An extra hand for short-handed cruising sailors Issue 68 : Sept/Oct 2009 Lazy-jacks provide a simple way to control a sail when you lower it. By holding the sail above the boom and preventing it from ...
Electric power for the independent sailor Issue 69 : Nov/Dec 2009 Wind power is a form of solar energy — winds result from the uneven heating of the atmosphere by the sun. To generate electricity, a w...
Primary tools for controlling sail shape Issue 70 : Jan/Feb 2010 On a sailboat, the sheet that controls the mainsail boom can be adjusted through a block or blocks that are attached directly to the de...
Basic insights into how they work Issue 71 : Mar/Apr 2010 Much complicated mathematics lies behind the deceptively simple appearance of a boat’s propeller, but it can be described and specified with a...
Ensure your first line of safety really is safe Issue 72 : May/Jun 2010 Lifelines are designed to reduce the chances of your going overboard. On many boats, however, these systems are poorly designed ...
How the holes in your hull can take your boat down Issue 73 : Jul/Aug 2010 Although fiberglass, steel, and aluminum are not naturally buoyant, they can be fabricated into a shape like a boat hull that...
What floats your boat Issue 74 : Sept/Oct 2010 Boats are designed to float. This might seem to be an unnatural act, especially for hulls that are made of aluminum, steel, concrete, or fiberglass. Thes...
Signals from space are subject to interference Issue 75 : Nov/Dec 2010 The satellite-based Global Positioning System (GPS) provides very accurate navigational information, but everyone who uses it sho...
As fast as physics allows Issue 76 : Jan/Feb 2011 Although it’s somewhat of a misnomer, the term “displacement hull” is used in reference to a boat whose displacement at speed is the same as its displ...
Pressing pure water out of the sea Issue 77 : Mar/Apr 2011 Osmosis is a natural process in which molecules of a liquid spontaneously pass through a semi-permeable membrane. The direction of fl ow acro...
A simple airflow control Issue 79: July/Aug 2011 Dorade vents are great. They supply water-free air belowdecks even in a pouring rain or when spray is soaking the deck on a beat to windward.We have tw...
Storing life’s essential element Issue 78 : May/Jun 2011 Water is necessary for living aboard a boat. Since a gallon of water weighs 8.3 pounds, full water tanks can be very heavy and should be instal...
More power to you! Issue 79: July/Aug 2011 The forces we have to contend with when sailing a boat are greater than we can handle with our unaided physical strength. To cope with them, we make use of a...
Steps in the process of measuring progress Issue 80 : Sept/Oct 2011 Speed on the water is measured worldwide in knots. A knot is a speed of one nautical mile per hour and is abbreviated as kn or kt. A...
A saloon table doubles up in the cockpit Issue 81 : Nov/Dec 2011 We have a large mahogany drop-leaf table in the main cabin on Delphinus. When we’re belowdecks it is always the center of activity. We ...
Keeping out the heat Issue 81 : Nov/Dec 2011 Whether your icebox holds ice or houses a refrigeration evaporator, to be efficient it must be very well insulated. To achieve this, the box should have a ...
Systems that make stuff cool Issue 82 : Jan/Feb 2012 When considering refrigeration for your boat, it’s imperative that you match the type of refrigeration system to the boat’s potential sources for e...
The lowdown on your boom’s hold-down Issue 84 : May/Jun 2012 What we today call the boom vang was once called a martingale. It is also referred to as a kicking-strap, kicker, or boom-jack. The princip...
The bottom line in mainsail trim Issue 85 : Jul/Aug 2012 Outhauls have been in use since the days of the square rigger. An outhaul is part of the running rigging, specifically a line fastened to the c...
Antique technology that still finds favor Issue 86: Sept/Oct 2012 The gaff rig was the rig of choice for more than 250 years until the Marconi rig (also called the Bermudan rig) came along. The gaff-r...
It’s a versatile and invaluable tool Issue 87 : Nov/Dec 2012 The hand-bearing compass, or sighting compass, is a portable compass used to take a bearing or azimuth. This type of compass has been in us...
Her name is symbolic of a cruise and a career Issue 87 : Nov/Dec 2012 George Smith began reading about boats when he was in grade school. As he grew older, his reading focused more on sailing books, e...
Getting a magnetic compass to tell the truth about North Issue 88 : Jan/Feb 2013 Most recreational sailors today navigate their craft using electronic devices. This is all well and good until an elect...
They hold up the shrouds that hold up the mast Issue 88 : Jan/Feb 2013 Spreaders are struts attached to the sides of a mast to hold the shrouds away from the mast and increase the angle at which they ...
Centerboards, daggerboards, bilgeboards, and leeboards Issue 89 : Mar/Apr 2013 Sailboats need draft if they are to sail to windward efficiently, but deep draft limits boats to sailing in deep waters a...
A simple way to power up or down the mainsail Issue 90: May/June 2013 Many mainsails have a cringle at the luff of the sail a few inches above the tack. It’s known as the Cunningham and is named after...
Where you are depends on where you measure from Issue 91 : Jul/Aug 2013 A chart datum is a reference from which data or information displayed on a nautical chart is measured. One type of chart datum, ...
When it’s time to replace them, think swageless Issue 92 : Sept/Oct 2013 Most good old boats were delivered from the factory with swaged terminal fittings on their standing rigging — the shrouds and s...
Sophisticated mechanisms that use a simple principle Issue 93 : Nov/Dec 2013 Windvane steering was pioneered by Blondie Hasler in the 1960s and is the autopilot of choice for many bluewater sailors. I...
