October 2009 By Dodge Morgan “It must feel good to know you have the prettiest boat in the harbor,” said the silver-haired gentleman from his dinghy. “We just wanted to get a real close look at your boat,” said the captain of the Monhegan Island Ferry as he swung off-courseRead More

October 2009 By David Roper She lay languidly between the arms of Harbor and Hall islands in the midst of ledge-strewn Muscongus Bay and, despite the disheveled condition of her captain and two mates who had not seen the likes of soap, razors or toothbrushes in days she held herRead More

September 2009 By Dodge Morgan Have you noticed how mankind keeps inventing marvelous solutions to problems some of us have, sometimes only to create new problems worse than those we sought to solve? A D10 Cat can clear-cut a forest in one day that it would take a tribe ofRead More

September 2009 By David Roper The wing of sail divides wind and then wind joins it together again. Nothing is used, so nothing is wasted. The Tao of Sailing Hold those words and bear with me. Think about cycles – life cycles. I know I was, as I sat underRead More

August 2009 By Dodge Morgan At one point in life, the past becomes populated with activities we cannot anymore do – and those we would not even consider doing again. A corollary of this is that time enhances, sometimes creates, past successes, and blurs the failures. I once admitted toRead More

August 2009 By David Roper The year I met Big Red I was living alone in an ark under a bridge in St. Paul, Minn., on the Upper Mississippi River. Dave’s Ark was a 42-foot home-built steel houseboat which, due to its ancient and long-ago seized-up Ford 302 engines, neverRead More

July 2009 By Dodge Morgan A wandering mind is a troublesome thing, can lead to mental acts of socially incorrect nature – or to a boating column like this one. Murray Peterson was a magnificent designer of traditional, wood-built sailboats, and was known for his schooners, of which I haveRead More

July 2009 By David Roper Late afternoon finds her standing at the very edge of the sea, waves just touching her toes, the rising onshore breeze lifting her hair, sunlight glowing against her skin and faded neon bikini. One of the locals, one of the women who brings no accessoriesRead More

June 2009 By Dodge Morgan Since boat owners can be sorted into two categories – those who do their own fitting out and those who pay others to do it – we should review some role definitions for this spring ritual. Counseling the do-it-yourselfers is the easiest. Never carry toolsRead More

June 2009 By David Roper The most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to you? Go ahead, name it. But you won’t top this: Actually, the absolute King of All Embarrassing Moments was witnessed not by me, but by my boss the year I was the captain of his 58-footRead More