Practical Boat Owner

Overpowered on the Atlantic coast

Readers’ cruising destinations, near and far

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Sailing down the coast of Portugal in winter had never been my intention; a holdup in Nazaré put me three months behind schedule. Still, there’s worse places to be stuck. So there I was, in February, running on a 30-35 knot wind, while surfing down 5m breaking waves.

This, my dear was never designed to do. She’s an east coaster, bilge keel, steel ketch, built for the coast and estuaries

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