After Baranof Island, an Alaskan voyage brings more beauty, a few bears, and stories to tell. Issue 142: Jan/Feb 2022 As we walk down the main pier in Craig Harbor, our family’s dock cart is heavily l...
Issue 142: Jan/Feb 2022 When I was in my mid-20s, I instructed cruising and sailing classes on monohulls and catamarans in the Caribbean, Bahamas, Florida, and basically anywhere else I was asked to g...
Issue 144: May/June 2022 Holding an inflatable globe, I point out the equator and describe that at zero degrees latitude, it divides the earth into northern and southern hemispheres. Next, the prime m...
Issue 146: Sept/Oct 2022 Poking and picking at a corner of worn teak on the port seat behind Yahtzee’s helm, I slowly test the wood’s integrity. Unexpectedly, a slightly upturned slat breaks free in a...
Issue 147: Nov/Dec 2022 Sticking a sailmaker’s needle into your hand hurts. Ask me how I know. Fortunately, after the first time, I didn’t do it again…that weekend, anyway. It was the first day of a s...
When the surprise of a bad rudder comes to light, there’s only one direction to go — forward Issue 149: March/April 2023 I have to start this story with a few warnings. Your rudder matters. Don’t take...
Issue 149: March/April 2023 With the mainsail hoisted and our 6-hp Mercury pushing us toward Lake Michigan, we scooted out of Pentwater Lake Inlet with high hopes. My 15-year-old brother, Matt, hanked...
Issue 151: July/Aug 2023 This issue of Good Old Boat, #151, marks 25 years since the magazine was first published in the summer of 1998. Great Lakes sailors Karen Larson and Jerry Powlas, who met thro...
Sitting in the cockpit together, my wife Jill and I watched daylight slowly appear over the Washington coast as our boys, Porter and Magnus, slept soundly in the gentle swell. It was good to be out on...
A Canadian Classic with a Racing Pedigree Issue 140: Sept/Oct 2021 As I walked down the dock at the Ludington Yacht Club, racers milled about, flags snapped in the breeze, and halyards clanged ...
Loosing tools in our tool bags, boxes or buckets is a common occurrence for many sailors. Where did that wrench go? Have you seen the small adjustable wrench? Well, one of readers has a clever solutio...
Four friends and a refit rocket tackle the raucous Race to Alaska. Issue 136: Jan/Feb 2021 Gripping the tiller in my left hand and the coaming in my right, I spin my head from side to side, desperate ...
There comes a time on a sailboat when something you’ve installed meets the end of its useful life. Maybe it’s a piece of gear that just can’t be repaired again. Or perhaps it’s an old sail so blown ou...
Baranof Island’s wild beauty and singular towns open a summer-long journey through Southeast Alaska. Issue 141: Nov/Dec 2021 Two hundred miles from the nearest point of land, it’s 11 p.m. on the summe...
A repower in rural Alaska required precise planning and helpful hands. Issue 130: Jan/Feb 2020 Wide awake in my bunk, I stared at the ceiling without really seeing it. It was nearing 3 a.m., and my mi...