Inside Practical Sailor

After my recent post on portable marine heaters and insulation, a few people asked our opinion of liquid petroleum gas (LPG) heaters. Simply stated: We are not fans of portable LPG systems on boats. A boat fire in New England last month offered a pretty good example of the risks of this type of equipment. Even fixed propane heating (and cooking) systems that employ all the safety precautions recommended by the American Boat and Yacht Council or comparable advisory bodies can be dangerous, if they are neglected.

About ten years after Jimmy Buffet first sang about the futility of reasoning with hurricane season, Dr. William Gray was figuring out how. This week, the scientists at Colorado State University carried on a tradition begun by Gray more than 30 years ago when they released their annual prediction for the North Atlantic hurricane season. The forecast predicts the number of named storms, the number of hurricanes, the number of major hurricanes, and the number of days that at least one named storm will be roaming the region this year.

While Hunters marketing genius is enviable, the true achievement in its early boats like the John Cherubini-designed Hunter 30 is that theyve managed to endure at all. The Hunter 30 was launched on the wake of the 1973 oil embargo, and the design survived through nine years of stagflation and rising unemployment. Fortunately, significant improvements in fiberglass construction methods coincided with the need for lower production costs. Selling sailboats could still be lucrative, but profitability in the mid-price ranges often required a few corners to be cut.

Testing any sailing equipment entails a high degree of responsibility, but this is especially true of safety equipment. A tragic accident off the coast of Costa Rica this week called to mind an important study that Practical Sailor did in March of 2013 on the dangers that life jackets can pose to sailors in the event of a capsize. No one will challenge the fact that life jackets save far, far more lives than they ever put at risk, and the accident in Costa Rica is proof of this. However, sailors need to be aware that in certain rare circumstances a life jacket can be an impediment to keeping you alive.

In a few of our past reports on boat financing, Practical Sailor discussed how to pre-inspect your potential dreamboat before committing to the next step and how to bring in a surveyor. Although the articles are geared to the prospective buyer, it is just as relevant to the owner of an older boat. If the boat in question has more than 20 years behind her, one item that will likely come up on a survey is keel bolts - the heavy duty fasteners that keep your keel from going on a bottom tour while you reach for handholds on your suddenly tippy craft.

Most conclude that football is a contact sport and that sailing takes the other tack. But after the amateur crew aboard the 75-foot ocean racer IchorCoal suffered its second fatality in six months, many have suggested that its time to take a closer look at just what went wrong and whats really at stake in pay-to-play big boat ocean racing.

If you are planning to add a new mainsail or genoa during the Northeast winter, now is the most likely time to be able to negotiate a good price. While the migration to high-volume lofts abroad has smoothed the peaks and valleys of sail prices, there are still seasonal bargains to be had. Generally, the lull occurs October through December. By the time spring rolls around and the sailmakers find themselves swimming…

Now that U.S. sailors can so easily can go to Cuba, the question remains should they go? I think most cruisers would not want to miss the chance. To explore the reefs of the fabled Jardnes de la Reina, to reach close along the green mountains between Punta Maisi and Boracoa, to wander the streets of La Habana- what more could the cruising life offer than to explore far (and not so far) corners of the world under sail? If you are Havana daydreaming here are some helpful resources to set you on your way.

While the Florida Senate approved House Bill 1051 prohibiting anchoring in parts of Miami-Dade County, over on Floridas west coast, a live-aboard sailor was still working to have his 36-foot Hunter hauled off the beach. Although the two events would at first seem unrelated, any sailor would likely see a clear connection.

Among the many chores to add to the spring to-do list, a rig inspection should rank high. And any rig inspection should include a close look at any swaged terminals on the shrouds and stays. Although corroded or cracked swages have been know to be a common point of failure on older rigs, the environment and working loads are almost always the main contributing factors. But our recent tests suggest that the weaknesses on some terminals may exist since the day they were assembled.