Merinoholics®

Many people think Merino wool is reserved for the cold places of the word: where the sleet falls and the frigid cliffs loom over ice climbers, where the blizzards bring hail and numb the toes of fishermen on frozen lakes, where biting winter winds nip at the noses and ears of backcountry skiers and chill bone to the core. But merino wool, though very good for all of those things, is also one of the most versatile fabrics out there. I’m here to tell you another place you might have overlooked to sport your new merino clothing: the boat.

For my birthday this year, I rented a Subaru and trekked up to Big Bear, California for a free day of skiing and two nights camping in the back of my car. Leaving Los Angeles around 9:00 AM, all of the East-traveling traffic had dissipated and I had an easy shot to the mountains and arrived there in about two hours. The road coming up 330 to 18 is one of my favorites in all of California. They call it the Rim of the World Highway because you run along the edges of ascendant mountains and through wild canyons that have expansive views of the Inland Empire and the Los Angeles Basin below.

It is December in Los Angeles and that means that the weather is almost impossible to prepare for. You’ll wake up to a chilled morning and dress in a full winter coat, only to be baked in the hot sun...

Today, I am a tourist. I am on a climate-controlled bus with a glass top, stopping for curated prepackaged meals and scenic photo-ops through New Zealand’s famed Fjordland. I am being driven by a bus driver full of dad-jokes and...

It is amazing the things you learn to appreciate when you are cut off from certain comforts of the world. When I was living and working on boats, the thing I missed most was hot water. More specifically, I missed...

Do you love spending time in the great outdoors—and being comfortable while you do it? It’s not a trick question; of course you do. If you prefer to be comfy, dry, and at an ideal temperature while you’re following your...

I recently had the experience of an airplane mechanical malfunction that needed to be addressed before we could board our flight. One would hope that the reaction to such a thing would be good: “Oh thank god, I’m glad we...

  The Swiss army knife of fabrics Why a 28 in by 80 in cut of fabric made of woven wool and silk is the most important item to bring with you anywhere. I recently took a November camping trip...

Just your typical Upstate New York polar vortex bringing the air temperature somewhere well below zero. It was however, a gorgeous day with blue skies and green pines and there was fresh snow on the ground. I decided to go for a jaunt on cross country skis through our family's backwoods out to the lake for some crisp air and exercise. 

As a born-and-bred child of the North-East, I was often told fables of the perfect 72 degrees of the Southern California. And I'd hate to be the one to shatter this illusion; but after a summer in California, I can...

I recently discovered a new word that encapsulates my early twenties fairly well. It is an old word that has been around since domesticated sheep: Woolgathering. Sheep naturally shed their wool when they rub up against things. And this word,...

California has got the goods when it comes to climate. I’m finding Los Angeles to be more and more of an outdoor city. There are beautiful mountain trails, camping venues from the shore to the desert, and it seems everyone...

Last week I had the fortune of coming home for Easter. The East coast ordered us up chill nights in the 40s and sunny days in the 80s. (Layers of wool were applied and removed as needed.) While home in...

I recently made the jump from the east coast to the west, and have just settled in the beach city of Santa Monica, where I will be doing a bit more of the same: a little bar-tending, a little sailing,...

Luckily, a few days after Christmas, the temperature dropped to 18 degrees and we were afforded our first taste of snow in the mountains. We decided to take advantage of the turn in weather to hike up to a pristine mountain pond situated above Lake George.

The October winds are here, and they bring with them swelling white caps and brisk gusts on the Hudson River. The sailboats that traverse these waters pitch and yaw in the sweeping currents. We also have to deal with the...

It's hot. It's the height of summer. It's the days where cotton clings to armpits and sweat trickles down spines. As I bike down the Western part of Manhattan Island, I drip with perspiration. The air is laden with the...

A lot of people caveat wool as a winter time fabric. It has connotations of hounds-tooth sweaters at Christmas parties, woolen snowflake beanie caps in ski lodges, and itchy pilled scarves worn on our first toboggan runs as children. But...