DIY rope hooks to keep your coils organized Issue 150: May/June 2023 Hooks are designed to snag. But that is the polar opposite of what I need in a rope locker. Installed in a sail locker, for example...
The right products and technique are key to separating those stubbornly cemented parts Issue 151: July/Aug 2023 I’ve tried solvents for removing sealants, but unless they are aggressive enough to melt...
Tape can provide a quick fix for torn or cracked vinyl windows Issue 152: Sept/Oct 2023 Eventually a vinyl window will crack, either because of extreme age or extreme cold. The right fix is new vinyl,...
A solution for smaller boats and sensitive waters Issue 155: March/April 2024 Let’s be honest — toilets aboard small boats are tricky and can be icky. My first cruisable boat, a Stiletto 27, had a che...
The ins and outs of replacing your stainless lifelines with synthetic. Issue 148: Jan/Feb 2023 Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene, abbreviated UHMWPE and best known by the trade names Dyneema an...
Yawing on the hook can wreak anchorage havoc. Here’s how to help prevent it. Issue 138: May/June 2021 A few years ago, while anchored in the snug little harbor of Oxford, Maryland, I witnessed t...
Spare chain and the right placement make an easy kellet for an all-rope anchor rode. Issue 138: May/June 2021 Small boats often use only rope for rode. This is understandable; chain is heavy, and smal...
Nearly 90 years old, the revolutionary Northill anchor continues to inform today’s generation of ground tackle. Issue 138: May/June 2021 At first glance, it’s just another fisherman anchor. But ...
Dynamic climbing rope can be an intriguing option for some uses aboard. Issue 135: Nov/Dec 2020 I’m a sailor, and I’m a climber. For both pursuits, rope is central. Not surprisingly, because the use c...
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...
Bolted boltrope? Try this handy harpoon to retrieve it. Issue 135: Nov/Dec 2020 Many good old boats (and newer boats with laminate sails) feature mainsails that attach to the mast via a boltrope in th...
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...
Suffering’s for singing the blues, not sailing. Here’s how to stay pain-free on the water. Issue 129: Nov/Dec 2019 When I was in my 20s, a long breezy day on my beach cat invariably resulted in a grim...
Affordable and innovative, these five boats were multihull game-changers. Issue 129: Nov/Dec 2019 Anyone who’s read this magazine for a while can appreciate how deep and broad the roots of monohull sa...
Safety and comfort increase with a companionway fix Issue 128: Sept/Oct 2019 Sailboat designers have good knees. I know this because I’ve owned three sailboats with companionway step heights twice as ...
E10 gasoline is now a fact of life, but its devils don’t have to be Issue 127: July/Aug 2019 Why is ethanol problematic for marine engines but not for cars? The only noticeable difference for the fami...
Losing the steering is not necessarily the end of steering Issue 126: May/June 2019 Loss of steering is possibly the most common reason boats sailing long offshore passages are abandoned. The inabilit...
How to (and not to) install hardware to cored laminates Issue 126: May/June 2019 Installing hardware on boats, a seemingly straightforward procedure, is fraught with pitfalls: failure to reinforce the...
A simple system will keep a frugal sailor’s battery topped off Issue 125: March/April 2019 When I first mentioned adding solar power to our Corsair F 24 trimaran, my boating partners choked. They envi...
A User-Friendly Cockpit Grating Kind to feet, it keeps dirt from getting underfoot by Drew Frye...
