A picture of someone drawing on a new waterline

Having capitulated, here’s how to raise the waterline Issue 24 : May/June 2002 In the course of family boating history, some truths become self-evident. One of these is that boats get smaller. Sailing...

Picture of a windvane steering system

A system for cruisers that steers better than any crew and doesn’t drink your beer Issue 24 : May/June 2002 The wind is blowing 30 on your quarter, and the rain is coming in sideways. The seas and you...

Keep a repair kit on board for your head.

It ain’t brain surgery, but pampering your head will save your sanity Issue 24 : May/June 2002 A popular saying goes: “To a man with a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.” Perhaps this is why my ...

A vice, at top above, has many uses aboard. Siphon breakers, at left, are the only thing preventing water from slowly flooding the engine. A sail repair kit, above, is a necessity.

Things you need with you when you get away from it all Issue 24 : May/June 2002 Successful cruising is largely about independence — not in the sense of being indefinitely self-sufficient, but in that ...

Comparison chart between Sabre 30, Tartan 3000, Ericson 30+, and Bristol 29.9

Built for cruising and round-the-buoys fun Issue 24 : May/June 2002 The Sabre 30 is a fine example of the modern club racer/coastal cruiser and stacks up very well indeed against much of the competiti...

Shorepower cover picture

Issue 25 : Jul/Aug 2002 At our dock we have three shore cables: the 35-amp AC power cable, the telephone cable, and the cable-TV. To keep the shore-end plugs of these cables out of the weather when th...

Bucket-drogue keeps Siandra’s dinghy away from the topsides in wind-against-tide conditions.

Issue 25 : Jul/Aug 2002 There is nothing more irritating than the thwack of a hard dinghy against your transom. Cursing, you stomp up on deck, give the painter a few extra feet of slack, and thrust th...

approved stamp

Rigorous and expensive surveys lead to yacht certification Issue 27: Nov/Dec 2002 MANY READERS WILL HAVE HEARD of Lloyd’s Rules or, perhaps, seen ads boasting that this or that yacht has been designed...

Picture of a wheel chocked

Issue 25 : Jul/Aug 2002 One of the most vivid recollections of my childhood is of a boat launching at a local public ramp. A young man and his attractive girlfriend arrived in his new convertible with...

Facing page, Maho Blues in the harbor at La Paz, the best place to provision or repair a boat in the Sea of Cortez. At right, the cockpit seats and helmseat which were added for storage and comfort.

Expert practical advice on visiting the Sea of Cortez Issue 25 : Jul/Aug 2002 My wife, Bette, and I lived on our 1974 Cal Cruising 35 for seven years and cruised an estimated 14,000 miles up and down ...

Drawing of a boat in disrepair

Here’s the five-year plan that rescued a $1,200 boat Issue 25 : Jul/Aug 2002 Not so long ago I did not have a cruising boat, but I wanted one badly. My wife understood and said, “Take the $2,500 we’ve...

Male dorado

Part Three from the cruising chef with a focus on catching and preparing finned treasures of the sea Issue 25 : Jul/Aug 2002 I am not what could be called a sport fisherman. Whereas sport fishermen en...