Rhumb Lines

Rhumb lines

Are We Taking Sailing Tales to the Extreme?

The first issue of our 48th year of publication is as good a time as any to play curmudgeon. So let’s talk about the...

8 Bells for Ted Brewer

You don’t have to spend much time in the sailing world to recognize it is filled with some of the planet’s most creative, good-spirited...

New Lifelines for a New Life

Rigger Glenn Mooney of Yacht Riggers in St. Petersburg, Florida has no choice but to be organized. A veteran rigger with more than three...

Boatyard Launch Logistics

Amidst the excitement of launch day—your desire to be back in the water, and the yard’s eagerness to make room for another customer (chaching)—...

Doomed by Pride and Envy

My last big haulout was careening an old wooden boat on a mud flat in Benoa Harbor, Bali. We had hired a crew of...

Tips on Beating the Heat at Sea

During our decade of cruising, my partner and I spent most of our days within 20 degrees of the equator. In many tropical ports...

Zen and the Art of the Endless Refit

The forlorn monuments to Sisyphus are clustered in one corner of the boatyard where the summer weeds grow tall. They arrive by towboat, strapped...

Introducing Sweet Opal

Twenty-one years ago, my planned four-year circumnavigation was going on its 11th year. (If you’re young and broke, that’s precisely how a four-year circumnavigation...

Buying a Boat? Insight into the Owner Helps.

At the height of the pandemic last summer, a sailing-surfing pal I knew from my days on Guam (a great place to rebuild the...

Bridging the Ocean Between Us

In the year 2000, when I stepped off of ye ol’ Tosca and into the roles of full time sailing editor, husband, and father,...

Lagoon 55 – The Perfect Charter Boat for Your Caribbean Vacation

Looking for the ultimate sailing vacation in the Caribbean? Step aboard the Lagoon 55, a modern catamaran that combines luxury, comfort, and performance—making it...

Latest Sailboat Review

Irwin Citation 34 Used Boat Review

The Irwin 34 is in many respects a typical Irwin boat. It was originally called the "Citation 34," which was meant to indicate that it was more of a plush cruiser than the race-oriented Irwins at the time, but more of a racer than the larger cruisers. According to the company, 305 Irwin 34s were built in the production run, from 1978 to 1985, a moderate but successful model for the era. Near the end of its production, the boat was advertised as the Irwin 34 rather than the Citation 34. There were no major changes in the boat from beginning to end, just the details and equipment that are typical of any long production run.