Storing Diesel Fuel
When it comes to storing a gasoline powered vessel, you are generally better off keeping tanks full, adding a corrosion-inhibiting additive, and installing a...
PS Advisor: Acid Cleaning Potable Water Systems
You won’t find recommendations or articles from health authorities about sanitizing plumbing or drinking water equipment with vinegar because it isn’t very effective. Some...
Mailport: Clew knots, sail paints, fighting mildew
LOVE HITCH AT THE CLEW
Regarding your recent report “In Search of a Snag-free Clew,” (see PS February 2024), even luggage tags can catch on...
Simplifying Your Cleaning Chemicals Kit
Instead of requiring 30 random cleaning products, you would need only four or five with carefully targeted chemistry. Thats it-no more than five cleaners to serve most purposes. Here are the basics to building your own kit.
Check Your Shorepower System for Hidden Dangers
One of the often overlooked maintenance items in the pre-season rush to the water is the AC shorepower system. Over the years of surveying, Ive amassed a small collection of scary photos from past surveys showing the common examples of neglect to this critical system.
Mailport: Water heater mystery smell
WATER HEATER MYSTERY SMELL
I just read your Waypoints blog post “Hot Water Heater Installation Tips,” and wanted to share my experience. I recently installed...
Mailport: Aftermarket exhaust; window replacement; epoxy blurp
AFTERMARKET EXHAUST
I have really appreciated the refit series from John Stone you’ve published (see “Rebuilding a Cape Dory 36,” PS November 2022). As someone beginning to...
Gybing Spinnakers without Getting Snagged
Last month’s report on preventing jib sheets for snagging while tacking (see “In Search of the Snag-free Clew,” PS February 2024) brought up a...
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...
The Cruising Sailor’s Argument for High-tech Fibers
We’re not racers. A few ounces doesn’t matter to us, so why should we be interested in Dyneema, or any of the other popular...
Latest Logbook
Practical Sailor Logbook – September 2026
In September we tour the Hans Christian 48T — the offshore cruiser many sailors call the holy grail — walk the custom Antigua 60...
Video: If You See This on a Used Sailboat, Walk Away
If you’re searching the used sailboat market, comparing sailboats for sale, or learning how to inspect a sailboat before buying, these are the red...
Latest Sailboat Reviews
Cal 2-27 Used Boat Review
Our story begins in 1970, with the introduction of the Cal 29. Looking for something similar but a bit smaller, the company asked designer Bill Lapworth for a 27-footer, which at first was the Cal 27, a fin keel, spade rudder design with a convertible pop top; another incarnation of this basic hull was the T/2. But the concept of the 29 found its full expression in the Cal 2-27, which began production in 1975 and continued to 1977, after which it was again modified and called simply the Cal 27...again. Production of it ceased in 1986.
