A much admired designer steps aboard Issue 68 : Sept/Oct 2009 Please join me in welcoming Robert Perry as a regular contributor to our pages. Bob is no stranger to Good Old Boat. He’s been a regular r...
For Richard and Beth Smith, it’s a best friend Issue 69 : Nov/Dec 2009 The sailboats Richard and Beth Smith have owned have taught them well. Kuma, their Ericson Cruising 31, is currently in charge of...
Deflecting the dreaded midlife malaise Issue 69 : Nov/Dec 2009 In this issue, Graham Watt puts forth a convincing argument that a wonderful education is available to the young person who invests his o...
It’s time to step to the dock Issue 70 : Jan/Feb 2010 As I head rapidly toward my 60th birthday (and Jerry sees his 70th arriving in a few years), I have noticed that our attitudes about sailing are e...
Fast and furious ultra-light fun Issue 71 : Mar/Apr 2010 Eric Thomas doesn’t swagger. It’s not his style. Even though he has won an amazing collection of sailing honors with his good old boat, an Olso...
Fun comes first in the St. Petersburg GOB Regatta Issue 72 : May/Jun 2010 Steve Lang started something big in St. Petersburg, Florida. As a Good Old Boat subscriber, beginning with the very first issu...
A tall-ship captain sails a petite Dana 24 Issue 72 : May/Jun 2010 Minstrel is the perfect name for Karen Sullivan’s Dana 24. Karen has done a fair amount of wandering from coast to coast and beyond a...
The triumph of the do-it-yourselfer Issue 72 : May/Jun 2010 The thing that separates the hard-core do-it-yourselfer from other sailors is just this: no fear. We were replacing a vinyl window in our 17...
They’ve stuck together through thick and thin Issue 73 : Jul/Aug 2010 Durkee Richards found the girl of his dreams at age 18 and became a one-woman man. He and Mary Jeanne hit all the expected stops a...
The point of going is to be gone Issue 73 : Jul/Aug 2010 This summer — for the first time in my adult life — I will have a 12-week vacation. By the time you read this issue, Jerry and I will have just...
When cruising, our days begin with tea and the forecast Issue 74 : Sept/Oct 2010 One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned as we cruise is the difference between weather reports for the landed gentry an...
A well-loved sailboat sparks a romance Issue 75 : Nov/Dec 2010 The town of Annapolis has a reputation as a drinking town with a sailing problem. If that’s true, I would add that many of the sailboats ...
Cautious amateurs start with a kit — for an asymmetrical spinnaker Issue 76 : Jan/Feb 2011 Never say “never.” For nearly 20 years, I have loudly proclaimed that I would never sew a sail for Mystic, ou...
An object of doubtless devotion, Sin Sal sparkles Issue 76 : Jan/Feb 2011 When he suggested that we feature the Tartan 34C owned by Max Guzman and Donna Delahanty, Tom Wells described this boat as “no...
Seafaring women earn the right to lament Issue 76 : Jan/Feb 2011 Not all women believe they were meant to go to sea. I’m convinced, in fact, that the vast majority are sure that women are not meant to...
The secret to harmony aboard Issue 77 : Mar/Apr 2011 There is aboard some couples’ sailboats a phenomenon known aboard our boat as “the Princess Principle.” This is a condition in which the guy (usual...
Under cover of snow, new skills emerge Issue 78 : May/Jun 2011 It’s been a tough winter for folks from the Pacific to the Atlantic. In Minnesota, we had snow on the ground before Thanksgiving (the har...
Fabric scraps protect delicate displays Issue 80 : Sept/Oct 2011 The sailing instruments in our cockpit are not the original units that came on our good old boat. The depth sounder and knot meter have...
A Swedish classic is the retirement plan he can live on Issue 80 : Sept/Oct 2011 When Stephen Thompson reached 50, he didn’t have a midlife crisis in the same way that most do. He didn’t buy a red Cor...
Mystic’s mad scientist is at work again Issue 80 : Sept/Oct 2011 Strange noises have emanated from our basement ever since we moved in 20 years ago. I’ll hear high-pitched whines, odd buzzings and whi...
Issue 83: March/April 2012 Brian Cleverly was born in Sydney, Australia, on October 17, 1936, and died on November 6, 2011, two days after his 75th birthday. Brian is known to many of our longtime sub...
Mastering the machine assures entry to the club Issue 81 : Nov/Dec 2011 Defining moments can occur at any time. I was sewing a couple of covers for the new (larger!) winches Jerry installed this past ...
What’s in a name? Issue 82 : Jan/Feb 2012 It’s hard to believe Good Old Boat is approaching its 15th birthday. It was 15 years ago this past fall that Jerry and I sat on Mystic in the Canadian Slate I...
A life’s love of sailboats summed up in Finesse Issue 84 : May/Jun 2012 Over the years, Texan Richard Beard has owned nearly two dozen boats, but his heart has always gone out to Alberg designs. It’s ...
Warm up those earbuds and chill . . . Issue 83: March/April 2012 About this time of year, the northern sailors among us get a bit weary of winter. We start attending boat shows. Even shows that don’t ...
We are the yarns we spin Issue 84 : May/Jun 2012 My husband is a masterful storyteller. One of his best collections of tales records years of racing Flying Scots in a fleet in which the 19-foot Scots ...
A passel of pocket cruisers put on a show Issue 85 : Jul/Aug 2012 The C&C Mega 30 project boat in our backyard doesn’t fit the true definition of a pocket cruiser, but she will be trailerable once...
A blade maker and a good old boatbuilder create the Sage 17 Issue 87 : Nov/Dec 2012 As a brand-new design, the Sage 17 doesn’t exactly fit the standard description of a good old boat. And yet, since t...
Exploring the social side of sailing Issue 86: Sept/Oct 2012 Magazine time being what it is (and our short seasons in the Northland being what they are), I write this as our sailing season is just beg...
A sewing sailor needs her own pair of pliers Issue 87 : Nov/Dec 2012 Here’s a little-known fact: any sailor who sews should have a pair of pliers in his or her sail-repair kit. Pliers are just the thi...