We get a lot of inquiries from readers who want to share their experiences in the pages of Cruising World. Letters and emails arrive on an almost daily basis from all parts of the globe and from a range of mariners spanning amateurs to veterans, old-timers to teens, thrill-seeking singlehanders to families raising kids aboard. We read every single one of them.
Sure, all of these letters speak to the popularity of a magazine that’s been around for nearly five decades and has grown deep roots in the worldwide cruising scene, but what’s really special about hearing from so many like-minded cruising enthusiasts on a regular basis is the stories they (you) tell. These are stories that always have and will continue to pump blood into the veins of Cruising World, for as long as we’re able to bottle, package and share them. Fact is, our readers—and the cruising world as a whole—are having adventures on the water these days that are well worth writing home about.
Take 78-year-old Michael Pschorr, whose recent submission describes going way outside his comfort zone on a -2,850-nautical-mile Pacific Ocean passage with his son. “At 78—you are loco!” was the consensus among his friends prior to embarking on the voyage, according to Pschorr. It was his first bluewater passage, and he even enlisted a trainer at his gym to help him undertake a rigorous fitness regime to prepare physically for the endeavor. The offshore trek from San Diego to the Panama Canal aboard his son’s vintage sloop found plenty of rough stuff, and Pschorr recalled “staring down Neptune in his angry moments.” He ultimately accomplished his goal, arriving to port safely, and with a newfound respect for Mother Nature and his own cruising capabilities.
Just this summer, we saw the youngest all-female crew ever to compete in the revered Newport Bermuda Race. Many people consider this 635-mile “Thrash to the Patch” to be the most challenging sailboat race in the North Atlantic. Team Bitter End, organized under the auspices of Oakcliff Sailing and featuring female sailors primarily between 16 and 19 years old, trained during weekends on a Farr 40 in Oyster Bay, New York. (Oakcliff is a nonprofit sail-training organization run by Dawn Riley, a member of the first all-female team to sail around the world who will be inducted into the America’s Cup Hall of Fame in October.)
It wasn’t all smooth sailing for the teenagers. Three hundred miles into the race, their kite wound up severely wrapped around the headstay during a jibe. It took eight of the 12 crew on the bow to get the sail down in one piece. Team Bitter End finished the race 28th in line honors, and eighth overall in its division. The broader hope is that their performance will open doors for more women to move up the ranks in offshore racing, in strength-based positions on the boat that are traditionally dominated by men.
In this issue, you’ll meet Cal Currier, a 16-year-old California high schooler who left the US mainland in June to sail solo across the Atlantic to Portugal aboard the 1976 Tartan 30 Argo, which he purchased for $12,000 with earnings he made tutoring other kids.
He completed the 3,600-mile journey in just 28 days. But that’s not the whole story: Prior to January, Cal had almost zero sailing experience. Yes, you read that correctly. Catch this remarkable journey penned by award-winning writer and CW editor-at-large Herb McCormick.
Also in the October issue, CW editor-at-large Angus Phillips takes a trip back in time aboard the classic schooner Heritage, on a weeklong charter out of Rockland, Maine, finding that few places compare to cruising the coast of Maine in the summertime. And, CW editor-at-large Tim Murphy recounts his latest sailing adventures, heading south to Georgia’s Sea Islands and then onward to the Exuma Cays in the Bahamas aboard Billy Pilgrim.
Other October issue highlights include a sneak peek at the year’s most buzzworthy new boat debuts in our annual New Boat Showcase; veteran tips for hands-on fiberglass repair; and DIY advice for maintaining and replacing underwater metals. On Watch columnist Fatty Goodlander recalls the time that, despite a lifetime of guarding against salt water getting into any of the engines he’s installed, his nemesis finally won a round. Electronics editor David Schmidt reviews the latest, greatest radome-enclosed, Doppler-enabled radars. Special contributor Bruce Balan makes the case for unplugging from the internet to get the most out of off-grid cruising. And CW’s charter guru Chris Caswell reveals his tried and true ways to ensure a successful bareboat charter experience when bringing your kids along with you.
The October issue is in mailboxes and available at newsstands now. If you don’t have one, grab one. If you’re not currently a subscriber, I hope you’ll consider becoming one. On behalf of the Cruising World crew, thanks for reading. As always, don’t hesitate to let us know your thoughts.
For however long they let me sit here at the CW editor’s desk, you’ll probably notice an implied edict in many of my monthly musings: that of pushing your nautical boundaries once in a while. There’s no worse thing you can do to a boat, in my opinion, than not use it. And letting a great sea story go to waste? Well, that just feels like a missed opportunity for us all.
So, keep those letters and stories coming our way, and we’ll keep publishing them. Because until we can all get out there and cross oceans or undertake circumnavigations, the next-best thing is living vicariously as an enthusiastic member of the global cruising community. —Andrew Parkinson, editor-in-chief