Editor’s Letter: Halcyon Days
October 2026, the sailing community is going to miss you. November, we love you too, and you’ve got some things we’re really looking forward to. But dang. Ok, ok, weather is the exemplar of mundane subject matter, but…
Editor’s Letter: Tell Your Story
In the weeks before the October edition went to press, 48° North had the good fortune to be at both the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival and the Fall Boats Afloat Show. These two very different and very special gatherings…
Editor’s Letter: Cruisers Exchanging Prudence
I have been known to extol the virtues of group cruising… well, ad nauseam. I’m still doing it, but it’s not for lack of new ideas. My inspiration to raise the topic this month is precisely the opposite—cruising in a group…
Editor’s Letter: Not My Boat
Is it all sunset cocktail cruises and rippin’ downwinders and rainbows and kumbaya? Well, not exactly… But of the many positives that come with my cherished role at 48° North, the opportunity and privilege to sail different…
Editor’s Letter: Northbound
As a devoted summer camp kid growing up in Minnesota, I can easily recall every sensory input—scents, sounds, and sights—that instinctively readied me for my annual journey to the northwoods and border lakes. Decades later…
Editor’s Letter: Living Maritime History
Look in any direction up or down your nearest Salish Sea coastline—or better yet, get out on the water—and you will be interacting with layers upon layers and generations upon generations of maritime heritage. It doesn’t…
Editor’s Letter: How Lucky Are We?
When I get to feeling fortunate about being a boat nut, and particularly a sailor in the Pacific Northwest, it’s a “Let me count the ways” kind of thing. I could (and do) carry on (and on) about the incredible community with…
Editor’s Letter: It’s Boating Reentry Season Again… Hooray!
Hats off to those of you who get off the dock in the winter, and double kudos if you do so frequently. Year-round boating is part of the magic and magnetism of waterborne adventures in the Pacific Northwest. Still, for…
Editor’s Letter: Time Well Spent
As a parent of young children, I think a lot about time—both its fleeting nature and how I used to have more of it. I made good use of my freedom in those time-rich, pre-kid days—I certainly sailed a lot—but I neither…
Editor’s Letter: 2026, A ‘Let’s Do It’ Year
Who doesn’t love the fresh start of a new year? Boat folk certainly do, and I always join the chorus. Winter may persist for months to come, but the days are already getting longer, and there’s no better time to make plans.…