Inside Practical Sailor

If your boat has an encapsulated iron keel, don't get lulled into believing that you are completely free of keel worries. Although you are...

One of the most common questions we get regarding marine varnish is what kind of finish is best for a mast. Even though aluminum has long since replaced Sitka spruce as the material of choice for a sailboat mast, there is no shortage of boats that still have wooden masts. Many of the Taiwanese-built boats of the 70s and 80s had wooden masts, and of course, a wide range of U.S.-built classics still have their original wooden masts.

Ive waited to write about Jeremy crossing the bar because I was waiting for him to get out of my head, as they say. But Ive given up waiting. Apparently, he has made himself at home in the aft cabin. The witty, talented, and dedicated crew who did some of the best work of anyone who has worked for Practical Sailor will surely be with us for years to come.

No matter what brand of anchor shackle you decide to use, understanding sizing and grades of shackles is essential, since this connector between your rode and anchor is often the weakest link in your ground tackle. And the weakest point in the shackle is often where the shackle pin meets the body. When the shackle pin or body is loaded from an angle, the shackle body can be forced open, causing the pin to break or fall out. This is the most common failure we have seen in our tests-even when under straight-pull loads.

The danger in running before a squall (or jibing downwind, a tactic sometimes employed by Transpac racers) is the inevitable wind shift that can cause an accidental jibe. Since squalls are usually short lived, with the strongest winds lasting less than 20 minutes, simply reducing sail to a safe configuration and motoring or motorsailing through or past the squall can be a less taxing approach than trying sail through it. What is a "safe" configuration?

About this time of year, when lightning strikes become common, we receive a good deal of mail asking about static dissipators such as the Lightning Master. These are the downside-up, wire-brush-like devices you see sprouting from antennas and rooftops in cities and towns, and, more frequently, on sailboat masts. When these devices first appeared on the market, we did a fair amount of research to find out whether they realistically could be expected to spare a sailboat's mast from a lightning strike.

The widespread use of Dyneema and similar high-strength, high-tech lines presents a slippery problem for the knot-tying sailor, especially if they are tying a gripping hitch. A gripping hitch is the knot you would use to tie one line to another (or itself) when you don't want the line to slip. Here's a look at some of the gripping hitches that we've tested for holding ability and ease of tying.

Summer is here, and our routine maintenance chores now require some serious elbow grease. Our first impulse is to go for the super-strength acids that will take care of the hard growth as well as the stains. But there are kinder, gentler options, if you have the willpower and the patience.

In the July 2019 issue of Practical Sailor we dive again into the world of inflatable PFD/harnesses. The report, written by marine safety expert Ralph Naranjo, highlights common mistakes mariners make with regards to proper care and use of various inflatable PFDs on the market. The crux of his report, however, is the potentially dangerous shift in perceptions among offshore sailors with regards to this equipment.

With the official start of the North Atlantic hurricane season starting earlier this week, boat owners in vulnerable coastal areas should already have a hurricane response plan ready. Practical Sailor has covered storm preparation on several occasions. Here is some of the guidance we can offer.