Inside Practical Sailor

To keep pipe joints from leaking, use Teflon tape or pipe joint compound, and remember that hose barb-to-hose connections are much easier to make drip-proof with a hose clamp than the same connection made on a threaded pipe stub.

One of the most common question we are asked regarding standing rigging upgrades is, How do I install an inner forestay or Solent stay? Because these stays might one day be depended upon to carry a storm jib in heavy weather, and because every boat presents different challenges for this project, it's important to do your research and investigate other boats that have carried out this retrofit. Once you have a general idea of what features you like, consult a rigger for the initial design. Here are several resources that can start you down the right path.

When it takes longer to find the right tool for the job than to actually complete the job, consider creating your own doctors bag of boat tools. In this weeks Inside Practical Sailor blog, youll find great advice on taming your toolbox from veteran circumnavigator Evans Starzinger, as well as links to some of our most popular tests of hand tools and power tools-just in time for Father's Day.

This coming Thanksgiving prompted my reflection on all that sailors like me have to be thankful for. It's easy to appreciate our good fortune on a tradewind passage—with the log ticking off the miles, and cloud streets stretching above us. But, looking back through the lens of time, it's clear even the roughest passages have their gifts. Here then, as Practical Sailor embarks on its 50th year of publication, are a few things I'm thankful for.

One of my projects this winter will be to upgrade the interior lights on my 1971 Yankee 30 Opal that I am restoring. The classic S&S design currently has some chintzy plastic LED lights made for the recreational vehicle market. The lights are effective, practical, and efficient, but when I came across a box of brass bell-type traditional bulkhead reading lights at a used gear chandlery, that was the nudge I needed to make a switch.

In plainest technical terms the tiller gives us immediate corrective feedback, an opportunity to learn from our mistakes, far quicker than any wheel assembly can do. Both devices help us become better sailors, but the tiller just does it faster. It is, at its core, more honest about the conditions were facing-sometimes brutally so.

In the upcoming December issue of Practical Sailor, we look at how a do-it-yourself boat sale can save thousands of dollars that would ordinarily go to a broker. However, for those who are looking to get the best sale price with the least amount of effort, a broker is usually a more sensible choice. If you're thinking about selling your boat soon, here are some inside tips on picking the right broker for you.

Be aware that a less-experienced sailors report of a great anchorage with plenty of depth, or statements like We ran aground here! don't do you much good if they fail to include basic info such as their boat's draft, state of the tide, etc. Other sailors' facility reviews should also be taken with a grain of salt. For example: The dockmaster hates Algerian Snaggle-tooth Poodles (like our Fluffy), so were never coming back, and you shouldnt either!

As long as the water hasn't turned to ice (and even if it has, if you are an avid ice boater), sailors will find a way to get out on the water. Fortunately for Practical Sailor readers, we have our own Dr. Chill to inform us of ways to stay floating through the winter.

While many items of drive train maintenance can be done as easily in the spring as in the fall, the rush to get the boat back in commission frequently means that some items fall to the bottom of the priority list, and may never get done. Most sailors sadly neglect their boat’s mechanical components.