Publisher's Log

I am sailing with a friend in the Shields Nationals (hosted by Ida Lewis Yacht Club and Shields Fleet 9 in Newport, Rhode Island September 6 – 10); thus the lovely cover shot. It is being sailed the first full week in September in Newport. It is not particularly convenient for my family. It is the first week of school for our 9th grader. Fall baseball practices will undoubtedly be called while I am away, and other…

We are very proud of our efforts to promote the activities of women in our sport. We are coming up on a year and half of our regular feature, Women on the Water. Not that WindCheck needed to really increase our coverage, but Coop thought it would be cool to lock in a monthly bio of female sailors in the WindCheck area, from New Jersey to New Bedford. Our first victim was Martha Parker which of course…

I confess that on the first truly summer-like weekend of 2022, a couple of weeks ago from when you are reading this, I found myself totally uninspired to write. I was very much more inspired to be on the water, or playing tennis or golf with my son, or eating and drinking outside or playing Canadian doubles with the now permanent badminton set in the backyard. Even cleaning the disaster of a garage ranked much higher than…

June is the best month for sure. Why? Because of the solstice of course! And not only should you be getting out to every weeknight race, pre-work fishing outing or on the water BBQ opportunity that you can, but there are also events aplenty to partake in. One we want to really push on was invented by our friend John Arndt, the associate publisher of kindred publication Latitude 38 from the San Francisco Bay area. Summer Sailstice…

As we emerge from March of 2020, and stride forth in the spring of 2022, and as we have mentioned before in this column, some things seem to be permanently different. And I have talked about how we are going to treat the newbies and how we shouldn’t act like the grumpy ranger but more like the hail-fellow well-met mentor. But then, once that effort has been made, mostly last summer, what will this summer look like?…

Well, it is pretty obvious that, overall, we in the Northeast are very lucky to live where we do. And within that good fortune, at WindCheck we are entering an outstanding quarter. Let’s start with the cascading effect of what is shaping up to be a record-setting Newport Bermuda Race. Gracing this month’s cover is three-time winner Carina, and it is an epic shot taken by world renowned photographer Barry Pickthall. Barry was kind enough to share…

Last month, I was encouraged to sing the praises of February because it is a short month. But now, let the real seasons begin for sailing, fishing and boating. So much to look forward to in March. Of course, the vernal equinox probably tops the list. Come March 20, it will be officially OK to take the cover off the boat. And then get focused on prepping for family fun, fishing, racing or all three. We have…

February is short. Which is good. In a blink, it will be March. The thing about February is that there are only four of each day. Only four Mondays, only four Saturdays, and only four Sundays. I think that is good because while iceboating is wicked cool and fun, and frostbite racing is wicked cold and pretty fun, and skiing or snowboarding is fun (but has gotten really popular and therefore crowded thus less actual skiing and…

Most folks are weary of the pandemic and its impact on daily life. By the same token, you cannot help but marvel at the changes to society at large and to our own lives that seem here to stay. As I write this, Thanksgiving is a week away but there is no question that the holiday spirit is in full swing…and I mean that in a good way. Sure, it is a bit staggering to see Christmas…

I’m guilty, but it’s not my fault! Summer is over. It was officially, astronomically over last month. So why do I get grief? It’s because I am in charge of my neighborhood’s docks. And when I decide that the weather really is going to turn into nonstop northeasterlies which beat up our east-facing pier, pilings, and docks, then I have to do what I have to do. Even though we live on an island of 109 homes,…