Having capitulated, here’s how to raise the waterl...
September 25, 2026
ACETONE DANGER OVERSTATED In the September issue of The Dogwatch, we ran a story by Keith Davie (“Six Lessons from a Simple Job”) in which Davie offered the following: “Stay around to be an old good o...
Editor’s note: Has this happened to you? You’re out for a sail and realize the cockpit-led reefing line or mainsheet that has sailed many years with you is showing signs of wear or UV damage. Back at ...
As a cruising parent, I’ll be frank: narratives that sugar-coat what it’s like to set sail with very young children (the children are happy day and night, nobody gets seasick, it’s a...
British Columbia winter months are cool and damp with short days, rain, and minimal sunshine. Having a heat source on board is essential to keep the mildew at bay and so we keep Natasha, our 1978 Isla...
BY MICHAEL ROBERTSON HONORING HEROES The Association for Rescue at Sea (AFRAS) last month held their annual maritime search and rescue awards ceremony at the Rayburn House Office Building at Washingto...
Archipelago New York is an extended photo essay chronicling documentary filmmaker Thomas Halaczinsky’s single-handed sail in his 30-foot sloop, Sojourn, in and around New York Harbor and out to Long I...
If you suffer from seasonal affective disorder, you might want to plug in your UV lamp before cracking open Jon Keller’s riveting first novel, Of Sea and Cloud. In the depths of coastal Maine’s winte...
PLASTIC OR NAKED? Last month I put it to the readers about whether you think we should continue sending our magazine out into the world in single-use plastic polybags or send it naked and unprotected ...
“People have told us how lucky we are, to get to sail far away. My typical response is to say luck has little to do with it, that we’ve worked so very hard, made many difficult decisions, and given up...
BY MICHAEL ROBERTSON WE WANT FANCY If you’ve done any fancy rope work on your boat, send us a great photo of it. Maybe you’ve wrapped your wheel or boathook handle. Maybe you’ve wrapped your keel-step...
As our boat is 40 years old, she’s not free of blemishes but so far there is no indication of chalking on the gelcoat. Accordingly, every year when my wife, Eileen, and I polish the hull of our good o...
A ravenous rat unites a community while wreaking havoc on board At our farewell party at the Club Náutico de Sevilla, Spain, I ate something I shouldn’t have, and on returning to Entr’acte, I lay down...
BY MICHAEL ROBERTSON WE WANT FANCY We have a fantastic readers’ photo spread coming up in the September issue, and we’re already thinking ahead to the next. If you’ve done any fancy rope work on your ...
Many a young scion of Maine’s summer people has enjoyed a boyhood spent messing about in boats, and the experience has no doubt caused some to drift off their expected career course. That seems to hav...
We occasionally go to potluck events in our marina where four or five couples are trying to cook their food on a single gas/charcoal grill. There is usually too much food to cook on the grill at one t...
STILL POSTULATING OVER PFD’s I approve of your editorial (The Dogwatch, July 2018) because it is an educational, thought-provoking, even-handed essay. As a solo sailor whose father was knocked overboa...
Set in the alluring South Pacific, this coming-of-age novel describes three young friends on their personal and shared journies, reckoning with their past while looking toward a potential shared futur...
Set in the alluring South Pacific, this coming-of-age novel describes three young friends on their personal and shared journies, reckoning with their past while looking toward a potential shared futur...
Set in the alluring South Pacific, this coming-of-age novel describes three young friends on their personal and shared journies, reckoning with their past while looking toward a potential shared futur...
FIRE THE EDITOR! Last month I put it to the readers about editorial responsibility, whether it’s incumbent upon sailing magazine editors (this one in particular) to not publish images that show sailor...
BY MICHAEL ROBERTSON FREE GOOD OLD BOAT Interested in a sound Albin Vega 27? She’s on the hard in Old Saybrook, Connecticut, and reader James Villa is giving her away to a good home. Of course, there ...
Editor’s note: A Taste of Sail! I love this concept and I know it’s practiced at clubs all over. But if it doesn’t happen in your community, hopefully you’ll be inspired by A Taste of Sail to start so...
Modern sailors are driven by the challenge of crossing big waters, to see what is on the other side of the horizon. But back in the 16th century, the men crossing the Atlantic Ocean wanted only one th...
2017 was a disastrous sailing season for the boaters of the lower Great Lakes. At launch time in late April, the water was several feet higher than normal. Owners donned rubber boots to wade through s...
[et_pb_section admin_label=”section”] [et_pb_row admin_label=”row”] [et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text”] WHAT IS THIS SWEDISH TUBE? ...
Run for the Devil centers around protagonist Simon Donovan, a sailor who ferries people and supplies along the shores of Mexico’s Bay of Campeche aboard his 65-foot schooner, Siete Mares. He’d brought...
Upon upgrading from a cozy, wooden Swifty 13 to a Montgomery 15, I was struck by the stark fiberglass interior of the Monty. I missed the warm, soothing ambiance of a wood cabin. There’s just so...
BEWARE THE PENETRATION-PROMOTING CHEMICALS There are chemicals in many bottom paint strippers that serve to help the chemicals that break down old paint penetrate layers and layers of old paint...
This book is amazing on several levels. Not only is it filled with sailing adventures, but the adventures are in the context of a rich biblical and historical backdrop. The author-captain and his mate...
BY MICHAEL ROBERTSON WHAT’S IN A COLOR? You’re probably aware that the folks at BoatU.S. sell boat name graphics. You’re likely also aware that each year they release a list of the most popular boat n...
