Having capitulated, here’s how to raise the waterl...
September 25, 2026
To rest or wait out weather, heaving to remains a tried and true tactic at sea Issue 150: May/June 2023 Some seafaring traditions are worth carrying on, especially those based on knowledge and techniq...
There is a common saying that every object on a boat must serve more than one purpose, and I recently learned that the sentiment can be applied to clothes as well. Although we cast off for cruising tw...
This Old Boat author Don Casey used the Coronado 35 as the poster child for ugly sailboats. Hollywood must not read such books. In two of the 10-episodes of The Night Agent currently on Netflix, a Cor...
A Canadian Classic with a Racing Pedigree Issue 140: Sept/Oct 2021 As I walked down the dock at the Ludington Yacht Club, racers milled about, flags snapped in the breeze, and halyards clanged ...
When an enticing “free boat” presents an opportunity, a couple does their due diligence en route to a tough decision. My wife and I recently contemplated taking on a “free boat”...
What started as a joke between sailing partners became a transformational DIY bow thruster project Issue 149: March/April 2023 David Jolly and I are partners on Kindred Spirit, a 1985 Bayfield 32C tha...
This first-person narrative will not, contrary to the title, actually teach you how to build a boat. Rather, Jonathan Gornall tells the tale of his personal quest to construct a traditional clinker-bu...
The ins and outs of replacing your stainless lifelines with synthetic. Issue 148: Jan/Feb 2023 Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene, abbreviated UHMWPE and best known by the trade names Dyneema an...
A well-planned economy cruiser Issue 148: Jan/Feb 2023 Rich and Carolyn Sutorius of St. Charles, Missouri, sailed a Seafarer 26, Manana, for more than 30 years. We reviewed the boat in the July/August...
Charley Morgan — 1929-2023 Sailing legend Charles E. Morgan (Charley to his friends, which was just about everyone) passed away January 6, 2023 on Treasure Island, Florida, at the age of 93, mere hour...
How a mast overhaul marked the passing of an icon and a new chapter for a storied rigging loft. The 60-odd-foot aluminum tube, balanced horizontally on a custom two-wheeled cart, bounced and bent alar...
It is a tale oft told, a bright and promising voyage of brave young people who sail off to conquer terra incognita, well equipped and well led, only to be taught cruel and tragic lessons by the extrem...
On October 15, 2022 at the Kingston Yacht Club in Kingston, Ontario, in front of a sold-out audience, 12 prominent past and present members of the Canadian sailing community were inducted into the Can...
Building a Jordan Series Drogue is an exercise in patience, but well worth the effort. Issue 147: Nov/Dec 2022 As my partner, Tim, and I prepared to sail from Montreal, Canada, down the St. Law...
Simple to make, mast loops keep halyard ends tidy and secure. Issue 146: Sept/Oct 2022 I’ve been looking around at all the improvements you’ve made on Sahula during the past five years,” David said as...
Rob Ball’s legacy will live far beyond his years. I was shocked to hear of the recent death of my old friend Rob Ball at 79 years of age on September 9th from injuries suffered in a severe fall....
A Solid CCA-Style Centerboard Racer/Cruiser Issue 143: March/April 2022 John Geraci may not have known Pearson Yachts’ history when he learned how to sail in 1969 on a Pearson Commander, but he ...
A solid though somewhat stately cruiser Issue 117: Nov/Dec 2017 Pearson Yachts set off in a new direction in the 1970s. After the company’s founders, Clint and Everett Pearson, left in the mid-19...
After a winterlong refit, a 51-year-old daysailer looks sharp and sails like a dream. Issue 146: Sept/Oct 2022 My partner, Nancy, and I are in our mid-70s and have enjoyed ocruising in New England abo...
Keyhara was an old boat when my friend Mike and I found her sitting on a cradle in a backyard in Bay Village, Ohio in 1977. She needed a lot of work. The 23-foot cypress-hulled sloop had, at some poin...
Loosing tools in our tool bags, boxes or buckets is a common occurrence for many sailors. Where did that wrench go? Have you seen the small adjustable wrench? Well, one of readers has a clever solutio...
This is a remarkable story of one couple’s 17-year, 40,000-mile adventure that chronicles their sail from British Columbia to Lake Ontario the long way around. That is, heading west via French Polynes...
For six-time circumnavigator Webb Chiles, small boats are bluewater revelations. Issue 145: July/Aug 2022 I have owned three great boats, and two of them were small: Chidiock Tichborne, an 18-foot Dra...
Size evokes no envy when sailing is its own reward My wife, Jen, and I were settling down in one of our favorite anchorages after a hard but rewarding day of sailing. We’d broken out the margaritas an...
If one Bristol Channel Cutter fulfilled their sailing dreams, two could only be better. Issue 145: July/Aug 2022 “This poor, poor boat,” I thought, looking at the forlorn Bristol Channel Cutter tied t...
We’ve all heard it: “The two happiest days in a boat owner’s life are the day you buy the boat and the day you sell the boat!” While the idiom can be overused, it does apply to many sailors. I c...
This sailing tale needs to begin with the caveat that we are cruisers, not racers, and our 1978 Alberg 37 is outfitted as such. Yes, at one point in the Alberg’s past glory, she was considered fast by...
“Learn from me, if not by my precepts, by my example, how . . . much happier that man is who believes his native town to be the world, than he who aspires to become greater than his nature will allow,...
Stuffing boxes are an essential part of any boat (if you don’t have a sail drive). Positioned between the stern tube and the prop shaft, the stuffing box’s job is to stop water ingress while under pow...
Navigating turbulent insurance waters calls for planning, preparation, and patience. Issue 144: May/June 2022 You’ve never made a claim, yet your insurance carrier just dropped you. You’ve just receiv...
