The United States Coast Guard requires that all boats operating in coastal waters or on the high seas carry a selection of visual distress signals. Almost invariably, such signals include the pyrotechnic type, either handheld or fired from a flare pistol, but surely there are ...read more
The rigmarole of stretching a cover over a dinghy in choppy water prior to hoisting it on davits can become a very wet business if you’re not careful. Leaning right over either end, trying to stretch a cover over the bow and stern pods can quite easily result in a head-first dip ...read more
Presented by Vetus-Maxwell. Got a tip? Send it to sailmail@sailmagazine.com Give the Troops a Chance on the Tacking Aboard a cruiser, it’s far better to “steer” through the wind rather than simply heave the helm hard over. Bang it down like a dinghy sailor, and the poor souls ...read more
Q: I have a 40ft Pearson with a 24-mile radar antenna installed on the radar arch aft. I am concerned that I could be missing medium-range targets beyond eight to 10 miles away. Should I have the antenna moved to the mast, 10ft higher than where it is now? — Jack Crawford, ...read more
One common galley feature on production sailboats is a large open storage area behind the stove, typically covered with sliding plexi or wood panels. However, while this space provides a reasonably large amount of storage area, it is rarely efficiently used because of the odd ...read more
The time has come when the prospect of cold drinks and long-term food storage has you thinking about upgrading your icebox to DC-powered refrigeration. Duncan Kent has been there and done that, and has some advice Fresh food must be kept at a refrigerated temperature of 40 ...read more
If you own an older boat, you’re likely familiar with the quirks that come with aging rigging and equipment. Many budget sailors like myself make do with these imperfections on their boats by finding workarounds or perhaps living in ignorance of how well their boat could sail if ...read more
Q: I am working on refinishing my cabin floorboards. I have brought them home and sanded the old finish off and would appreciate comments on using varnish or polyurethane for the sole. — Danny Love, Grand Rivers, KY DON CASEY REPLIES Polyurethane is the better choice for a ...read more
Solar panels or wind generator? There’s little doubt that for Stateside cruising, especially down South where the amount of sunshine outstrips the strength of the wind for much of the year, solar is top of the list for liveaboard and long-term cruisers. Having seen what even a ...read more
The U.S. Coast Guard is now collaborating with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on something it calls the “Ready for Rescue,” a $255,000 prize competition that is looking for ways that will make it easier to locate people, MOB victims in particular, in the water. ...read more
WHO HAS RIGHT-OF-WAY? Q: I sail in Narragansett Bay, which is a relatively narrow body of water that has upwind boats generally going south and downwind boats generally going north. When sailboats are racing, the starboard tack boat has the right-of-way over the port tack boat, ...read more
It was not so many years ago that buying a new sail for your boat meant a pleasant trip down to your local sailmaker. You made a call (e-mail was not yet invented), set up an appointment and then spent a few wonderful hours looking at bolts of cloth, talking boats and settling ...read more
Nobody plans to meet with disaster at sea. However, planning ahead in case you do ever get into trouble can mean the difference between life and death, as Coast Guard rescue swimmer Mario Vittone explains in the online education video, “Safety & Rescue at Sea.” For details on ...read more
Not many events in life are as emotionally convoluted as when the plans for a sailboat arrive at the amateur builder’s home. The plans flutter out on the dining table and quickly there arise intertwining shivers of heady anticipation and well-founded fear. If there are 10 pages ...read more
In-mast furling systems have come a long way. Forget the hollow-leeched, baggy triangles we first saw decades ago; a well-specced modern in-mast system can offer more sail area than a traditional slab-reefed mainsail, so the performance gap has narrowed significantly. ...read more
It’s easy to spend a lot of time and money on sails, engines, generators and electronics when gearing up for a long-term cruise. However, one vital element (literally) that is often overlooked or left until the last minute is freshwater. Granted, you may be planning to cruise in ...read more
Q: I race on a small lake in the Midwest, and most afternoons the wind picks up and is fairly steady, but because of the hills around the lake we often get squalls that come through. They don’t last long enough to justify taking a reef, so I was wondering what is the best way to ...read more
Despite your best efforts, there will inevitably be times when your sail gets damaged while at sea and needs to be repaired. First, no matter what the job, you will need to do a quick damage assessment, a task that requires a flat wooden surface, sharp scissors and a helping ...read more
Q: I have a nice in-hull depthsounder transducer, and it works fine going through the hull without the need for an outside transducer assembly. Do the new forward-sounding transducers all require an outside-the-hull transducer mounting, or can I use my current in-hull transducer ...read more
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When my wife, Christina, and I set off for fulltime cruising, we sold our house and got rid of a generation’s worth of stuff. It was tough, but we got it done. The hardest part was letting go of the tools I had gathered and used over a lifetime of building and repairing boats. ...read more
Modern satcom devices and network airtime costs have dropped in price recently as more “birds” are launched and more constellations are created. This has resulted in several low-cost voice and data, or data-only, communicators being made available to the budget-conscious sailor. ...read more
International Maritime Safety Expert Mario Vittone Teaches the Course Boaters University has released its fifth online course, “Safety & Rescue at Sea,” featuring retired U.S. Coast Guard rescue swimmer Mario Vittone as lead instructor. The course opening comes on the heels of a ...read more
Taking care of your canvas doesn’t just save you money, it’s central to good seamanship Knowing how to take care of your sails and how to repair them while at sea is an important part of overall seamanship. The last thing any sailor needs is to get caught on a lee shore with ...read more
Overview The first thing to know is that “Weather 101, Basics” is a science course. Its goal is to prepare boaters for a second course launching later this year called “Weather 202, Advanced.” Taken together, these classes are designed to teach boaters to become their own ...read more