October, 2001 By Dodge Morgan How about a column consisting of random thoughts? Hark, I hear some protests. “Why not?” Some shrugs (yes, one can hear a shrug. I once heard a bank VP’s nether orifice shrink). Some “What the hell?” And a few “Don’t waste my time and money.”Read More

October, 2001 By Tom Snyder Rules of thumb. What a funny little expression – but what a lifesaver! A rule of thumb is a bit of mental shorthand that can be called into action when time and circumstances don’t allow logical contemplation. Rules of thumb are to be found inRead More

September, 2001 By Dodge Morgan I sail Eagle when I want intimacy with the wind and water and Wings of Time when I want to go somewhere with obscene comfort. Eagle takes 20 minutes to get underway and Wings takes two minutes. Eagle is a 75-year-old gaff-headed schooner just 31-feetRead More

September, 2001 By Tom Snyder Many readers of Points East Magazine have told me how much they enjoy the regular feature in which one is asked to guess, from a photograph, a Mystery Harbor, usually in Maine. Fair enough. But what about the rest of us who have never beenRead More

August, 2001 By Dodge Morgan My relationship with the sea is as complex and as unfathomable as my relationships with people I love. I am not at all sure of the how or why of it. The answer is a confusing combination of the spiritual and the practical and isRead More

August, 2001 By Tom Snyder I recently returned from the Fundy Flotilla, a group of 29 adventurous cruisers who had signed up to go to the St. John River and beyond. I was a very important member of that group because, I think it’s safe to say, no one knowsRead More

July, 2001 By Dodge Morgan The feature article in June’s issue of Points East, “Whistling for Bats,” nudged me into a haven of nostalgia. Author Richard Fullerton detailed a Downeast cruise to the St. John River in the especially lovely Rhodes yawl Arion, a cruise that transpired almost completely, asRead More

July, 2001 By Tom Snyder There is a certain cruising guide to Maine that can be found on almost every cruising boat in Maine. It has a blue cover and many pages. You may have seen it. For the purposes of this article, it will remain nameless. This very famousRead More

June, 2001 By Dodge Morgan The lunatic fringe, and we’re talking about people here, can be found along the full range of human endeavor and in all age categories. There are wacky athletes, intellectuals, life-stylers, adventurers, sailors, activists, comics, plumbers and editors and the wackier they are the more endearingRead More

June, 2001 By Tom Snyder April 20, 2001 Sandy Harbor, Pensafulan Islands, on the straits of Curmel. This, sadly, will be my final letter from one of the most hauntingly beautiful and beguiling harbors I have ever known. Tomorrow morning Blue Moon (Sasquatech 37, hull #40) and I will setRead More