Author: john.hagen12

The inevitable question arises: what could possibly drive someone to want to do such a thing? When heading south in the winter, most of us opt for the convenience of air travel, indulging in luxurious accommodations at a 5-star, all-inclusive hotel, and passing the time lounging by the pool, sipping on colorful fruity drinks adorned Read More

The Sailor Have you ever felt the burning desire to craft your own narrative? As a busy surgeon, I have often pondered it, but spare time was a luxury I rarely had. My mind was buzzing with brilliant ideas, but the thought of translating them on to the paper felt overwhelming. Only after retiring from Read More

They were waiting for us when we arrived at the Shanghai Airport. A Chinese surgeon named Car and the driver. They stuffed bouquets of flowers into our hands and then photos, before they ushered us into a waiting van for the 4 hour drive to the small city of Taixing. They explained it was not Read More

It was pouring rain. The nasty weather was coming in from the West. I could see the dark black clouds rolling towards the marina. Every few minutes, there would be a flash of lightning, followed by the roar of thunder. I was questioning the wisdom of taking my surgical colleagues for evening sail. Should something Read More

It was early morning on the 6th day out of New York City, traversing the Erie canal to reach Lake Ontario when we hit the bottom. We were really stuck. The depth sounder said we had 4’4” and my keel is 6’6”. This meant that two feet of my keel were firmly stuck in the Read More

The wind was blowing 25 knots from the starboard beam. We were sailing along at about 9 knots in rough seas on day 5 after departing from the Dominican Republic. The sun was out and although it was windy, it felt warm. It was difficult to move around the boat because of the boat’s erratic Read More

“John, if I were you, I’d try to get somewhere to wait it out or ‘heave to’. I would not enter the Gulf Stream ‘til it is safe.” The sage advice from the president of the Salty Dawg Sailing Ass., arrived by e-mail at 4 AM. Tuesday morning. Currently, S/V Ileana is 700 miles from Read More

“John, wake up. There’s a squall coming!” It was Steve. I was half asleep trying to avoid getting slammed against the port side wall of the moving bed. The waves had become more erratic and the forward cabin where I was trying to get some sleep was causing my body to lift off the bed Read More

The temperature in Dominican Republic now is 32 degrees Celsius. It is hot and humid! The plan is to leave for New York City on Friday. I heard from my weather router, Chris Parker, and Friday is looking good for strong and consistent trade winds to take us north for the three days into our Read More