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 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,...
Trailer-sailing depends on finding a good launch ramp. Issue 145: July/Aug 2022 One advantage of owning a trailerable boat is being able to explore distant and unfamiliar waters on a tight timeline an...
Here’s a cook’s tour of seaworthy recipes suitable for a good old boat’s chef. Issue 146: Sept/Oct 2022 Pity the poor cook. Think of the limited space for a galley on most good old b...
A fun night sail after a dinner out with friends turns harrowing for a father and son. Issue 148: Jan/Feb 2023 In the moment before disaster struck, I distinctly remember working on the foredeck of my...
A drift down the fairway provides a lesson in boat handling and hubris Issue 150: May/June 2023 I spent the first six years of my sailing life sailing my fin-keeled 1980 Hunter 36, Gudgeon, and for mo...
A sailor flouts an age-old superstition and pays the price Issue 150: May/June 2023 After what seemed like a short, mild winter, I was ready to splash for the summer season. The boatyard didn’t launch...
To rest or wait out weather, heaving to remains a tried and true tactic at sea Issue 150: May/June 2023 Some seafaring traditions are worth carrying on, especially those based on knowledge and techniq...
There is a common saying that every object on a boat must serve more than one purpose, and I recently learned that the sentiment can be applied to clothes as well. Although we cast off for cruising tw...
Navigating turbulent insurance waters calls for planning, preparation, and patience. Issue 144: May/June 2022 You’ve never made a claim, yet your insurance carrier just dropped you. You’ve just receiv...
How to set a stern hook for a better night’s sleep. Getting a good night’s sleep at anchor is bliss. Gently rocking in your berth and drifting off to sleep, only to wake in the same spot, is the defin...
Every sailor knows to investigate when they hear noises out of the ordinary, whether mechanical (the bilge pump running a bit too long) or natural (distant thunder to windward). It’s expected, a part ...
Since moving from a mooring to a slip, I’ve noticed that there is a great variety in the way people secure their boats to a dock. Some methods are seemingly bulletproof, others interesting, whimsical,...
The anchoring issue of Good Old Boat (May/June 2021) was full of great tips. In it, technical editor Drew Frye showed us how to make a kellet—weight added to anchor rode itself, to decrease the angle ...
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 ...
