December 2006

Sea Nettles Be Gone

Here are a few fixes for those clogged water intakes.

Gadgets, Gear, and Goodies

Subscribers Only Stocking Stuffers for Your Nauti One

Quickline reel takes the snags out of line storage.

Subscribers Only

Stabilized Binoculars

Subscribers Only Image stabilized Fujinon and Bushnell push to the top.

Clipped in: Safety Harness Showdown

Subscribers Only Mustang and West Marine lead the pack for comfort and quality.

Dinghy Engines

Subscribers Only The light, easy-to-start Honda BF2 fends off challenges from 3 newcomers.

Maintenance All-Stars

Subscribers Only Fill your bucket with these favorites for a boat that shines from the bilge to the bow.

High tech gear that won’t let you down

Subscribers Only While good boat hardware and mechanical equipment is usually in production for years with little change, many marine electronics are outmoded the moment they hit the retail stores.

Gear of the Year

Subscribers Only Save money and time with our best products from 2006.

Valiant 42

Subscribers Only With a taller rig and layout choices, Bob Perry’s classic comes of age.

Mailport: 12/06

MARINE INSURANCE REDUX I have been reading with much interest your articles about marine insurance this year (April and May 2006).

Rhumb Lines - Clipped on for the ride of our lives

Subscribers Only If you had any doubts how serious we are about testing equipment here at Practical Sailor, check out the story on safety harnesses, beginning on page 24. To our good fortune, Skip Allan, a noted TransPac veteran whose many sailing accolades date back to the early 1960s, oversaw the project. Shortly after the first batch of harnesses arrived at his home in Capitola, Calif., Allan, assisted by photographer-sailor Sherry McKillop, was hurling himself off the side…

Inside Practical Sailor Blog

San Fran 'Stand-down' = Government Meddling?

by Darrell Nicholson on May 15, 2012

The Coast Guard’s request late last month that sailors “stand-down” and suspend any offshore racing outside San Francisco Bay in the wake of last month’s tragedy in the San Francisco Yacht Club’s Farallones Race rankled more than a few Bay area sailors. The response was not surprising. Critics decried the move as draconian, driven by overzealous safety mavens, an example virulent government intrusion, trampling of personal freedoms, etc. etc. etc. It is a…

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