Practical Sailor

The Valiant 40 has a long history. In 1972, Nathan Rothman decided to start a boatbuilding business and approached old friend Bob Perry to design the ultimate cruising yacht. At that...

Sailing with four young boys aboard a 40-year-old ketch across oceans might sound like madness, but for us and many other sailing families it’s an exciting way of life that is...

I love sailing and kayaking, and while some stuff is meant to get wet, sandwiches, cell phones and spare clothes would rather stay dry. Careful handling is often enough, but dinghy...

With many options on the market in the 9-in. multi-function device (MFD) category, which chartplotter works best for the needs of cruising sailors, racers and budget-minded boaters? Before you start digesting the...

Canvas dodgers and biminis are the hallmark of a cruising yacht, but they arent cheap to come by. We wanted to find the best way to protect the investment and get the most life out of the canvas. Sunbrella makers recommend that routine maintenance include frequent freshwater rinsing, plus spot cleaning, and applying a treatment to restore the fabrics repellency. In this article, we take a look at treatments designed to keep on-board canvas water repellent and looking its best. We tested seven: Aquatech, Marykate, 3M, 303 Products, NikWax, Star brite, and Iosso.

A big cat springs from small beginnings.

Battery power has come a long way, whether considering automobiles, power tools, lawn and garden equipment, or marine outboard motors. Cost parity between electric and gas models is nearly at hand...

When we moved aboard our Fast Passage 39, Raicilla, in 2021, we knew we weren’t willing to accept a life of discomfort—at least not beyond the things we can’t control (hello,...

In addition to all of that lovely salt, seawater is very hard, nearly saturated with calcium. All it needs is something to react with (uric acid in the head) or localized overheating (engine) to create concrete-like incrustations. Sometimes mechanical removal is possible; a favorite cruiser ritual involves hauling out the sanitation hoses and beating them on concrete to remove internal scale build-up. Heat exchangers can be reamed out with a rod, but most engine and plumbing systems are inaccessible without considerable disassembly.

Anytime you talk about pocket cruisers you have to clarify what you mean, for the term is loosely applied to a wide range of small boats, some with very little in common besides displacement. Size is certainly a factor, but size is relative. Ive seen 26-feet length overall (LOA) being a commonly cited as the upper limit for the pocket appellation, and that seems about right, although a few decades ago a 26-foot sailboat was called something else-a yacht.