Issue 21 : Nov/Dec 2001 The Dana 24 is the second-smallest boat in the series of production boats manufactured by the Pacific Seacraft Corporation (PS) in California. PS has earned a nationwide reputa...
Old-fashioned, cocky, seakindly Issue 23 : Mar/Apr 2002 The British coastline is rugged and convoluted around Falmouth, Cornwall. The tides run fast, and the wind blows stormily from the southwest. A ...
They roam the world’s oceans Issue 26 : Sept/Oct 2002 The British manufacturers of Frances 26 sloops managed to characterize them perfectly in remarkably few words: “They routinely roam the world’s oc...
A talented aristocrat Issue 29 : Mar/Apr 2003 A Contessa 32 named Assent was fated to go down in nautical history when she was the only yacht in her class to finish a race marred by a storm so bad tha...
No compromises in this powerful cruiser Issue 30 : May/Jun 2003 The Nicholson 31 is a deceptive boat. Above the waterline she has the lines of a sleek modern racer/cruiser. Her cabintop is low and str...
What you need for cruising. . . besides the boat Issue 37 : Jul/Aug 2004 I’ve been giving a lot of thought lately to what kind of coin to put under the mast of Sangoma, a 1983 Cape Dory 27 I’m refitti...
How a good old canoe fooled generations of sailors Issue 45 : Nov/Dec 2005 Ever dreamed of crossing an ocean? Most of us have. And, if you’ve done your homework, you’ll have read about some storm-surv...
Will Lesh builds wooden sailboats by the thousand Issue 49 : Jul/Aug 2006 To say Will Lesh is mad sailboats would be a gross understatement. Since childhood, his life has revolved around sailboats. He...
Is it really good for the soul? Issue 73 : Jul/Aug 2010 I have a confession to make. I have booked a passage to Alaska on a cruise ship. I’m confessing because for years I’ve been saying to anyone wit...
A well-thumbed book has been a faithful companion Issue 75 : Nov/Dec 2010 I was fossicking around in a used-book store the other day when I came across a copy of A Manual for Small Yachts, by R. D. Gr...
Bird sightings enrich the cruising experience Issue 78 : May/Jun 2011 We never took much notice of birds before we went to sea. We didn’t need to. We had human company everywhere we went. Not all of i...
Age and patience make up for fading youth and verve Issue 84 : May/Jun 2012 There comes a tide in the affairs of men that, taken at the flood, sucks them swiftly away from the sea and boats and strand...
. . . but not one to brag about or to repeat Issue 123: Nov/Dec 2018 When I was 15 or so I spent my weekends hanging out at the local yacht club looking pitiful until an old man felt sorry for me and ...
Anything for love, right? Or was it something else… Issue 136: Jan/Feb 2021 This fool thinks I’m going to buy his boat. I can tell by the look on his face, he thinks I’m hooked. He hasn’t a clue...
The world’s most famous physicist was a devoted, if unconventional, yachtsman. Issue 140: Sept/Oct 2021 What name would you give an amateur sailor who capsized, hit rocks, and ignored bad weather? Who...
Wherein the lack of a head door threatens a happy marriage and worse yet, a cruise. Issue 141: Nov/Dec 2021 One thing I learned about long-distance cruising under sail—especially aboard boats on the s...
Here’s a cook’s tour of seaworthy recipes suitable for a good old boat’s chef. Issue 146: Sept/Oct 2022 Pity the poor cook. Think of the limited space for a galley on most good old b...
A longtime sailor ponders the seemingly human qualities of an obdurate outboard Issue 151: July/Aug 2023 Over a long sailing life, I have found that there are times when, for no apparent reason, an ou...
A pawl, aka chain stopper, can take the strain when you windlass won’t. Issue 138: May/June 2021 Once, when I was working for a yachting magazine, we received an anguished letter from a cruising...
The DIY deck paint job looked fantastic. Then the surveyor showed up. Issue 137: March/April 2021 Toward the end of a 13-month refit, my 1968 Santana 22 was looking pretty spiffy. Just the decks remai...
Irascible and indomitable, the British Seagull was not for the faint of heart. Issue 134: Sept/Oct 2020 Long before the Energizer Bunny, there was the British Seagull outboard motor. Conceived in the ...
Wherein a glorious small-boat adventure ends in ignominy and terror. Issue 134: Sept/Oct 2020 When I was young and thought I knew everything about boats and sailing, I would have laughed in your face ...
Blackberries, apples, and balancing stones grace a princess’ gift in the Salish Sea. Issue 129: Nov/Dec 2019 Somebody reminded me the other day that my wife June and I have been cruising around Puget ...
Superstition got you down? John Vigor offers tips for renaming your boat and keeping it lucky I once knew a man in Florida who told me he’d owned 24 different yachts and renamed every single one...
Planning for an unplanned inversion Capsize: how it happens, and what you can do to survive it When Isabelle Autissier’s 60-foot racer capsized in the Southern Ocean, it sent a chill of fear thr...
Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water … Why is it that some sailors go quietly about their business, consistently making quick, safe, and satisfying passages, while others lurch er...
When Sandy Mackinnon set out on a vacation trip down the River Severn, in England, he wasn’t planning to be away more than two weeks. His boat, after all, was a 10-foot 10-inch Mirror Class ding...