It keeps the air fresh in a closed-up boat Issue 118: Jan/Feb 2018 When cleaning our good old Island Packet 31 shortly after purchasing her, I noticed a little white mold on some of the wooden interio...
The guardians of the through-hull fell down on the job Issue 118: Jan/Feb 2018 Fifteen years of world cruising and my wife, Ellen, and I were now gliding along the Sassafras River on Chesapeake Bay’s ...
A dilapidated freebie becomes a respectable tender Issue 118: Jan/Feb 2018 When I bought my Down East 45 schooner, Britannia, she didn’t come with a dinghy, but she had very sturdy aluminum davits jus...
A camp stove makes the grade for a lakes-cruising family Issue 118: Jan/Feb 2018 For the first 49 seasons after our 1965 Alberg 35 was built, a simple two-burner propane camp stove had sufficed in the...
Handmade pendants add grip and color Issue 119: March/April 2018 Shackle pulls can spruce up zippers, shackles, key chains, and many other pieces of hardware on your boat. You can purchase pulls for a...
Finding hidden corners and using them for storage Issue 119: March/April 2018 Fitting out our 2003 Tartan 3700, Sapphire, for a cruise from Lake Ontario to the Bahamas, I realized that we needed more ...
Where the climate insists, a built-in system pays dividends Issue 119: March/April 2018 Summers on the Chesapeake are hot and humid, so we thought we were in high clover when our new-to-us boat came w...
A Vagabond 47 gets a multi-year makeover Issue 119: March/April 2018 Almost 40 years ago, walking the docks at Shilshole Bay Marina in Seattle, I came across a new Vagabond 47 ketch. It was love at fi...
Swageless terminals were a hands-on sailor’s choice Issue 119: March/April 2018 When I purchased Pelorus, my Paceship PY26, she had suffered damage to the bow and starboard side during Hurricane Bob i...
Banishing wet balsa, one stanchion at a time Issue 119: March/April 2018 When we bought our 1977 Pearson 365 sloop several years ago, the surveyor noted elevated moisture readings around just about ev...
It supports a whole lot more than an over-the-cockpit solar array Issue 119: March/April 2018 “Don’t do it . . . just don’t.” That’s the advice we got from nearly everyone we talked to after deciding ...
Make strong connections with a needle and twine Issue 120: May/June 2018 Conventional splices are king for forming eyes in rope. They resist abrasion and snagging and retain nearly the full strength o...
A neglected vintage sailing dinghy finds love Issue 120: May/June 2018 A couple of years ago, I realized that, if I wanted to sail more, maybe I should look around for a smaller boat. I started watchi...
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...
Storm windows on hatches and ports help keep the cabin cozy Issue 120: May/June 2018 How many northern sailors miss the glory days of sailing? I’m talking about the fall when, in many parts of the con...
Applying patches with a sticky sealant is as effective as sewing Issue 121: July/Aug 2018 Modern cloths make sails infinitely trouble-free when compared with the state of things in the bad old days. B...
Reverse the ravages of age or accidents Issue 121: July/Aug 2018 Deck hatches are great for the light and air flow they allow below, and it’s nice to see through them. Unfortunately, subjected to ultr...
Adding a deck hatch transformed the head compartment Issue 121: July/Aug 2018 Even with an opening portlight, the head in our Island Packet 31 was a dark cave in need of more ventilation. Adding an ov...
A better way to connect snubbers and bridles to chain Issue 121: July/Aug 2018 Anchoring can be a straightforward procedure, but there are occasions that demand special strategies. And anchoring as a ...
Individuals of genius, and technical advances, laid the groundwork Issue 121: July/Aug 2018 Although fiberglass quickly overtook wood in the 1950s as the predominant material for building pleasure boa...
A sinker and line makes a reliable messenger Issue 121: July/Aug 2018 When the genoa halyard aboard my father’s C&C 29 broke last summer, we thought we would have to remove the mast to replace the...
Rigidity and shade were just two of the benefits Issue 121: July/Aug 2018 As all things must, the old canvas dodger on my Westsail 32, Antares, came to the end of its life. We had sailed many a happy ...
Nor will SAEs mingle with metrics in the bottom of the toolbox Issue 122: Sept/Oct 2018 Entropy, the natural process that leads to disorder, was well manifested in Second Star’s toolbox. Wrenches woul...
Solving a perplexing problem led to an explosive discovery Issue 122: Sept/Oct 2018 I dialed the number and waited through several rings. A man answered, and I told him I was the most recent owner of ...
The case for a well that encloses the tilted-up motor Issue 122: Sept/Oct 2018 Sailboat auxiliary engines, inboard and outboard, have their strong points and weak points, friends and foes. My experien...
One boat’s discard is another’s chill deal Issue 122: Sept/Oct 2018 One day at the dock, my slip neighbor James asked me if I had a need for a refrigeration unit on my 1965 Alberg 35. “I had to replac...
Full metal jacket replaces aged-out on-deck woodwork Issue 123: Nov/Dec 2018 My Cal 9.2, Jade, was in a distressed state when I bought her. She’d experienced a chainplate failure and had a large numbe...
Don’t let dock-hose biomass contaminate the boat’s water tanks Issue 123: Nov/Dec 2018 Every time I take on fresh water, even in my home marina, I get an uneasy feeling. I’ve seen what lives in water ...
Issue 123: Nov/Dec 2018 In the fall of 2013, I was living in New Bern, North Carolina, and I was in the market for a bigger sailboat. It had to be a good old boat to keep the cost down to something I ...
Making it himself, he controlled both the design and the budget Issue 123: Nov/Dec 2018 While the electrical system aboard our Alberg 35, Tomfoolery, might have been state-of-the-art when she was buil...
