rigged Nonsuch series of sailboats that strained sensibilities and changed the way we think about sensible cruising boat design.
Read MoreRestoring wooden blocks
I approach this task as did my grandfather, who built boats for the Herreshoff yard in my hometown: Take your time, take no shortcuts, be thaorough piece by piece, clean, repair, then reassemble.
Read MoreMiles and memories under the keel
I watched as the canoe was lashed to the truck. The new owner used a long length of heavy rope he threw over the upturned hull and pulled down and around the truck’s racks, knotted at various stages. This was repeated until the boat was
Read MoreThe Hurricane, and what’s in a name
Interior work on the old Hurricane is moving well in spite of lingering cold, snow and high winds along our coast. While fresh beaded plywood panels were being installed to dress up the bulkheads and interior cabin sides last week, the 60-plus-mph blow along the
Read MoreA lament for the boat left out
I’d found the boat of my (cheapskate) dreams, and a post-purchase inspection proved she was as good as advertised. The problem? She was on a mooring in another state and it was nearly January. Decisions, decisions . . .
Read MoreCurmudgeon seeks catboat for company and the occasional adventure
Guest Perspective/Peter M. Winter Because no one apart from me turns up on time these days I spend a lot of time waiting on my lonesome in bars looking at my phone while pretending to be someone with a lot of friends and an important
Read MoreThe birth of a Mayflower II futtock
Photos courtesy Mystic Seaport From left to right: The live oak after it arrived at Mystic Seaport, moving the 300 lb. futtock after it’s been rough cut, running the futtock through a giant planer , and placing the finished piece in its final location. Editor’s
Read MoreA tale of three Jonahs
A trio of boats not ready to go to sea were “Jonahs,” like the hapless whale-dwelling prophet of the same name, and they brought bad luck and trouble to owners and delivery crews alike.
Read MoreThe Upsizing Imperative
Starting with a 14-foot derelict, a Long Island couple buys one larger boat after another to safely and sensibly accomplish the family’s sailing dreams, which evolve as the unit grows older and wiser.
Read MoreThe advantage of “cruising small”
Last word/Gina Catalano I came to boating through my spouse, who’s long considered the sport a passion of his. What I’ve noticed over the years, however, is that while both of us look forward to the start of the boating season in Rhode Island, lately
Read MoreWe built a kayak!
Guest perspective/Wendy Hinman After my husband and I sold our 31-foot, cold-molded wooden sailboat, I was eager to get out on the water as often as I could without having to beg for rides. With Eagle Harbor at the bottom of our street in Bainbridge,
Read MoreTen things we’ve learned trailer boating
Guest perspective/Tim Plouff Forever seeking more adventures on Maine’s coastal slice of heaven, we often comment about all of the bobbing boats waving at us from their moorings whenever we slip out of one of our favorite launch harbors. If you have a mooring do
Read MoreTaking the ‘adventure’ out of anchoring
Guest perspective/Michael Camarata Many boat owners leave their home marinas for a weekend or a summer cruise only to go to other marina docks or, perhaps, a mooring field. They never anchor. Maybe they’re afraid. Or nervous. Or perhaps it’s simply inexperience. There’s nothing wrong
Read MoreBreaking up is hard to do
North America represents half the world’s boating market, yet Europe is the leader in recycling end-of-life (ELB) fiberglass boats. Late to the party, U.S. companies are finally developing their own disposal/reuse eco-schemes.
Read MoreA catboat named Ted
Guest perspective/Phyllis Méras Eight decades ago, catboats were familiar sailing and fishing boats in Vineyard and Cape Cod waters. They were sturdy, roomy, gaff-rigged, with a single sail and a centerboard. They were considered the ideal first or second boat for young sailors. At the
Read MoreMy dad’s skiff
May 2018 By Lawrence Smith It looks like skiffs are making a comeback. The Maine-based website, Off Center Harbor, is running a video series that features bright-eyed youngsters engaged in the communal building of some fine 13-foot wooden skiffs. Plans for the homebuilder are advertised
Read MoreEarly sailing lessons
Guest perspective/Paul Brown I bought my first sailboat in 1987, when I was 52 years old. It was a Thunderbird 26 sloop, a pretty little one-design built for cruising and racing. One could sit on the un-enclosed marine toilet and touch all four berths, the
Read MoreHis & Hers
Transitioning from a 22-foot sailboat to a Pearson 30 wasn’t as easy as we’d thought. The larger boat had copious stowage, but the “Venus/Mars” syndrome transpired – then morphed us into a team.
Read MoreAn old boat gets a new waterline
Guest perspective/Hank Garfield We didn’t know what we were doing. All we knew was that the waterline on my Cape Dory 25, Planet Waves, was terribly wrong. You can see it in the photos: her stern is apparently thrust upward like a duck’s, making her
Read MoreFor Koshare, early spring came in December
March/April 2018 By Christopher Birch There we were: In an engineless sailboat, in the Atlantic, in December. Paddling. Sea and sky were the same shade of slate. Light snow further blurred the boundaries between frozen, liquid and gas. Koshare’s faded dirty whiteness blended into the
Read MoreA tale of nine dinghies
Can you cruise without a dinghy? After a long, checkered history with nine of them – hard and inflatable – on five different boats, we now happily make coastal passages without one.
Read More‘Constant vigilance!’
Guest perspective/Ben Emory Navigating along the Maine coast has always been a welcome challenge of summertime, especially to the east of Schoodic. “. . . conditions change rapidly after passing bound east. There is more fog . . . The currents are stronger everywhere
Read MoreWhy we make lists
Guest perspectve/Marilyn Brigham I make lists – shopping lists, birthday lists, Christmas lists, to-do lists. They keep me organized and focused, and I enjoy a feeling of some accomplishment when the task has been completed and all the items have been crossed off. But, early-on
Read MoreDeath of a dream
Guest perspective/W.R. Cheney I used to see her on my way into town from our winter home at Lady’s Island, S.C. Factory Creek runs parallel to Route 21 – the Sea Island Parkway – for a short distance, just east of the bridge connecting downtown
Read MoreThank you, cruising friends
Guest perspective/Russ Roth Two years ago we made a decision to repower our sailboat, Skiya (see Points East, August 2015). This spring I needed to be repowered. Last June, Marty and I left our mooring in Portsmouth Harbor on our yearly migration to our mooring
Read MoreArguments for a proper rowboat
Guest perspective/Christopher Birch The longer I have been around boats, the more I have come to appreciate the small ones. When I was young, I dreamed of how grand it would be to have a massive sailing yacht of my very own. Now, some years
Read More‘Living large’ aboard a very small vessel
By Bob Muggleston For Points East Last summer, in the crowded Connecticut anchorage where I kept my boat, there was one vessel that always caught my eye. It was a small catamaran with a rectangular cabin aboard it that had not one, but two, decks
Read More’Bird Dog
Guest perspective/Paul Brown The ’Bird: A Thunderbird 26 sloop is a so-called one-design “racer/cruiser.” In 1958, it was the winning design, by Seattle naval architect Ben Seaborn, in a plywood association’s contest for the best sailboat fashioned from marine plywood. The objective was a low-cost
Read MoreOf galvanizing and the village smithy
Guest perspective/Capt. Michael L. Martel Anyone restoring, or even replicating a traditional Maine-built craft, pleasure or working sail, knows that these vessels, when originally built, were not outfitted with Herreshoff bronze, generally. Instead, their fittings – from spar hardware to windlasses to chainplates – were
Read MoreHuntress turns 60
It was love at first sight when, in 1983, the author laid eyes on the very first Hinckley Pilot 35 to come down the ways, and he bought her. Last summer, he celebrated her six decades of sailing.
Read MoreLet the genius shine
Midwinter 2017 By Christopher Birch The best advice I ever gave my children was to drink their coffee black and their whiskey neat. I rest easy knowing how much time I have saved them from rustling around looking for things like cream and sugar and
Read MoreLive aboard? Why not?
The timing was right for the semi-retired couple and although there have been some challenges, they wouldn't have it any other way.
Read MoreCove Princess and a Cove prince
Capt. Bob Brown Ultimately, this is a story about a boat. But it has to start as a story about our marina – Cove Marina, in Salisbury, Mass. For 19 of our 20 years of boating, we have begun our journeys from Cove Marina and,
Read MoreTime and tide
On a recent sailing trip that involved passing through Woods Hole, we were again reminded of the important role that tides play in our boating activities.
Read MoreSpecial Delivery
Ensign Hull No. 1337 has been in the author’s family for five decades, and five generations of Coppas have sailed her off the same Wickford, R.I., mooring since the late 1960s.
Read MoreBumper: A workboat
Years ago, we decided to try pushing our docks around instead of poling them or pulling them with ropes. For that we needed a boat.
Read MoreTrials with the F Word
For us, this meant fiberglass. Our old wood yawl was not as bulletproof as she was beautiful, and we wanted a monocoque hull to keep the water out. The transition wasn’t that easy.
Read MoreShe’s been my gal for 42 years
September 2010 By Dodge Morgan My little schooner Eagle is not showing her age but is showing off her age. She is 84 years old and looks like new. Credit for her Bristol condition these years goes to Paul Bryant of Riverside Boat Yard in
Read MoreCruising styles commensurate with age
July 2010 By Dodge Morgan I spent my second longest continuous time on board a boat this past winter. It was seven months on the trawler Osprey, compared to my two and one-half years in the early ’60s cruising and sailing on the schooner Coaster.
Read MoreThe Seagull outboard and its owners
June 2010 By Dodge Morgan The British Seagull outboard motor appears to have been designed prior to the industrial revolution. Fifty years ago, it was a most simple and straightforward piece of machinery found on many dinghy transoms, but now it is a humorous curiosity
Read MorePeeling back the layers: The Roper Boats
December 2008 By David Roper On May 5, 1994, my now 92-year-old dad (aka, “Grampy” to Points East readers) self-published a book called “Roper Boats.” The book contained both pictures and narrative, done in his inimitable style, describing about 40 Roper boats owned either by
Read MoreWaste not, want not
April 2008 By David Roper Thousands, maybe millions, of seagulls, geese, cormorants, ducks and fish poop into the water all around me 24 hours a day when I go cruising. But my waste is human waste, which apparently is a special excrement and needs a
Read MoreThe launch ramp follies
Our friends are right — we should write a book. But not right now. We have too much stuff to do around our marinas and boatyards — like watching the circus at the docks.
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