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

The temperature is 32 degrees Celsius. There is a warm breeze coming in from the southwest. The sun feels warm on my skin as I get S/V Ileana ready for the voyage home. The staff at Puerto Bahia Marina greeted me like an old friend when I arrived three days ago. They genuinely seemed happy Read More

Ileana sat at her desk at the medical station located deep in the mountains of Guatemala. It was 1982 and she was finishing her last year of medical school. In their last 6 months of medical school in Guatemala, all the medical students were sent into remote areas to practice what they learned. The patients Read More

There was a full moon. It hung over the sailboat shining down from the black sky, lighting up the deck of the sailboat. It was a warm evening with a slight gentle breeze, just enough to cause the skin to tingle. The rain softly fell all day, on and off, resulting in magnificent cloud formations. Read More