PS Advisor: Using Acids to Clean Propellers
We recently received a letter from a reader asking us which acids might be used to clean a bronze propeller. Although we’ve found it...
Cockpit Drains on Race Boats
The ability for an enclosed cockpit to drain rapidly has long been a concern among yacht designers, and safety guidelines have been in place...
The Best Boat Bucket You Can Buy
A recent test report reacquainted me with an age old problem, that has not yet fully been solved: How can one person, absent a...
The DIY Bulkhead Rebuild on a Production Charter Cat
In 2021 I bought Epic, a 2013 Lagoon 450 catamaran, and soon learned the boat’s forward bulkhead, along with other important structural components, were...
Rebuilding a Cape Dory 36 Part V
This is Part V, the final installment of a five-part series on rebuilding and modifying our Cape Dory 36 from a bare hull into...
Deck Gear Clamp-down: Cam Cleat vs. Self-tailing
To hold a line upstream of a winch you need a jammer or clutch. Rope sizing is important. Small lines slip, big lines won’t...
PS Advisor: Tank Monitor and Camera Mount Hacks
Fuel tanks typically have a mechanical gauge, but water tanks can cause corrosion and waste tanks will foul the typical mechanical flat mechanism. As...
Rebuilding a Cape Dory 36 Part IV
This is the fourth article in a five-part series describing the rebuild of our 1982 Cape Dory 36 and how we turned it into...
Bottom Paints for Brackish Water at 1 Year
For more than four decades, Practical Sailor has been testing bottom paints, although for the first few years, the topic really didn’t draw much...
Rebuilding a Cape Dory 36 Part III
This is Part III of a multi-part series describing the rebuilding of our 1982 Cape Dory 36. In Part I (PS November 2022), I...
















































