Editor’s Letter: Pass It On

With the Seattle Boat Show upon us, it's a great chance to channel our new-to-boat-life selves. It can inspire and encourage others. When the Seattle Boat Show rolls around, the boating community collectively thinks more…

Editor’s Letter: Small Events Are Good? Indeed.

I spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about increasing participation in sailing and boating. From my years running a sailing club and school, to a long tenure as a member and chair or the Northwest Marine Trade…

Editor’s Letter: A Very Good Year

Especially when I look through a boaty lens, a year-end reflection on the past 12 months is a fun exercise. To think about the people, places, boats, and experiences I’ve been able to enjoy… I’m one lucky guy. I’d say that…

Editor’s Letter: Lean into the Season

As boatfolk in the Pacific Northwest, we seldom forget that we can pursue our passion for being on the water year-round. We gear up to enable happier offseason cruising — installing heaters, investing in full-cockpit…

Editor’s Letter: Quiet Islands

Spoiler alert for the 48° North Cruising Rally feature article in this issue (page 36) — it was amazing! One element of this rally’s awesomeness was how unseasonably quiet the islands felt. The anchorages of the San Juan and…

Editor’s Letter: The Night Before

I realize that many boaters may be thinking about wrapping up the summer boating season this month. Still, for the average cruiser, August may just as easily be the month you’ve looked forward to all year, when you’ll untie…

Editorial: Shake the Cobwebs

Since I moved to Seattle 15 years ago, I’ve had a near-equal share of winters where I sailed very regularly, and those when I mostly stepped away from the water for a few months. As spring dawns around the Pacific Northwest…

In Defense of Imperfect Races

To hear some of us racing sailors, you might think that anytime we aren’t sailing our boats in 80-degree sunshine and trade-wind breezes with our dearest pals, it’s hardly worth it. You’d think that we all sail in huge,…