Messing About In Sailboats

More on those Mexican Fishermen

Saturday's NY TImes had a good article about these guys. Some are doubting their story back home Read more →

Sail Charter - Solent

For anyone sailing in the UK, if only for a weekend, it's hard to beat the Solent. It's a nice stretch of protected water, flanked by the flat (and in some places industrial) coastline between Portsmouth to Lymington and the rolling hills of the Isle of Wight. You charter in a ton of places. I strongly recommend Sunsail in Port Solent. It's big organization that charters dozens of boats. They are well-organized. We chartered a Sunfast 37 a couple of times. It's fast but sturdy and well-equipped for a cross-channel crossing if that's what tickles your fancy. The only downer is that it's a long way up the river from Portsmouth which can be a bit of a pain. The Solent can get pretty crowded in the summer but it's quite entertaining getting caught up in the races. You also see some lovely boats of all shapes and sizes. The... Read more →

You have to see this to believe it

This is insane. It's a high-performance trimaran towing two water skiers. Read more →

Sail Charter - Sunsail Chesapeake Bay

We recently chartered from Sunsail in Annapolis. It was a great experience. The base is excellent, well-equipped and very well-managed by Matthias a delightful French guy. We chartered a 37' Hunter with built-in AC, a critical feature for cruising the Chesapeake in August. The boat was 10 years old but well-maintained and kitted out with everything you could possibly need including a bloody electric waffle iron and a microwave! The only problem we had was the engine played-up. Matthias graciously waived the gas fees to make up for it. That said I give this place 4 out 5. If you haven't sailed Chesapeake Bay, I strongly recommend it. It is a beautiful wide bay banked by green countryside. We sailed to St Michael's for an overnight and stayed at the St Michael's Marina. St Mike's has Revolutionary War charm, a some great places to eat and an excellent open-air maritime... Read more →

Sailing in Turkey Rocks

We have sailed in Turkey twice. Both times on Sunsail Charters and I can recommend it to anyone for a zillion reasons. First is that the Turks are great people. Genuinely friendly not just after your bucks. The place is beautiful. The food is great. Oh yeah! the sailing is good too. Here's a great article with lots of cool stuff about Bodrum and nearby. Both trips were on the Carian Coast, the first around the peninsula that Bodrum is on and the second on the Datcha peninsula. What you can expect is perfect Med sailing with blue seas, good winds (sometimes it can get a little too exciting), a rocky sometimes a little barren coastline, nice little islands with goats and fig trees and some great little restaurants up inlets that are only accessible by water. This was one of the best things about sailing in Turkey. You radio... Read more →