Take one tabloid six times a year Issue 108: May/June 2016 When we hang out in our booth at boat shows, subscribers stop to resubscribe, of course, but we’re amazed by the number of times they tell us...
Repair-centered missions bear unexpected fruit Issue 111: Nov/Dec 2016 While cruising down the U.S. Pacific coast we have had hardware break, alternators seize, water pumps give out, and all manner of...
Eradication attempts wither to a ritual cleansing Issue 110 : Sept/Oct 2016 I have morning rituals when cruising. Though I try to sleep late, I usually rise with the sun, but with deliberate care so a...
The best decision was to call for help Issue 110 : Sept/Oct 2016 Having plied the Great Lakes on sailboats for more than 30 years, I was thrilled when my brother Jim informed me that he was getting hi...
Sailing with the heirs to our pastime Issue 110: Sept/Oct 2016 This was the summer that will be remembered fondly aboard Mystic for the times we took kids sailing with us. We didn’t go far. In one cas...
Dreams fulfilled, sailors return to an unsteady terra firma Issue 111: Nov/Dec 2016 Odysseus, I was recently reminded, eventually got so fed up with his sea travels that he wanted to walk inland carry...
A logbook by lamplight and a flood of memories Issue 112: Jan/Feb 2017 I’m an old man with an old boat moored not far from my old house. My desire for new things has waned into a dying moon sliver wit...
. . . means coping with the occasional nightmare Issue 112: Jan/Feb 2017 What happens when someone who has discarded a dream, a dream clearly beyond reach, meets a dreamer? Possibilities germinate. Yo...
Could old boats be the new old cars? Issue 112: Jan/Feb 2017 When reader George Chase offered his perspective on owning good old boats, we decided to share it with all good old boat caretakers. –Edito...
A sailboat evokes a certain kind of emotion Issue 113: March/April 2017 Many a captain will tell you a sailboat is a conscious being. She can be a jealous thing, a sensitive gal whose dependability ri...
Saying farewell to a first small boat Issue 113: March/April 2017 In the two-page color advertisement, the million-dollar yacht was sailing briskly across blue water against a background of the white ...
From essential spar to useful accessory Issue 113: March/April 2017 Once upon a time, all sailboats that carried headsails had bowsprits. In the days when masts were cut from trees, there was a defini...
A latecomer to rowing dips in her oar Issue 113: March/April 2017 The title of Richard Bode’s wildly popular little book says it all: First You Have to Row a Little Boat. I don’t know how many copies ...
Do not poo-poo the smarts of swallows Issue 114: May/June 2017 Birds and other wild creatures that inhabit our boating waters are tough, adaptable, and innovative — and sometimes annoying. But always ...
Issue 114: May/June 2017 While the first fiberglass auxiliary sailboats were introduced in the mid-1950s, and the 28-foot 6-inch Pearson Triton (1959) was widely considered the most successful series-...
Love at first sight and its consequences Issue 114: May/June 2017 Long before he belayed himself to the legendary Spray, Joshua Slocum found himself taken by the Northern Light when she sailed into th...
Scenes from a sailing season Issue 114: May/June 2017 Friday, May 22 On the water at last! I step into the cockpit and feel Finn dip toward me as if in greeting. I scull away from the boat ramp past t...
Mystic sometimes hosts very special guests Issue 114: May/June 2017 Our Mystic is no ordinary C&C 30. Not only has she been featured in this magazine uncountable times, she’s had two sailing lumin...
A fellow sailor’s life viewed with a little envy Issue 115: July/Aug 2017 I was shocked when I saw her standing there . . . stark . . . alone . . . desolate . . . a solitary silhouette against a blazi...
Reentry after cruising has its ups and downs Issue 115: July/Aug 2017 Not too long ago, we returned from our longest sailing adventure to date, almost a year of cruising from Tennessee to the Bahamas ...
A high-schooler falls for a derelict in the woods Issue 115: July/Aug 2017 Do you remember when you were younger, before you’d been thrown a few surprises and knocked around a bit by life? Back then, ...
. . . to a fresh crew of familiar old hands Issue 115: July/Aug 2017 In early April, Jerry and I experienced “the first day of the rest of our lives.” This followed my waking one morning in late Febru...
The novelty of a first sail is a source of joy Issue 116: Sept/Oct 2017 Avital Keeley was 13 last summer when she spent a couple of days as a guest of Good Old Boat founders, Jerry Powlas and I, aboar...
Well-drilled junior sailors help save a mast Issue 116: Sept/Oct 2017 To the tune of the Beverly Hillbillies theme song . . . Let me tell you a little story ’bout an engineer named Tom.Had a little bo...
No deviations in Good Old Boat’s wake Issue 116: Sept/Oct 2017 Back in 1998, when Loran-C was in widespread use and the world’s attention was focused on Y2K, a couple of Great Lakes sailors noted that...
A father and son rediscover an old family “friend” Issue 117: Nov/Dec 2017 For 22 years, we didn’t hear much about Quelle Vie, the boat my grandfather purchased in 1966. She was a Grampian Classic 31,...
Generations bond while stitching and gluing Issue 117: Nov/Dec 2017 When my grandson Ryan was born, in 2007, I was reminded of the fact that I never knew my grandfathers, as both had passed away befor...
Its master commands it by radio Issue 117: Nov/Dec 2017 Shortly after becoming a sailboat owner, I became intrigued by the idea of building a radio-controlled model sailboat that performed like the re...
Objets d’art emerge from an off-season pastime Issue 117: Nov/Dec 2017 When my boat is under wraps for the winter, I seek outlets that help me preserve my sailing sanity. One of my off-season pastimes...
Signature sailboat designs seem to have gone by the board Issue 117: Nov/Dec 2017 Doug Peterson drew a 35-foot sailboat, borrowed money from his grandmother to have it built in his hometown, raced it ...
