Inside Practical Sailor

If you tear up root, branch, and all to go sailing, the return to the dirt-dwelling life is troublesome business. Youre accustomed to peace and solitude. Endless waterfront views. A procession of sunrises and sunsets. You can pick your neighbors and move on quickly if you choose. But for me, the most interesting transformation that the cruising sailor undergoes is our relationship with stuff. The most successful long-term sailors I know always seem to be paring down what they have, eliminating all but a few choice needs. For them, its all about quality not quantity.

Being blessed with product testers who are passionate about their areas of expertise can be a double-edged sword. Their intense interest means they'll be particularly thorough in their research and testing; but their testing can spiral out of control as fascinating minutiae piques their curiosity. As it turns out, the best cure for a PS tester trapped in this downward "more-research-is-needed" spiral is the imminent approach of sailing season. Spring, therefore, is harvest time for the editors at Practical Sailor-and this spring has been particularly fruitful. Here's a glimpse of what's ahead:

The real test of any good marine product involves many units on many boats, so the true winners in the new technology game don't rise until long after they are introduced. This requires staying power. I often wonder how many good ideas for sailors never made it to fruition for lack of capital. In recent years, many of the most promising products we look at trickle down from other, more lucrative arenas-energy and defense being two of the most common sources. Such is the case with the Firefly Oasis battery we tested.

Antifouling paint manufacturers are reporting that Irgarol, a pesticide commonly used as a boosting agent in antifouling paints, is in short supply in the United States. Based on what we have learned, it seems likely that the supply of paints containing this pesticide will be exhausted sometime this year. For some makers, their supply will run out as early as this spring.

Our semi-annual inspection of bottom paint panels always yields surprises, but during the nearly ten years Ive been barnacle-counter-in-chief, I havent been more surprised than I was last month. My inspection in January marked the eighteenth months of continuous immersion for approximately 60 paints that were undergoing testing. During a normal year, I would expect roughly 12-15 of those panels to still be fighting barnacles, but thats not what I found.

Ive always argued that boat shows should be cordoned off with caution tape, warning all of the temptations that lie within, but I never expected anyone to take me seriously. The construction at this year's Miami Strictly Sail show had at least one excellent side effect: pocket cruisers were spread out along the front of the showgrounds for anyone to explore. Too frequently sailing is an activity that takes behind the walls and fences of yacht clubs; it was fun to watch as many Miamians got what appeared to be their first closeup look at a production sailboat.

Most long-time readers are familiar with our ratings categories-Best Choice, Recommended, and Budget Buy-but their significance might not be so obvious to new readers. Recently, Ive received a number of letters from people asking us to clarify what these ratings mean.

Installing Washdown Pumps You need only look at a couple photos in our February 2015 report on anchoring in mud to recognize the advantages of a washdown pump. Installing a washdown pump is a project that any capable do-it-yourselfer can accomplish. The trickiest part, as is often the case, is in the planning-choosing a location for the pump and outlet and making sure you have all the right supplies. …

Left to their own devices, some sailors buy rope the way Imelda Marcos used to buy shoes-impulsively, profligately, with a kind of obsessive urge. Even today when some of us go to a boat show we have to stand for a long time next to the booth with the stacked coils of multicolored climbing rope and odds-and-ends in all lengths and diameters, wishing we could come up with a reason to get just a little bit more. There's no such thing as too much. We're melded with Imelda.

The Fortress anchor tests bore out a commonly known fact: Danforth-style anchors, which feature flukes that are proportionally larger than other types of anchors of the same mass, tend to hold better than older, plough-style anchors in soft mud. One of the most interesting results-although not entirely surprising given the nature of the bottom-was the poor performance of some reputable anchors that have done well in past tests. Some anchors refused to set at all.