May, 2001 By Dodge Morgan A boat owner’s relationship with the boat yard is extremely complex and delicate, a duel of two very different perspectives towards the only reason for the relationship in the first place: The boat. It may appear on the surface that the key variable is money,Read More

May, 2001 By Tom Snyder Cruising is fine for people who are afraid to challenge themselves, but, of course, the only true way to fully enjoy one’s boat is to race. Racing is all about improving one’s sailing and seamanship, about pushing oneself to excel, and about making other sailorsRead More

April, 2001 By Tom Snyder How often have you read one of my columns and said to yourself, “Why didn’t I think of that?” It often happens to me, so I think maybe it”s time for me to do a monthly column called, Why didn”t I think of that? CommonsenseRead More

April, 2001 By Dodge Morgan I received a personal letter from Bob Rice, who is arguably the top special-events weather forecaster alive. Rice did the strategic weather planning for my solo, non-stop circumnavigation with American Promise and advised me on weather tactics while under way. He specializes in voyages andRead More

Midwinter, 2001 By Dodge Morgan It is much easier to mix reality and fantasy when one is at sea alone. And it is only when the two are combined in a kind of mental-state emulsion that the truth can be experienced. Reality is trapped by logic, driven by institutional conventionRead More

Midwinter, 2001 By Tom Snyder Let me thank you in advance for your time. And now to the body of my remarks. I don’t know if the “wind-chill factor” is legitimate science, but it has always struck me as a way-too-elaborate means of declaring that cold air feels worse whenRead More

By Dodge Morgan We had several wandering tribes in Maine this August. One could think that we are returning in spirit to our pre-Columbian, Indian roots with fully self-sufficient clans migrating between halos of action, some on land and some on sea. Tribal names now are acronyms rather than nativeRead More

By Tom Snyder Until this past summer, I have always felt that the British Navy was way too hard on mutineers. Never ashamed to weigh in on this issue, I would regularly stand up at parties to say those very words: “The British Navy was way too hard on mutineers.”Read More

By Dodge Morgan OpSail Maine 2000 weekend transformed Portland Harbor and western Casco Bay into a confusion of scenes spanning a century of time and a myriad of seagoing pursuits. The full-rigged ships and schooners of the Tall Ships parade harked to the 19th Century. A spectator fleet of upwardRead More

By Tom Snyder One of the things I adore about being on the ocean is the jesting camaraderie between boaters. Such peppery back and forth allows a man to feel part of the fraternity of voyagers sharing a common bond. As so often happens among able men and women, thisRead More