Want to successfully sell your boat on your own? Here’s how. Issue 136: Jan/Feb 2021 Over the past decade, my husband and I have bought six sailboats and sold five of them (we live aboard the boat we ...
For years I’ve been landing 36- to 48-inch striped bass during the Chesapeake Bay spring trophy season. It’s a spring ritual and yet, I never cease to be amazed at how easy it is to wind in 200 feet o...
We were preparing for our spring cruise and going over our on-board dry-cell battery inventory. Our conclusion? Our inventory of AA and AAA batteries stays fresh because we go through them, whereas we...
Tips from a world-cruising fellow sufferer It never fails. Every time we get into a discussion with a new or would-be cruising sailor, there comes a moment when a concerned look crosses his or her fac...
Tricing is a quick fix for a multitude of dangling dinghy issues. Issue 135: Nov/Dec 2020 For a sailor on the hook, few things are more convenient than a dinghy on davits. As soon as the anchor is set...
Maybe you’ve found the exact boat you want and have the money to pay for it, but you don’t have the free time to bring it home. Maybe you dream of cruising far from your home port, but you have only a...
I guess we could sense trouble even before it started. The 35-foot sloop was making a downwind approach into the crowded mooring area, its engine running, a spray dodger in place so the helmsman had a...
We’re among the lucky ones, we made it. After years of dreaming and prepping, we’re living aboard our boat in the Tropics. It’s everything we hoped it would be and we miss none of the creature comfort...
Secrets of a cheese lover revealed at last Whether you decide on cocktail nibbles, late-night snacks, a sandwich filler, or a main course spice, cheese is one of the most versatile ingredients in a cru...
We’ve known for a long time that dark colored plastic water jugs far outlast clear or white ones. Seems the color gives UV protection. We noted colored dacron sails seem to outlast white ones unless t...
Wanting to be more self-sufficient and increase my knowledge of the diesel engine aboard my Beneteau 311, I signed up for Boater University’s online course Marine Diesel Maintenance and Troubleshootin...
Shooting stills and video for cruising articles To get photos with a difference, take your boat away from marina situations and find surroundings that are out of the ordinary. Magazines need photograp...
I sail a MacGregor 26D. It does not have a chart table. We don’t even carry much in the way of charts, because using charts in the cockpit takes a lot of room and just when we need to look at de...
Fill your water tanks the natural way Larry Pardey secures hoses to the small through- hull fittings he and Lin have inserted into the four low points of their sun cover. He leads these to their water ...
Wherein a glorious small-boat adventure ends in ignominy and terror. Issue 134: Sept/Oct 2020 When I was young and thought I knew everything about boats and sailing, I would have laughed in your face ...
New crew in the fam? Here’s how to take them sailing. Issue 129: Nov/Dec 2019 When my husband, Michael, and I found out we were going to be parents in eight short months, the first thing our family an...
Can you call it sailing when you’re not leaving the dock and the work list? Issue 129: Nov/Dec 2019 Seaview, Washington. For about half the year, half the time it’s raining and blowing, the other half...
A tool roll stocked with these top indispensable tools will be your go-to kit. Issue 129: Nov/Dec 2019 After nearly a decade of living aboard full-time and earning my keep fixing other people’s boats ...
An automatic bilge pump for the dinghy solves that sinking feeling. Issue 129: Nov/Dec 2019 For the past couple of years, I’ve kept my dinghy at the dock, butter side up. It’s easy to stow it and use ...
Correct adjustment of your spreaders may save your rig Issue 128: Sept/Oct 2019 Next time you’re at the marina, look up. If there are enough sailboats around, you’ll likely find a variety of rigs, wit...
Solving the problem of icing up in winter For those of us who live in the higher latitudes, the approach of the fall season reminds us of an upcoming conflict between our boating agendas and the impen...
Vang/preventer: a fast, effective safety device I was guilty of contempt. Never a good thing, in this case it turned out to be a serious error. I had held a thunderstorm cell in contempt all morning. ...
Ease that fear of falling: Techniques for making a trip up the stick safer. The only sure things in life are death, taxes, and that – sooner or later – you will have to go up your mast. Ma...
Top designer Ted Brewer explains stability and how it affects safety and speed The speed of a sailing yacht in any given wind is determined, to a large extent, by the amount of sail she can carry. In ...
Buying, selling, new and used: Sail brokers can stretch your sailing dollars Those of us who love good old boats do so out of aesthetic preferences, sailing abilities, and – let’s face it ...
Ted Brewer explains how racing rules affected seaworthiness – but not always for the better The purpose of any rating rule is to enable yachts of different sizes to race together fairly. Without...
It bakes bread, makes hearty soups, distills water, and holds the kids’ “critters.” Who could ask for more? Long, long ago in another lifetime far, far away – well, 17 years ag...
When your good old back’s not up to it anymore, let a windlass do the donkey work It’s strange how much difficulty we owners of older boats have in finding $500 to $1,000 to replace an old...
Superstition got you down? John Vigor offers tips for renaming your boat and keeping it lucky I once knew a man in Florida who told me he’d owned 24 different yachts and renamed every single one...
Use a riding sail to steady your boat at anchor You’re all settled in for the night in that well-protected cove, when the wind picks up. What had been a nice quiet anchorage is now alive with mo...
