Moonshadow, a Bill Garden-designed Husdon Force 50, cuts an impressive figure under sail, at top of page. At 30 tons, she was close to the limit on the boatyard’s 35-ton travel lift, at left. After a pressure wash, a close inspection of her hull revealed extensive blistering. Although the surveyor considered it largely a cosmetic problem, Dale chose to treat the blisters to prevent them from getting worse over time.

Tackling blisters one by one

A plan and hard labor win the day Issue 97 : Jul/Aug 2014 I had known for a couple of years that Moonshadow, our 1983 Hudson Force 50, needed to have the gelcoat blisters on the bottom repaired. Blisters affect some fiberglass hulls more than others and can be caused when water enters voids in...

Dale Bagnell

May 13, 2026

The boat was a 1979 Morgan 461 sloop that had spent nearly her entire life immersed in tropical waters. While sanding the thick buildup of bottom paint, the crew discovered many hundreds of tiny blisters. They first tried opening each one with a Dremel tool and waiting for the laminate to dry (PHOTO 1). The original plan was to “spot fill” these blisters using epoxy filler. However, when moisture levels failed to come down significantly after several weeks, an exploratory removal of the gelcoat was in order. That revealed a bigger problem (PHOTO 2).

The blister question

May 13, 2026

Nathan was first attracted to the O’Day Mariner as a teenager. Later in life he acquired one to sail, at top, and restore, above.

Restoring an O’Day Mariner

May 13, 2026

Marine Electrical Wire 101

May 13, 2026

Rob made his combination handhold and hook from an old length of handrail, top left. With the help of a miter box, Rob cut off the end loop a few inches into the next loop, leaving a handhold and a prong, middle left. He rounded off the end with an edge trimmer he uses on his router, which is small and easy to transport and hold, at left.

Grab hook or hookhold

May 13, 2026

Learning the ropes 2.0

Sailing a new boat is a mega adjustment Issue 98: Sept/Oct 2014 Sehnsucht is a German word for yearning and intensely missing something or someone. Standing on the deck of Mystic, our C&C 30, not long ago I had a profound feeling of longing for the boat we know. This is the boat Jerry and...

Karen Larson

May 12, 2026

Stars in the water

May 12, 2026

In the early days of the Neenah Yacht Club, members raced sandbaggers, top two photos, a class that evolved from the oyster boats of New Jersey. The races drew large numbers of spectators, many of them aboard steamboats, at left. Sandbaggers were a “development” class, and building new boats to stay competitive was expensive. To reduce the cost of sailing, a group formed the Nodaway Yacht Club and sailed “one-design” boats, the first of which was the Nodaway Class cat yawl, above, introduced in 1894.

Pioneers of Lake Winnebago

May 12, 2026

Finding Heidi

May 12, 2026

Once she discovered sailing, Lisa, here at the helm of Escape, found it brought back fond memories of time spent on the water with her father.

Falling in love with sailing

May 11, 2026

A heavy-weather lesson

May 11, 2026

Labels can divide us

May 8, 2026

Yearning for the ocean blue

May 8, 2026

After having been neglected for a few years, Finisterre, a Cheoy Lee Offshore 31, now has a barn to call her own and the chance of a future full of love.

Finisterre looks back

May 8, 2026

A bent toggle bolt, at top, will prevent the lifeline from being tightened and is a potential point of failure. Any damaged hardware item, such as this broken stanchion mounting bolt, at left, should be replaced immediately. Stern rails are often burdened with solar panels, outboard engines, wind generators, davits, barbecues, and man-overboard poles that make inspecting them difficult and add stress to the lifeline system, at right.

Lifeline security

Make inspection and maintenance your watchwords Issue 97 : Jul/Aug 2014 During the golden age of sail, old salts greeted new crewmembers with the advice, “One hand for the ship and one hand for yourself.” One trip to the yardarm during a howling gale to reef a flapping mass of wet, frozen canvas was all...

Frank Lanier

May 13, 2026

Diagrams of Rhodes Reliant, Whitby 42, Landfall 43, and Niagara 42

Seakindliness

The elusive measure of comfort at sea Issue 97 : Jul/Aug 2014 The subject of seakindliness comes up any time the conversation turns to long-range cruising. Someone who asks about a particular boat, “How seakindly is she?” wants to know how the boat responds to severe weather. Does she handle wind and wave without the...

Rob Mazza

May 13, 2026