Captain's Log

Every December we offer up our Annual Guide to Great Cruising Destinations, which is designed to give you a glimpse inside some of the world's best cruising grounds and provide the information you need to make a great cruising or charter vacation a reality. This year we are highlighting the British Virgin Islands, the world's most popular bareboat charter destination and one of the world's most pleasant and most civilized areas to cruise.

But we also include in the guide this year glimpses of what it is like to charter in Europe, the South Pacific and Asia. If you have already explored the Caribbean, then heading off to more far-flung destinations may be the best way to experience a world cruise two weeks at a time.

Every year we try to get away for a charter sometime during the long dark months of winter. The getaway from office and home is always fraught with last minute details. A million loose ends have to be attended to, and it always seems there is some crisis that arises just as we are trying to get out the door. The airport has to be negotiated, and then the shuttle to the marina. By the time we arrive at the boat or hotel where we will be sailing, by the time friends arrive, by the time we know we are truly away we also are pretty well exhausted.

The first day of sailing starts the mending process. If we are in the Caribbean, we usually know the islands well enough to have favorite anchorages and watering holes ashore, and we will head for one of these. Sailing with the engine off, with just the wind in the sails and the sun on our backs, has the amazing effect of erasing whatever stress we brought with us. An afternoon swim, a stroll on the beach, a sundowner at a beach bar, a fresh fish for dinner and then back to the boat for the first night afloat - we always wonder why it is we don't live like this all the time.

By the third day, time has really begun to change. The wristwatch has been stowed away, and we are now living by the cycle of the sun and the moon. Thoughts of the children, wherever they are, the dogs at home, the oil burner in the basement, the projects at work that kept us up nights - all of that seems to have faded into a mental recess at the back of the brain. We are living in the present now. The big plans at hand involve finding a good spot for snorkeling, hiking to the top of a nearby hill and making sure we have the anchor well set before dark.

By the end of the week, the first flush of sunburn has turned to tan and we have become completely acclimated to the tropical heat and to the steady pleasant press of the trade winds. We have the boat sailing as well as we can, and we have figured out how to keep whatever cranky systems there are aboard working. We are waking up fresh and bright, napping in the afternoon and sleeping as we haven't slept in a long time.

Taking off to a lovely warm place for a week or two of sailing during the winter may be the best restorative we can think of. A week is great. Two weeks is much better. And, as the years go by, you can virtually cruise around the world in two-week increments, enjoying the best cruising grounds while leaving the passagemaking to the pilots of the 747s.

Fair winds,