Bringing an old boat back to life provides relief in trying times. Issue 155: March/April 2024 My husband lifted the shabby dinghy off the bed of the truck, slid the decrepit 8-foot hull onto a rollin...
On an ill-fated voyage home, a young family learns lessons in seamanship and community spirit Issue 153: Nov/Dec 2023 All sailors start somewhere. As a teenager, I was infatuated with stories in Natio...
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...
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...
A sailing buddy asked for my help solving a problem on the hard dodger aboard his Taswell 45. Over the years, a series of small cracks had appeared in the top surface that was composed of some kind of...
Replacing leaky toerails with beautiful bulwarks was an intensive but rewarding job. Issue 142: Jan/Feb 2022 Despite her many attributes, our 1979 Cheoy Lee 41, Avocet, for a time was living up to the...
Jeremy paused, “Six pulls, right?” I glanced back at the small print on the paint can, “Right. And then three of the reactor. That’ll give us just about the perfect amount.” He nodded, dropped the syr...
Sailing seemed over, till an old friend returned. Issue 135: Nov/Dec 2020 “Sailboat for sale. $400.” The ad caught my attention: just what I was looking for, and the price was right. “It just ne...
Working alongside shipwrights shines a new light on hands-on. Issue 135: Nov/Dec 2020 Not long ago, as I was combing through the employment want ads, one job leaped from the page. A shop that speciali...
An old instrument’s housing provides a platform for its replacement. Issue 131: March/April 2020 When we bought Phantom, our 1981 Pearson 365 ketch, in 2001, she had old Signet Marine instrumen...
With Corian countertop material as a core, a new centerboard takes shape. Issue 131: March/April 2020 I’m one of the lucky few. Not only do I sail a boat with a centerboard, the centerboard on my Alli...
There’s more than one way to fasten the two biggest boat parts Issue 128: Sept/Oct 2019 It is the nature of boats that they be built as two primary pieces — hull and deck. Over the decades, boatbuilde...
Delaminated fiberglass may conjure up images of free-falling straight through to the bilge but it need not frighten the most resourceful among us. The word “delamination” causes instant vi...
Beefing up a retired racer with aluminum My mate, Karlene, and I looked long and hard for a sailboat suitable for world cruising that we could afford. I’ve become convinced that boat speed is an...
Bent stanchions and delaminated decks When we were unloading our boat following a recent week-long cruise, I noticed the midship stanchion on the port side was slightly bent toward the stern. It was a...
Building your own (leakproof!) classic hatch When Mary and I bought our 1965 Alberg 30 we knew that replacing the forward hatch was going to be one of many projects. Down below there was no indication...
Whether a cosmetic or structural issue, a thorough investigation of any blister problem is warranted People often ask whether gelcoat osmosis problems – generically called “blisters”...
A bad case of blisters made the boat affordable; upgrades were the expensive part. It all started innocently enough. It was mid-October of 1990, and we were going to Texas anyway to visit cousins in S...
“The shock of discovering bubbles on your boat’s bottom is merely the prelude to a prolonged pain in the assets.” Boat pox, osmosis, or blisters . . . call it what you will. Most fib...
Leave the weight in the lake and tow a lighter boat Issue 127: July/Aug 2019 Water can be used in various ways to increase a boat’s stability. One method is as old as yachting itself. Æmilius Jarvis r...
Given new feet, they’ll last a few more years Issue 126: May/June 2019 By owning five boat stands for more than 20 years, I have saved the annual rental cost of $25 per stand when my Grampian 30 is ha...
How to (and not to) install hardware to cored laminates Issue 126: May/June 2019 Installing hardware on boats, a seemingly straightforward procedure, is fraught with pitfalls: failure to reinforce the...
An old design puts cheap wheels under a long-loved tender Issue 126: May/June 2019 When I moved from New Jersey in the spring of 2018, I sold, gave away, or abandoned a lot of my stuff, including the ...
Siting solar panels led to an all-around renewal Issue 124: Jan/Feb 2019 After deciding to add rigid solar panels aboard Alembic, our 1981 Whitby 42 center-cockpit the 12-foot spans into two 6-foot sp...
Dropboards give way to user-friendly doors Companionway dropboards are cumbersome to remove and replace and inconvenient to store. When you need them, they’re often buried deep in a locker. What’s a s...
After all the setbacks we’d experienced during Levity’s 10-year repair and refit, it was a great relief when the redesigned and newly built rudder was fitted on her stern. At last, another major proje...
Notes and Lessons We won’t know how well KiwiGrip holds up in use for a few years. According to the manufacturer’s guidelines, weekend sailors can expect the product to last approximately 10 years bef...
Making Magnolia more seaworthy Alternative methods Here are two ways to attach a sea hood that define it as a separate entity from the cabintop. Permanent attachment As shown in the illustration above...
A resourceful Colorado sailor does a professional job in the wilds Last summer I had to replace thestern tube on my Pacific Seacraft Orion 27, Allegra. It was a stressful and satisfying ordeal and a t...
