Boat Maintenance

Where Winches Dare to Go

Cross sheeting—directing the leeward jib sheet from the working winch across the cockpit to a winch on the windward side—is common practice on sport...

Mildew-resistant Caulks for Boats

Choosing a marine caulk for use above the waterline comes down to which product offers the best resistance to weathering, dirt, mildew, and ability...

Can We Trust Plastic Boat Parts?

When a plastic part on our boat breaks, we often deem it “damn cheap plastic” and toss it away. In some parts of the...

Mailport: Marine plywood, fuel additives, through bolt options, winch handle holders

DIFFERENTIATING FIRS I enjoyed your destructive wood testing and your patience in waiting eight years to report comprehensive results (see PS December 2023, “Wood Rot...

Random Orbit Sanders for Bottom Paint Prep

More than a century has passed since Art Emmons, a visionary young engineer at the 15-year-old Porter Cable Company, launched a technology race in...

Deep Cleaning the Supremely Dirty Boat

One reason for my aversion to scrubbing is that a Corsair F-24 trimaran is a folding trimaran, making it a nightmare to clean. Comprised...

Making Sense of Plywood Choices

With the myriad ways to combine resins and wood into layers to create plywood, it is no wonder we can get confused when selecting...

Uses for Medium Density Overlay in Boats

Medium Density Overlay, abbreviated as MDO, is a pre-surfaced plywood product developed to make highway signs, so it’s about as weatherproof as you can...

Real World Antifouling Testing

In addition to our panel testing of dozens of paints, we applied six different antifouling paints to our test boat, a Corsair F-24 trimaran....

Antifouling for Brackish Water

For two years, we’ve been soaking both our test boat and 11 test panels with 30 different antifouling paints in Rockhold Creek, a brackish...

Why Sailors Love to Hate the MacGregor 26

The MacGregor 26 might be the most controversial sailboat ever built. Half sailboat. Half powerboat. Water ballast. A 50-horsepower outboard. Capable of sailing… and...

Latest Sailboat Review

Catalina Morgan 440 Used Boat Review

The Catalina Morgan 440 is a massive ocean-capable design from the drafting board of Gerry Douglas, a prolific designer for Catalina Yachts for over...