Issue 6 : May/Jun 1999 Every day I would see her twice as I drove past to and from work. I could not tell if she was a boat or a derelict. This continued for seven years. She never moved, was never ev...
Issue 6 : May/Jun 1999 John Smith may be a metallurgist by trade, but he’s perfectly at home drilling holes into fiberglass to add railings and lifelines and wiring new electronic toys for his Pearson...
It took willpower, elbow grease, and a whole lot of paint, but in the end a skeptic was won over Issue 10 : Jan/Feb 2000 The fall of 1997 brought with it the usual sights. . . the oranges, yellows, an...
Refurbishing a 1972 Pearson 26 Issue 12 : May/Jun 2000 Green seems to follow me. First, I’m a self-admitted green sailor. I’m beginning my fourth season of sailing since I started out with a loaded-to...
Project Man Syndrome strikes again Issue 13 : Jul/Aug 2000 I once had a Catalina 22. Nice little boat, but the emphasis has to be on little if you plan to do more than daysail. So when I found a reall...
After a three-year refit, a much-loved Allied Seabreeze goes cruising again in Maine Issue 14: Sept/Oct 2000 Leaves turn to muted rusts, reds, and golds in Down East Maine. The weather cells move more...
A little money, a lot of elbow grease, restore a 22-year-old Alberg classic Issue 15 : Nov/Dec 2000 We pulled around to the field in the back of the old farmhouse, and there she sat, her fenders, mott...
A neglected 1977 Cape Dory 27 is returned to the sea. First of a two-part series Issue 16 : Jan/Feb 2001 She slipped into the sea after 11 years spent sailing only through backyards and boatyards. As ...
After an extensive refit, she may head over the horizon toward Sala-ma-sond Issue 18: May/June 2001 WERE YOU TO TAKE YOUR DINGHY down the main fairway of the Santa Cruz Harbor, in Northern California,...
One small project at haulout time leads to another and another Issue 18: May/June 2001 We owned our Chris-Craft Capri 30 for seven years. Each year our annual haulout included a long list of improveme...
Issue 19 : Jul/Aug 2001 Should you consider doing this work to a wooden boat? A 1996 editorial in a sailing magazine I rather like, spoke favorably of the sheathing and glassing of Mustang’s hull and ...
Modern technology brings new life to a wooden classic Issue 19 : Jul/Aug 2001 “Well, fiberglass it, then!” These were unexpected words from the late Rod Stephens, Jr. We were discussing Mustang’s deck...
Restoration relived Issue 20 : Sept/Oct 2001 At an age when many sailors retire, sell the house, move aboard, and go cruising, my wife, Dee, and I built a house, sold the boat, moved ashore for the fi...
A cherished 28-foot sloop is blown ashore in a freak gale Issue 24 : May/June 2002 Weatherman Don Kent, of Boston’s WBZ-TC, called the easterly gales of May 9 and 10, 1977, a “historical storm.”...
Tackling a makeover with more enthusiasm and elbow grease than money Issue 25 : Jul/Aug 2002 Affordable boats are out there — neglected or little-used boats that a little elbow grease can transform in...
Here’s the five-year plan that rescued a $1,200 boat Issue 25 : Jul/Aug 2002 Not so long ago I did not have a cruising boat, but I wanted one badly. My wife understood and said, “Take the $2,500 we’ve...
Hard work converts a classic Hinckley from total wreck to total delight Issue 25 : Jul/Aug 2002 For sailors, one of the worst nightmares is to be driven into the breakers of a lee shore. At 2:35 a.m. ...
Turning an old daysailer/weekender into a self-sufficient modern cruiser Issue 26 : Sept/Oct 2002 For years I dreamed of seeing the world from the deck of a sailboat. My mind was filled with images of...
Eight Boy Scouts breathe life into an ailing dinghy Issue 28 : Jan/Feb 2003 The truck backed into our driveway. Two men unloaded the most dilapidated, weatherworn wooden sailboat I had ever seen. Like...
Adding years of life to a tired 30-foot wooden ketch Issue 28 : Jan/Feb 2003 I first fell in love with Renee Tighe in Townsville, North Queensland, when American circumnavigator Earl Koepke brought he...
Sheathed wreck of the wooden Ulysses still going strong Issue 29 : Mar/Apr 2003 Since becoming a subscriber to Good Old Boat in 1999, I have enjoyed two articles on the subject of sheathing wooden boa...
A labor of love makes a tired old 27-footer better than new Issue 30 : May/Jun 2003 “Chrysler? Are you sure? I didn’t know Chrysler made sailboats!” The words of our friends echoed our thoughts ...
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...
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...
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...
Their Hinckley 38 dreamboat came with a multi-year project list Issue 33 : Nov/Dec 2003 Nixon was in the oval office, the Vietnam War was dividing the country, and up in quiet Southwest Harbor, Maine,...
It was love at first sight — then the hard labor began Issue 35 : Mar/Apr 2004 The first time I saw one of these boats, I asked the owner who built it and whether his was for sale. This was a most unu...
Refitting a Westsail 42 brings years of happy sailing and a sad goodbye Issue 36 : May/Jun 2004 We were two ecstatic people. With our soaring spirits we didn’t mind the cold on that December day in 19...
A very determined sailor labors to renovate a 66-year-old Alden woodie Issue 36 : May/Jun 2004 When I went for a sail last August on Zephyr, my 1938 Malabar Jr., designed by John Alden, it was so much...
A 57-year-old pile of junk turns into a beautiful Johnson racer Issue 37 : Jul/Aug 2004 I drove 1,100 miles from Montana to Minneapolis after graduation from college. I was anxious to get home as ther...
