Spring is here and marinas will soon be filled with mast-raisers. And while the world is filled (to the brim?) with mast-raising solutions, I have another. I believe my method is possibly the simplest...
I used to own a Guest model 461 anchor light, a popular piece of gear when many of our good old boats were built. A fundamentally well-made device, the incandescent bulb suffered from poor light outpu...
If you don’t want to be taken to the cleaners when it comes to cleaning, try these DIY solutions. Issue 137: March/April 2021 Over the years, I’ve gradually ditched store-bought boat cleaning pr...
The DIY deck paint job looked fantastic. Then the surveyor showed up. Issue 137: March/April 2021 Toward the end of a 13-month refit, my 1968 Santana 22 was looking pretty spiffy. Just the decks remai...
An easily assembled base and two Bluetooth speakers provide a rockin’ sound system. Issue 137: March/April 2021 I spend a lot of time aboard my boat just tinkering. Other times, I sail her alone...
Furniture protectors make a quick, easy fix for sharp solar panel corners. Issue 137: March/April 2021 It wasn’t long after I installed the solar panel on the stern pulpit that I discovered the proble...
Installing a new impeller in a water pump can be a bit of a struggle, especially if you’re working under the engine by braille. That’s the position I found myself in with the Yanmar 3GM30F aboard my 1...
Dynamic climbing rope can be an intriguing option for some uses aboard. Issue 135: Nov/Dec 2020 I’m a sailor, and I’m a climber. For both pursuits, rope is central. Not surprisingly, because the use c...
Easily taken for granted, rope is a critical thread throughout human history. Issue 135: Nov/Dec 2020 What do sailors, the Egyptian pyramids, Britain’s cotton mills, and the first space shuttle all ha...
No halyard? No bosun’s chair? No problem for this crew. Issue 135: Nov/Dec 2020 It was a warm July day when my crew and I set out from Chesapeake Bay aboard Sequoia, our modest but trusty 1977 T...
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...
A simple elevator system enables top efficiency for depth sounder transducer. Issue 135: Nov/Dec 2020 If you haven’t run aground, you haven’t sailed the Chesapeake,” is a common refrain among those wh...
Bolted boltrope? Try this handy harpoon to retrieve it. Issue 135: Nov/Dec 2020 Many good old boats (and newer boats with laminate sails) feature mainsails that attach to the mast via a boltrope in th...
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...
It’s been said that the most useless things aboard a sailboat are an umbrella and a Naval officer. However, sometimes that’s just not completely true. Cruising in New England, I would ofte...
Being able to get the sail cover on quickly means we don’t have to resent the time it takes to protect our sails. Just as important, if a halyard starts slapping the mast just when we are starting to ...
Cleaning a fouled diesel tank started with polishing some dirty fuel on the fly. Issue 134: Sept/Oct 2020 Aboard our 1984 Moody 47, diesel is the elixir of electricity, and electricity is what drives ...
When we bought our 1976 Westerly Centaur, Breaking Wind, it came with an ancient-but-working Marinco solar-powered vent. Then, on a sporty day sailing on the Chesapeake Bay, the fan, poorly attached t...
Thanks to a little help from her friends, a good old boat finds a new paramour. Issue 134: Sept/Oct 2020 I didn’t really know Nat. Nothing beyond a friendly smile and hello as we passed each ot...
A simple system developed for RVs provides a versatile table for saloon and cockpit. Issue 134: Sept/Oct 2020 Fulmar, our 1982 Pacific Seacraft 37, came to us without a dining table—not in the saloon,...
With the ship’s wheel base, a clever design makes for finer dining. Issue 134: Sept/Oct 2020 Our good old Bristol 35 has a cozy dinette in the main saloon, but the weather here in Florida often ...
Sourcing rigging tension creep reveals an old flaw. Issue 134: Sept/Oct 2020 For a few years, the shrouds and stays on Mikula, my 24-foot Seafarer, would slowly lose their tension over the course of e...
A backup battery system for a fixed-mount VHF ensures communications in an emergency. Issue 133: July/Aug 2020 Despite the introduction of satellite communications and cell phones over the past couple...
The LED revolution has seen a million rechargeable lights hit market—many for the marine market. I had one question on my mind when I received this Mantus Snap-On Light for review: Is there anything s...
It was time for a stronger autopilot, but the install presented interesting challenges. Issue 133: July/Aug 2020 It was a June day, and a gale was blowing. I remember because I spent 18 hours hand-ste...
A vertical windlass, reimagined, fulfills dual duty as an automatic furler. Issue 131: March/April 2020 I stared down at my university packing list. I had been onboard Jasamine since I was two days ol...
