November 23, 2020 at 12:00 am
By Bob Muggleston On Halloween, which thankfully this year was on a Saturday, my son and I went tautog fishing with my neighbor Kevin. The idea was born that Friday night, over a few glasses of wine. Kevin always closes out his fishing season by making a pot of blackfishRead More
September 28, 2020 at 12:00 am
Years ago I was at a dock in Connecticut when friends of mine returned from a trip to Block Island aboard their 36-footer. They practically kissed the ground once their lines were thrown, and, to a man, were visibly shaken. The hours-old experience they described? Soon after leaving Great SaltRead More
August 24, 2020 at 12:00 am
The surreal aspect of Aug. 4 didn’t begin until 3 p.m. This was the Tuesday that Tropical Storm Isaias rolled through New England, and I was listening to the radio, one eye on my computer screen and the other on the wildly cavorting trees outside my window. Suddenly, this interruptionRead More
July 25, 2020 at 12:00 am
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 fantasy has always been this:Read More
June 22, 2020 at 12:00 am
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 – hello cold, hard cash. TheRead More
April 20, 2020 at 12:00 am
By Bob Muggleston The good news? The lights are on, there’s still plenty of food and the internet works. All those house projects and Netflix series’ you would tackle if you just had the time? There’s time now. The bad news is that, as a nation, we’re embroiled in aRead More
March 16, 2020 at 12:00 am
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 the swirling vapors. Stunned silence.Read More
January 27, 2020 at 12:00 am
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 living aboard a boat onceRead More
November 18, 2019 at 12:00 am
Many years ago, in the late ’90s, I had an old Star that I loved in a way that was inversely proportional to the aggravation it caused me. One of my top-five epic sails was aboard this boat, as was one of my top-five epic fails. The epic fail wasRead More