Nim Marsh is Points East’s editor. He has spent many decades playing in the North Atlantic from 10 degrees N to 60 degrees N, in both power and sailboats, imbued with the belief — about 98 percent of the time, anyway — that a bad day at sea is better than a good day in the office.I already can hear the wharfside wags hurrumphing, but I am going to say it anyway: Recreational boating is not warfare. Sure, at times it may seem so but if we’re on the right boat, for all the right reasons, with the right seagoing experience, and with plenty of seaRead More
The name Ray Hunt has been a presence since my earliest days on Duxbury (Mass.) Bay. I first heard it when my father showed me, nestled in Duxbury Beach dunes, the remains of the Hunt family’s waterfowling camp, near which my great-uncle had a similar structure. Then there were theRead More
She was born in New York City – her father was an architect there – and she lives in Norwell, Mass., but Leslie Silvia’s spiritual wellspring has always been Peddocks Island in Boston Harbor. Her grandfather, Alex Bies, who’d emigrated from Poland in 1889, was assigned to the island’s ArmyRead More
Ask Piero “Peter” Biancani how many boats he has built and he’s likely to respond with a bemused expression as though he’s never thought of counting. When pressed, he’ll probably answer, as he did one bluebird mid-February day on the shore of Rhode Island’s Narragansett Bay, “Oh, maybe a dozen.”Read More
A lady who sat next to me . . . said, “Do you reef in your gaff-topsails when you are close-hauled or do you let go the mizzen-top-bowline and cross-jack-braces. . .” I hadn’t the slightest idea what she was talking about . . . One reason for this wasRead More
Points East ad rep Lynn Whitney keeps an eagle eye out from her perch over the Fox Islands Thorofare.
Of what? Kindness, friendliness? Or the joy that comes from being on the water, and savoring the camaraderie of other mariners? This August day, it likely was a combination of all of these. Naomi and I were sailing our 79-year-old catboat Chessie on a glorious bluebird day in Narragansett Bay.Read More
You know those little 61⁄2- by 91⁄4-inch, soft-cover books with the sepia-toned covers, the ones that recycle old postcards and photographs to give readers a window into how specific areas appeared during the past 100-plus years? They are called the Postcard History Series Books, are produced by Arcadia Publishers, withRead More
One of Deborah Simmons’ calling cards reads: “Deborah Simmons, Ed. D., Music Professional, Artist, Boat Builder,” which begs two questions: Who is Deborah Simmons? And why is she important to Points East? If you’d asked the first question right after we’d first met her, we would have answered, “She’s aRead More
Well, not so fast: Elements of the New England marine industry are passionately proactive in helping its member businesses thrive, grow, and create jobs in a struggling economy.
