Mary and I headed for a boat ride today. Got there and the battery was dead. Stupid float switch had become stuck, which means that the little Rule pump had been merrily pumping dry for up to a week.

Could this be the end? Longtime Points East humor writer sets up the GPS on his Catalina 310, Annabelle, at the start of a delivery to Eastern Yacht Sales in Hingham, Mass.

It was a five- to 10-knot day, blue sky, Simpson clouds. Perfect. I’ve had my fill of squalls, gales, microbursts and tropical storms. I shut down my computer and headed down to the boat, thinking a sail might inspire a topic for the August editorial. Every idea so far hadRead More

For the past nine years, Points East has dedicated its July issues to families, couples and children, and their joy on the water – certainly the wellspring and essence of our little magazine’s readership. Sue Cornell, who, with her family, sails out of Brewer Pilot’s Point Marina, in Westbrook, Conn.,Read More

Despite the late spring, it seemed a typical May morning in Jamestown, R.I. A few boats were out on their moorings; others – on the hard and on the floats – were being put in commission. I cracked the windows as I drove into the village. A handful of boatRead More

I am old enough to vividly recall the summer day in 1945 on which WWII ended: My town, and the surrounding villages, erupted with honking car horns and joyful church bells. And I sensed, then, in a child’s way, the jubilation with which peace was received in America, and theRead More

No other country looks after seagoing amateurs, tyros, and nitwits as does this country. If you get in a jam and you’re not too far away – and you can go a mighty long way – you’ve only got to holler for the [U.S.] Coast Guard. This was not postedRead More

The message here? At times, generosity and cultural understanding are safer and more eloquent than carrying firearms when sailing the sea.

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.

October 2010 By Dodge Morgan Throughout life one does collect some one-line statements worth remembering – and actually remember a few of them. I like to say my memory is good but short, which means my recallable one-liners are from quite a way back in time. Here are just aRead More