Wintertime on the Great Prairie Issue 46 : Jan/Feb 2006 Parade rest! The voice shouted at me from long ago and far away. Haulout on the northern prairie is a melancholy time. There was a light frost o...
An Alaskan summer idyll Issue 46 : Jan/Feb 2006 What are your favorite sailing memories? Do you flip through last summer’s mental photo album searching for a scene to replay that’ll get you through a ...
It’s for the hardy and it starts at 50 degrees north Issue 52: Jan/Feb 2007 LATELY I’VE HAD REASON TO CONTEMPLATE THE CHARMS AND challenges of high-latitude sailing. Since we’ve just completed the pro...
The boat sleeps under snow now, but tropical sunsets will follow Issue 46 : Jan/Feb 2006 It’s a cold New England winter morning. I’m up early to get a few sights of Jupiter before the morning twilight...
The hardest part is waiting out the winter Issue 52: Jan/Feb 2007 ABOUT TWO WEEKS AGO, THE WEATHER improved enough here in the mid-Atlantic for me to rush out to my boat, a 1986 Hunter 28.5, scuff up ...
Soon a dream of escape will come true Issue 47 : Mar/Apr 2006 I have a large dog. She’s a Rottweiler/shepherd mix: no tail, like a Rott, but looks like a shepherd in the face. At my yard, here i...
And we’re keeping this one to ourselves Issue 47 : Mar/Apr 2006 In the summer of 2004, the largest U.S. sailing magazine ran a list of the top 10 towns that are perfect for sailors: “Sailville, USA,” ...
New owner unearths hidden mysteries aboard Issue 47 : Mar/Apr 2006 “What is this thing?” I ponder, holding up a hotdog-shaped red bulb with a foot-long wire protruding from one end, terminating in a p...
Eight years into a cruise, here’s what’s still operating well Issue 47 : Mar/Apr 2006 I wrote an article for Good old Boat (January 2001) about the preparations we made for liveaboard bluewater cruisi...
Doing your own boatwork, you confront certain immutable truths Issue 47 : Mar/Apr 2006 I am an expert do-it-yourselfer. I make this claim not simply because I’ve fixed a lot of things on my own and fr...
Sailing with a two-year-old in the Florida Keys Issue 47 : Mar/Apr 2006 These days, when Noah is playing with his toy sailboats, he can pick out the boom, the mast, and the keel. Then he points to the...
A long-time voyager examines the effects of cruising on kids Issue 47 : Mar/Apr 2006 We had said our goodbyes the night before, her eyes glistening with love and the anticipation of her next adventure...
A Balance Lugsail Primer It has been five months since the OzGoose kit arrived. The boat has been assembled, epoxied, and varnished. It is ready now for rigging. First it should be noted that there we...
After 29 years, a new genoa Issue 47 : Mar/Apr 2006 Mystic’s 150-percent genoa was made in 1976, as near as I can tell. We’ve made repairs to it in most of the 14 years we’ve owned the boat. I even se...
Not a pretty sight but they get the job done Issue 48 : May/Jun 2006 In addition to owning a sailboat of a certain age, I have other hobbies. I dabble in woodworking — a handy skill when it comes to m...
They also spend who only sail and toil Issue 48 : May/Jun 2006 Some time ago I participated in a government survey focusing on the national economy. It was interested in the buying habits of the publi...
It’s his boat’s way of warning him to pay attention Issue 48 : May/Jun 2006 Ahhh . . . at last. Spring is here. I can tell by the bump on my head . . . near the hairline on the right side, same as eve...
Fresh produce from a cruising ketch’s deck Issue 48 : May/Jun 2006 Heading north from Nanaimo to begin our circumnavigation of Vancouver Island on Canada’s west coast, we passed another sailboat headi...
Lose yourself in the mystery of the universe Issue 48 : May/Jun 2006 We hardly get to see the sky at night anymore; electric light has all but banished it. Anywhere near a city, the atmosphere reflect...
How to fix bargain boats and make a modest fortune Issue 48 : May/Jun 2006 “I know about guys like you,” the old yard worker said as we strolled the back fence. “You’re a bottom feeder. You look for o...
My life with Jane Duck Issue 48 : May/Jun 2006 There has never been another boat like her, not before nor since. I remember crossing Rosario Straits, leaving Lopez Island bound for Deception Pass with...
Thrills and spills on a glorious day for planing Issue 49 : Jul/Aug 2006 I was fortunate to attend Tabor Acadamy, “The school by the Sea,” for those four tumultuous years preceding college. Rather tha...
Perhaps how NOT to do this Issue 49 : Jul/Aug 2006 The first time I saw a Mega 30 was at a boat chow. She was a new idea, a new design, and newly built . . . all untried and unproven. I wanted one. I ...
The kindest thing people called him was “totally bonkers” Issue 49 : Jul/Aug 2006 In the spring of 1960 I recieved a call from Jack McKenzie, with whom I then crewed on Bill Gillerlain’s Intrepid. He ...
Good Old Boat sponsors yet another good old regatta Issue 49 : Jul/Aug 2006 I’m convinced that one of the reasons why those of us with good old boats undertake often-insurmountable tasks is in anticip...
A veteran cruising couple tells what is working for them Issue 49 : Jul/Aug 2006 We left in the pre-dawn mist. As the bird song heralded the break of a new day, I looked back and saw the islands of we...
Improper thoughts about the properties of bottom paint Issue 49 : Jul/Aug 2006 The nice thing about many routine boat jobs is that you can unplug your brain from the task at hand and allow it to wande...
Domestic bliss returns after a short-lived middle-aged fling Issue 50 : Sept/Oct 2006 If you are, or were ever, married or even a long-term relationship, you will know what I mean when I admit to havi...
A place for everything and everything out of place Issue 50 : Sept/Oct 2006 Gridlock is a condition easily achieved . . . way too easily on a boat in the spring. I was able to manage it with a can of ...
“Post-trauma syndrome” might describe the impact on the Mississippi Gulf Coast Issue 50 : Sept/Oct 2006 I was in a marine store the other day and saw an attractive ice chest for my boat on sale. I tho...
