A big trailerable boat with a lifting keel Issue 1...
May 6, 2026
Falling, by Brion Toss (C-Star Press, 2018; 52 pages) Maybe you’ve met people doing what they’re born to do? People who early-on embraced a vocation that was perfectly aligned with their interests and...
The Good and the Best of Good Old Boat: Feedback Last month we put it to the readers to learn what parts of Good Old Boat magazine you looked forward to most, and least. We didn’t get as much feedback...
A Big Mistake We made it clear last month that we’re offering free Good Old Boat magazine subscriptions to any active-duty servicemember. We failed to make it clear that we were talking about US servi...
We’ve got some poorly lit areas aboard (as you can see above), and they’re where we most need bright light: our under-the-bridgedeck galley sink and our chart table. Early on, we’d use a flashlight to...
For me, there are few experiences as satisfying as finding a quiet, secluded anchorage where I can enjoy the freedom of a peaceful sunset and lazy morning. You’ll recognize my boat because there’s an ...
Irascible and indomitable, the British Seagull was not for the faint of heart. Issue 134: Sept/Oct 2020 Long before the Energizer Bunny, there was the British Seagull outboard motor. Conceived in the ...
A night passage in familiar waters nearly ends in disaster. Issue 132: May/June 2020 I’m not a great sailor, not even a very good one. But I enjoy moving from one place to another in that way, and I’v...
A repower in rural Alaska required precise planning and helpful hands. Issue 130: Jan/Feb 2020 Wide awake in my bunk, I stared at the ceiling without really seeing it. It was nearing 3 a.m., and my mi...
Freestanding rigs offer an intriguing comparison to traditional, stayed masts. Issue 134: Sept/Oct 2020 In 1985, when I joined the office of Mark Ellis Design, Mark took me sailing aboard a Nonsuch 30...
Adding an inner forestay expands sail plan options and can make for better boathandling. Issue 132: May/June 2020 When my wife, Ellen, and I began our search for an ocean-going cruising boat, high on...
Yacht designer Ted Brewer gazes back over a storied career. Issue 133: July/Aug 2020 Ted and Betty Brewer’s living room is warm and inviting. Two harpoons hang on teak-colored walls, and a model boxca...
Knowing battery basics and technologies empowers battery choices. Issue 131: March/April 2020 Aboard any boat with an electrical system there exists a need to store electricity. Enter the batte...
The designer of some of sailing’s most legendary boats, Bob Perry continues to push boundaries. Issue 135: Nov/Dec 2020 The design studio of Robert “Bob” Perry, upstairs in his Marysville, Washi...
A lifetime’s love of sailing was inspired by a most inauspicious early voyage. Issue 132: May/June 2020 The curious thing is the way it creeps up on you. One day you’re asking the old salts at the clu...
A singular voyage leads to the Gulf of Saint Lawrence’s stunning Mingan Archipelago Issue 131: March/April 2020 It was on the way back from a trip to Tadoussac—a fun adventure from Montreal on E...
Replacing a traditional marine head with a composting system is clean and green. Issue 132: May/June 2020 I love my new-to-me 1999 Beneteau 311, but the boat came with a very pronounced smell in the h...
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 ...
In a lifetime of passagemaking and writing, John Kretschmer pays the love of sailing forward. Issue 130: Jan/Feb 2020 When we were planning our eventual leap to the full-time sailing life, my b...
Lee Brubacher and 17 other volunteers from the West Highland Baptist Church of Hamilton, Ontario are our Dogwatch Sailors of the Month. In September of this year, these folks partnered with Oceanwise ...
Close your eyes and climb aboard your little sailboat. Hoist the sail and drop off the mooring and slip across the deepening waters, mainsheet and tiller in hand. Feel the worn cedar planks and sand g...
Dogwatch Kudos I want to express my appreciation for a tip I got in The Dogwatch today (“LED Light and RFI Feedback,” November 2019). I had seen the earlier RFI/LED article and had made a mental note ...
Oh, The Cost Of Getting From One Ocean To Another We last transited the Panama Canal in 1997, aboard our 1980 Newport 27, heading from the Pacific to the Atlantic. It was a rich and exciting ex...
Boat Sense: Lessons and yarns from a marine writer’s life afloat, by Doug Logan (Seapoint Books, 2019; 120 pages) Comfortable. Boat Sense is a comfortable book to read. And enjoyable. And infor...
L. Francis Herreshoff: The flowering of genuis, by Roger C. Taylor (Mystic Seaport Museum, 2019; 644 pages) Nowadays, when the name Herreshoff is mentioned, I suspect most people conjure the face of L...
The ice from the previous Canadian winter had pushed, moved, and piled up a lot of rocks, wood, sediment, and lord knows what else, in the waterway. Above water, there was no way one could tell. No wa...
The Floating Tool Tray By Drew Frye Need to replace a prop? Pull the lower unit on an outboard without pulling the engine? How about install an external strainer without pulling the boat? Worki...
Diesel Auxiliary Trouble I have a ComPac23 Diesel sailboat that I am restoring. I am having trouble getting the 8 HP 1GM10 Yanmar diesel to start. There is plenty of fresh fuel in the tank and ...
A Sea Vagabond’s World, by Bernard Moitessier (Sheridan House Maritime Classic, 2019; 218 pages) Eric and Susan Hiscock, Peter and Ann Pye, and Bernard Moitessier are immortals of ocean cruisin...
Good Deed, Good Boat, Everyone Happy A couple of issues ago, we announced that Paul Koepf was giving away Bagheera, his turn-key, well-maintained 1981 Morgan 32 for a single US dollar to the writer wh...
