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 wooden sloop I’d acquired forRead More

A lot of coasters curse the fog. I miss it. Though a lifetime of sailing may be too brief a span to draw any reliable conclusions, it seems that the Gulf of Maine fog stocks are in decline, particularly during the last decade. During one cruise back in the ’80sRead More

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, knows this much to beRead More

Sailing prose can be maddeningly upbeat. A good deal of it is about rising to challenges, the joy of discovery, life-changing revelations, the beauty of nature and people mending their ways. Well, I’ve been sailing for 79 years, reporting on it for a long time, and haven’t mended my waysRead More

We awoke to the reflections of sunlit seas dancing across the cabin ceiling, a rich wash of blue sky overhead and the telltales hanging limp. The mate, who functions better than I in the early hours, pulled up a forecast. “Southwest 5,” she muttered sleepily as we closed our eyes,Read More

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 of a “me” task. ThatRead More

The ebbing tide leaves Seal Trap, On Isle au Haut, as snug an anchorage as you could imagine.With leaden clouds scudding low, rain blustering and soundings declining to seven feet, it was a relief to gain the quiet waters of Seal Trap on Isle au Haut and wait out aRead More

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 a certain clarity of thingsRead More

There was a time when being told that some of my ideas were impractical, or just not done, proved no small incentive to do them anyway. Mostly I was just annoying, but did get on rather well with irregular behavior. Then I got it into my head that I shouldRead More

There are few pursuits in this world more profoundly dramatic, organic and poetic than coasting. In an age when algorithms divine the way of many things, fetching alongshore is still an ancient occupation that demands discipline, a grasp of various arts, instincts and the abstract. Cruising under sail is generouslyRead More