Have your boat text you when it’s in trouble Issue...
June 24, 2026
An old boat’s wiring gets a facelift Issue 96 : May/Jun 2014 When repowering Natasha, our 1978 Islander Bahama 30 (see “Repowering to a Sail Drive,” July 2013), I was well aware that, as part of the e...
Registries can reveal a lot Issue 96 : May/Jun 2014 We’re all curious about the good old boats out there. You’ve probably learned to recognize some boats by their sail insignias, cove stripes, the sha...
A bow-to-stern hull-to-deck repair Issue 96 : May/Jun 2014 Don hailed us from his car as he stopped next to us in the boatyard. “Well, I’m done for the day,” he said, “I’m heading home to take my wife...
A long-term problem cured Issue 96 : May/Jun 2014 Secret Water is an aging and much-loved 1965 Allied Seabreeze 35. During my stint as owner (1996 until present), she has had her share of annoying dec...
Tablets and laptops and smartphones, oh my! Issue 96 : May/Jun 2014 Not long ago, I had the pleasure of helping to sail Alaria, a Pacific Seacraft 34, from Maine to the Caribbean. The other members of...
Adapting a boat to a lightweight crew Issue 96 : May/Jun 2014 At the age of 55, I decided it was time for me to have my own boat so I could do what I wanted . . . in my own way. Although I’d been livi...
. . . but you can still enjoy the journey Issue 96 : May/Jun 2014 We should have known better. Over the years we have tried to plan ahead and have mail waiting for us when we arrived somewhere, but we...
. . . but none the worse for the off-road experience Issue 96 : May/Jun 2014 That bright October afternoon, conditions were perfect for our Sunday motorcycle ride. We rumbled along for a few miles in ...
Bid farewell to flutter Issue 96 : May/Jun 2014 A Bermudan or Marconi mainsail is seldom a straight-sided triangle. On many sails, the leech — the aft edge of the sail — is made convex to add more sai...
He founded Westerly Marine Construction and launched a thousand dreams Issue 96 : May/Jun 2014 Denys Rayner was born in the outskirts of London, England, in 1908. As a boy, he was smitten with boats, ...
A sturdy sailing motorsailer Issue 96 : May/Jun 2014 Capital Yachts, the builder of the Gulf 32, was formed in 1971 by Jon Williams and Bill Smith when they bought the tooling for the Newport line of ...
She was a long time budding . . . Issue 96 : May/Jun 2014 Eleven years is a long time to dedicate to a two-year refit. But there it is. This summer we will launch our project boat, purchased in Februa...
Parallels between the Blue Ridge and the deep blue Issue 97 : Jul/Aug 2014 I used to dream about sailing around the world in our beloved 32-foot double-headsail Cheoy Lee ketch, Experiment. You know t...
A mobile stand takes the weight Issue 97 : Jul/Aug 2014 I live just a couple of houses from the beach where I keep my dinghy, but now that I have a heavier 4-stroke outboard it’s a chore lugging it do...
A pie plate lets in great helpings of sky Issue 97 : Jul/Aug 2014 While preparing Ganymede, our Cape George 31 cutter, for a summer cruise in northern waters, we thought it would be nice to get more l...
Use them for handles, tethers, and tie-downs Issue 97 : Jul/Aug 2014 We have dozens of lanyards aboard Nine of Cups. We use them on pelican hooks, zippers, key rings, flashlights, and even USB flashdr...
Not every child is raised alongside a yawl Issue 97 : Jul/Aug 2014 My brother, Boo Boo, materialized in a crib in the dining room in 1964 about the time Dad birthed a boat in the living room. Dad had ...
Performance in Starck-ly beautiful French style Issue 97 : Jul/Aug 2014 A problem many inland sailors face is that they eventually get tired of sailing the same water. Two years ago, that is what poss...
Celestial bodies have lost their star appeal Issue 97 : Jul/Aug 2014 I was in my early twenties when I first learned about celestial navigation. I had an interest in astronomy as a kid, was a fairly k...
A lack of options pointed to DIY Issue 97 : Jul/Aug 2014 I met my rudder on March 30, 1998. It was attached to a Nicholson 35 that my wife, Mary Broderick, and I were about to buy. Our surveyor had ju...
Easy on the eyes and warm to the touch Issue 97 : Jul/Aug 2014 The stainless-steel steering wheel on our 1978 Islander Bahama 30 was always cold on the hands and the eyes. I wasn’t a fan of expensive ...
The Oxford Dinghy lured a family into sailing Issue 97 : Jul/Aug 2014 The last thing on my mind that Friday evening 34 years ago was buying a boat. With Peg beside me and our son Chris in the back sea...
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 yourse...
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. Blist...
To peel or not to peel? Issue 97 : Jul/Aug 2014 The photos on these pages illustrate a complete six-layer laminate peel and replacement using biaxial cloth and vinylester resins followed by an epoxy b...
Essentials first, then the fun parts Issue 97 : Jul/Aug 2014 I first laid eyes on an O’Day Mariner as a teenager while working at my family’s marina in Niantic, Connecticut. It was a derelict, but the...
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, “H...
Use the proper wire for safety and reliability Issue 97 : Jul/Aug 2014 Household electrical wire, automotive wire, and marine-grade electrical wire are all very different. When subjected to the vibrat...
Some sailors still value the printed world Issue 98: Sept/Oct 2014 In 1807, President Thomas Jefferson recognized the necessity for accurate coastal navigation charts. Since 1862, the U.S. government ...
A sweet sailer with an innovative interior Issue 98: Sept/Oct 2014 Dave and Aileen Gruendel are one of those rare and fortunate couples that does everything together. They met in graduate school at th...
