Sailing stories from Canada.
The Feature · The Exumas, Winter 2026
Beth and Ian chartered a week in the Exumas with a Sail Canada instructor. They came to work on docking and sail trim. By the end of the week they were talking about the boat they wanted to buy.
On the morning they left Black Point, Beth could almost count the depth of the water by the colour of the sand. The sand was white at the head of the anchorage, turquoise where the bank dropped away, and darker blue further out. Ian stayed on the bow while they weighed anchor, watching the water under the hull.
They’d been chartering together for years. Beth had sailed since she was a kid, a CYA student back when Humber College was running cruising programs. Ian came to it later, through her. Last winter they took an ASA course together in the BVI, but it didn’t really change the way they sailed.
This trip was different. They booked a week aboard Sweetwater, a Bavaria 36 out of Nassau, with a Sail Canada instructor. It wasn’t a course, exactly. It was a week of focused, honest work on the things they’d been putting off. Beth wanted to get comfortable on the dock. Ian wanted to feel sail trim, not just read about it.
Part Two · Sail Trim
Ian had talked about how he couldn’t quite figure out the finer points of sail trim. When he chartered, he knew instinctively that the wind speed and the boat speed weren’t adding up. His previous instructor had shown him the jib cars but never really got into how they worked.
After a week he could read the telltales, watch the shape of the leech, and feel the balance in the helm. It was a game changer for his next voyage.
Part Three · Boat Handling
Beth and Ian wanted to be better at COB drills. As a future double-handed crew, building muscle memory was a key skill they hoped to master. The instructor put a fender over the lifelines and had them circle back to it again and again.
The crew at the Norman’s Cay marina were more than accommodating, giving them time to practice on the fuel dock before the super yachts began their checkout processes. They practiced docking in a crosswind, used the spring lines, and learned how to use prop walk to their advantage.
Part Four · What Comes Next
They want a boat. They’ve been talking about it for two years. This was the week the conversation changed.
Not a racer. A cruiser that could handle the Gulf Stream and still get into Bahamian anchorages. Something they could live on for a month at a time. They’ll charter for another season, maybe two, before they buy.
That last afternoon on the mooring at Warderick Wells, the wind dropped and the boat swung slowly to face the tide. Neither of them moved to go below.
A note on the publication
Every sailing school in this country has a version of this story. Current and would-be sailors looking for the next step, a new experience, or to be part of a community.
These stories get told at the dock, in the cockpit at anchor, on sailing forums late at night. But they need a platform. Across Canada, our clubs, schools, and instructors need a voice to share the experiences of Sail Canada trained cruisers.
That’s what Voyages is for. The racing side of the sport has a media infrastructure. The cruising side needs support.
Sail Canada has a mandate for marketing through storytelling. Voyages can be that conduit, built by the Sail Canada community and endorsed by the organization.
This sample is what one feature story could look like. Each issue would also carry smaller items: news from around Canadian sailing, stories from every province, product reviews, profiles of Canadian makers in the sailing and boating world, stories from Loopers, features on our waterways, and nature profiles. Weekly items would run between the quarterlies.
Sail Canada schools would contribute the stories their students are already living. Clubs, marinas, tourism boards, and marine businesses would support the work the way outdoor publications have always been supported.
If you’re reading this, you’re someone we’d like to build it with.
One story at a time. All Canadian.