Inter-island telegraph app for social media Issue 89 : Mar/Apr 2013 We are a long way from home. After nearly a decade in the Caribbean, we returned to the mainland a few years ago and haven’t yet mad...
You never know who’s gonna need your help Issue 89 : Mar/Apr 2013 Alone in my Bill Tripp-designed Columbia 26 sailboat that late September afternoon in 1975, I was bound under power for Hyannis on the...
Finding homes for boatyard orphans Issue 89 : Mar/Apr 2013 I was the kid on the block who rescued strays. My mother once remarked that I was a magnet for every homeless mutt in the neighborhood. They ...
Compound errors add up to a bump in the night Issue 91 : Jul/Aug 2013 Accidents are supposed to be nasty moments that come out of nowhere. Yet in 1983, when I had more than 20 years’ sea time under my...
Five stages from taking the bait to being truly boated Issue 91 : Jul/Aug 2013 1. The beginning It might have been Swallows and Amazons . . . or the thought of small animals in a beautiful pea-green b...
When super-human effort isn’t enough, humanity succeeds Issue 90: May/June 2013 This is a story of disaster, struggle, despair, and dreams lost . . . but also one of friendship, creativity, redemption...
A journey alone around the world by sail and by foot Issue 91 : Jul/Aug 2013 Good Old Boat is proud to announce our 15th audiobook, this one by James Baldwin about the wonderful and rather unusual two...
Prevention demands diligence and vigilance Issue 90: May/June 2013 Ellen and I have been involved with two major boat fires over the years. The first was in the Caribbean on board Entr’acte, our Nor’s...
Having circled the Americas, he’s now focused on the oceans Issue 91 : Jul/Aug 2013 By the time you read this, with luck, Matt Rutherford will be back at sea. Aboard his newly refitted Colvin Gazelle,...
Every step is an accomplishment in itself Issue 98: Sept/Oct 2014 I didn’t know this when I was younger. I haven’t been young for 20 years now, but some things, the best things, have no end, no finale...
Good Old Boat evolves issue by issue Issue 91 : Jul/Aug 2013 As we celebrate our 15th anniversary this summer, my office is lined with three-ring binders filled with a steady parade of our issues: 90 ...
Lingering fair weather is irresistible Issue 92 : Sept/Oct 2013 Past Labor Day, through October and well into November, there’s some fine sailing to be had in Puget Sound — warm 75-degree days that tu...
Mayhem begets a teaching moment Issue 92 : Sept/Oct 2013 It’s amazing how fast things can change on the water. How does that salty expression go . . . that sailing is 99 percent boredom and one percen...
Highway hauling takes preparation and patience Issue 92 : Sept/Oct 2013 Sometimes good old boats need to be moved overland. Many were not designed for that and present a challenge that may seem overwh...
Five ideas that flunked; five that made the grade Issue 92 : Sept/Oct 2013 In the years since we launched her, our home-finished 31-foot Cape George cutter has been subjected to perhaps the most rigor...
Oh, yes . . . sailboats are a distraction Issue 92 : Sept/Oct 2013 Sailboats are clearly a distraction in the lives of sailors. At Good Old Boat we see a predictable and seasonal pattern in our reader...
Cold souls among the jackstands Issue 93 : Nov/Dec 2013 Winter has closed in. Boats are hauled out in northern climes. Their once-sweet lines are swaddled in shrink-wrap or tarps. The boatyard, which ...
A Sandpiper sheds its dust and spreads its wings Issue 93 : Nov/Dec 2013 I caught the sailing bug early despite the fact that powerboats outnumbered sailboats by a zillion to one on the lake at my gra...
Grandchildren keep the wind in the family’s sails Issue 98: Sept/Oct 2014 In these my retirement years, I spend many hours messing about on Hornblower, my 1976 Pearson 35. One day, the sea breez...
The rich rewards of sailing solo Issue 98: Sept/Oct 2014 Over the years I’ve learned that, without quiet contemplative time on the water, I suffer as if from lack of freedom. The mind of a sailor seem...
Guest editorial Issue 93 : Nov/Dec 2013 The chart plotter has evolved into a wonder that has simplified navigation and route planning beyond the dreams of sailors of old. Over the last decade, chart p...
Opening the door to a new paradise Issue 94 : Jan/Feb 2014 You don’t have to cross oceans to enjoy sailing and you don’t have to sail around the world to have grand adventures. As my husband, Dave, pu...
An inferior anchor was a drag Issue 94 : Jan/Feb 2014 Autumn in the northeastern part of the North American continent is a golden time of year. Gone are the summer mugginess and drab green scenery, re...
Turbulent economic winds pruned a budding sailboat industry Issue 94 : Jan/Feb 2014 Most owners of good old boats have a strong association with Japanese products: Yanmar diesel auxiliaries are popula...
Little Mystic’s crew is in awe of their grace Issue 94 : Jan/Feb 2014 That old saying about how “the sea is so great and my boat is so small” never seemed truer than this past summer when Mystic’s 30 ...
A breathtaking show for an audience of one Issue 95 : Mar/Apr 2014 It’s just past 2 a.m. The only sound is the velvet swish of water sliding along the hull. We’re about 50 miles offshore with no sign ...
On burying a sailor you’ve never met Issue 95 : Mar/Apr 2014 “For the truth is that I already know as much about my fate as I need to know. The day will come when I will die. So the only matter of con...
A race for chariots and classics alike Issue 95 : Mar/Apr 2014 While I’ve sailed and cruised much of my life, I’ve never been a racer, never even attended a race. So the day before the start of the 20...
Hand and reef, I’m in . . . but must I also steer? Issue 95 : Mar/Apr 2014 After more than 20 years of sailing, I have finally figured out that I lack the knack for steering. Apparently I just don’t h...
Priceless memories acquired for little outlay Issue 96 : May/Jun 2014 In all the books I read growing up, cruising sailors generally came across as an un-wealthy bunch. Tristan Jones, whether his tale...
