. . . but none the worse for the off-road experience Issue 96 : May/Jun 2014 That bright October afternoon, conditions were perfect for our Sunday motorcycle ride. We rumbled along for a few miles in ...
Bid farewell to flutter Issue 96 : May/Jun 2014 A Bermudan or Marconi mainsail is seldom a straight-sided triangle. On many sails, the leech — the aft edge of the sail — is made convex to add more sai...
A mobile stand takes the weight Issue 97 : Jul/Aug 2014 I live just a couple of houses from the beach where I keep my dinghy, but now that I have a heavier 4-stroke outboard it’s a chore lugging it do...
A pie plate lets in great helpings of sky Issue 97 : Jul/Aug 2014 While preparing Ganymede, our Cape George 31 cutter, for a summer cruise in northern waters, we thought it would be nice to get more l...
A lack of options pointed to DIY Issue 97 : Jul/Aug 2014 I met my rudder on March 30, 1998. It was attached to a Nicholson 35 that my wife, Mary Broderick, and I were about to buy. Our surveyor had ju...
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 ...
A plan and hard labor win the day Issue 97 : Jul/Aug 2014 I had known for a couple of years that Moonshadow, our 1983 Hudson Force 50, needed to have the gelcoat blisters on the bottom repaired. Blist...
To peel or not to peel? Issue 97 : Jul/Aug 2014 The photos on these pages illustrate a complete six-layer laminate peel and replacement using biaxial cloth and vinylester resins followed by an epoxy b...
Essentials first, then the fun parts Issue 97 : Jul/Aug 2014 I first laid eyes on an O’Day Mariner as a teenager while working at my family’s marina in Niantic, Connecticut. It was a derelict, but the...
Use the proper wire for safety and reliability Issue 97 : Jul/Aug 2014 Household electrical wire, automotive wire, and marine-grade electrical wire are all very different. When subjected to the vibrat...
A handy hybrid of a handhold and hook Issue 99 : Nov/Dec 2014 I love tinkering on my 1960 Pearson Triton. The venerable Triton was built from 1959 through 1967 by Pearson in Bristol, Rhode Island, and...
Give your jib’s roller furler some needed support Issue 100: Jan/Feb 2015 Headsail roller-furling systems have become ubiquitous. Walk the docks or scan the mooring field and you’ll quickly confirm th...
. . . solve line-leading issues on a multilevel deck Issue 100: Jan/Feb 2015 Even in our younger days, my wife and I tried to make living and working aboard our cruising boats as easy as possible. Thi...
Give it the best antenna cable you can Issue 100: Jan/Feb 2015 Acouple of years ago we unstepped and repainted our mast. While it was horizontal and easy to work with, I inspected the wiring. Some of ...
Only buy new if you can’t make do Issue 99 : Nov/Dec 2014 I have owned my 1967 Alberg 30, Good News, for more than 22 years. While maintenance is always needed on a good old boat — mine is now 46 year...
A quick-and-dirty repair gets the boat home Issue 99 : Nov/Dec 2014 Many resources are available to help owners of good old boats complete their projects in the best possible way: seaworthy, beautiful...
Make the engine suck its own antifreeze Issue 99 : Nov/Dec 2014 Up north, after pulling the boat out in the late fall, winterizing an engine is a mandatory and often unpleasant chore. Draining a raw-w...
A top-down core replacement Issue 99 : Nov/Dec 2014 In this, the first of two parts, Matt Bowser describes three ways to repair a delaminated deck. He then relates how he settled upon the one he would...
. . . replace irreplaceable windows Issue 99 : Nov/Dec 2014 When it was time to replace the deadlights in the deckhouse on my 1978 Eastward Ho 31, I ran into a problem. Replace them with . . . what? T...
Her past glory inspired a restoration Issue 99 : Nov/Dec 2014 The Cal 34 Vagus was once a star. That was in the mid-1970s to the mid-’90s, when Lake Michigan’s Bay of Green Bay was busy with races tha...
Simple rules ensure safety and reliability Issue 99 : Nov/Dec 2014 Sooner or later, if you own your boat any length of time, you will have to deal with replacing or adding a DC electrical circuit. Per...
A big makeover for the smallest room Issue 100: Jan/Feb 2015 It’s said that creative people can look at a pile of garbage and see opportunities. If this is true, I must possess some pretty creative ge...
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...
Low-tech, high-precision aids for sail trim Issue 99 : Nov/Dec 2014 Sail telltales are short strips of very lightweight material of a color that contrasts with that of the sail. They are sewn on both ...
Current designs arrived via varied routes Issue 100: Jan/Feb 2015 All three of our comparison boats in this issue (see “The Vineyard Vixen 34 meets two canoe-stern cousins”, Issue 100) hav...
Tie ’em fore and aft Issue 101 : Mar/Apr 2015 If you have external halyards on your boat, no doubt you’ve been awakened at night by the annoying clanging of a loose halyard rapping against the mast. T...
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...
Why does cleaning it require taking a bath? Issue 101 : Mar/Apr 2015 Now that we have mapped the human genome, it’s time to tackle the real technological challenge of the 21st century — foul-proofing ...
