Issue 142: Jan/Feb 2022 I spend a lot of time navigating shoal waters, and my dedicated (and expensive) chart plotter only gets fresh information about such places when I install an updated SD card, y...
Mending a father’s grievous losses seemed impossible until another boat came along. Issue 142: Jan/Feb 2022 Every year, countless sailors venture south. I never thought I’d be one of them but apparent...
After Baranof Island, an Alaskan voyage brings more beauty, a few bears, and stories to tell. Issue 142: Jan/Feb 2022 As we walk down the main pier in Craig Harbor, our family’s dock cart is heavily l...
For these Lake Ontario sailors, the off-season is full on. Issue 142: Jan/Feb 2022 It is February in Bluffers Park Marina in Toronto, and Lake Ontario is frozen solid. Winter in these parts can be pre...
A luff tape cleaner makes mast groove maintenance easy and sail hoisting smoother. Issue 142: Jan/Feb 2022 The most basic part of sailing—hoisting your sails—should be easy and straightforward. While ...
A pleasant amble up the ICW is rudely interrupted by a near-sinking. Issue 142: Jan/Feb 2022 It’s a hot August day, Mile Marker Somewhere, along a meandering stretch of well-marked rivers down in Sout...
Two friends’ seasonal ritual in a frozen boatyard sweetens the long Canadian winter. Issue 142: Jan/Feb 2022 It is mid-January, Quebec winter at its best. The day is sunny, the air crisp, and the sky ...
Issue 142: Jan/Feb 2022 When I was in my mid-20s, I instructed cruising and sailing classes on monohulls and catamarans in the Caribbean, Bahamas, Florida, and basically anywhere else I was asked to g...
A sailor is grateful for her fellow bold sailing women. Issue 143: March/April 2022 It was mid-March in Rock Hall, Maryland, and boaters were emerging from hibernation to prep for the upcoming season....
The most memorable physical education class in college had nothing to do with the gym. Issue 143: March/April 2022 “I’m sorry!” I shouted as a massive wave hurled itself across the bow, soaking my cre...
A first-time passage to Catalina Island serves up wildlife, outboard hijinks, starry nights, and happiness. Issue 143: March/April 2022 I was getting pretty good at the marina thing. Nine months after...
Do you really need to splice a thimble into that line? Maybe not so much. Issue 143: March/April 2022 Traditional wire or metal thimbles are common gear on boats, usually spliced into a line where a r...
An unpredicted nighttime wind shift created a dangerous situation that demanded quick action. Issue 143: March/April 2022 After months of boat work, my partner, Chris, and I sat back to enjoy the frui...
Storing the dinghy on the hip while moored is an easy, useful practice. Issue 143: March/April 2022 A mother often finds it convenient to rest a toddler on her hip. A mother ship can benefit from the ...
As electric propulsion technology leaps forward, that’s a question worth constantly revisiting. Issue 143: March/April 2022 When we repowered our Liberty 458, Nine of Cups, a decade ago, we took a clo...
How one sailor’s electric propulsion system went from dubious to undoubtable. Issue 143: March/April 2022 It is a beautiful, sunny day, and after more than 3,500 miles singlehanding across the North A...
Issue 144: May/June 2022 Circuit Certainty The Hubbell Circuit Tester (LED, 125VAC, 30A) is a handy, affordable little device that could save a boater a great deal of electrical frustration when deali...
Looking foolish is part of sailing, yet we come back for more. Issue 144: May/June 2022 After motoring into a popular Chesapeake Bay harbor on a holiday weekend, my first mate and I experienced a leve...
The only thing predictable about lightning is how scary and potentially destructive it is. Issue 144: May/June 2022 Joe Miano was relaxing on the deck of his Endeavour 42, Bonzee, in a Punta Gorda, Fl...
A journey up the Saint John River is a sweet reward for the effort of getting there. Issue 144: May/June 2022 “My phone scolded me for taking only 548 steps yesterday,” I confessed to Alex, my wife. “...
It’s time to ditch the disposables. Issue 144: May/June 2022 When it comes to batteries, dockside debates nearly always default to the rapidly evolving technologies that are changing how we power our ...
Being designated deck boy on the family sailboat was sometimes scary, always exciting. Issue 144: May/June 2022 Dirty, difficult, dangerous. Those were the kinds of jobs assigned to me as our family’s...
Lobster pot lines aren’t the only things to avoid while cruising Maine’s coast. Issue 144: May/June 2022 It had been a gorgeous Maine sailing day up from Biddeford Pool across the wide mouth of Portla...
For owners of older sailboats, the insurance market is getting complicated. Issue 144: May/June 2022 David Sharp, who’d sailed his 1969 Tartan 34C, Pegasus, for many years out of Newport, Rhode Island...
Issue 143: March/April 2022 OK, so this is a test. I am kneeling—no, really, I’m in what amounts to a contorted version of yoga’s “child’s pose”—facing aft in the rather narrow passage between the mai...
Issue 144: May/June 2022 Holding an inflatable globe, I point out the equator and describe that at zero degrees latitude, it divides the earth into northern and southern hemispheres. Next, the prime m...
Maybe a good small boat and a quiet lake are all you really need. Issue 145: July/Aug 2022 One sunny Saturday afternoon found me trailering my O’Day 192 to a nearby lake for an afternoon sail and an o...
Issue 145: July/Aug 2022 Taking the Nip Out of Flies Sailors who assume mosquitoes are the pastime’s main insect issue clearly haven’t experienced biting flies. Mosquitoes primarily come out at night,...
A serendipitous turn brings a small sailboat full circle. Issue 145: July/Aug 2022 “I owe Kelley a letter. I wonder how Doug and Laura are doing? I need to call Mom and Dad. I should find a new dentis...
After a brisk autumn catboat sail, a catnap invokes memories. Issue 146: Sept/Oct 2022 The sail luffs as I round up into the wind, our mooring ball dead ahead. I stretch over the foredeck for the line...
