Rolling out a mirror finish is all about preparation Issue 75 : Nov/Dec 2010 Few upgrades can change the looks of your boat as dramatically as a gleaming new coat of paint on her topsides. Modern two-...
Signals from space are subject to interference Issue 75 : Nov/Dec 2010 The satellite-based Global Positioning System (GPS) provides very accurate navigational information, but everyone who uses it sho...
Sailboat interiors have come a long way from being purely practical Issue 75 : Nov/Dec 2010 When I was 15 years old, I would walk from our house on Mercer Island, Washington, to Lake Union, about 10 m...
Cloth panels replace plastic snap-ons Issue 76 : Jan/Feb 2011 Your white plastic instrument covers are deteriorating in the sun, they don’t fi t as tightly as they did when they were new (they used to...
In case the splice doesn’t play nice . . . Issue 76 : Jan/Feb 2011 I have eye-spliced my new anchor rode to the nylon thimble, seized the splice with small nylon twine to help keep things in place, an...
Flat, yes; horizontal, no Issue 76 : Jan/Feb 2011 Finding charts we’d stored on board our 34-foot Creekmore, Eurisko, used to be a constant game of hide and seek. When we put charts on the navigation ...
A hard dinghy becomes a rigid inflatable Issue 76 : Jan/Feb 2011 Twenty years, two kids, and a dog later, I finally had to face facts — the family dinghy no longer fit the family. My wife and I had ac...
A little pram dinghy is a workhorse and a comfort Issue 76 : Jan/Feb 2011 We wouldn’t cast off without our 8-foot pram in tow. It’s convenient to have her in the water and ready to go when we finally ...
Cautious amateurs start with a kit — for an asymmetrical spinnaker Issue 76 : Jan/Feb 2011 Never say “never.” For nearly 20 years, I have loudly proclaimed that I would never sew a sail for Mystic, ou...
A hands-on rebuild saved both beast and budget Issue 76 : Jan/Feb 2011 Our 41-year-old C&C Corvette, Trillium, has the distinction of being built originally as a gift to retiring Ontario Premier J...
Maintenance seems less onerous in the right surroundings Issue 76 : Jan/Feb 2011 If the definition of cruising is performing boat maintenance in exotic locations, does that mean the more maintenance, ...
Year-round sailing leads to year-round upkeep Issue 76 : Jan/Feb 2011 When we decided to expand our sailing horizons from northern freshwater “summer boating” to full-time cruising, we didn’t fully re...
Old decks get new non-skid out of a can Issue 76 : Jan/Feb 2011 As our Pearson 28, Indecision, approached her 30th birthday, my wife, Mary, and I began to think about refreshing her non-skid. Because ...
A good lashing and they won’t slack off Issue 77 : Mar/Apr 2011 A number of ideas have appeared in Good Old Boat recently for locking turnbuckles without using cotter pins in the conventional way (Mar...
Using the décor for storage Issue 77 : Mar/Apr 2011 When we became the proud owners of our 34-foot Creekmore, we were impressed by her storage space. But when five of us moved our “essentials” aboard,...
Inside and outside viewpoints for a GPS Issue 77 : Mar/Apr 2011 When Jim Stedman updated the electronic equipment in his 1972 Cheoy Lee Luders 36, Song, he gave considerable thought to what he would l...
Recycle shrinkwrap and save time and money Issue 77 : Mar/Apr 2011 It was the worst of times: I didn’t know if I would launch our beloved 33-foot Cape Dory, Femme du Nord, in spring. I didn’t know if ...
Two-axis mounts make solar panels adjustable for greater gain Issue 77 : Mar/Apr 2011 Having cruised through the South Pacific twice, we knew the value of solar panels for keeping our batteries charge...
An elegant accessory from an unlikely source Issue 77 : Mar/Apr 2011 When we lived in Miami, my wife and I enjoyed nothing more than having dinner in the cockpit of Makani, our Ranger 29. We had a nic...
NuTeak brightens a once dim prospect Issue 77 : Mar/Apr 2011 In 2008, at age 66, I fulfilled a lifelong dream by purchasing my first cruising sloop, a 1979 Hunter 30. Like many good old boats, Time-Ou...
Cooling the cost of a warm cabin Issue 77 : Mar/Apr 2011 A warm boat is a great comfort in the rainy Pacific Northwest. Boats stay in the water year-round here and the shoulder cruising seasons have a...
Boxing in the space more than doubles its usefulness Issue 77 : Mar/Apr 2011 The Pacific Seacraft Dana is a fabulous, well-designed boat. Two of us live aboard Doolittle with ease despite her small si...
Stave off rust with diligence, coatings, and care Issue 77 : Mar/Apr 2011 Steel is probably the most misunderstood boatbuilding material — especially in the USA. Many people (so-called experts include...
Synthetic teak covers a patchwork of repairs Issue 77 : Mar/Apr 2011 After twice repairing the deck in areas with wet core in as many years, finding yet another area with soggy balsa made me look for ...
Procrastination pays off in mahogany and bronze Issue 77 : Mar/Apr 2011 The restoration of the Vera May, the 33-foot Hallberg-Rassy Mistral that I belong to, began about four years ago. After moving h...
Sparkle Plenty is an ongoing production Issue 77 : Mar/Apr 2011 In marriage, politics, and business, a matchmaker is someone who puts people together, knowing the synergy or resulting match will make ...
Pressing pure water out of the sea Issue 77 : Mar/Apr 2011 Osmosis is a natural process in which molecules of a liquid spontaneously pass through a semi-permeable membrane. The direction of fl ow acro...
A simple airflow control Issue 79: July/Aug 2011 Dorade vents are great. They supply water-free air belowdecks even in a pouring rain or when spray is soaking the deck on a beat to windward.We have tw...
Mechanical advantage for the windlass disadvantaged Issue 79: July/Aug 2011 For about 19 years, we have anchored Mystic without benefit of bow rollers or a windlass. When we were weekend sailors, we o...
A rigging repair is a community effort Issue 79: July/Aug 2011 In this, the first of two parts, authors Leslie Linkkila and Philip DiNuovo describe what happens when rigging fails in paradise, how the...
