Inside Practical Sailor

Just as the incurable text-sender spends more time staring at his phone than noticing the people around him, sailors intoxicated by their display screens can lose the ability to recognize natural patterns in the weather, the waves, and wind. Nurturing environmental awareness is more than just a matter of safety. To hide behind a digital wall diminishes the art of sailing into something easily quantified, which it simply isn't. To punch a few buttons and safely sail across a pixelated sea is truly amazing, but it isn't sailing.

Technical Editor Ralph Naranjos new book, The Art of Seamanship, is rolling off the presses at McGraw-Hill. Although it is being billed as a textbook (it will be used in many of the educational programs that Ralph teaches at the Annapolis School of Seamanship) Ralph and the editors at McGraw-Hill have done a terrific job of interspersing meaty instruction on everything from anchoring to riding out a gale with real life stories that Ralph has collected over the years.

The state of Florida is at it again. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission held a couple of poorly advertised workshops earlier this month to discuss the future of anchoring in the state. The public hearings made it clear that the state is once again trying to tighten anchoring restrictions in coastal areas, particularly in urban areas along the Intracoastal Waterway.

Last month, I had the chance to do some preliminary testing of Delormes InReach Explorer. The inReach Explorer is the third generation of the original inReach that we tested in March 2013. Later that year, Delorme added a display screen and some functions, calling it the inReach SE. The Explorer adds even more functions to the SE frame, including an internal digital magnetic compass, altimeter, and accelerometer that allows for rudimentary route planning. The device is not intended to be a full-fledged handheld GPS navigator; its a communication device with some navigation features.

I peered into the bilge. A steady stream of water flowed from the aft cabin, under the engine and spilled into the sump. I dabbed my finger in it-salt. Definitely not the icebox. The electric bilge pump was keeping up with the flow, but the water was troubling. Maybe the stuffing box, I thought.

While the high-frequency (HF) marine radio landscape has shifted dramatically in recent years, amateur radio guru Gordon Wests advice for those who are trying to choose between a marine SSB or a ham radio has remained relatively steady. When we contacted Gordon for our upcoming update on marine SSBs, he pointed out that there remains a lot of confusion regarding the differences between ham and marine SSB, and the pros and cons of each. He also explained that in many cases, while there are practical differences, the decision often comes down to personal preference.

While the polar vortex was pummeling the northern states last winter (ahhh, remember those days?), Practical Sailor contributor Drew Frye was knee deep in glycol antifreeze and engine coolants. One of the test's most important findings was that how you use antifreeze is as important as what product you use. The only sure way to know how effective your antifreeze will be this winter is to measure the glycol as it comes out the other end of the plumbing. There are a couple ways to do this.

If you find a surprisingly cheap, well-equipped, used cruising boat these days, chances are it has a teak deck in dire need of attention. The owner of a boat like this has a few options. Fix the deck in piece-meal fashion, sealing bungs, replacing rotted subdeck, and recaulking. Or, more expensive options include removing the teak and either installing new teak or laminating a fiberglass deck.

Does a wireless masthead wind indicator make sense? This is the question with wind instruments, and there are certainly some pros and cons to consider. For sailors with wiring-unfriendly masts, the wireless approach is a good one. These include wooden spars, ones with conduits that are full with other wiring, and masts that are regularly unstepped. The downside of going wireless is that the batteries will need to be changed on occasion, and in some cases, signal interference is possible.

Over the past 10 years or so, weve highlighted the many advantages and disadvantages of the NMEA 2000 (N2K) marine electronics standard. From a consumers perspective, one of the most obvious advantages of installing N2K electronics is the ability to mix and match components from different manufacturers. While this sounds terrific on paper, we've often run into installation hurdles when trying to get sensors and displays from different manufacturers to play nicely-even those that advertise being N2K-compliant. Our foray into the world of wind systems has yielded a much more positive NMEA 2000 experience.