Sometimes you get lucky. But not this time Issue 39 : Nov/Dec 2004 At some point in the restoration of our (new to us) old C&C Mega 30 — in fact not too long after I started — I knew I would have ...
Whether you use it or not, you’ll be judged by your speed Issue 40 : Jan/Feb 2005 A few years ago, I set out to write a “trilogy of editorials” dealing with time, speed, and distance. The time editori...
Good kayak, but is it a dinghy? Issue 40 : Jan/Feb 2005 Our C&C 30 didn’t come with a dinghy when we purchased her. On a hunch, we bought a 17-foot rotomolded two-person kayak that we manage...
We’ve finally made the dreaded eye-splice Issue 42 : May/Jun 2005 When I was a very young boy, my father told me a story about two snakes. They formed a circle, heads to tails, with each snake eating ...
A strong invisible force dulls the brain, grabs the heart Issue 43 : Jul/Aug 2005 The first time I saw her she took my breath away. She was in the end slip by the sea wall at the Oakland Boat Show. I ...
Boaters need free VHF weather forecasts at sea Issue 45 : Nov/Dec 2005 Now and then our fearless political leaders have a really bad idea. The federal luxury tax on boats, which went into effect in 19...
Wintertime on the Great Prairie Issue 46 : Jan/Feb 2006 Parade rest! The voice shouted at me from long ago and far away. Haulout on the northern prairie is a melancholy time. There was a light frost o...
Here’s a handier way to keep it in place Issue 47 : Mar/Apr 2006 Our boat has halyard winches to port and starboard near the base of the mast and another winch on the boom for the outhaul and reefs. I...
After 29 years, a new genoa Issue 47 : Mar/Apr 2006 Mystic’s 150-percent genoa was made in 1976, as near as I can tell. We’ve made repairs to it in most of the 14 years we’ve owned the boat. I even se...
Learn the only real essentials for success Issue 48 : May/Jun 2006 I recently read a prediction that it only a matter of time before anyone who is so brave and presumptuous as to command a sailboat wi...
Perhaps how NOT to do this Issue 49 : Jul/Aug 2006 The first time I saw a Mega 30 was at a boat chow. She was a new idea, a new design, and newly built . . . all untried and unproven. I wanted one. I ...
Space-age braids named after a biblical hero Issue 52: Jan/Feb 2007 A NYONE WHO EVER BRAIDED HAIR OR made lanyards in craft class knows the intricacy of the braiding process. Consider automating that ...
Home is where the heart (and the boat) is Issue 51 : Nov/Dec 2006 Our boat had wintered over in Blind River, Ontario. WE had been cruising in the North Channel of Lake Huron off and on for about a yea...
A new concept for “sail training” Issue 51 : Nov/Dec 2006 Our 20-foot Flying Scot had a longer boom than does our C&C 30. With such a short boom, our high-aspect mainsail can’t get into very much ...
Avoiding engine failures in rough seas Issue 52: Jan/Feb 2007 IT USUALLY TAKES A COMBINATION OF failures, poor decisions, and bad luck to narrow down your options. We had been learning that our new cr...
Working, working, and waiting for the lulls Issue 53 : Mar/Apr 2007 My friend George will occasionally point out that when you work for yourself you only have to work about half-time. He explains that...
Sailing is mostly not done for money anymore Issue 52: Jan/Feb 2007 IN THE FALL OF 2006 WE DROVE THE GOOD OLD PICKUP, “YETI,” TO the Annapolis Sailboat Show, where we had a booth for the first time. W...
Get to know your boat’s capabilities Issue 53 : Mar/Apr 2007 We motored out of the little anchorage in the North Channel of Lake Huron into a stiffening afternoon breeze. We were beginning to learn ou...
Advice for avoiding problems with your roller headsail Issue 54 : May/Jun 2007 It was 3 A.M. The wind had reached the forecasted gale force, and somewhere in the marina I could hear the sound of a jib...
Compulsory testing and licensing send the wrong message Issue 54 : May/Jun 2007 The Coast Guard and the Coast Guard Auxiliary have recently thrown their weight behind the idea of mandatory testing and...
If you change the boat, the boat changes you Issue 55 : Jul/Aug 2007 In the old days when quality was truly more important than price, those of us who were charged with designing things that would be ...
It’s helpful — but there’s no absolute certainty Issue 56 : Sept/Oct 2007 We were following the channel behind the breakwater from Prince Arthur’s Landing Marina, heading toward the entrance to Thunde...
That’s the question. But is there an answer? Issue 57 : Nov/Dec 2007 Very early in the life of Good Old Boat magazine I learned to regret publishing any material about knots. Knots are difficult to un...
How collision regulations apply in real life Issue 58 : Jan/Feb 2008 I studied the radar screen as the heavy cruiser USS Newport News crept through the night down the Lamma Channel into Hong Kong harb...
Bad weather turns plans into uncertainties Issue 58 : Jan/Feb 2008 I was coiling the Shorepower Cord on the pier at Prince Arthur’s Landing Marina in preparation for getting under way. Conditions were...
Their “working girl” became a “lady who could dance” Issue 59 : Mar/Apr 2008 We were incredibly lucky when we bought our first “big boat.” I’d sailed for many years, but the biggest thing I’d owned wa...
A better way to mount deck hardware Issue 67: July/Aug 2009 No doubt the builders who installed the original deck hardware on your boat took the easy way, and later owners who added further hardware p...
An informal survey for our readers Issue 66 : May/Jun 2009 As the national and world economies started heading south, Good Old Boat magazine made some rigging changes to help us weather the storm. Mos...
Trimming your sails to the wind gradient Issue 70 : Jan/Feb 2010 You can have a very happy life and never understand sail twist. You can even be a reasonably good sail trimmer without understanding al...
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...
