Turn any flat surface into a workbench Issue 105 : Nov/Dec 2015 What happens if you find yourself on a sailboat and need a vise for holding either wood or metal while you work on it? I have long admir...
Cooking up volts in the galley Issue 105 : Nov/Dec 2015 Jones was a large man who said everything with a smile, even if he was insulting you. As I walked into the marina’s restaurant and bar, a favori...
Outsourcing and insourcing assure the best results Issue 105 : Nov/Dec 2015 With just a few days left until landfall on our 2,800-mile passage from Mexico to the Marquesas, we noticed the steering fel...
Marital harmony restored at a bargain non-marine price Issue 105 : Nov/Dec 2015 After our first summer in our Benford 40 schooner, one of the items high on the refit list was upgrading the control for...
Downwind sailing with a new-tech nuance Issue 105 : Nov/Dec 2015 Square sails have been used on sailing vessels for centuries. There is little argument that these sails, when the wind is dead astern o...
Don’t let wear and tear stymie your cruising plans Issue 105 : Nov/Dec 2015 While we were anchored in Micronesia, a large well-found yacht arrived in port on a tight schedule. She was bound for the Ma...
A fine example of English lines and lineage Issue 105 : Nov/Dec 2015 In the retail publishing business, it’s the cover photo that sells a magazine on newsstands. “Lose 25 pounds in one week!” screams ...
A salad bowl was the dressing it needed Issue 106 : Jan/Feb 2016 When we purchased Sundew, our Watkins 27, she needed love in many areas, (see “Sundew Returns to Bloom,” May 2013). What she did have, ...
A cockpit shelter that gets around a dodger-defeating boom Issue 106 : Jan/Feb 2016 Our San Juan 7.7 has a large mainsail and a low-sweeping boom that prevents the use of a dodger, but we’ve come up w...
Cleaning the mainsail track made easy Issue 106 : Jan/Feb 2016 Some time ago, Don Launer came up with a great device for lubricating the mainsail slot (see “Sailtrack Lubricator,” March 2008) but I ha...
A cardboard box is an instant spray-painting booth Issue 106 : Jan/Feb 2016 Proper anchoring depends on knowing how much rode is out. Fiber rode can be measured by arm span (fathoms) and chain can be ...
She looked the part . . . but now she also walks the walk Issue 106 : Jan/Feb 2016 We bought our CT 54 from a couple who had been cruising on her for a few years, always with at least another couple a...
He was “through with boats” until . . . Issue 106 : Jan/Feb 2016 In 2003, I sold my Catfisher 28, Bullfrog, and moved ashore with my soon-to-be wife, Sue. After 15 years as a liveaboard, living ashore...
Wired to a solar panel, it knows when it’s dark Issue 106 : Jan/Feb 2016 Wouldn’t it be nice if someone sold an automatic switch for a masthead anchor light? There may be one for sale, probably online...
Thoughts about the little boat that tends the big boat Issue 108: May/June 2016 Conditions at Fire Island Inlet on the south shore of Long Island were “a bit sporty,” as they say in New England, but n...
Diodes overcome a dearth of switches Issue 106 : Jan/Feb 2016 I recently replaced the fragile and outdated original plastic circuit breaker panel on Nurdle, my 1979 Bristol 35.5. As part of this proje...
Better backing plates restore rigidity Issue 108: May/June 2016 When a concentrated load is applied to a structure, that load must be distributed widely enough that the surrounding structure is not ov...
After pushing up daisies, a whole new life Issue 106 : Jan/Feb 2016 I recently moved aboard a 30-foot trawler yacht and needed a dinghy for shore excursions. It had to be small to fit on what passes f...
Easy on the eye, exacting in the making Issue 106 : Jan/Feb 2016 While constructing a forward stateroom for a customer, my husband, Dave, was given mostly free rein to design and build what he thought...
Keeping leafy greens fresh without a fridge Issue 108: May/ June 2016 When my partner, Robin, wants to get my attention, he’ll come home with a big beautiful bouquet of freshly cut collard greens. If ...
Ice-cooled air for a cool night’s sleep Issue 108: May/June 2016 Some nights in mid-summer it’s just too hot to sleep on the boat. Even with the companionway and all the ports and hatches open, ...
Installing air conditioning was a cool move Issue 108: May/June 2016 My Down East 45 schooner, Britannia, had neither air conditioning nor heating when I bought her one December in Fort Lauderdale. In...
Obscure tools the the gymnastics out of routine jobs Issue 106 : Jan/Feb 2016 We have owned our Pearson 386, Lakota, for more than 20 years. She is a lovely and reliable good old boat that has served ...
Reflection and absorption create quiet on board Issue 106 : Jan/Feb 2016 The iron wind is a fixture aboard most of today’s sailboats. On a typical sailboat the inboard engine lives directly beneath th...
A soft solution to a hard-edged cockpit Issue 107 : Mar/Apr 2016 I’ve seen better cockpits. When Sparkman & Stephens designed the cockpit of our Fuji 40 in the late 1970s, I think the focus was on...
A banner application for plastic chain Issue 107 : Mar/Apr 2016 Somewhere in a remote cubby aboard your boat you probably have a stash of flags, ensigns, jacks, and pennants. They vary in size, shape,...
A summer cruise survived a broken transmission cable Issue 107 : Mar/Apr 2016 While on our annual vacation cruise last summer, powering across Lake Ontario from Sacketts Harbor to Waupoos, we started ...
. . . is Katnip to a family of lake sailors Issue 107 : Mar/Apr 2016 In April 2015, we purchased a 1974 Herreshoff America catboat. She was cute, interesting, and in need of significant TLC. She took ...
Getting the kinks out of long-term storage Issue 107 : Mar/Apr 2016 Sailing the waters off the West Coast of British Columbia brings great joy along with the occasional challenges. Pacific Northwest s...
. . . when properly mounted and maintained Issue 107 : Mar/Apr 2016 When planning to buy a good old boat, most sailors typically look carefully at the design, the propulsion, the hull, the sails, and ...
