Ensure your first line of safety really is safe Issue 72 : May/Jun 2010 Lifelines are designed to reduce the chances of your going overboard. On many boats, however, these systems are poorly designed ...
Here’s a rigging project you can do yourself Issue 72 : May/Jun 2010 My best friend Adam’s new-to-him Tartan 37, Audentia, had never left the dock with him at the helm. He’d purchased her in February,...
Of foils, fins, ballast, and bulbs Issue 72 : May/Jun 2010 In the previous issue, in “All About Keels; Part 1,” Bob Perry discussed the terminology and the compromises inherent in keel design. In this...
Self-adhesive Velcro offers improvement Issue 73 : Jul/Aug 2010 I was surprised to see the article about Velcro turnbuckle locks in the March 2010 issue. Perhaps, in the rough waters of Erie off Presq...
Vegetable oil fixed one, the other remains Issue 73 : Jul/Aug 2010 My usual motto, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” has served me well in many life experiences but has never been the best strategy t...
Ascertain their state of charge the eBay way Issue 73 : Jul/Aug 2010 I suspect most good old boats are used infrequently and, when they’re used, the engine is run just long enough to get to and from t...
Creating confidence through a safe boarding experience Issue 73 : Jul/Aug 2010 Few things complement the pleasure of boating like a proper boarding ladder. For children, parents, and grandparents alik...
A seagoing ketch gets a brand-new steering system Issue 73 : Jul/Aug 2010 Over the past nine years, my partner, Magali, and I have been steadily modifying our ketch, Sigfrid, to turn her into a practi...
Installation, operation, and maintenance Issue 73 : Jul/Aug 2010 In the May/June issue of Good Old Boat, Randy Baker described how to build an inexpensive reverse-osmosis watermaker. In this second an...
A Bristol 30 restoration takes its sweet and proper time Issue 73 : Jul/Aug 2010 Every night for four years, when I came in from the yard after working on my 30-foot sailboat, I heard the same questio...
Integrating lazy-jacks with a sailcover Issue 73 : Jul/Aug 2010 I love my mainsail when it’s doing what it’s supposed to do: powering my boat. But since I am often a singlehanded sailor, there are tim...
Mainsail control for less than $100 Issue 73 : Jul/Aug 2010 The previous owner of our Catalina 30 had installed lazy-jacks to handle the fully-battened mainsail. The system was rigged so the lazy-jack...
Dedicated downwind headsails offer better control Issue 73 : Jul/Aug 2010 The twin-headsail rig, once commonly seen on boats running in the trade winds, has become a dinosaur in today’s fleet of rolle...
How the holes in your hull can take your boat down Issue 73 : Jul/Aug 2010 Although fiberglass, steel, and aluminum are not naturally buoyant, they can be fabricated into a shape like a boat hull that...
Examining what lies beneath and behind Issue 73 : Jul/Aug 2010 If you go through the various texts on yacht design, you will find the section on rudders to be relatively anemic. Rudder design is trick...
A large PVC pipe eliminates odors Issue 74 : Sept/Oct 2010 During a recent trip to southern Florida, I spent two enjoyable afternoons walking the docks. I use these opportunities to chat with sailors ...
Persistence’s owner thanks his lucky stars Issue 74 : Sept/Oct 2010 Call it “boat tattooing” if you like. With a razor knife, a few ounces of epoxy, and some homemade wood filler, or maybe even your l...
Old rigging provides new safety Issue 74 : Sept/Oct 2010 As the refit in celebration of Eurisko’s 30th year neared completion, we were three months and several thousand dollars beyond our original est...
This one, he swears, is the final vessel Issue 74 : Sept/Oct 2010 There comes a time in the life of every sailor when he must contemplate his final vessel. The one (figuratively, at least) that will c...
Taming an electrical nightmare to further a cruising dream Issue 74 : Sept/Oct 2010 When our boat, Asia Marie, a Westsail 32, acquired us in the summer of 2007, she came with a wish list of projects w...
No more muddy souvenirs to foul the foredeck Issue 74 : Sept/Oct 2010 Nothing says you need a washdown system quite like hauling up an anchor and rode full of black goop that attaches itself to the an...
An easier way to ward off Jack Frost’s fingers Issue 74 : Sept/Oct 2010 Northern sailors have two seasons: sailing season and maintenance season. One of the primary goals when preparing a boat for the...
An inflatable dinghy gets a homemade upgrade Issue 74 : Sept/Oct 2010 Before my partner, Magali, and I left England on Joass, our 32-foot wooden gaff cutter, in the spring of 1998, we bought ourselves...
Faster discharge from flooding waves Issue 74 : Sept/Oct 2010 My boat’s original cockpit drains were adequate for a rain shower or a light wash-down but often became partially blocked with one thing o...
An early riser solves the problem of clattering dropboards Issue 74 : Sept/Oct 2010 Gary Stoop built new teak companionway dropboards to replace the damaged ones that came with his well-used Ericson C...
One size, or style, does not fit all Issue 74 : Sept/Oct 2010 Writing about rudders was not much fun. Writing about rigs will be more fun. Everyone has an opinion about sailboat rigs. I have opinions ...
Protect your investment from weather and covetous knaves Issue 75 : Nov/Dec 2010 Many GPS chart plotters are designed for bulkhead mounting but, if they’re visible, thieves love them. With that in min...
Simple covers provide closure and containment Issue 75 : Nov/Dec 2010 For a while, Ken and I each owned a 1986 Pearson 28-2. When these sisterships originally left their Portsmouth, Rhode Island, birt...
An in-line valve eliminates the on-dock sprint Issue 75 : Nov/Dec 2010 Upon coming into a marina, our first priority is what we like to call “watering the boat.” The procedure begins with filling her ...
Fly and douse a standard spinnaker like a gennaker Issue 75 : Nov/Dec 2010 People are selling their little-used symmetrical spinnakers and replacing them with expensive cruising gennakers that can be ...
