Here’s how to maintain your winches for long, reliable service Issue 30 : May/Jun 2003 In the early history of sail, all sail handling was accomplished through brute strength or with the help of multi...
Look before you take the leap from tiller to wheel Issue 30 : May/Jun 2003 Thinking of converting (or buying a boat that’s been converted) from tiller steering to wheel steering? Read this first. I wo...
How one cruiser converted from tiller steering to wheel and pedestal Issue 30 : May/Jun 2003 The longer you own your sailboat, the more you upgrade it. Some of the upgrades are planned from the time y...
A classic Alden yawl becomes a treasured family cruiser once more Issue 34: Jan/Feb 2004 THE 1961 ALDEN CHALLENGER yawl looked quite large on the jackstands that brisk fall day. The price and this som...
Down below, the weight wars are raging Issue 31 : Jul/Aug 2003 Aboard our cruising home, Siandra, battlelines are drawn. It starts innocently enough. Jamie announces his intention to buy one of those ...
Issue 31 : Jul/Aug 2003 One of the problems all cruisers face is what to do with onboard trash between visits to town. Not only is it bulky, but let’s face it, it does tend to smell after a few days, ...
How to stop a diesel that’s running amok Issue 31 : Jul/Aug 2003 A runaway diesel engine can be a destructive, dangerous, and terrifying experience for people nearby. Although it happens infrequently,...
Taming the lazarette and unplugging the drains Issue 31 : Jul/Aug 2003 During nine years spent sailing a 25-foot Yamaha sailboat in the waters of the Puget Sound, I have found space to be at a premium...
A convenient holder created in thin air Issue 31 : Jul/Aug 2003 While checking out the “goodies” offered for sale at a neighborhood flea market, I came across a used, handheld GPS receiver. The unit c...
This technology means no holes in the hull or deck Issue 31 : Jul/Aug 2003 My solutions to the problems, concerns, and mandates about marine toilets had been to use a Porta Potti and a few jury-rigged...
Fishing-net locker shelves provide vital ventilation Issue 31 : Jul/Aug 2003 Most boats from the 1970s and early 1980s came with cavernous hanging lockers, big enough to get at least one or two crew c...
The short course — the first in a series of overview articles for those who want just the big picture Issue 31 : Jul/Aug 2003 Two thousand years ago, during the age of the Roman Empire, weights were m...
It was one of those endeavors that go beyond financial reckoning Issue 31 : Jul/Aug 2003 Teak ladies are heavy-displacement cruisers, 17 feet long with a 6-foot beam. This petite cruiser tips the scal...
Acid can cure those temperature-rise blues Issue 31 : Jul/Aug 2003 I guess I’m not much of a sailor. After racing in doldrums for a large part of my life, I find irresistible joy in turning to m...
Start by sewing a pair of custom-fitted handrail covers Issue 31 : Jul/Aug 2003 I recently installed a pair of brand new teak handrails on my old MacGregor Venture 222. With about four coats of varnis...
Letting in new light on an old problem Issue 31 : Jul/Aug 2003 After 20 years, the flush windows in our C&C Landfall 35 had been ravaged by exposure. They were suffering from age. One window had a...
An eminent naval architect looks at variations on a theme Issue 31 : Jul/Aug 2003 In the good old days of wooden yachts and iron men, it was widely accepted that no sailing yacht under 30 feet could h...
Issue 32 : Sept/Oct 2003 Like most sailors, I take pride in ownership. Every item not in use is stowed in its proper place, and anything with a cover is covered. It is because of this attention to det...
Issue 32 : Sept/Oct 2003 Many diesel engines aboard sailboats have compression-release or decompression levers on top of the engine for each cylinder. As their name implies, these levers hold open the...
Two very different aids to navigation Issue 32 : Sept/Oct 2003 Back in 1968 when I was a navigating officer on the USS Newport News, we had a chart table that would hold a full-sized chart without fol...
How to shower without having a shower aboard Issue 32 : Sept/Oct 2003 A cruiser friend once said about her first trip up the Intracoastal Waterway, “We had to stop at a marina every few days for showe...
Issue 32 : Sept/Oct 2003 Paint this picture in your mind: You are at sea after dark, the waves are a bit more than you like, and the shaft packing is leaking. It’s not life-threatening. The automatic ...
A prominent yacht designer discusses the importance of beds Issue 34: Jan/Feb 2004 IN THE NOVEMBER 2003 ISSUE OF GOOD Old Boat we discussed arrangement plans: aft cockpit, center cockpit, and pilothou...
How a mysterious mechanical malady was finally cured Issue 32 : Sept/Oct 2003 The other day we were out sailing and headed home when the wind died. We turned on the engine and motored back to the harb...
Understanding and using your marine-band radio Issue 32 : Sept/Oct 2003 The primary short-range radio-communication system for most small craft is the VHF-FM marine-band radio. It is the communication...
Famous wooden ocean racer now modified for shorthanded cruising Issue 32 : Sept/Oct 2003 Improbable is the wrong name for this boat. Logical would be better, or Synergy, or Refinement. I wasn’t thinki...
All you ever wanted to know — and much more Issue 32 : Sept/Oct 2003 Webster’s dictionary: Scend (send), n. [<send, assumed to be a contr. of ascend], the upward heaving of a ship: correlativ...
A crafty sailor converts a water tank into a chain locker Issue 32 : Sept/Oct 2003 The stock water tank in my 1965 Columbia Defender 29 was a plastic, 25-gallon, tapered, trapezoidal thing under the V...
Significant advances in new generation of autopilots Issue 32 : Sept/Oct 2003 Not long ago, autopilots were little more than powered aids to steering with somewhat primitive designs and a reputation f...
Issue 33 : Nov/Dec 2003 Whether your halyards are of braided or laid rope, as long as they are external, new ones can be reeved without sending a person aloft. Two things are needed: a nearly windless...
