One size, or style, does not fit all Issue 74 : Sept/Oct 2010 Writing about rudders was not much fun. Writing about rigs will be more fun. Everyone has an opinion about sailboat rigs. I have opinions ...
Take preventive steps but be prepared for at-sea repairs Issue 75 : Nov/Dec 2010 This article is an excerpt from Lin and Larry Pardey’s Capable Cruiser, which was published in its third edition earlie...
A Tartan 37’s rig survives a disintegrating chainplate Issue 75 : Nov/Dec 2010 At the time I wrote about replacing the backstay on my best friend, Adam’s, new-to-him Tartan 37 (see Good Old Boat May/J...
In case the splice doesn’t play nice . . . Issue 76 : Jan/Feb 2011 I have eye-spliced my new anchor rode to the nylon thimble, seized the splice with small nylon twine to help keep things in place, an...
A good lashing and they won’t slack off Issue 77 : Mar/Apr 2011 A number of ideas have appeared in Good Old Boat recently for locking turnbuckles without using cotter pins in the conventional way (Mar...
A rigging repair is a community effort Issue 79: July/Aug 2011 In this, the first of two parts, authors Leslie Linkkila and Philip DiNuovo describe what happens when rigging fails in paradise, how the...
A nifty tool preserves fingernails and patience Issue 78 : May/Jun 2011 The smallest rigging job can cause the greatest pain. This is particularly so if you sail in northern waters; delaying the haulo...
Contrary to Internet rumors, it is not weak Issue 79: July/Aug 2011 Recently, in online sailing forums, I have seen self-proclaimed pundits advise sailors new to yachting that single-spreader rigs are...
More power to you! Issue 79: July/Aug 2011 The forces we have to contend with when sailing a boat are greater than we can handle with our unaided physical strength. To cope with them, we make use of a...
Replacing standing rigging, step by step Issue 80 : Sept/Oct 2011 When our headstay almost parted in Panama, where there is no professional rigging service, we had to replace it ourselves. Since the s...
The lowdown on your boom’s hold-down Issue 84 : May/Jun 2012 What we today call the boom vang was once called a martingale. It is also referred to as a kicking-strap, kicker, or boom-jack. The princip...
The bottom line in mainsail trim Issue 85 : Jul/Aug 2012 Outhauls have been in use since the days of the square rigger. An outhaul is part of the running rigging, specifically a line fastened to the c...
Many things — coastal enforcer to racing machine Issue 87 : Nov/Dec 2012 The term “cutter” has a long history in the sport of yachting. In the 1870s and ’80s it figured in a hotly debated controversy ...
They hold up the shrouds that hold up the mast Issue 88 : Jan/Feb 2013 Spreaders are struts attached to the sides of a mast to hold the shrouds away from the mast and increase the angle at which they ...
A simple way to power up or down the mainsail Issue 90: May/June 2013 Many mainsails have a cringle at the luff of the sail a few inches above the tack. It’s known as the Cunningham and is named after...
Tame reefing lines with neatly hitched coils Issue 91 : Jul/Aug 2013 Mainsail reefing systems vary in detail but have one problem in common: what to do with the excess lines from the reef-clew outhaul...
Defy both chafe and corrosion Issue 98: Sept/Oct 2014 Like many sailors, I spend much of my free time “dock walking.” I enjoy marine design in all its aesthetic variety and my “technical eye” is alway...
Clean new bases for turning blocks Issue 98: Sept/Oct 2014 I’m slowly replacing the teak on my boat with materials that don’t need refinishing. There wasn’t a lot to begin with, so whether I choose to...
When it’s time to replace them, think swageless Issue 92 : Sept/Oct 2013 Most good old boats were delivered from the factory with swaged terminal fittings on their standing rigging — the shrouds and s...
A Bermudan sloop gets an unusual makeover Issue 95 : Mar/Apr 2014 For many years and more than 110,000 miles, I happily sailed aboard a 34-foot, junk-rigged plywood dory. This rig was brought to the a...
Give your jib’s roller furler some needed support Issue 100: Jan/Feb 2015 Headsail roller-furling systems have become ubiquitous. Walk the docks or scan the mooring field and you’ll quickly confirm th...
. . . solve line-leading issues on a multilevel deck Issue 100: Jan/Feb 2015 Even in our younger days, my wife and I tried to make living and working aboard our cruising boats as easy as possible. Thi...
Tie ’em fore and aft Issue 101 : Mar/Apr 2015 If you have external halyards on your boat, no doubt you’ve been awakened at night by the annoying clanging of a loose halyard rapping against the mast. T...
Make the switch from wire to rope Issue 102 : May/Jun 2015 Not long ago a fellow named Sean brought his masthead sheaves to my shop. They were made from phenolic resin, known also as Micarta or Bakeli...
Say goodbye to sheet hang-ups on mast winches Issue 109 : Jul/Aug 2016 Snagging the lazy (windward) genoa sheet on mast-mounted winches was my curse since the day we added a genoa to Shoal Survivor, o...
A little stiffness could have become a big problem Issue 113: March/April 2017 We had been tied to a dock for several weeks enjoying the city of Seville, Spain. It was a day just like any other day: I...
Handmade pendants add grip and color Issue 119: March/April 2018 Shackle pulls can spruce up zippers, shackles, key chains, and many other pieces of hardware on your boat. You can purchase pulls for a...
Swageless terminals were a hands-on sailor’s choice Issue 119: March/April 2018 When I purchased Pelorus, my Paceship PY26, she had suffered damage to the bow and starboard side during Hurricane Bob i...
Make strong connections with a needle and twine Issue 120: May/June 2018 Conventional splices are king for forming eyes in rope. They resist abrasion and snagging and retain nearly the full strength o...
A sinker and line makes a reliable messenger Issue 121: July/Aug 2018 When the genoa halyard aboard my father’s C&C 29 broke last summer, we thought we would have to remove the mast to replace the...
