An older boat is good enough for a crew of older sailors Issue 118: Jan/Feb 2018 This adventure started just like our last one (“Narrowboat Adventure,” July 2016), over a bottle of wine in the cockpit...
The yen to travel by boat is in her blood Issue 118: Jan/Feb 2018 I grew up in a megalopolis of five million people. My father always seemed to me a city person. He was an engineer, a tutor at the uni...
Intrepid Great Loopers survive in frigid Duluth Issue 118: Jan/Feb 2018 Most cruisers complete the Great Loop cruising route — up the ICW from Florida, through the Erie Canal to the Great Lakes, south...
Viewing vessel traffic with a smartphone app Issue 118: Jan/Feb 2018 A couple of times a year, I find myself on Virginia’s Hampton Roads, a large natural harbor close to the mouth of Chesapeake Bay. W...
A departure delayed by foul ground and a lee shore Issue 118: Jan/Feb 2018 Following years of laid-back dreaming, of soaking up from books, magazines, and YouTube the wisdom and experience of voyagers...
Boat cards connect good friends and good times with places far and near Issue 118: Jan/Feb 2018 They’re a throwback to a time we seem to have moved past, a quaint time when all letters were handwritte...
It came with 40 years of someone else’s memories Issue 119: March/April Over the course of 45 years we had purchased eight sailboats in what we assumed was the natural progression of boat ownership: s...
. . . and the safety significance of MMSI and GPS Issue 119: March/April 2018 When we replaced the fixed-mount VHF radio on our 1986 cutter back in 2002, we noticed the new radio featured a red “distr...
Two boys buy a big wooden boat with their hearts, not their heads Issue 119: March/April 2018 On a warm June evening in 1969, my friends Scott and David drove with me from the Chicago suburbs to Michi...
Engine trouble, sail trouble, a repair stop, and a Celtic goddess Issue 119: March/April 2018 “Lindora?” “No. I don’t like it,” said my husband, Erik. “It’s Lincoln’s and Isadora’s names put together....
Its breadth demands a diversity of content Issue 119: March/April 2018 Immediately upon assuming editorial responsibility at Good Old Boat, I started work on a mission statement. This magazine didn’t ...
Night-watch ruminations lead to an unsolvable riddle Issue 120: May/June 2018 I have a confession to make. It’s been six months and 6,000 miles since my mate James and I set sail from Portland, Englan...
The kink-free lifeline daisy chain gives wet rope a good airing Issue 120: May/June 2018 For sailors, wet rope is a fact of life. Coil and stow that wet rope after a sail, and green rope may become a ...
Issue 120: May/June 2018 Thank you to Sailrite Enterprises, Inc., for providing free access to back issues of Good Old Boat through intellectual property rights. Sailrite.com...
How to keep newcomers to sailing calm and engaged Issue 120: May/June 2018 Now you’ve done it. A week after talking up sailing at the office party or neighborhood barbecue, you’re surprised that your ...
Keeping up an older boat pays back in family time, not dollars Issue 120: May/June 2018 What is the point of all the effort and expense I put into owning a good old boat? I often find myself asking th...
It was not the best place for his rudder to jam hard over Issue 120: May/June 2018 On the day I purchased my first boat, the 30-foot Shallow Life, my sailing experience amounted to only two days aboar...
Most everything, according to surveys Issue 120: May/June 2018 We spent two years preparing our boat to cross the Pacific. We read countless blogs and peppered experienced ocean sailors with questions...
Shared passions form a common bond between strangers Issue 120: May/June 2018 I rode motorcycles for years, first a 1982 Yamaha Virago 920, later a 1977 Honda CB550. Neither was a touring bike, but th...
A midlife course change has left a legacy in its wake Issue 121: July/Aug 2018 Short of getting married to begin with, starting a sailing magazine 20 years ago was one of the most risky and rewarding ...
World-girdling pioneers inspired generations of sailors with their writing Issue 121: July/Aug 2018 I want to tell a story about Bernard Moitessier. It is not the famous one about him crossing his out...
The youngest circumnavigator advises focusing on the solution, not the problem Issue 121: July/Aug 2018 I’ve sailed solo around the world, 518 days of solo. It takes a mental fortitude that few can ap...
On long passages, it’s a campaign against attrition of gear and the electrical system Issue 121: July/Aug 2018 When I started sailing solo, I realized that I’d have to learn to deal with breakages if ...
In 1968, Britain’s The Sunday Times newspaper offered a trophy, named The Golden Globe, and £5,000 to the first person to sail singlehanded nonstop around the world. No starting date was specified, bu...
Saying no to wings, foils, carbon fiber, and satcoms Issue 121: July/Aug 2018 I’m embarrassed to report that I’ve long been a bit sour on the America’s Cup, as it’s evolved. Embarrassed because boats ...
A coral atoll revealed the sea in its true colors Issue 122: Sept/Oct 2018 As a boy, I felt very lucky to grow up at Leigh-on-Sea, on the north shore of the Thames Estuary in Essex, England, where the...
Good planning, instinct, careful observation, or luck? Issue 122: Sept/Oct 2018 In Good Old Boat there is an entertaining trope, or recurring narrative pattern, that shapes many Learning Experience st...
Sailing other people’s boats is a good way to find the right size Issue 122: Sept/Oct 2018 The essence of cruising by sailboat is not about crossing vast oceans, but about living by sail. My husband, ...
A ravenous rat unites a community while wreaking havoc on board Issue 122: Sept/Oct 2018 At our farewell party at the Club Náutico de Sevilla, Spain, I ate something I shouldn’t have, and on returning...
I want a boat with tan bark sailsTo sail the ocean blueAnd a bow sprit stoutAnd a good long keelTo keep her straight and trueAnd down below a cabin snugWith stove to cut the chillOf mornings up in Noo...
