In America's earliest years, the waters surrounding the young country were vulnerable to foreign invasion, principally by the British Navy.

A 16-foot sail is last thing you might expect to see on an Island pond in the depths of a frozen February. Across the Vineyard, boats have been hauled, waiting for spring. Ice has taken over. But when the ponds freeze, a different kind of boat comes out of garages and sheds.

As the Sail Martha’s Vineyard winter lecture and dinner series continues this month, Matthew Stackpole will be at the Black Dog Tavern on Feb. 11.

When Tim and Trisha Colon bought a sailboat in Duluth, Minn., bringing the 45-foot boat home became a family adventure. With their two children, the Colons sailed the boat through the Great Lakes, down the Hudson River and across Long Island Sound to Vineyard Haven harbor.

The Moffett Race, run the first Saturday after Labor Day, has been the traditional season-ending race for the Holmes Hole Sailing Association. But with beautiful fall weather and eager skippers on hand, that tradition has been firmly scuttled.

The effects of the coastal storm this weekend could be seen Monday morning in Katama Bay, where a sailboat ran aground Saturday night. The Mass Transit, a 105-foot racing sloop anchored in the Edgartown harbor, was carried by winds to the upper bay.