Everything Else

Chill Zone

by Sail Staff, Posted June 16, 2007

One of the great pleasures of cruising is enjoying a glass of fine wine aboard. Keeping the bottles at a constant temperature and humidity level and protecting them from damaging UV rays and bottle-breaking vibrations isn’t easy. U-Line Corporation’s 1115WC Wine Captain provides a triple-temperature-zone system that keeps red, white, and sparkling wines at their various optimum temperatures via a

Weatherly

by Sail Staff, Posted June 16, 2007

If you love historic boats and like to keep an eye on the weather, Majestic Weathervanes’s line of high-end rooftop accoutrements is worth a look. Built of aluminum and steel, each weathervane is an exact replica of a historic vessel, built to its original blueprints. These models-cum-vanes are designed to withstand anything short of an asteroid hit; one vane dropped from a height of 20 feet, was

Map Lover’s Delight

by Sail Staff, Posted August 16, 2007

Charts and maps are one of sailing’s great legacies, as most exploring expeditions brought back charts of previously unknown waters as part of the trip’s bounty. Now, Latitude Kinsale of Ireland makes handmade, custom, three-dimensional to-scale maps, allowing sailors of a different era to share in this same tradition. Below-water topography is clearly discernable, and frame-lighting options make

Trap Strap

by Sail Staff, Posted November 18, 2007

Hanging it out on the wire is one of the most exciting aspects of dinghy sailing; being thrown forward and taking the full-value “around-the-world” ride around the forestay is one of the scariest. Using a fixed footstrap can lead to serious injury in the event of capsizing or pitchpoling. The new AquaStrap is a releasable footstrap made out of high-grade polymers; it can be screwed or riveted

Saved!

by Sail Staff, Posted November 18, 2010

The Petzl e+LITE is one of the few pieces of kit to make it on to my must-have list. The headlamp has one red and three white LED bulbs on a tiny swivel-mounted head. A selection switch makes it easy to choose from the e+LITE’s different settings, even with gloves on; its storage mode ensures that the light won’t accidentally illuminate your pocket. The headlamp has five settings: regular white,

Zip-Locked

by Sail Staff, Posted November 18, 2008

There are water-resistant bags, and then there are dry bags. Watershed’s Yukon is a dry bag, meaning that provided you close the bag properly, water simply isn’t going to enter. The bag, which is built out of chemically stable polyurethane-coated fabrics, features a zip-lock-like closer system (called a Zip-Dry seal); once closed, a user simply rolls the top of the bag down and affixes the clips,

Mystery Science

by Sail Staff, Posted November 18, 2008

According to manufacturer Weems and Plath, there’s a certain amount of mystery surrounding the “how-it-works” question when considering their Storm Glass. This unique, handsome bronze instrument comes filled with a proprietary solution and crystals, which rise up in the glass tube during certain weather events and settle back down during other conditions. While Weems and Plath mention that the

Forget Me Not

by Sail Staff, Posted November 18, 2008

Here’s a stocking stuffer that packs a LOT of remembrance, in the form of an omni-directional 360-degree high-intensity strobe light. While nobody likes to think about MOB situations, ACR Electronics’s manually activated Waterbug SOLAS Firefly 3 strobe ranks as some of the best visual MOB protection one can have, aiding both the MOB and those back aboard. The unit features an easy-to-use sliding

Rechargable Shine

by Sail Staff, Posted November 18, 2008

Few things are finer than sitting in the cockpit on a starry night, nursing a glass of wine and sharing conversation. But sometimes it’s nice to see the other person (or the dishes that you’re serving and enjoying) as you soak up the ambiance. Black Diamond’s Apollo lamp features a 3-Watt LED lightsource that’s powered by either AAA batteries or a rechargeable battery that gives off a

Blocked

by Sail Staff, Posted November 23, 2009

Not all sunscreens are created equal. Some run the second they get wet or sweaty; others burn the living hell out of your eyes, while others fail to properly protect you from the sun. As with many sailors who have spend decades on the water, I have had a few little skin problems and have been advised to use the heartiest sun block on the market Meet ZBlok, a new sunscreen that’s water and sweat