Youth and poverty turn a stock Cal 25 into a world cruiser Issue 40 : Jan/Feb 2005 My decision to rebuild a Cal 25 for a voyage around the world was inspired by one basic fact: I was broke. A 25-foot ...
Getting back to the water with very little money and a lot of effort Issue 40 : Jan/Feb 2005 I clearly remember driving down the interstate behind a 1972 MacGregor Venture 222. The boat was being pull...
This handsome Canadian cruising design is back again Issue 44: Sept/Oct 2005 SOME SAILORS FALL IN LOVE WITH every boat they see. Others, like owners of the classic Cabot 36, are firmly monogamous. And...
A 1970 Marshall Sanderling is reborn as a beloved family sailer Issue 41 : Mar/Apr 2005 We had sailed for about 20 years before putting a halt to our nautical adventures. The necessity of repowering o...
There’s nothing that patience, skill, parts, and plenty of money can’t fix Issue 42 : May/Jun 2005 I have three lingering images of Kalypso: first, lying idyllically for sale at the end of a private p...
Here’s how to find time both to varnish and to sail Issue 42 : May/Jun 2005 Sometime long ago, with a pale newly sanded board scrap of some nice shape — maybe a toy sword — I took a small brush,...
A classy English lady gets a facelift Issue 45 : Nov/Dec 2005 In this two-part series, which began in the September 2005 issue, James Baldwin discussed interior modifications, including cabinets, lock...
A major refit for a 1967 Ted Hood 24-foot trailersailer Issue 46 : Jan/Feb 2006 She was a wreck. When I first saw her, she was sitting on a derelict trailer with two flat tires. Her hull was faded fro...
Rescuing a rare classic: a Cape Dory Typhoon daysailer Issue 47 : Mar/Apr 2006 I retired in July and, after clearing up a few projects around the house, I began searching for a new summer project. As ...
Hard work (plus cash) saves a classic from the scrapheap Issue 48 : May/Jun 2006 Strider’s clean white deck and the rich red paint job attracted our attention as she floated in her slip at Sugarloaf M...
This orphaned Pearson 365 will rejoin the fleet of good old boats Issue 49 : Jul/Aug 2006 Most of the time I am looking at or looking for boats. If there were a self-help group for excessive boat owne...
This classic Pearson 36 whispered in his ear Issue 49 : Jul/Aug 2006 Zora Neale Hurston nailed it when she wrote, “Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board.” True. But do boats have wishes a...
Garbage out, good used stuff in; the saga begins Issue 50 : Sept/Oct 2006 The game plan for Maruska would have to be aggressive to meet a June departure. My primary goal was to make her seaworthy and ...
John Guzzwell’s cruising icon sails again Issue 50 : Sept/Oct 2006 Forty-four years after he last held Trekka’s helm solidly in his hand, John Guzzwell reflected, “She seemed so small and simple.” Joh...
Rainy day projects become priorities Issue 51 : Nov/Dec 2006 As I slid back the hatch upon my return to Maruska, steady rain revealed new problems: she leaked like a sieve. All but one port and two ou...
Triton served as home for two for seven years Issue 51 : Nov/Dec 2006 The new old boat at the marina caught my eye. Boats like that always do. Wow! A real cruiser. A 1960s boat. A Triton? An Alberg 30...
A floating test-bed for cruising equipment Issue 51 : Nov/Dec 2006 We first saw Sampatecho, A 15- year-old Beneteau 390, lying at anchor at Solomon Landing on Chesapeake Bay. Her custom aft arch — sup...
Chrysler caterpillar turns into 22-foot butterfly Issue 52: Jan/Feb 2007 SARA WAS DANGLING FROM A BOSUN’S CHAIR HIGH ATOP THE MAST. Last night, Sara had gone to the prom. This morning, still wearing h...
Renovation proceeds despite critics and admirers Issue 53 : Mar/Apr 2007 Ice still covered the silent white bay and snow lay knee-deep in the boatyard when we began renovating our “new” old yacht. In ...
A really thorough job: Even the deck was removed Issue 53 : Mar/Apr 2007 While work was stalled on my 1969 Kenner Kittiwake project boat, I learned of a newer Kittiwake being auctioned on eBay. I was ...
An old IOR-influenced design becomes a liveaboard cruiser Issue 58 : Jan/Feb 2008 For 50 years, the name Pearson has been synonymous with sailing. Along the way, Pearson built three very different 28-...
Bonding teak veneer to plastic cabin sides Issue 58 : Jan/Feb 2008 Lovers of classic sailboats would agree that a teak coach house is a beautiful sight. However, as time has progressed and cookie-cutt...
Indulging that strong urge to stamp it with your own character Issue 61: July/Aug 2008 Just after high school, I bought a good old car. The first thing I did was to wrap the sun visors and glove box d...
Pearson Ariel hull #1 sets sail again Issue 64 : Jan/Feb 2009 A few years ago, when my wife, Ann, and I were searching for a boat, we happened upon a beauty. We were in Oxford, Maryland, for the weeke...
Once stranded and condemned, she’s now her salvor’s Ruby Deux Issue 67: July/Aug 2009 In the tradition of all good seafaring stories, this one began on a night dark as pitch. The wind built from the s...
A new old compass goes in the right surroundings Issue 67: July/Aug 2009 When I purchased my good old Hallberg-Rassy Mistral 33, I knew I was in for a lot of work. All the wood above deck needed to be...
Renovating a tender tests a range of skills Issue 68 : Sept/Oct 2009 Picture a boat with cracked and crazed gelcoat, delamination, blisters, composite failures, peeling paint, and holes. If you had no...
Where there’s smoke, there’s a serious Sirius cleanup Issue 69 : Nov/Dec 2009 In early December 2007, while she was alone in her slip, a fire started aboard our J/32 that nearly cost us the boat. All ...
The metamorphosis of a beat-up bargain boat Issue 69 : Nov/Dec 2009 Small-boat sailing on the Severn River and Chesapeake Bay was a part of my life growing up in Maryland in the 1960s and ’70s. I neve...
Could she be the classiest Cal 25 ever? Issue 70 : Jan/Feb 2010 I have always loved boats, the sea, and being by water. I dreamed of one day owning a classy sailing vessel that would have a luxurious,...
