The books all warn you, “Don’t cross the mighty Gulf Stream during a Norther.” This is when the wind swings to the north. Now this strong, forbidding wind is bucking the 3 to 4 knot relentless, northerly flow of the…

In my post, Chartering License, I received a comment from a reader, Patti, who was furious that there didn’t seem to be a requirement in the U.S. for operators of pleasure craft to be licensed. She thought that everyone operating…

I knew what I needed was the basic Coast Guard license to carry up to six passengers for hire. We were fortunate to be berthed near a charter boat and the skipper and his wife were quite friendly. He and…

After about a month’s cruise, and twelve hundred miles later, we arrived at Bahia Mar Yacht Basin, and pulled in to our reserved slip. The whole trip was fabulous, with many fresh fish dinners along the way. At one of…

Let’s face it—we loved to sail, and were really hooked on cruising. But those Sunday afternoon blahs were getting me down. We often talked about pursuing it professionally. We had subscribed to Yachting and had read several articles on chartering.…