It’s a springtime rite in a boatyard Issue 102 : May/Jun 2015 It begins slowly. Just a rustling of loosened winter covers and the occasional soft thump as hatches open and close. It’s not that the boa...
Advanced methods enhance options, safety, and fun Issue 102 : May/Jun 2015 The art and science of making a boat stay put in an anchorage is vast and interesting. In part 1 of this series, in the March...
Cheap and effective, they don’t wrap or slide Issue 108: May/June 2016 I sail my Boston Whaler Harpoon 5.2, Quee Queg, on lakes and reservoirs in Arizona, where accurately discerning wind direction ca...
A wet towel puts a damper on a loose helm One morning, we were at anchor in a pretty cove when an empty water bottle blew overboard. We raised the anchor and chased down the errant bottle. Once the an...
A cell phone signal booster brings the world aboard Issue 108: May/June 2016 Like many sailors who still work, I like to keep abreast of things back at the office every few days, even when on vacation...
Exercise that gets you somewhere on the water Issue 104 : Sept/Oct 2015 For many of us, our very first boat was a rowboat — in my case an old and leaky one — so every outing is a trip down memory lane...
A downhaul is a singlehander’s foredeck crew Issue 105 : Nov/Dec 2015 A friend of mine told me about an incident he witnessed in which the jib furler on a 54-foot sailboat jammed. “You haven’t laughed...
Variations on taking in a slab of sail Issue 105 : Nov/Dec 2015 A sail is reefed to reduce its area so it will not overpower the boat in stronger winds. Of the many reefing systems used, slab or jiffy...
Lettuce and cold drinks — the frosting on the cruising cake Issue 105 : Nov/Dec 2015 This past summer, for the first time in 15 years or more, we had ice in Mystic’s icebox. In years past, we cruised ...
Ferry it from shore to ship without lifting a drop Issue 106 : Jan/Feb 2016 When you’re on the hook, you fill your dinghy with four basic commodities in addition to passengers: trash, diesel, gas, and...
Eliminate fire drills with a drag-proof system Issue 106 : Jan/Feb 2016 When I was new to boating, many, many years ago, I quickly learned it was far better to anchor securely than to stumble about on...
A veteran cruiser’s 12 steps to a well-fed crew Issue 106 : Jan/Feb 2016 Provisioning your boat can be as easy as taking a short walk to the grocery store to stock up for a couple of days on the lake ...
Seeing current requires GPS and a knotmeter Issue 107 : Mar/Apr 2016 I grew up sailing on a lake in upstate New York on a 16-foot hand-built wooden sloop. No tides. No currents. Only wind. No instrume...
Surface weather maps, part 1 Issue 107 : Mar/Apr 2016 Surface weather maps offer a wealth of information to the weather-savvy mariner. The key to unlocking the information displayed on these maps is u...
Ways to dispose of expired pyrotechnics Issue 108: May/June 2016 Your flare caddy was overflowing with mostly expired flares. You bought a bigger one. Now it, too, is almost filled with expired flares...
How sailboats stand up to the wind Issue 108: May/June 2016 In a letter to Mail Buoy in the September 2015 issue of Good Old Boat, Rich Morrow of Herring Cove, Nova Scotia, called me to task for putti...
Surface weather maps, part 2 Issue 108: May/June 2016 In the March 2016 issue I introduced surface weather maps, meteorological time-keeping systems, the difference between issued and valid date and t...
From one extreme to another Issue 109 : Jul/Aug 2016 In Part 1 of this article, in the May 2016 issue, Rob described how sailing vessels achieve their stability. Using the C&C 39 as an example of ...
How they form and how they are named Issue 109 : Jul/Aug 2016 Sailors have been watching clouds since the first boat was launched. As aficionados know, clouds come in an infinite variety of shapes and...
A rack where phones stay dry, charged, and in reach Issue 111: Nov/Dec 2016 Here’s a simple project for 21st century sailors who want a safe and dedicated place to stow expensive little gizmos. I desi...
A dry suit is put to the test on the Gumby immersion course Issue 110 : Sept/Oct 2016 Most sailors who venture upon cold water have given considerable thought to the consequences of having to abandon ...
Traveler controls belong in the hands of the helmsman Issue 110 : Sept/Oct 2016 Rat’s axiom, that there is nothing — absolutely nothing — half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats, is ...
How electromagnetic radiation sheds light on dark clouds Issue 110: Sept/Oct 2016 Rain, high winds, and thunderstorms can put a damper on any sailor’s day. But forewarned is forearmed, and the best re...
Simple gifts of welcome or thanks Issue 111: Nov/Dec 2016 While cruising, we receive help from other sailors on an almost daily basis. While a bottle of wine rarely goes unappreciated, it’s sometimes ...
Revealing storm structure through scanning strategies Issue 111: Nov/Dec 2016 In the first part of this two-part series (in the September 2016 issue), Mark explained the basics of Doppler weather rada...
A juice box traps both oil and cartridge Issue 112: Jan/Feb 2017 Changing an oil filter without making a mess is a challenge I have long faced, as have many other boat owners. Despite having relativel...
Getting a grip took a little help Issue 112: Jan/Feb 2017 To comply with the spirit and rule of USCG regulations, we keep the seacock on the holding tank’s overboard discharge closed and disable it by...
How it can come unhinged under stress Issue 112: Jan/Feb 2017 Cliff Moore has had his share of trouble with transom-hung rudders (see “Rudders I Have Loved and Lost,” January 2017). In my article “How...
Stirring paint without the Pollock effect Issue 113: March/April 2017 Our Creekmore 34, Eurisko, always looks sharp with her new black bottom paint, but we don’t wear it nearly as well. Bottom paint i...
Secondhand silverware made ideal tools Issue 113: March/April 2017 Nurdle’s toerail was leaking and I had no choice but to remove and rebed it — all 70 feet. While most of the Dolfinite compound used ...
