We know that tales of disasters, mishaps and general screw ups are a part of being on the water. While we don’t celebrate them, we acknowledge a powerful interest in these stories and recognize their educational value. With that in mind, we offer you some of our favorite tales of woe from years gone by.
An unexpected view
Fall 2023 By Tim Plouff It was shaping up to be one of those summer days that boaters dream about; clear skies, soft southerly breeze, and a warm sun. With the truck and boat prepped for travel, I hit the road just after sunrise headed
Read More
Adventures in Boating Mishaps II
We've heard (and possibly experienced) many of these disasters before. They still make for great reading.
Read More
True pirates, part 3
September 2023 By David Roper We were headed out into the Bermuda Triangle on a delivery from Rhode Island to St. Thomas on an untested vessel. With me was Hobie, a fellow river pilot who’d never sailed or been on the ocean, and two other
Read More
How Skinny Will saved a marriage
September 2023 By Peter Dragonas It was a cold and snowy December evening when friend George and his wife Judy came over for dinner. Great company from the yacht club always makes for a pleasant evening, reminiscing about past sailing adventures. We live in a
Read More
True pirates, part 2
Dave's delivery becomes increasingly grim as the weather and crew deterioriate.
Read More
With old boats you just never know
August 2023 By Carey Reeder Stuffing box leaks, stiff, unmovable sea valves, electrical gremlins – these are just a few of the worries sailors learn to tolerate while underway; but that should, if possible, be addressed once back in port. But every known issue was
Read More
Small boats on cold water
June 2023 By Jack Farrell The last days of April and the first days of May sent a progression of cold windy rainstorms up the Piscataqua River driven by strong winds from the northeast. Seas built up to 16 feet and rainfall was over three
Read More
Stranger things have happened
Squirrels in the mast, a hitchhiking bird and end-of-season haul out trouble. Just another season on the water.
Read More
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 More
Gyro failure
October/November 2022 By Christopher Birch I was listening to a Red Sox day-game while repairing shrink-wrap tools in my shop one slow September day a few decades back when the phone rang. A thickly accented voice on the other end of the line explained that
Read More
My cousin Stevie
October/November 2022 By Paul Brown Stevie is a sailor. Before I met him, his mother-in-law, my aunt, related an anecdote about a visit to the U.K. Several folks had gone out for a sail with Stevie and returned with a tale about weather so bad
Read More
A brush with death… literally
How a simple bilge pump replacement ended up with me hanging upside down on a fence in the woods
Read More
Reverse Navigation
September 2022 By David Sharp When my father retired, he bought a boat designed for shrimping, and I became his only crew during the summer of 1965 between semesters at college. Marlaine was a cypress-hulled Lafitte Skiff, custom built by Emile Dufrene himself in Lafitte,
Read More
Becoming 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 More
That old saying…
January/February 2022 By Randy Randall There’s that old nautical saying, “If you’ve never gone aground in your boat, you’re not a sailor.” Maine ports and rivers are usually deep and well-marked, but estuaries like the Saco River and Biddeford Pool can surprise you – and
Read More
Following seas, tin skiffs & Getch
Dave Getchell was the consummate small-outboard/aluminum-boat guy. A skillful, safety-conscious skipper, Getch clearly knew small-craft handling and loved to share his wisdom with kindred spirits.
Read More
Just plain scared silly
The weather was prefect for a picnic on Damariscove Island. Until it wasn't. The trip back was a challenge.
Read More
Need help? Wave your arms
October 2021 By Randy Randall The call was urgent. The outboard had conked out, and they wanted us to give them a tow. They had managed to snag a mooring and were marooned at the mouth of the river. They couldn’t get the outboard started.
Read More
The 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 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 More
Incident at the Cuckholds
In a surreal moment, before either of us hit the water, I heard Eric yell, “That was a bad mistake. I’m not taking this boat south.” Then I was in a washing machine, struggling to reach the surface.
Read More
A 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 MoreAn Easter story, 1959
A man does what he must – in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers and pressures – and that is the basis of all human morality. – John F. Kennedy May, 2021 By David Roper So, what should he do? There
Read More
Baptism by fire, Part II
Part 2: Some hairy autumn sea miles remained between Sea-Finn and her Midcoast Maine destination, including a forecast of 17- to 20-foot waves, 65-mph winds – and infamous Kennedy Rock.
Read More
Baptism by fire
Part 1: With crew unavailable, the author, a relative cruising greenhorn, chose to singlehand to Downeast Maine from New York. He reached Kennebunkport, learned a lot, and nobody got hurt.
Read More
Force 8 Cape Cod
June, 1994. 200 miles south of The Cape. Wind 40 knots, gusting higher. 20-foot waves. Water north of the Gulf Stream 50 degrees. Destination, Spain. This is the story of how we almost got there.
Read MoreTaking cover
It was a pleasant enough day when a friend and I took a new-to-me 14’ runabout down the Providence River from the neighborhood of Riverside in East Providence. At 16 years old we were venturing into the “vast open water” of Narragansett Bay south of
Read More
Captain Bumblebee to the rescue
By Ralph B. Pears My hapless cruising companion of many years, affectionately known as “Captain Bumblebee” because of his fondness for a yellow and black rugby shirt, was someone who was always prepared to lend a helping hand. You could always depend on him to
Read More
Outdoor showers
By Christopher Birch Outdoor showers for the N.E. sailorSeveral years ago, on New Year’s Eve, I made a resolution: For the 12 months ahead, I would never shower without a beer. There’s something about the yin and yang of hot water and cold beer that
Read More
Innocents abroad
By Frederick Findlen One beautiful October morning, my wife and I, both novice mariners, decided to take our last boating trip of the year. We checked the marine forecast, then launched our 17-foot motorboat in the New Meadows River in Brunswick, Maine. The plan was
Read More
A shipyard burned, a treasure lost
A fire destroyed George W. Zachorne Jr. & Sons Boatbuilders, in Wickford, R.I., but more was ruined than structure, boats, tools and precious artifacts. A way of life was snuffed out, too.
Read More
A crisis narrowly averted . . .
In the December issue of Points East the editor put out a call for “trip-gone-wrong” stories, so here’s one, detailing the very first time my wife Jo and I ran aground on Trinity, our 29’ Island Packet. I say “first,” as it’s happened more than
Read More
Mad dash to go-back
Experience is the best teacher, and lessons can be learned by straddling “exciting” and “really dumb.” In that spirit, I planned a 20-mile, Force 5 downwind flier from Portland to Harpswell
Read More
Let’s talk about your fear
Fear is part of the boating experience — It’s how you handle it that counts. We asked readers to recount their experiences with fear on the water. These are their stories. “If we get through this, let’s get married” Watery nightmares turn to dream realized
Read More
‘OK, Irv, you’re right!’
Guest Perspective: Paul Brown Fundy Flotilla 2004, from Northeast Harbor to Grand Manan, and then on to Saint John and the St. John River. Brownscow, my Beneteau Evasion 32, had made it to Grand Manan, New Brunswick, and then had to leave the flotilla as
Read More
Deliverance
The schooner was pinned against 40-foot cliffs, pounded by seas that threw spray over their tops. A former owner of a towing and salvage firm, I thought I could haul her off with my 46-foot sedan cruiser.
Read More
The glittering darkness
The first time I nearly died in a boat was an occasion of sublime and terrifying beauty. I was in Woods Hole aboard the research schooner Westward, about to go to sea for the first time. I had joined the ship in Gloucester to supervise
Read More
Boating and a big slice of humble pie
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
Read MoreCapt. Bumblebee and the stadium blanket
Guest perspective/Ralph Pears Over the course of 30 years, during which time I frequently sailed in company with the ill-fated Capt. Bumblebee, so-named by my children because of his fondness for a yellow and black rugby shirt, he was always ready to come to the
Read MoreThe misadventures of Capt. Bumblebee
Guest perspective/Ralph Pears Whenever sailors get together and have a few drinks, their talk invariably turns to the adventures they’ve had aboard boats. Sometimes these stories involve dangerous conditions and overcoming difficult situations. Other times they focus on the reminiscences of beautiful journeys, or the
Read More
The libation of salvation
Guest perspective/Michael Long What good is a 1,000-mile delivery run without a bit of melodrama? Creature comforts and picturesque anchorages are in short supply when you leapfrog down the coast from Portland, Maine, to Jacksonville, Fla., in October. So some compensatory excitement is a welcome
Read More
Aground on New Year’s Eve
“We could have at least looked at the chart . . .” someone said. “Or we could have turned on the GPS,” I said, reaching across to the boat’s Garmin unit and pushing its little red button. “Well,” said Beth, reaching into her canvas bag
Read More
Banned from Brewster
Guest perspective/Larry Wardwell The following is an excerpt from the book “Confessions of a Closet Yogi” by Larry Wardwell. In this true account, which took place in 1959, 18-year-old Larry is on leave from the Air Force, hanging out in his hometown of Natick, Mass.,
Read More
Dismasted!
Guest Perspective / Hank Garfield Sailing is the ultimate slower traffic. When I’ve got the boat trimmed just right in a fresh afternoon sea breeze, with spray flying and my crew laughing in exhilaration, it’s doing maybe seven miles an hour. Nonetheless, I do occasionally
Read More
A careening crisis narrowly averted
In this column, I share stories from the Isles of Shoals and beyond. Some six miles south-southeast of the mouth of the Piscataqua River, this amazing place is host to a variety of interesting vessels, wildlife and people – a rest stop on the East
Read More
Early 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 More
Life as a human spar
Can a sail across Maine’s Casco Bay qualify as a cruise? Yes, when the vessel is a nine-foot Nutshell Pram with a podiatric whisker pole and the skipper has prehensile toes.
Read More
I, too, have been somewhere
I blame it on the fried clams. Yes, like Captain Queeg and his strawberries, I’ll prove beyond the shadow of a doubt, and with geometric logic, that it was my fondness for fried clams that caused us to run aground that fine August day.
Read More
The dumbest (boating) decision ever
Sometimes dumb choices work out okay. Sometimes they don’t. Mostly they don’t.
Read MoreA bridge too short
Michael Camarata’s article, “Dumbest Boating Decision Ever,” about a bridge too narrow, published in the Midwinter issue of Points East, hit very close to home for me. I have also made a dumb boating decision involving a bridge.
Read More
A rocky start to my summer season
September 2008 By Dodge Morgan I am accustomed to making mistakes on boats but mostly small and unthreatening ones. I have never lost a boat even though I have owned a few worth losing such as those made up of inflated rubber tubes. However, this
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 More
Beware the last sail
A fall delivery to the boatyard seemed such a simple thing. It was only a few miles. What could possibly go wrong?
Read MoreA long day’s journey into fright
April, 2005 By Bob Knecht For Points East Tiger Rag, our Beals Island 22, is one hell of a seaboat for her size. She was born in Calvin Beal’s boat shop and designed for Maine waters, and that’s why I bought her. On this day
Read More
A close call and a story to tell
The tourists cheered. The locals loved it. The tanker crew cursed. And we had a boating story to tell. Big deal.
Read More
Shakedown cruise
Even with everything going wrong, a Downeast shakedown leaves a father and his teen-age daughters with a deeper appreciation for the joys of cruising – and of engines.
Read MoreRemind me to call those forecasters
February, 2000 By Carlene M. Grossi For Points East It had been a relatively uneventful August cruise for the two sailboats from Newport, R.I., a Catalina 30 and a Pearson 30. Oh sure, there had been fog, and the broken spreader, and the calls in
Read MoreA gift of calm in mid-ocean gives cruiser confidence to undertake new ventures
I was flabbergasted. It was hard to believe this was the ocean I had feared just a few months ago. Here we were 200 miles offshore plopped in a circle of velvet seas.
Read More“If we get through this, let’s get married”
We were 124 miles off Bermuda in 70-knot winds and 30-foot seas. A pressure gradient created by Hurricane Gordon lingered indecisively off Cape Hatteras, and a characteristically decisive Bermuda high hovered over Bermuda. For 48 hours, we struggled to keep our boat in one place
Read MoreWatery nightmares turn to dream realized
A near drowning incident in a swimming pool when I was a child left me fearful of the water. It wasn’t until I was about 34 years old that I was forced to confront the fear and deal with it.
Read MoreFor the new boatowner, the butterflies are never far away
Whenever I see kids wearing the “N0 Fear” caps and T-shirts that became popular a year or two back, I remind myself to get one of those caps for myself, to wear whenever I’m aboard my Pearson 303, Treasure.
Read More
