The late Gordon Lightfoot’s ’70s-era Ericson gets a proper rig and hull refit Issue 153: Nov/Dec 2023 The calls, emails, and texts started coming in to my wife, Lisa, and me on the evening of Ma...
Taking inspiration to create a more functional and gooseneck-friendly vang/preventer Issue 154: Jan/Feb 2024 I started sailing as an adult and honed my skills racing on San Francisco Bay aboard other ...
A clever solution for raising a mast on a small boat Issue 155: March/April 2024 I have a renovated/repurposed 17-foot Thistle trailer-sailer named Transmogrifier for daysailing and beach cruising (se...
The ins and outs of replacing your stainless lifelines with synthetic. Issue 148: Jan/Feb 2023 Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene, abbreviated UHMWPE and best known by the trade names Dyneema an...
Simple to make, mast loops keep halyard ends tidy and secure. Issue 146: Sept/Oct 2022 I’ve been looking around at all the improvements you’ve made on Sahula during the past five years,” David said as...
As I have gotten older, I have found that I am having more difficulty cranking my genoa winches to properly trim my boat’s headsails. The challenge is greatest in the position where I have the least s...
Moving a mainsail sheet traveler track makes for smooth sailing through the companionway. Issue 139: July/Aug 2021 To my mind, there are two types of sailors: racers and cruisers. Racers are intent on...
What started as a much-needed refit devolved into a scary search for mangy metal. Issue 138: May/June 2021 It all began with a corroded ball valve. It was seized, which rendered inoperable the seacock...
Dynamic climbing rope can be an intriguing option for some uses aboard. Issue 135: Nov/Dec 2020 I’m a sailor, and I’m a climber. For both pursuits, rope is central. Not surprisingly, because the use c...
Easily taken for granted, rope is a critical thread throughout human history. Issue 135: Nov/Dec 2020 What do sailors, the Egyptian pyramids, Britain’s cotton mills, and the first space shuttle all ha...
No halyard? No bosun’s chair? No problem for this crew. Issue 135: Nov/Dec 2020 It was a warm July day when my crew and I set out from Chesapeake Bay aboard Sequoia, our modest but trusty 1977 T...
Bolted boltrope? Try this handy harpoon to retrieve it. Issue 135: Nov/Dec 2020 Many good old boats (and newer boats with laminate sails) feature mainsails that attach to the mast via a boltrope in th...
Thanks to a little help from her friends, a good old boat finds a new paramour. Issue 134: Sept/Oct 2020 I didn’t really know Nat. Nothing beyond a friendly smile and hello as we passed each ot...
Sourcing rigging tension creep reveals an old flaw. Issue 134: Sept/Oct 2020 For a few years, the shrouds and stays on Mikula, my 24-foot Seafarer, would slowly lose their tension over the course of e...
It was time for a stronger autopilot, but the install presented interesting challenges. Issue 133: July/Aug 2020 It was a June day, and a gale was blowing. I remember because I spent 18 hours hand-ste...
A vertical windlass, reimagined, fulfills dual duty as an automatic furler. Issue 131: March/April 2020 I stared down at my university packing list. I had been onboard Jasamine since I was two days ol...
Adding an inner forestay expands sail plan options and can make for better boathandling. Issue 132: May/June 2020 When my wife, Ellen, and I began our search for an ocean-going cruising boat, high on...
The go-slow art of sailboat repair Issue 128: Sept/Oct 2019 I don’t go to boatyards, not unless I’m in Florida, working on my friend Brian’s boat. There the ground is shell and coral, palm trees line ...
When my wife and I bought our 1983 Endeavour 33, we renamed her Gemini. They say it’s bad luck to rename a boat. They might be right. Bringing her to her new home in Oyster Bay, New York, we slammed i...
Vang/preventer: a fast, effective safety device I was guilty of contempt. Never a good thing, in this case it turned out to be a serious error. I had held a thunderstorm cell in contempt all morning. ...
No trained elephants? Here’s an alternative Issue 18: May/June 2001 In a previously published article, I touched upon the use of a quick and easy way for the lone sailor to raise or lower the mast on ...
While economics favor the sloop, other rigs have much to offer The history of the fore-and-aft rig is a fascinating one. It is particularly interesting when you realize that two of the earliest fore-a...
Set fasteners to the right tightness with a wrench torque Issue 127: July/Aug 2019 “Remember, Eddie, one hand on the socket end of the wrench and your other hand perpendicular to the end of the handle...
The ClampTite alternative is more effective and less injurious Issue 127: July/Aug 2019 When most sailors think of hose clamps they think of the ubiquitous worm-drive steel clamp. Worm-drive clamps ar...
It gets a new look and loses its fishhooks Issue 127: July/Aug 2019 We were in the middle of a race and Sam was up front, jibing the spinnaker pole over to the other side of the boat. “Ouch! Dammit!” ...
A garden-variety geotextile is a perfect protective sock Issue 126: May/June 2019 Having spent a substantial sum for a new foam-luff cruising genoa to fit the CDI furler on our Catalina 22, Bright Eye...
A fresh-air solution for a boat that lacks a locker Issue 125: March/April 2019 In the 1970s and ’80s, a lot of production sailboats were equipped with alcohol-fueled galley stoves. Accordingly, there...
