Safer egress from dinghy and water Issue 95 : Mar/Apr 2014 A few years ago, we had friends out on our O’Day 32 Center Cockpit for a lovely warm summer daysail off San Diego’s Point Loma. The Pacific w...
Adapting a boat to a lightweight crew Issue 96 : May/Jun 2014 At the age of 55, I decided it was time for me to have my own boat so I could do what I wanted . . . in my own way. Although I’d been livi...
Easy on the eyes and warm to the touch Issue 97 : Jul/Aug 2014 The stainless-steel steering wheel on our 1978 Islander Bahama 30 was always cold on the hands and the eyes. I wasn’t a fan of expensive ...
Open and close a sun flap from below Issue 100: Jan/Feb 2015 Home waters for my 1980 Hunter 30, Summer Wind, are Lake Pontchartrain and the central Gulf Coast, where a generously sized Bimini over the...
Clever clamps made of rubber hose Issue 101 : Mar/Apr 2015 I like my boat to be visible in a dark anchorage, but I prefer to use cockpit and deck lighting that doesn’t use precious stored energy. Sola...
Hand-sewn cargo boosters that stow flat Issue 101 : Mar/Apr 2015 A pair of saddlebags, or panniers as they are often called in the biking world, add capacity and convenience when we make shopping trip...
A single digit now does a two-person job Issue 101 : Mar/Apr 2015 It’s slightly more than 8 feet from the water to the head of the davits on the raised aft deck of my Down East 45 schooner, Britannia....
Where there’s no wheel, there’s still a way Issue 101 : Mar/Apr 2015 Numerous dining tables have been designed to fit on the binnacle consoles on sailboats with wheel steering, but on a tiller-steered...
They are more than a buffer twixt butt and deck Issue 102 : May/Jun 2015 Closed-cell-foam seat cushions are available at home centers. I found ours at Menards under their house name Guidesman (SKU 175...
An elder-care product updates a good old boat Issue 102 : May/Jun 2015 My 1983 Catalina 36, Tao, was a great choice at a great price, but I’ve often looked with longing at those cool open transoms on ...
A fun factor with a bonus safety feature Issue 102 : May/Jun 2015 A boarding ladder not only gives sailors an easy way to get in and out of the water, but can also be a lifesaver after an accidental f...
An inexpensive LED shows the way Issue 103 : Jul/Aug 2015 We all know about using dollar store LED yard lights for finding our way home in an anchorage. Another handy use we’ve found aboard Thebote, o...
A non-splicer has it all sewn up Issue 103 : Jul/Aug 2015 For all of us out there happily sailing about with Hood Seafurl LD headsail-furling systems that have a continuous-loop furling line, the day ...
High-level protection at a low price Issue 104 : Sept/Oct 2015 Sometime before we left — towing our 25-foot Catalina C250 WB (water ballast) — for a yearlong “road and float” 17,000-mile cruise around...
Marital harmony restored at a bargain non-marine price Issue 105 : Nov/Dec 2015 After our first summer in our Benford 40 schooner, one of the items high on the refit list was upgrading the control for...
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,...
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 hierarchy that puts the coolest at the bottom Issue 109 : Jul/Aug 2016 When sailing our 1978 Hughes 26 up and down the Strait of Georgia between Vancouver Island and the mainland, we rely on ice in ...
A car trunk organizer brings order to misfit stowages Issue 110 : Sept/Oct 2016 Aboard Stingray, I use a padded car trunk organizer to keep gear organized, secure, and accessible in deep lockers or in...
The humble boathook performs a clever rope trick Issue 110 : Sept/Oct 2016 I have recently come across several gadgets that, when affixed to a boathook, hold a loop of line so it can be dropped over a...
The answer when “universal” isn’t quite Issue 114: May/June 2017 You can buy a key for the old-style slotted deck-fill caps, but about the only type available is a universal key designed to fit severa...
Shedding water is the key to longevity Issue 114: May/June 2017 When inflatable dinghies are stored outdoors, they need protection from the sun, rain, windblown leaves, and wildlife droppings. Of the ...
A traditional seaman’s artifact is a step up Issue 114: May/June 2017 Getting into our bunk aboard our PDQ 32 is a rather athletic endeavor: I have to crawl in face-first over a seat that is too...
Now it’s on the level, it’s a straight steerer Issue 115: July/Aug 2017 Pelorus, my AMF Paceship 26, sustained a bit of damage in her brush with Hurricane Joaquin in 2015. In the spring of 2016, I reb...
Securing non-human crew against the unexpected Issue 117: Nov/Dec 2017 We were hand-steering my Southern Cross 28 in rather blustery winds on a fairly smooth Conception Bay, headed for the Royal Newfo...
The onboard “just in case” locker supplied the parts Issue 117: Nov/Dec 2017 Over the years, our method for boarding the boat from the dinghy has changed. In our South Coast 25 days, we used the swim ...
A deflated blow-up makes way for something solid Issue 117: Nov/Dec 2017 We bought our Mercury inflatable dinghy 11 years ago, despite some misgivings about the concept of its inflatable floor. The di...
A suspended zippered bag relieves crowded cockpit locker Issue 120: May/June 2018 Prepping Sapphire, our Tartan 3700, for a cruise from Lake Ontario to the Bahamas forced us to review our stowage opti...
