February awakens nostalgia and a yen for the scend of the sea Issue 71 : Mar/Apr 2010 There was a time — perhaps a half century ago last Tuesday morning — when all seemed right with the world, even th...
Turn, turn, turn on the lights Issue 71 : Mar/Apr 2010 Do you remember the Green Lantern, the DC Comics superhero of the 1950s? This article isn’t about him; it’s about my multi-function, crank-powere...
Security without using pliers or rigging tape Issue 71 : Mar/Apr 2010 I was in a fabric store buying sticky-back Velcro tape for use on insect screens when I saw a Velcro product named One-Wrap. This ...
Make your own handy-billy Issue 71 : Mar/Apr 2010 Most good old boats have all the mechanical muscle a person could want in the form of powerful winches. Boats at the smaller end of the scale, however...
Biodiesel fuel is the chief suspect Issue 71 : Mar/Apr 2010 After a six-year trial, discussed at some length in the July 2005 issue of Good Old Boat, I have decided to suspend using biodiesel blends i...
Valuable tips for upgrading deck hardware Issue 71 : Mar/Apr 2010 I have not spent a lot of time crawling around the hidden spaces of high-end luxury yachts, but the vast majority of the fiberglass pr...
Protecting cored laminates from failure around fittings Issue 71 : Mar/Apr 2010 Though most older fiberglass boats have hulls of solid laminate, their decks normally are built of two thin skins of fib...
Stay safe and sane when sailing singlehanded Issue 71 : Mar/Apr 2010 My friend Dorothy’s brother was visiting from Ohio. She said he was a fellow sailor and invited me over for dinner. Her brother tur...
Rolling and tipping their way to glory Issue 71 : Mar/Apr 2010 Next time you’re down at the marina, take a close look at the hulls of your neighbors’ boats. You don’t have to look very far to see rub ...
Gearing up to build a catamaran at home Issue 71 : Mar/Apr 2010 In the last issue, Dave Martin wrote about the chain of decisions that led to his building a catamaran in his garage. In this, the secon...
A novel construction method for amateurs Issue 71 : Mar/Apr 2010 Few parts of a boat are more vital than the rudder. If you lose the use of your rudder, you have no easy means of steering . . . always...
Plastic glazing materials have clearly different properties Issue 71 : Mar/Apr 2010 For decades, most recreational boats have been built with hatches, windscreens, and ports made of rigid transparent ...
Learn to make safer, faster passages Issue 71 : Mar/Apr 2010 After spending a few days in Jacksonville, Florida, we planned to head out the St. Johns River and then turn south into the Intracoastal Wa...
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...
High winds and freak waves trap lake cruisers in a river Issue 71 : Mar/Apr 2010 Two artist friends and I spent more than a week in June 2003 sailing my traditional 27-foot cutter along Lake Superior’...
Three boats built expressly for speed and fun Issue 71 : Mar/Apr 2010 George Olson designed one of the first successful ultralight-displacement boats (ULDBs), the one-off 24-footer Grendel, in 1970. I...
Fast and furious ultra-light fun Issue 71 : Mar/Apr 2010 Eric Thomas doesn’t swagger. It’s not his style. Even though he has won an amazing collection of sailing honors with his good old boat, an Olso...
How they shape up to perform their many roles Issue 71 : Mar/Apr 2010 When people discuss yacht design you often hear the phrase, “Well, it’s all a compromise.” That sounds defeatist to me. But if the...
A small Danish motorsailer for all-weather cruising Issue 71 : Mar/Apr 2010 Larry Rosen dreamed of owning a boat that sailed well, was suitable for extended cruising, and that he could comfortably liv...
