Race Recap: Round the County 2024
A family affair at this year's half-lap around the San Juan Islands. The 2024 edition of the annual Round the County (RTC) race, hosted by Orcas Island Yacht Club and Friday Harbor Sailing Club, was eagerly anticipated as…
Casting Off: Sloops, Groups, and Paddlemobiles
While many sailboats double as floating motel rooms for overnight adventures, our Columbia 28 sloop, Ariel, rarely fills that role. The old sailboat seldom finds herself away from her berth for more than a few midday hours…
Yanmar Marine…
12 J/105s Battle at SYC Grand Prix
Seattle Yacht Club's classic three-day autumn sailboat racing event saw the full range of conditions and great competition across all fleets, and the 12 one-design J/105s had some of the best action. By the end of October,…
Applications are Open for WA360 and Seventy48 Races
Are you training yet? Do you have your boat picked out? How about your crew... or are you going solo? Those questions are important, but the time has come to register for the Seventy48 and WA360 races.
SEVENTY48
Three Sheets NW: Destination Tacoma
On the list of great destinations for a weekend cruise on Puget Sound, Tacoma might not immediately spring to mind. But that didn’t deter us when we found ourselves without plans for the Labor Day weekend. The forecast was…
Offseason Boating and Winterizing Checklists
We recently got a stark reminder from the United States Coast Guard that it's time to start thinking about preparing our boats and crew for colder weather and rougher seas. If you're planning to head out on the water this…
Hikes for Boaters: Strait of Georgia
On the way to Desolation Sound, there are several locations north of Nanaimo where boaters can stop to break up the long trip. Some of these also have excellent hiking opportunities and are worthy of a longer stay. The…
The Destination Wedding Principle Revisited
On the eve of what is arguably the region’s consensus favorite sailboat race, Round the County, I’m updating an almost-10-year-old editorial exploring why I (and so many other sailors) point to this event as the highlight of…
Lightning Strike on the Wesley Ann
My mom has always said, “Boating is never a vacation; it’s always an adventure.” That proved true for our family of four while cruising the San Juan Islands during the summer of 1978. Mom and Dad had anchored our 26-foot…
