Having capitulated, here’s how to raise the waterl...
September 25, 2026
Thoughts about the little boat that tends the big boat Issue 108: May/June 2016 Conditions at Fire Island Inlet on the south shore of Long Island were “a bit sporty,” as they say in New England, but n...
Diodes overcome a dearth of switches Issue 106 : Jan/Feb 2016 I recently replaced the fragile and outdated original plastic circuit breaker panel on Nurdle, my 1979 Bristol 35.5. As part of this proje...
Better backing plates restore rigidity Issue 108: May/June 2016 When a concentrated load is applied to a structure, that load must be distributed widely enough that the surrounding structure is not ov...
After pushing up daisies, a whole new life Issue 106 : Jan/Feb 2016 I recently moved aboard a 30-foot trawler yacht and needed a dinghy for shore excursions. It had to be small to fit on what passes f...
Easy on the eye, exacting in the making Issue 106 : Jan/Feb 2016 While constructing a forward stateroom for a customer, my husband, Dave, was given mostly free rein to design and build what he thought...
Keeping leafy greens fresh without a fridge Issue 108: May/ June 2016 When my partner, Robin, wants to get my attention, he’ll come home with a big beautiful bouquet of freshly cut collard greens. If ...
A former tightwad reflects on shoestring budgets Issue 108: May/June 2016 The pastime of sailing has often been compared to standing in a cold shower while tearing up 20-dollar bills. Yacht ownership ...
Ice-cooled air for a cool night’s sleep Issue 108: May/June 2016 Some nights in mid-summer it’s just too hot to sleep on the boat. Even with the companionway and all the ports and hatches open, ...
Installing air conditioning was a cool move Issue 108: May/June 2016 My Down East 45 schooner, Britannia, had neither air conditioning nor heating when I bought her one December in Fort Lauderdale. In...
Obscure tools the the gymnastics out of routine jobs Issue 106 : Jan/Feb 2016 We have owned our Pearson 386, Lakota, for more than 20 years. She is a lovely and reliable good old boat that has served ...
A faithful and forgiving foul-weather friend Issue 106 : Jan/Feb 2016 Ellen is on top of me! Our legs are entwined! We are lying against the starboard wall of our cockpit footwell. It is horizontal, p...
Reflection and absorption create quiet on board Issue 106 : Jan/Feb 2016 The iron wind is a fixture aboard most of today’s sailboats. On a typical sailboat the inboard engine lives directly beneath th...
An oceangoing cruiser by C&C and Ontario Yachts Issue 106 : Jan/Feb 2016 Gregg and Jean Tranter may list Calgary, Alberta, as their home, but they have spent every summer aboard grasal, a 1981 Ont...
How we sail is related to how far we are from the water Issue 106 : Jan/Feb 2016 During the summer sailing season I experienced another one of those revelations that occur from time to time. What I fi...
The alluring emanations of a seagoing home Issue 107 : Mar/Apr 2016 At any auto parts store in the country, you can buy an aerosol can of New Car Smell. Have you ever seen a can of New Boat Smell at y...
A soft solution to a hard-edged cockpit Issue 107 : Mar/Apr 2016 I’ve seen better cockpits. When Sparkman & Stephens designed the cockpit of our Fuji 40 in the late 1970s, I think the focus was on...
A banner application for plastic chain Issue 107 : Mar/Apr 2016 Somewhere in a remote cubby aboard your boat you probably have a stash of flags, ensigns, jacks, and pennants. They vary in size, shape,...
A summer cruise survived a broken transmission cable Issue 107 : Mar/Apr 2016 While on our annual vacation cruise last summer, powering across Lake Ontario from Sacketts Harbor to Waupoos, we started ...
. . . is Katnip to a family of lake sailors Issue 107 : Mar/Apr 2016 In April 2015, we purchased a 1974 Herreshoff America catboat. She was cute, interesting, and in need of significant TLC. She took ...
Seeing current requires GPS and a knotmeter Issue 107 : Mar/Apr 2016 I grew up sailing on a lake in upstate New York on a 16-foot hand-built wooden sloop. No tides. No currents. Only wind. No instrume...
Getting the kinks out of long-term storage Issue 107 : Mar/Apr 2016 Sailing the waters off the West Coast of British Columbia brings great joy along with the occasional challenges. Pacific Northwest s...
. . . when properly mounted and maintained Issue 107 : Mar/Apr 2016 When planning to buy a good old boat, most sailors typically look carefully at the design, the propulsion, the hull, the sails, and ...
A clever trick to keep old dogs working Issue 107 : Mar/Apr 2016 On my 1983 Hunter 30, the nine opening ports in three different sizes — all manufactured by Gray Enterprises — were getting shabbier ea...
At bottom, it’s a matter of technique and good planning Issue 107 : Mar/Apr 2016 Our 1978 Creekmore, Eurisko, had her original interior when we purchased her. After 14 years of cruising and raising th...
Replacing tired or truant screens in old opening ports Issue 107 : Mar/Apr 2016 Your boat may be fortunate enough to have been built with quality cast-aluminum or, even better, cast-bronze opening por...
Fatigue, false steps, and a child adrift Issue 107 : Mar/Apr 2016 After four days of the most uncomfortable seas in our entire world circumnavigation, we arrived at the island of Great Inagua, Bahamas...
Surface mounts step in where holes are not welcome Issue 107 : Mar/Apr 2016 The gold standard for secure mountings on boats has always been to use through-bolts, with a backing plate if the loads just...
As it flies, it defies flailing sheets and flapping sails Issue 107 : Mar/Apr 2016 A masthead fly is the truest indicator of the apparent wind direction, but it’s often obscured by either the Bimini o...
A shady, rain-proof whole-boat shelter Issue 107 : Mar/Apr 2016 A few years ago, I spent a rainy season in Trinidad with my boat hauled out while I did a major refit. As most of the work on my old 25-...
Track down trouble using logic and the right tools Issue 107 : Mar/Apr 2016 Electrical wiring on a typical good old boat has a tough life. The combination of salt, water, copper wire, and electricity ...
