That first storm builds a bond, even on the hard Issue 69 : Nov/Dec 2009 Ominous clouds spread across the horizon. I hoped they might miss me. But the flags crackling stiffly straight off the pole tol...
A handy extra work surface stows in a jiffy Issue 69 : Nov/Dec 2009 Our 34-foot Creekmore, Eurisko, has a fixed dinette that’s always in use. When we’re not eating at it, our sons do their schoolwork ...
Building a boat was an education that paid for itself Issue 69 : Nov/Dec 2009 We hear a lot these days about student loans and young people working for years in humdrum jobs to clear the heavy persona...
Two classic beauties capture a sailor’s heart Issue 69 : Nov/Dec 2009 When I open a sailing magazine, I always start flipping through from the back, where all the brokerage listings are. So, on one pa...
Comparing the Ericson Cruising 31 with two close rivals Issue 69 : Nov/Dec 2009 First, I have to admit that I intensely dislike the appearance of trailboards on a sailing yacht with a bald (no bowspri...
For Richard and Beth Smith, it’s a best friend Issue 69 : Nov/Dec 2009 The sailboats Richard and Beth Smith have owned have taught them well. Kuma, their Ericson Cruising 31, is currently in charge of...
Don’t bet your life on questionable lifelines Issue 69 : Nov/Dec 2009 The following is an excerpt from the second edition of Don Casey’s This Old Boat, published in April of this year by International...
Captive bolts mean freedom from worry Issue 69 : Nov/Dec 2009 Like many boats from the early 1970s, my Hallberg-Rassy Mistral 33 was originally fitted with bronze gate valves. They were mounted direct...
A bound-up bilge pump yields to friendly persuasion Issue 69 : Nov/Dec 2009 The thing about a 30-year-old boat is that some of its gear is apt to be 30 years old and, unlike that good old hull, not al...
A sturdy, shoal-draft pocket cruiser Issue 69 : Nov/Dec 2009 Trailersailing became popular during the 1970s, as it offered an economical way to get out on the water without having to pay slip fees in ...
A personal checklist from a 7-year liveaboard Issue 69 : Nov/Dec 2009 When my wife, Jan, and I decided we wanted to live aboard a sailboat and cruise the East Coast, the Bahamas, and the Caribbean for...
Factors and choices that may make the difference Issue 69 : Nov/Dec 2009 “You may not have enough insured value to save this boat.” The surveyor’s words left me stunned. He had finished his first task...
Where there’s smoke, there’s a serious Sirius cleanup Issue 69 : Nov/Dec 2009 In early December 2007, while she was alone in her slip, a fire started aboard our J/32 that nearly cost us the boat. All ...
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...
Counting blessings at the season’s close Issue 69 : Nov/Dec 2009 Yesterday’s Thanksgiving dinner is still sticking with me as I contemplate breakfast. My morning ritual of checking the marine weather ...
Sleeping on the job is the best reward Issue 69 : Nov/Dec 2009 After a day of sailing in the Pacific Northwest’s heavy mists, I love rocking to sleep in a warm berth as Sirena rides to anchor. But for...
The metamorphosis of a beat-up bargain boat Issue 69 : Nov/Dec 2009 Small-boat sailing on the Severn River and Chesapeake Bay was a part of my life growing up in Maryland in the 1960s and ’70s. I neve...
A boat’s bow says a lot about its behavior Issue 69 : Nov/Dec 2009 In my first column (September 2009), I established the terminology I will use. In this issue and the next, I will apply those terms t...
A solid, well-behaved mid-’70s cruiser/club racer Issue 69 : Nov/Dec 2009 Around 1956, Jack Jenson started one of this country’s most successful fi berglass boat-building companies. Located in Costa M...
Deflecting the dreaded midlife malaise Issue 69 : Nov/Dec 2009 In this issue, Graham Watt puts forth a convincing argument that a wonderful education is available to the young person who invests his o...
