Having capitulated, here’s how to raise the waterl...
September 25, 2026
A quest for reliable electrical connectors Issue 44: Sept/Oct 2005 MY BOAT CAME EQUIPPED WITH A POWERFUL AND RELIABLE hand-held spotlight. I consider a spotlight to be an essential piece of safety equ...
The magic combination of plastic and glass that changed boatbuilding Issue 37 : Jul/Aug 2004 Composite construction in the United States began in the 1940s — during World War II — when a southern Cali...
A 57-year-old pile of junk turns into a beautiful Johnson racer Issue 37 : Jul/Aug 2004 I drove 1,100 miles from Montana to Minneapolis after graduation from college. I was anxious to get home as ther...
Living with an old motorsailer calls for patience and special skills Issue 37 : Jul/Aug 2004 Motorsailers are a vanishing breed. Every year one or more manufacturers drops from the field. If not in ac...
Designer Ted Brewer remembers builder Jerry Koch with fondness Issue 37 : Jul/Aug 2004 In early 1982 I was approached by Jerry Koch, who asked me to come up with a unique small boat design unlike anyt...
She’s a trailerable, characterful, shallow-draft yawl with classic features Issue 37 : Jul/Aug 2004 The old saying that “if it looks right, it probably is right” applies to the Nimble 24. This i...
How a circumnavigator overcame his fear of sailing Issue 37 : Jul/Aug 2004 Whether outfitting for an extended cruise or a sail on a protected bay, there is no piece of gear that can take the place of ...
Too big an engine for an auxiliary can be a mistake, warns Ted Issue 37 : Jul/Aug 2004 Owners planning to repower their yachts almost always decide to put in bigger engines, reasoning that they will a...
The debate over outboard engines continues Issue 37 : Jul/Aug 2004 So you’ve finally decided to retire that old 7.5 Merc you have hanging off the transom of your beloved sailboat. The smoke and ...
Add light-emitting diodes to your existing cabin lights Issue 37 : Jul/Aug 2004 Because my wife and I are outfitting our Nor’Sea 27 for extended cruising, we wanted to replace our cabin lights with so...
English boatbuilders boast a 220-year history of doing things right Issue 37 : Jul/Aug 2004 One of the oldest and most enduring boatbuilders in the world is the English company Camper & Nicholsons...
Your guide to making a tricky job simpler and easier Issue 37 : Jul/Aug 2004 When you peer into the companionway of an unfamiliar boat, the first thing you notice is the cabin sole. It may be a textur...
How to eat well despite a lack of space and equipment Issue 37 : Jul/Aug 2004 Eating well is an integral part of boat safety. A hungry crew is more prone to seasickness, lethargy, and lower morale. An...
Reducing the black art of design to light weight and long waterline Issue 37 : Jul/Aug 2004 Bill Lee, who introduced ultralights into the sailboat race circuit in the 1970s, calls designing racing sai...
Sailorly advice for the fight against the evils of alcohol Issue 44: Sept/Oct 2005 Advice to the new owner of a boat with a Princess stove: THE VALVE-LIKE THINGIE ON THE TOP of the stove is where you ...
Nearly 20 years in production, and this centerboard cruiser is still going strong Issue 37 : Jul/Aug 2004 Given the choice, I’d rather test boats when the sun is shining, the temperature is in t...
Dave Martin, outstanding seaman, shares his experience with readers Issue 37 : Jul/Aug 2004 Our newest contributing editor, Dave Martin, was a good old boater long before the term was invented. His af...
A tinge of fear heightens autumn’s sensations of delight Issue 38 : Sept/Oct 2004 Marjorie and I rowed out to the boat around noon, just the two of us and the dog. The last day of September was magnif...
A tale of human fallibility and 500-hour alternator brackets Issue 38 : Sept/Oct 2004 The brackets connecting the bottom of the alternator to our engine failed in benign conditions miles from the near...
Gadgets you can make and use to back up your GPS Issue 38 : Sept/Oct 2004 Here are three navigation aids you can use when your GPS isn’t working or to reinforce old time-tested methods of navigating. ...
Comfort and grace from folding cockpit seats Issue 38 : Sept/Oct 2004 Among the loveliest boats around are Concordia yawls. They were designed by C. Raymond Hunt and, mostly, exquisitely built by Abek...
Careful fall layup gives you a head start in spring Issue 38 : Sept/Oct 2004 October on the north coast (Great Lakes) or, for that matter, anywhere north of the 38th parallel, means taking the boat ou...
Use this low-tech water trap for sanding dust Issue 38 : Sept/Oct 2004 I have a random-orbital sander for which I have an affection that borders on the unseemly. Hook it up to a shop vacuum cleaner, a...
The best way to join fabric to hard surfaces Issue 38 : Sept/Oct 2004 There occasionally comes the time when you need to fasten fabric to wood, fiberglass, or some other hard object. Sometimes eyes an...
Here’s how to keep those cockpit cushions in place Issue 38 : Sept/Oct 2004 The boat heels over, and the cockpit cushions end up in the foot well. You might even be sitting on one when it slides off t...
A sailor’s vivid impressions of Pacific sea, sky, and wind Issue 38 : Sept/Oct 2004 My friend Tom originally met Steve at one of the yachtsmen’s hangouts he frequented. There he made arrangement...
Smart addition to a venerable Cape Dory 27 Issue 44: Sept/Oct 2005 LAST JANUARY I SET OUT TO REFINISH the interior woodwork of Linda Jean, our 1981 Cape Dory 27. Most of the interior woodwork was easy...
Are you a forgetful trailersailor? Don’t fret. Here’s the list to end all checklists Issue 38 : Sept/Oct 2004 I pride myself in mentally warehousing innumerable, disjointed facts and recalling them at...
Memories are ignited in the firewood Issue 38 : Sept/Oct 2004 The woodpile. Sorting out the heap of driftwood harvested in haste after the high tides and high windsof the equinox, now there is time fo...
Radar takes the sting out of navigating in fog Issue 38 : Sept/Oct 2004 We’d been cruising the coast of Nova Scotia for a week but had yet to see it. Our charts said it was out there to the left somew...
