Have your boat text you when it’s in trouble Issue...
June 24, 2026
It’s neither mediocre nor boring Issue 98: Sept/Oct 2014 We go to Florida in January to get away from the cold north, but Florida weather conditions allowed the boat I tested near Jacksonville to live...
Mayhem begets a teaching moment Issue 92 : Sept/Oct 2013 It’s amazing how fast things can change on the water. How does that salty expression go . . . that sailing is 99 percent boredom and one percen...
A popular cruising catamaran Issue 92 : Sept/Oct 2013 When Henry and Linda McKevitt traded in their S2 9.2 center cockpit in October 2011, they had been looking for a comfortable boat for cruising the...
A museum examines Canada’s modern boatbuilding history Issue 98: Sept/Oct 2014 This past spring saw the opening at the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes in Kingston, Ontario, of a unique and ongoing ex...
Shelter for a cockpit that’s active in winter Issue 92 : Sept/Oct 2013 Blue plastic hardware-store tarps appear in our marina about the time mushrooms sprout in the nearby woods. Slung over booms and ...
New life for a good old boat’s wheels Issue 98: Sept/Oct 2014 Three times we went to look at the Catalina 22. Under the grime and moss she seemed to be in overall good shape, if just a little neglecte...
. . . and an International Folkboat feels the love Issue 98: Sept/Oct 2014 It’s my belief that an obscure gene compels some of us to complicate our lives with elderly boats. In my case, it first appea...
Highway hauling takes preparation and patience Issue 92 : Sept/Oct 2013 Sometimes good old boats need to be moved overland. Many were not designed for that and present a challenge that may seem overwh...
Doing a brutal job without the heavy lifting Issue 92 : Sept/Oct 2013 If you own a good old boat you’ve no doubt had the dubious joy of working on its bottom. Perhaps multiple coats of bottom paint ha...
A well-earned renovation for a well-used boat Issue 92 : Sept/Oct 2013 When Ken and Ginny Reinink decided to buy a good old boat, they had a list of criteria. The boat had to be the right size for two...
Vinyl restores the look and the footing Issue 92 : Sept/Oct 2013 Back in the early days of Good Old Boat (March 2000), I wrote an article detailing my efforts to bring new life to the interior of our ...
A tired saloon table gets a facelift Issue 92 : Sept/Oct 2013 The tabletop and countertops on Jammin, my 1981 Stevens 47, are a lovely almond Formica that was the must-have material before Corian came...
Five ideas that flunked; five that made the grade Issue 92 : Sept/Oct 2013 In the years since we launched her, our home-finished 31-foot Cape George cutter has been subjected to perhaps the most rigor...
Variety is the spice of the sailing life Issue 92 : Sept/Oct 2013 One of the greatest aspects of offshore and coastal cruising is meeting other like-minded souls out there who are sailing the world’s ...
Shelter and a helm station are key features Issue 92 : Sept/Oct 2013 It’s a challenge to define what we mean when we refer to a pilothouse on a sailboat. Is inside steering a definite requirement? Wha...
When it’s time to replace them, think swageless Issue 92 : Sept/Oct 2013 Most good old boats were delivered from the factory with swaged terminal fittings on their standing rigging — the shrouds and s...
A handsome cruiser with highly evolved amenities Issue 92 : Sept/Oct 2013 Pearson Yachts updated several of its more popular designs in the late 1980s, releasing them as what is commonly referred to a...
Oh, yes . . . sailboats are a distraction Issue 92 : Sept/Oct 2013 Sailboats are clearly a distraction in the lives of sailors. At Good Old Boat we see a predictable and seasonal pattern in our reader...
Cold souls among the jackstands Issue 93 : Nov/Dec 2013 Winter has closed in. Boats are hauled out in northern climes. Their once-sweet lines are swaddled in shrink-wrap or tarps. The boatyard, which ...
An old-time rope trick saves the docklines Issue 93 : Nov/Dec 2013 Not until our family spent our third winter aboard while cruising on Ganymede — our home-finished Cape George 31 cutter — did we have...
Adapting a boathook to do double duty Issue 93 : Nov/Dec 2013 To make my own whisker pole, I developed an alternative approach to that described by Clarence Jones (“An Inexpensive Whisker Pole,” May 2...
Comfort and convenience — watchwords for the off watch Issue 93 : Nov/Dec 2013 Those of us who sail boats that heel or roll sometimes need help staying in our bunks. Traditionally, a leecloth is faste...
Innovative design and a voluminous interior Issue 93 : Nov/Dec 2013 Hunter Marine builds enough boats, about 2,000 a year, to make it one of the leading producers of sailboats in the world. The compan...
It’s everything from taxi to truck Issue 98: Sept/Oct 2014 Selecting a dinghy is a critical step in outfitting a cruising boat, but amid the onslaught of outfitting decisions about whether to add sola...
Vent dryers bar moisture from fuel tanks Issue 93 : Nov/Dec 2013 Our marina has a regulation that prohibits us from refueling our boats from jerrycans while tied up in our slips. The trouble is, I lik...
Electric substitute for a mechanical pump Issue 93 : Nov/Dec 2013 Our 46-year-old Allied Seabreeze, Secret Water, is a wonderful sailing boat. Nonetheless, reliable auxiliary power is a high priority....
A Sandpiper sheds its dust and spreads its wings Issue 93 : Nov/Dec 2013 I caught the sailing bug early despite the fact that powerboats outnumbered sailboats by a zillion to one on the lake at my gra...
Rolling Awlgrip for a mirror shine Issue 93 : Nov/Dec 2013 In this first of two parts, Anne and Chris make the decision to apply Awlgrip to the topsides of their Bruce Roberts 45, Mr. Mac. While they ...
Bridge the gap twixt dock and deck Issue 93 : Nov/Dec 2013 My wife and I have been the proud owners of Anastasis, an Islander 28, for seven years. She was very well equipped when we bought her, truly ...
Extracting an engine with grace and ease Issue 98: Sept/Oct 2014 Under normal circumstances, I would not even think about removing the engine from Hornblower, my 1976 Pearson 35. However, during a sum...
