Close to the Water: Digital Tides and Currents
When it comes to small boat sailing, I lean luddite. I like to feel the wind, experience the changing conditions of the water, and consult my paper charts. In my last column (see Riding the Tide in the April 2026 issue), I…
#TBT: Brush Up on Your Anchoring Etiquette
Memorial Day is behind us and summer cruising season is here! In our latest Throwback Thursday we provide some tips and reminders for being a good neighbor when picking that all important spot to drop the hook. Whether it’s…
Understanding Your Boat’s Safety Gear
The subject of safety gear has always been at the top of my list. This seems like a good place for me to return to 48° North. Safe boating affects us all, and safety at sea is inherently situational. My time in the U.S.…
Transiting the Passes to Get You Beyond Desolation Sound
For boaters looking for adventure beyond Desolation Sound, some of the best cruising on the British Columbia coast lies farther north through the passes that lead to Johnstone Strait and to the Broughton Archipelago. There…
We all have our cruising shortlist.…
Puget Sound Cruising Club Presentation: Behind the ‘NVS Boaters’ App
University of Washington's Rachel Wold will illuminate how the NANOOS Visualization System (NVS) consolidates real time data, and how boaters might leverage the app's functionality at the upcoming Puget Sound Cruising Club…
Close to the Water: Riding the Tide
When I worked in marine science, we’d sometimes talk about plankton and nekton. Most people are familiar with plankton: tiny organisms that drift to and fro in saltwater, pushed by currents and wind. Nekton are larger…
Destinations: All Quiet in Quait Bay?
In our latest Destinations column courtesy of SalishSeaPilot.com, we learn about a quaint and quite anchorage in Clayoquot Sound. Sitting on the bow sipping scotch on a crystal clear August evening in 2020, Jim and I…
Lessons Learned on Our Big Left Turn
Sitting in the cockpit at anchor in the peaceful laguna at Barra de Navidad, Mexico, I’m listening to the ker-splash of pelicans dive-bombing for fish around our boat. The afternoon breeze has just sprung up, the fleet of…
Hikes for Boaters: Cape Caution to Shearwater
The Central Coast of British Columbia is the…
