Dinghy drift social hour, in which pvc pipe has been creatively used to deliver both cocktails and hors d’oeuvres. New friends are easy to make in the liveaboard life. Photo courtesy Mike Camarata
There are some truly amazing people out there on the water. We at Points East feel blessed to have met such a wide group of diverse, helpful, funny, and, on occasion, catankerous folk that make up the New England marine community.
September 28, 2020
By James Rudolph “I used to clean this stuff off the bottom of boats. There’s not an inch of this that isn’t alive. There’s worms, eels, crabs. It would get in my beard and I could just feel it moving.On an overcast and unseasonably warm
Read More August 24, 2020
By Randy Randall Some people you meet in this life leave a lasting impression. I suppose the grizzled waterfront character is a stereotype, and people coming to the marina or boatyard are not surprised when they run into such a bard roaming the docks. These
Read More July 25, 2020
When my wife Marcia and I were boat hunting a few years back, we encountered a flotilla of men and women in their 70s and 80s who were hanging up their dock lines because of bum knees or bad balance or failing vision – not
Read More July 25, 2020
I promised I’d buy a bigger boat, with a standing-headroom cabin, if she survived a summer cruising on my J/24. She not only endured, she thrived. The ball was in my court. Big time!
Read More July 25, 2020
By Mike Camarata For Points East I am a full-time liveaboard. I am also a snowbird. I have been called plenty of other names, but we’ll stick with those two for now. A liveaboard is a person who owns a boat and – wait for
Read More July 25, 2020
By David Roper For Points East Once upon a time there was a man who felt that his life was a canvas painted in various shades of gray. His job lacked challenge, his friends were dull, and his girl didn’t cast her eyes down and
Read More July 25, 2020
There are two kinds of salesmen. There is the lonely, bespectacled, data-driven geek with the mathematical model that demonstrates the inevitable causal relationship between the promotional dollars invested and the widgets sold. Then there’s the Irishman. The Irishman can walk into a room of strangers
Read More June 22, 2020
In total, Ray Trombley has spent 30 years making his living on the Maine coast. His career has taken him from digging clams to selling them wholesale at the establishment he owns – Casco Bay Shellfish in Brunswick, Maine.
Read More June 22, 2020
“We’re getting to be antiques,” I whispered to Elsa, as I collapsed into the cockpit after dropping the old Herreshoff anchor 50 yards off a nearly abandoned fisherman’s wharf. It was the end of a brisk fall solo sail, a late cruise, as I was
Read More June 22, 2020
Over the years, I’ve sold lots of stuff on the internet. Everything from Swedish cars to antique rototillers and, for the most part, the transactions have been fairly straightforward. Goodbye baby bike trailer – don’t let the door hit you on the way out –
Read More May 18, 2020
By Ralph B. Pears My hapless cruising companion of many years, affectionately known as “Captain Bumblebee” because of his fondness for a yellow and black rugby shirt, was someone who was always prepared to lend a helping hand. You could always depend on him to
Read More May 18, 2020
By David Roper In these times of COVID-19, statistics show that many people are virtually escaping to paradise via YouTube. If you Google “Sail to Paradise,” you’ll get 40,300,000 hits. As of today, there are 1,300,000,000 YouTube videos out there, movies from every imaginable category.
Read More April 20, 2020
I married this man because, well, sailing was part of his fabric, and I was determined it would be part of mine, too. Little did I know then that I also had a magic boating key to pass on to my family.
Read More March 16, 2020
By Capt. Michael L. Martel For Points East I peer through the chain-link fence, fingers grasping the rusty wire, feeling like I’m on the outside of a detention center. The gate is locked. Inside is a sad collection of old and derelict boats. Some of
Read More March 16, 2020
A fire destroyed George W. Zachorne Jr. & Sons Boatbuilders, in Wickford, R.I., but more was ruined than structure, boats, tools and precious artifacts. A way of life was snuffed out, too.
Read More March 16, 2020
Guest Perspective By Randy Randall For Points East Snow Goose was a Marblehead cruiser designed by Eldridge-McGinnis and built in the late ’50s at Marblehead Boatyard on the Biddeford side of the Saco River in Maine. My dad owned the boat for over 20 years,
Read More March 16, 2020
Guest Perspective By Dave Tew For Points East In 1975 I was a senior in college, and trying to figure out what to do with my life. At the time, the Western Electric Corp. offered a program in which they evaluated and sponsored soon-to-be-graduating college
Read More January 27, 2020
Wickford, Rhode Island, has always had more interesting characters than I can shake a stick at. Plenty of interesting stories abound there, as well. Not too long ago there was a distinguished older gentleman who was very active in community affairs, politics, and the yacht
Read More January 27, 2020
On their first short cruises as a couple (see “Cruising with Diana, Part 1,” December 2019), it was two boat-lengths forward/one back for Mark and Diana as they set courses – often divergent – to perceived common grounds on which they might sail constructively, as
Read More September 23, 2019
The last big weekend of the year promised a full house at the Oceanic Hotel. A two-day island wedding extravaganza was also on the schedule.
Read More September 23, 2019
After we sold Gannet, our 30-foot 1969 Pearson Coaster, last spring, we reflected fondly on the 24 years we owned her, during which she taught us how to cruise the coast of Maine.
Read More September 23, 2019
By Pam Humbert For Points East It’s been almost 30 years since my mom called to talk about their big move, and the fate of one of the family’s small sailboats. “There’s some interest from Barry down the road for the Minifish,” she said. Her
Read More August 26, 2019
As experienced boaters know, there is much more to an outing than packing a picnic basket, picking out a destination, and heading out into the wide blue yonder. A good captain should have a lot on his or her mind: One must consider the weather,
Read More August 26, 2019
The title of this piece is obviously a riff on the signature line from Don Henley’s “The Boys of Summer,” a song that doesn’t get too much airplay anymore, but that all these years later (it was originally released in 1984) still affects me when
Read More August 26, 2019
Throughout human history, tales have been spun about marine creatures with torsos of women and lower bodies of fish. Called “mermaids,” they traditionally are associated with shipwrecks and rescues at sea, and their positive image has been portrayed in books, paintings, music, and movies for
Read More July 29, 2019
By Christopher Birch For Points East Not every marina has a duck house, but, lucky for me, mine does. I’m thinking now of a certain duck that once lived there. She had a bad starboard wing and a bad port leg. When she walked, she
Read More July 29, 2019
One of the many compelling things about the WoodenBoat Show at Mystic Seaport, which this year took place June 28-30, is the number of interesting personalities you encounter while walking around there. The boats are beautiful, of course, but the men and women who build
Read More July 29, 2019
By Capt. Michael L. Martel For Points East Paul Dennis loves boats. He especially loves sailboats, and one type in particular, with which he’s had a long-standing affair. The humble and soft-spoken man has no qualms admitting it – he loves the often-unconvential-looking sailboats built
Read More June 21, 2019
Guest perspective/Capt. Laura Tecce Surely, many long-suffering spouses have heard this: “No one talk to me while I’m docking.” (But, if you can’t talk to him, how are you supposed to know what he’s doing or where he’s going?) Or how about this: “Throw the
Read More June 21, 2019
Last summer I wrote a column about First-World problems and a bumblebee. Well, really it was about an engine that would struggle under load, making a sound not unlike a person choking to death. I dared not throttle up when that happened; hence, I ran
Read More June 21, 2019
By Jack Farrell Points East We’re five miles out of Portsmouth on an early summer freight run to Star Island. The fine bow of my Royall Lowell-designed Utopia slices through the two-foot chop with grace and power. Ten feet back at the helm, bits of
Read More June 21, 2019
I conjured memories of Dad, Uncle Al and the sailboats that followed in their wakes, and saw their unmistakable influences sprinkled like magical powder on my past, present and future. And I recalled my vows to them.
Read More May 20, 2019
Guest perspective/Ralph Pears Over the course of 30 years, during which time I frequently sailed in company with the ill-fated Capt. Bumblebee, so-named by my children because of his fondness for a yellow and black rugby shirt, he was always ready to come to the
Read More May 20, 2019
Although I’ve written many stories for Points East and other boating publications, the Capt. Lou series has generated, by far, the most interest. Readers have gone out of their way to contact me about them. If they knew Lou personally, or of him, they’d say,
Read More April 22, 2019
Guest perspective/Ralph Pears Whenever sailors get together and have a few drinks, their talk invariably turns to the adventures they’ve had aboard boats. Sometimes these stories involve dangerous conditions and overcoming difficult situations. Other times they focus on the reminiscences of beautiful journeys, or the
Read More March 18, 2019
It’s always neat when what you assume about a given situation is wrong, but in a way that leaves you hopeful about the current state of things. Take last fall, for example, when I checked in on the progress being made on the Mayflower II,
Read More March 18, 2019
Guest perspective/Marilyn Pond Brigham I’ve always considered myself fortunate to be small. That is, as a short person, I’ve always felt – contrary to the tongue-in-cheek sentiments of that famous song from the ’70s – like I’ve had many great reasons to live! Have there
Read More December 4, 2018
With the recent passing of our 41st president, George Herbert Walker Bush, I’m reminded of the time he visited our little marina aboard one of his boats. This happened back in the ’90s, but my memory of the event is vivid even today.
Read More August 27, 2018
An interview of the author of “Black Flags, Blue Waters: The Epic History of America’s Most Notorious Pirates” by Eric Jay Dolin, Liveright Publishing Corp., W.W. Norton & Co., 416 pages, hardcover: $29.95.
Read More July 6, 2018
The tools we use today all descend from a few common origins.
Read More March 19, 2018
Guest Perspective: Roger LongAs related in the first part of this story , I fell in love with cruising narrow waterways and a woman with a delicate stomach.
Read More January 29, 2018
Guest perspective/Roger Long A few Points East readers from the single-digit years of this century may remember accounts of cruising in my 32-foot Endeavour, Strider. I once had the honor of being on the masthead of this magazine as a contributor, but slipped quietly from
Read More November 20, 2017
Guest perspectve/Charles Sutton My roommate at Cornell University for two years, starting back in 1948, was Joel White (1930-1997), son of E. B. White, most famous for his books “Charlotte’s Web” and “Stuart Little,” humorous articles in “The New Yorker” magazine, and for his wife,
Read More September 25, 2017
Guest perspective/Greg Coppa Many years ago, I had the good fortune to receive a press pass to the America’s Cup Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony, sponsored by the Herreshoff Marine Museum of Bristol, R.I. Inducted were a photographer (Morris Rosenfeld), a noted British yacht designer
Read More August 28, 2017
Guest perspective: Greg Jones I am a bridge tender. Some call bridge tenders America’s first line of defense, ever-vigilant monitors of the nation’s maritime lifeline. Some. Maybe. Maybe our mothers, who long ago despaired of us becoming doctors or lawyers. Others are, necessarily, less flattering.
Read More July 24, 2017
Guest perspective/Russ Roth Two years ago we made a decision to repower our sailboat, Skiya (see Points East, August 2015). This spring I needed to be repowered. Last June, Marty and I left our mooring in Portsmouth Harbor on our yearly migration to our mooring
Read More June 26, 2017
Guest perspective/Lauren E. Storck In the U.S. alone, there are 50 million of us with some hearing loss or deafness. That’s one in five people of all ages, on average. If you are so challenged, these three thoughts are important: 1. No shame is warranted
Read More January 27, 2017
Guest perspective/Randy Randall The marina business in winter is not much fun. The river’s frozen over, the snow-covered docks look like giant loaves of white bread, and the mooring balls are gripped fast in the ice. It’s all very depressing, and spring seems a long
Read More October 1, 2016
Hank Garfield “This is one of the busiest and most eclectic harbors in Maine,” the man himself declares. On a rare warm day in early May, Matt Ripley, the new Rockland harbormaster, stands outside his office looking out at a placid and mostly empty piece
Read More August 17, 2016
The timing was right for the semi-retired couple and although there have been some challenges, they wouldn\'t have it any other way.
Read More June 1, 2016
Greg Coppa Capt. Lou’s loyalty to friends in Wickford, R.I., and beyond, is renowned. Some time ago, his longtime and eccentric buddy, G.I. Joe, passed away. G.I. Joe – who was never called “Joe” but always “G.I. Joe” by the Captain – lived and died
Read More February 20, 2016
Capt. Dave Marciano, with his 38-foot Hard Merchandise out of Gloucester, Mass., is a highliner on National Geographic Channel\'s \"Wicked Tuna,\" but family, not fishing, is what makes it all work.
Read More February 1, 2016
Of all the 1,100-plus lakes in New Hampshire, including Lake Winnipesaukee (which is actually more like a mini inland-sea) none is more entrancing than Lake Sunapee. It is 11 mile
