Cruising

Exploring the Island Chains off Cartagena, Colombia By Ruth Emblin Editor’s note: Part 1 of Ruth’s article appeared in our June edition and can be found at https://www.windcheckmagazine.com/article/blue-water-and-islands-everywhere/ On our way back to Tintipán we passed Santa Cruz del Islote, a tiny island completely devoid of vegetation, covered from end to end in buildings. A friendly resident we spent an evening with after we expressed interest in finding out more about the history of this unusual islet told…

Exploring the Island Chains off Cartagena, Colombia   By Ruth Emblin   In March of 2022 we finally set off on a trip that should have happened two years earlier. The anticipation had been building for a long time, as we had heard about the wild beauty of the island chains just off the coast of Cartagena, Colombia. Cartagena, or better, Cartagena de Indias, is a Spanish colonial city on the north Caribbean coast of Colombia. The…

By Jack Griswold, Cruising Club of America Boston Station, Gulf of Maine Post Photos by Zdenka Seiner Griswold, Boston Station, Gulf of Maine Post     In the spring of 2020, Portland shut down. Restaurants closed, theaters, museums, bars, and barber shops all shuttered. And no one was going anywhere by bus, train, or plane. But we had Kite, our cutter-rigged Valiant 42, and we had the coast of Maine, as good a cruising ground as any…

By Stas Holodnak “Do you feel confident enough to brave the rough waters of Lake George in your Sunfish?” asked Julia, a friend from my college days. “Lake George has this narrow shape,” she went on, “and the waves don’t have a place to just die…” “So the waves build up until they become something like from Aivazovsky’s The 9th Wave?” I finished Julia’s thought for her. “Yes, something like that,” she replied. This didn’t jibe with…

Another fantastic Colgate Sailing Adventures® flotilla By Heather Hild Atwater Editor’s note: Flotilla cruising is an excellent way to enjoy an unforgettable charter vacation, particularly if your sailing experience is limited. And you won’t find nicer or more capable flotilla leaders than Heather Hild Atwater & Nate Atwater, who lead Offshore Sailing School’s Colgate Sailing Adventures® Flotilla Cruises to exotic destinations around the world. What do a pilot, a librarian, an artist, a cowgirl and a financial…

Cruising Club of America members visit Greenland’s Forbidden Coast Story and photos by Simon & Sally Currin     After five seasons cruising the Scottish Hebrides, we dropped our home mooring and slid north through the great tidal races of Cuan Sound and the Sound of Mull before getting beaten up by a stiff northerly in the Minch, which rendered both of my crew sick as dogs. By the time we sought shelter at Lochinver, I was…

A cruising couple signs on for a Salty Dawg Rally to the Caribbean By Jim Bradley Azure blue skies, steady trade winds, white sand beaches, rum drinks, watching the Caribbean sun sink into the sea – these were on our mind as we thought of bringing our Shannon 47/52 sailboat Kalli to the Caribbean after a summer of sailing in the Northeast. Weather bombs, dismastings, mechanical problems, spare boat parts – these were also very much on…

By John Vrolyk Quarantine, social distancing, the duration, a new normal—these were the words most often on our lips last summer. They describe what began in March and stretched forward into the unknowable future, a procession of days, each subtly but perceptibly worse than the one before, a lethargic slide into melancholy, paralleling the slow-motion tragedy of the global pandemic. From this paralytic existence, escape is the ultimate privilege. Last summer, it was granted to me—an unearned…

By Gregor Tarjan CEO/founder Aeroyacht Multihull Specialists Let us say you are dreaming about a multihull – a boat that will take you and your family safely and swiftly to far horizons. She must be fast, comfortable, and well built. In your search you have eliminated monohulls and are focusing on catamarans. But have you considered the clever NEEL Trimaran range? NEEL Company Background and DNA NEEL trimarans have firmly established themselves on the multihull market. It…

Our friends at the Salty Dawg Sailing Association have announced their 2021 Rally Schedule. Each of the rallies listed here is an opportunity for sailors to cruise in company, with the safety, camaraderie, and passage-preparation assistance that a rally can provide. “Registration is open for the East Coast Rally (from the Caribbean to the U.S.), and you can register right through our website at saltydawgsailing.org,” said SDSA Rally Director Sheldon Stuchell. “Registration for the other rallies and events will…