Rally Reflections Part One: Sailing to Sucia

Take a Trip Back in Time to Last Year's 48° North Cruising Rally (formerly called the Cascadia Cruising Rally) It’s natural to hop in the time machine right now—fly off to carefree days of travel, exploration, and…

Sirius 40 DS Boat Review

48° North Tests the Stout, Twin-Keeled Bluewater Cruiser The Sirius 40 Deck Saloon (DS) just made its North American Boat Show debut in Seattle in January, and I have to admit, it had not been on my radar. It certainly is…

Go North to Go South

48° North columnist Bruce Bateau has been sharing the story of his small boat voyage south from Port McNeil, BC to Anacortes. This story appeared in the February issue of the magazine, and you can see his next web exclusive…

One Tack & Two Jibes

One Tack & Two Jibes 1,300 Miles from Alaska to San Francisco Wedged between the lee cloth and cushions on Yahtzee’s starboard settee, I stare aloft through the dark of the cabin and the main hatch, listening intently to…

Whales to Port! A Flotilla Cruise Through the Inside Passage

Shortly after 9 a.m., the mist over Ketchikan Marina lifted. The crews of our six Grand Banks cruisers fired the twin diesel engines, loosened mooring lines and coordinated radios as anticipation was building. One by one, we…

Heavy Air in Hecate Strait: Wild Wind & Waves in the Teeth of a Gale

Writing about our rough crossing of Hecate Strait isn’t something that comes easily—it’s actually a memory I’d rather not relive. Learning from your mistakes is an important trait of successful sailors, though, and the…

Highlights from San Francisco Bay

Sitting on the side of…

A sublime farewell tour of The Great Land

When we sailed through Southeast Alaska for two months in the spring and summer of 2017, one of the places we wished we’d gone was south through Chatham Strait making stops in Kuiu Island and then east to Prince of Wales…