Dodge Morgan
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Dodge Morgan was a columnist and long-time friend of Points East magazine, as well as being an accomplished business leader and sailor. His columns appeared in every issue of the magazine from its inception in 1998 until Morgan’s death in 2010. In 1986 he became the first American to sail solo, non-stop around the world. He died in 2010.
My annual fitting-out advisory
June 2009 By Dodge Morgan Since boat owners can be sorted into two categories – those who do their own fitting out and those who pay others to do it – we should review some role definitions for this spring
Read MoreLet’s revisit some of those classic screw-ups
October, 2001 By Dodge Morgan How about a column consisting of random thoughts? Hark, I hear some protests. “Why not?” Some shrugs (yes, one can hear a shrug. I once heard a bank VP’s nether orifice shrink). Some “What the
Read MoreWhat Eagle teaches, Wings will never know
September, 2001 By Dodge Morgan I sail Eagle when I want intimacy with the wind and water and Wings of Time when I want to go somewhere with obscene comfort. Eagle takes 20 minutes to get underway and Wings takes
Read MoreSex, the sea and the quantification of wisdom
August, 2001 By Dodge Morgan My relationship with the sea is as complex and as unfathomable as my relationships with people I love. I am not at all sure of the how or why of it. The answer is a
Read MoreFog is negotiable, even if the spuds run out
July, 2001 By Dodge Morgan The feature article in June’s issue of Points East, “Whistling for Bats,” nudged me into a haven of nostalgia. Author Richard Fullerton detailed a Downeast cruise to the St. John River in the especially lovely
Read MoreWhere would we be without the loonies?
June, 2001 By Dodge Morgan The lunatic fringe, and we’re talking about people here, can be found along the full range of human endeavor and in all age categories. There are wacky athletes, intellectuals, life-stylers, adventurers, sailors, activists, comics, plumbers
Read MoreTry a little character around the yard
May, 2001 By Dodge Morgan A boat owner’s relationship with the boat yard is extremely complex and delicate, a duel of two very different perspectives towards the only reason for the relationship in the first place: The boat. It may
Read MoreIs big-budget racing really sailing?
April, 2001 By Dodge Morgan I received a personal letter from Bob Rice, who is arguably the top special-events weather forecaster alive. Rice did the strategic weather planning for my solo, non-stop circumnavigation with American Promise and advised me on
Read MoreDon’t try talking reality with this ship
Midwinter, 2001 By Dodge Morgan It is much easier to mix reality and fantasy when one is at sea alone. And it is only when the two are combined in a kind of mental-state emulsion that the truth can be
Read MoreI’ll hang out with the turtles, thanks
By Dodge Morgan We had several wandering tribes in Maine this August. One could think that we are returning in spirit to our pre-Columbian, Indian roots with fully self-sufficient clans migrating between halos of action, some on land and some
Read MoreA celebration for the record book
By Dodge Morgan OpSail Maine 2000 weekend transformed Portland Harbor and western Casco Bay into a confusion of scenes spanning a century of time and a myriad of seagoing pursuits. The full-rigged ships and schooners of the Tall Ships parade
Read MoreAn unfamiliar feeling as land draws near
By Dodge Morgan Sailing into Bermuda, on June 7 at 5 in the morning was a very busy event. Wings of time and I folded into a traffic jam of two big square-riggers, an immense cruise ship, a United States
Read MoreLearning the ropes on a Murray Peterson schooner
By Dodge Morgan Murray G. Peterson of South Bristol, Maine, was my introduction to the golden age of yacht designers. It was essentially through him that I met, or at least found myself in the presence of, Aage Nielsen, Fenwick
Read MoreA funny, frugal and immensely talented designer
June 1, 2000 By Dodge Morgan How many of us can reach hack into sailing memories to the year 1963? Probably not if you haven’t been sucking on free air for 50 years or more. We codgers will have our
Read MoreJust keep that horse moving
By Dodge Morgan In Maine the boatyards are thawed and disheveled forms swinging buckets and paint cans are beginning to appear. The floats are not yet in, but the padlocks on the sheds are open. Mostly the activity is chat.
Read MoreUnshackled from February’s grip
By Dodge Morgan When you live on an island in a deep-water bay, you assume that walking home is not an option. This, however, is not the case if your island is in Maine in the winter of 2000. This
Read MoreSeason of sadness, season of joy
By Dodge Morgan It is October and the little Murray Peterson schooner Eagle and I are facing the sad passage that will end our thirty-second summer together. We are such good friends that we tend to take each other for
Read MoreGrowing older together
September, 1999 By Dodge Morgan Man and boat in harmony as rigging and joints squeak in The island home has some characteristics in common with a boat in that it is surrounded by water, has a windward and leeward side
Read MoreTwo easy ocean passages
August, 1999 By Dodge Morgan The air and water temperatures in the British Virgin Islands both hovered between 85 and 90 degrees F. The normal West Indies habit of occasional downpours that serve to cool things off were absent and
Read MoreThe scientific mind: Knowledge valued for its own sake
July, 1999 By Dodge Morgan Those of us who take great pleasure from the sea develop a spiritual relationship with her. It is a relationship that is built haphazardly over time on a collection of gut feelings, anecdotal knowledge and
Read MoreAccepting risk: For those who go to sea, it’s far better than the alternative
June, 1999 By Dodge Morgan There has been for some time a controversy over the cost and responsibility for rescues at sea. This controversy heats up each time an ocean race is blasted by heavy weather losses and every time
Read MoreThe boatyards are coming to life
May, 1999 By Dodge Morgan The migrating Canada geese and mallards are back. The eiders have paired off and are expecting. I expect the return of the osprey from their winter home in Georgia any time now. Snow is gone
Read MoreGetting by this time of year
April, 1999 By Dodge Morgan Now is worst of times for a sailor in Maine. It is March, the month of no progress on the promise of spring. It is like being horny with the woman nowhere to be found.
Read MoreWeather window heading south
Midwinter, 1999 By Dodge Morgan The standard sail from Maine to the West Indies in the late fall is a rough passage to Bermuda followed by a warm, easy slide to the islands. But there are always variations on this
Read MoreAnd the fewer utensils, the better the dining
October 1, 1998 By Dodge Morgan Sailors will eat anythingI have always wanted to write a cooking column. It is right there on my list of desires with arm-power flying, playing a Wurlitzer at Kennedy Center and spending an overnight
Read MoreHeavy weather is inevitable When it arrives, don’t forget to keep your boat
September, 1998 By Dodge Morgan There is absolutely no single definition of heavy weather even as we can, of course, define a hurricane, a storm, a whole gale. There are no practical heavy weather standards to guide us on the
Read MoreAn appreciation for the solo passage
August, 1998 By Dodge Morgan I believe there is no experience as deeply satisfying as a sea passage under sail. One enters a world of absolute independence, a world dominated by the forces of nature and empty of the baggage
Read MoreFlight of the ‘Eagle’ Ship goes where the law ought not to tread
May, 1998 By Dodge Morgan I have this nightmare, a wacky, “Help! Help! The paranoids are after me!” kind of nightmare. It goes this way: I am about to drop my mooring pennant for a sail on Eagle when suddenly
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