Having capitulated, here’s how to raise the waterl...
September 25, 2026
She’s just as fit for bluewater cruising as for club racing Issue 64 : Jan/Feb 2009 Olin Stephens pioneered the fast keel/centerboard (k/cb) ocean racer in the 1950s, beginning with the famous Finiste...
Two sailors were called to a Higher Porpoise Issue 64 : Jan/Feb 2009 On any given weekend — rain or shine — there’s going to be a party among the sailors on Missouri’s Mark Twain Lake. We’d never hear...
While we deliberated, our boat chose her own name Issue 64 : Jan/Feb 2009 It’s time to buy the champagne. The name of the Mega 30, our project boat, has been determined. Fate stepped in while we were ...
An automatic bailer for deck puddles Issue 65 : Mar/Apr 2009 This is not an original idea. We copied it from fellow sailor and Good Old Boat publisher Michael Facius. After all, we figured, if it work...
Use an upside-down blade to cut without tears Issue 65 : Mar/Apr 2009 For anyone fitting out a boat’s interior, the jigsaw is a very versatile tool. Unless you are familiar with a few simple technique...
A remote-control searchlight on a sailboat is a bright idea Issue 65 : Mar/Apr 2009 While preparing my Caliber 28 for a recent solo sail up the East Coast, I was in search of an affordable searchlight...
If there’s a hole in the hull, be sure to peek before it leaks Issue 65 : Mar/Apr 2009 Every inboard-powered boat has a number of holes through its bottom. The cooling-water intake, the rudder, and th...
Size evokes no envy when sailing is its own reward Issue 65 : Mar/Apr 2009 My wife, Jen, and I were settling down in one of our favorite anchorages after a hard but rewarding day of sailing. We’d brok...
A capable, inexpensive pocket cruiser from Canada Issue 65 : Mar/Apr 2009 In the early 1960s, Jim Bisiker, in collaboration with Dirk Kneulman and John Burn, formed Canada’s first production sailboat ...
An uplifting way to cure pesky deck leaks Issue 65 : Mar/Apr 2009 All the water that comes aboard our boat, whether from sea or sky, is supposed to drain off through scuppers in the sidedecks. Unfortu...
A well-built racer/cruiser with emphasis on racer Issue 65 : Mar/Apr 2009 On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina lifted Duet II out of her slip at the Fairhope (Alabama) Yacht Club, carried her across ...
A “bag of tricks” has the power to connect you, anywhere Issue 65 : Mar/Apr 2009 Cruising is full of surprises, but one you don’t need, and can easily avoid, is arriving in a strange marina to find th...
A better way to mount deck hardware Issue 67: July/Aug 2009 No doubt the builders who installed the original deck hardware on your boat took the easy way, and later owners who added further hardware p...
Life aboard is measured by aural stimuli Issue 65 : Mar/Apr 2009 A gull’s cry pierces the morning quiet of the marina as I open the hatch and emerge into the mist with my coffee. That sound bridges ti...
Food-safe epoxy makes potable possible Issue 65 : Mar/Apr 2009 At the end of a two-year search for a fixer-upper cruising boat, I acquired a Pearson Vanguard, hull #142 built in 1964. I found her in a...
Creating a bug-free zone down below Issue 67: July/Aug 2009 When you’re anchored in a marshy cove, it’s important to keep the bugs from invading the confined space belowdecks. Even if they aren’t the ...
To avoid engine troubles, fit the right propeller Issue 65 : Mar/Apr 2009 The shark meandered toward my right foot. It was so close I could see brown spots on its nose. Loaded with tools and dive gear...
Once stranded and condemned, she’s now her salvor’s Ruby Deux Issue 67: July/Aug 2009 In the tradition of all good seafaring stories, this one began on a night dark as pitch. The wind built from the s...
Banish those not-so-good old-boat odors Issue 65 : Mar/Apr 2009 When our good friends Jeff and Dawn told us they had just purchased a liveaboard sailboat, I knew what would make the perfect “boat warm...
Four fateful words that spelled six years of work Issue 65 : Mar/Apr 2009 Something must have blinded me to the first words in the Findings and Recommendations section of our boat’s pre-purchase surve...
Two good old boaters take the A-frame to the tabernacle Issue 65 : Mar/Apr 2009 Over the past several years, our cruises on Whippoorwill, our Cape Dory 27, have taken us to several places where we hav...
Fixing the mast step without pulling the mast Issue 65 : Mar/Apr 2009 No matter how you looked at it, we had a serious problem. Our boat’s mast step was compromised and would have to be repaired. In D...
Compact craft with offshore ambitions Issue 65 : Mar/Apr 2009 The three boats in this group — the Pacific Seacraft 25, the Bristol 24, and the Francis 26 — represent very different approaches to desig...
A singular affair with a Pacific Seacraft 25 Issue 65 : Mar/Apr 2009 There’s just no way to explain how a beautiful boat can capture its owner’s heart. You’d think that out in cyberspace there would b...
His magnum opus inspires anew Issue 65 : Mar/Apr 2009 Jerry and I were in awe of Don Casey in 1997 when we started our new magazine named with a nod of appreciation to Don’s popular book, This Old Boa...
Filled with boat love, her heart sang loud Issue 66 : May/Jun 2009 The smell, if I didn’t love it, would have made me sick. Diesel fuel, tar, salt water . . . and dreams. I couldn’t get enough. I stop...
A new way to get a grip on deck clutter Issue 66 : May/Jun 2009 “OK, Sam, slap the cuffs on her.” This line from an old B-rated cops-and-robbers movie could have a new life as good advice on how to ke...
Custom woodwork at a price you can’t beat Issue 66 : May/Jun 2009 Having never given the subject much thought, I assumed that all overhead hatches were fitted with some sort of locking or adjustable s...
Use your own observations to refine the local forecast Issue 66 : May/Jun 2009 A big part of guessing what the weather will do is knowing what it has just done. Reading Gord May’s excellent article, “...
A cut above the competition Issue 67: July/Aug 2009 Just after high school, Jerry Riggs began a life with boats racing 75-mph Class B hydroplanes. A fascination with engines and aerodynamics led to a ...
