January 24, 2017
A Small Piece of Heaven: Carter’s Beach, NS
Conveniently located mid-way between Lunenburg and Shelburne the anchorage off Carter’s Beach is hard to beat for crystal clear water and secluded peace and quiet.
January 10, 2017
Barbados prepares for epic Mount Gay Round Barbados Series
Bridgetown, Barbados:With just four days to go before the start of the 2017 Mount Gay Round Barbados Race Series (16-24 January), the festival atmosphere in Barbados is starting to rumble.
January 3, 2017
The Madeira Archipelago, the Garden of the Atlantic
The first time we sailed to Madeira we wondered if the island had vanished. Or at least that’s how it appeared. Actually, it didn’t appear. Not when we thought it should have.
December 31, 2016
Cape Breton – My Personal Playground
A year ago, it’s quite possible that if someone gave me an outline of Canada and asked me to point to Cape Breton Island, I would have failed, at least on my first attempt. Now, its shape, topography and waypoint remain indelibly emblazoned on my heart.
December 30, 2016
Armdale Yacht Club
You can’t possibly pack in more national history associated with a yacht club than what you can find on Deadman’s Island in Nova Scotia.
December 18, 2016
Destination Gagetown, New Brunswick
About halfway between Fredericton and Saint John is the little village of Gagetown. Located on the west side of Gagetown Island, the Gagetown Marina has easy access floating docks with room for visitors.
December 18, 2016
Bruce Thompson of Tern Boatworks sent an update on the build of the custom Laurie McGowan designed 48ft motorsailer
“Here is a brief rundown of the work on going. We are installing water and fuel tanks, fore peak and master cabin have staving fitted and primed ready for topcoat paint…
December 6, 2016
Le Boat To Launch First North American Operations In 2018 Serving Ontario’s Rideau Canal
Le Boat, Europe’s largest self-drive boating company, is poised to launch the company’s first North American operation in 2018 on Ontario’s historic Rideau Canal.
December 6, 2016
125 years of History at Lunenburg Foundry
Lunenburg Foundry and Engineering Limited has been in business since 1891 surviving two world wars, the Great Depression and continuous change in the fishing and marine industry.
December 6, 2016
Montague Marina
Many boats cruising between Charlottetown and Nova Scotia often bypass what is, in my opinion, one of the nicest areas of PEI.
December 6, 2016
2016 Salty Dawg™ Fall Rally Arrives in the Caribbean
The 81 boats in the 2016 Salty Dawg™ Sailing Association Fall Caribbean Rally fleet arrived in the BVI earlier this month.
December 4, 2016
Cowichan Bay to Genoa Bay – Almost the Gulf Islands
“So you’re going offshore to Genoa Bay,” said an old salt at coffee that morning. Genoa Bay was 15 minutes away from our homeport of Cowichan Bay and hardly counted as offshore, but it was our first destination that fall.
December 1, 2016
The Colours of Curaçao
It’s nothing short of spectacular, this view of Willemstad’s waterfront from the stone ramparts high atop Riffort, an eighteenth-century bastion guarding the sea approaches to St. Ann Bay, one of the Caribbean’s biggest harbours.
November 29, 2016
Lakeshore Yacht Club
In 1801, an enterprising Loyalist and British Army officer, Colonel Samuel Bois Smith, was granted 1,000 acres of land south of what is now Kipling Avenue in Etobicoke.Fast-forward to the end of the century and this tract of land would be occupied by the newly constructed Mimico Lunatic Asylum, to be renamed the Lakeshore Psychiatric Hospital,which closed in 1979.
August 31, 2016
Nanaimo Yacht Club
For centuries the lure of the west coast brought settlers, immigrants, migrant workers, gold seekers, adventurers and entrepreneurs. Prior to their arrival…
August 31, 2016
Millennial’s Guide to Chartering
You’ve all heard of the “Backpacker’s Guide to Europe” and the “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”. Well then, consider this the ”Millennial’s Guide to Chartering”…
August 30, 2016
Cruising Basics: Part 3 – St. Martin to Anguilla, Saba and St. Barths
I set down my handheld VHF radio which was set to channel 12 for bridge communications and glanced around while my husband and…
July 26, 2016
Lewisporte, Newfoundland
Located on Notre Dame Bay, which was described by Deanne Peters, in Canadian Yachting no less, as the “Caribbean of the North” the town of Lewisportehas developed into a popular yachting destination for anyone cruising Newfoundland’s north coast…
June 3, 2016
Charlottetown Yacht Club
The Mi’kmaq indigenous peoples referred to her as Epelwik, translated literally as “Lying on the water”. When the Europeans first arrived and sailed into the Gulf of…
June 2, 2016
1000 Islands: In the Garden of the Great Spirit
It’s dawn on Endymion Island in Thousand Islands National Park: a stand of pine and granite, a bastion of paradise nestled in a cobalt blanket decorated by whitecaps…
June 2, 2016
Confident Sailor / Reluctant Sailor
For three years following our return from a year-long trip to the Bahamas and back aboard our 1981 CS36 Traditional – Sojourn, Mary and I gave a number of talks…
June 2, 2016
The Call of the Dawg
The food in the grocery store – where does it come from? There are undoubtedly hardworking people who farm, refine, etc. and when we walk into Sobey’s, there it is…
May 17, 2016
Behind the Scenes at MJM Yachts
Nestled under an old iron bridge spanning Boston’s Mystic River lies a modern glass and concrete-paneled building, seemingly incongruous with the surrounding…
April 27, 2016
Bareboating 101: Part Two – Azores
We had been out on the ocean for 17 days, just the two of us, keeping watch around the clock. One of us was always asleep while the other kept a sharp…
April 27, 2016
Midland Bay Sailing Club
In the heart of the Huronia wilderness, the Jesuits established the first French outpost outside of the area we now know as Quebec. It was called Sainte-Marie Among the Hurons in 1639
March 17, 2016
Regatta-cation: The Pro-Am Regatta at the Bitter End Yacht Club
Regatta-cation is defined as the perfectly balanced vacation for a girl such as me, who grew up with a competitive sailboat racing…
March 17, 2016
Five Days on the Bay
O’Donnell Point is lumpy on the best of days but as Northern Explorer makes the turn north we confront a nauseating beam sea that pounds the peaches…
March 16, 2016
Swimming In Swan Lake
We’re leaving the dock early in the morning in order to catch the incoming tide that will carry us into Masset Inlet. 5am at the docks is a beautiful place to be…
March 16, 2016
Cobourg Yacht Club
Like many other harbours on Lake Ontario, Cobourg has seen its fair share of changes. Screams used to be heard from kids piled into a toboggan on wheels…
January 6, 2016
Exploring the Lower Ottawa River
The sunny sky suddenly turned black as we waited on the blue line for our turn to enter the mammoth Carillon Lock on the Lower Ottawa River just east of Hawkesbury, Ontario. Then, just after the lock’s giant “guillotine” gate rose overhead to let us in, a strong wind broke the calm. It blew from the east, hammering into the open mouth of the lock and catching several entering cruisers unawares. Frantic lock staff managed to grab one and secure it, but operating under minimum power and with limited manoeuvring room, two other wayward boats started to turn sideways and drift uncontrollably towards the closed gates at the other end – and into each other. So it was Sea-Doo’s to the rescue…a couple of us masqueraded our personal watercraft as tug boats, gently nudging the larger vessels back into position, where grateful lock staff could get them properly fastened.
January 6, 2016
The Log of “Frodo” – Exploring Lake Superior
Morning. Thompson Island on Lake Superior. Fourteen nautical miles out of Thunder Bay. Perfect weather. This begins on Day Two because we cast off yesterday and conditions precluded time spent below deck with my nose buried in “Frodo’s” logbook: co-operative winds, scenery that could make a politician cry, waves decorating cobalt waters that glittered like jewels in a crown. Day two because right here is the perfect beginning: remembering last night, sun dipping in the west, sky-reaching islands hovering like mirages or a Lawren Harris landscape, a fine mist creeping over the water, blurring the edges of a perfect full moon, silvery light on a sauna built by boaters, fired by hardwood, the smell timeless and evocative.
January 6, 2016
The Royal Vancouver Yacht Club
In 1791, a 36 foot sailboat from Spain, captained by Don Jose Maria Narvaez anchored off Point Grey and ventured into Burrard Inlet. The sailors noted several native settlements that were eager to trade and came close by in their dugout canoes. One year later, Captain George Vancouver arrived and set about surveying the coastline. After this flurry of activity the area remained undisturbed and it would be 70 years before the beautiful timber would be cut, sawmills built, and larger ships arriving in a steady stream. This, my friends, was the beginning of Gastown and its many drinking establishments. As the main transportation was by water, young men with time on their hands, when they weren’t boozing, built their own sloops.
November 19, 2015
Reserve Your Day Pass at La Marina, Casa de Campo, Dominican Republic
Despite the ongoing lure of the deep blue Caribbean seas, a day pass at La Marina at the Casa de Campo resort is worth squeezing into your itinerary. You’re already in the Caribbean…your next destination won’t mind if you arrive a day or so late. Mañana. Mañana. Not all marinas are created equal and this one certainly stands out. But you have to reserve ahead if you want to really enjoy all that the 370-slip La Marina has to offer. Renowned as one of the best billfishing spots in the world, La Marina attracts the most serious of the serious from February through June who come to catch a prized blue marlin, mahi mahi, or yellow fin tuna so plan to visit from November to January to ensure a good spot.
November 19, 2015
Stony Lake Yacht Club
As summer becomes a distant memory, see if you can close your eyes and recall those glorious days when you spent more than one lazy day hanging around the general store at the cottage. Not only was it a great place to purchase some penny candy, but also the place where you could eavesdrop on conversations that your parents said you should know nothing about…
November 13, 2015
A Sea of Possibilities on the Saint John River
Cruising on Canada’s East Coast, at least for those who have never been there, can conjure up images of fierce tides and dense fog. While these conditions do exist at times, they can be managed with prudence and planning. However, there are two large cruising areas that are as inviting as any protected inland lake or river. These are the Bras d’Or Lakes region of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia and the Saint John River in New Brunswick. Although the Saint John River runs for over 400 miles from its headwaters in the mountains of northern Maine, it is the approximately 75 miles between the river’s mouth at the port city of Saint John on the Bay of Fundy and the head of navigation at Fredericton, that attract the boater’s attention.
August 31, 2015
Nevis…the Land of Stillness
We are taking off from Antigua and are tightly belted into our twin-engine, seven-seater Britten-Norman Islander – operated by Fly Monserrat and captained by John, formerly pilot to the Toronto Blue Jays. Minutes later, we catch site of our tiny destination…
August 31, 2015
Lost on Murchison
We were cruising for two weeks in Gwaii Haanas. Spread out among three boats, (a Campion, a Bayliner Trophy and an Iron Wood) we were seven adults, four children and one large dog. We dropped the boats in the water at Moresby Camp and spent a few days traveling south. By Day 4 we found ourselves in a very nice little anchorage known as Civa Cove, Murchison Island. Our first evening anchored here three of us decided to snorkel across the bay in a bit of a stronger current alongside a nameless little island. It was by far the most spectacular snorkeling I’ve ever done. There was nowhere to place a foot or hand on the ground without touching something alive. The kelp beds were bubbly flowing works of art and there seemed to be a bit of everything in a multitude of colours; star fish, sea anemones, sea urchins, cucumbers, crabs, scallops, goeducks and abalone. If it belonged on the north coast it seemed to be here by this little island.
August 31, 2015
Chartering a Boat in the Islands – It’s Easier Than You Think
Glancing down into the water as I prepared to furl in the genoa for the approach to the Tobago Cays, a group of five uninhabited Caribbean islands in the Grenadines, I was struck by the incredible colour of the water – a sparkling sapphire blue that slid into astonishing hues of turquoise and aquamarine as the water grew more shallow near the entrance to the Cays. We could have been floating on a swimming pool. The pristine water over the white sand bottom reflects the sky here and the clarity is so amazing that nearby reefs pop out visibly in hues of greens, reds, oranges and gold. With the sun high over your shoulder, the reefs are easy to spot and steer clear of. Fish fly in diamond-like showers and turtles raise their heads in a relaxed fashion as you cruise by. No worries. Be happy.
August 31, 2015
Gig Harbor
Boaters visiting historic Gig Harbor will be rewarded with one of the most extensive and sheltered anchorages in Puget Sound filled with a vibrant array of watercraft and a lively downtown shoreline dense with marinas, docks and boats…