Propane Leak: How to Detect, Locate and Fix
There isn’t much that scares or worries me when it comes to all things about boats. Except two: large amounts of water coming in...
What’s the Best Sunscreen?
Social media seems to be stirring up fear that sunscreen is more than harmful than beneficial, without legitimate studies to support this fear mongering....
Safeguarding Sailors via Passage Guardian
Peter Mott has been working with radio his entire life. But only upon retiring did he start to combine his love of sailing and...
How (Not) to Tie Your Boat to a Dock
No sailor can resist the temptation to look over another sailors work, and nothing draws the eye faster than your neighbors docklines. We like to know our boat and our neighbors boats will be where we left them when we return, not rubbing together or worse. Sometimes, however, a stroll down the dock makes us nervous. This gallery of rogue docklines represents only a taste of what PS tester Drew Frye found within a short walk of his slip. How many of these will come loose during the next storm?
Responding to Emergencies: A Skipper’s Guide for Staying Calm
This article is not a “how to” on COB drills or other procedures. There is lots of good training available on that subject and...
Sailboat Safety on Deck
We often think of safety on deck in terms of PFDs, lifelines and jacklines, but the falls they protect against only happen after something...
Master the Sailing Basics: Never Stop Learning the Little Things
Seamanship is about big concepts and small skills. They work together, but we see them differently and they represent different types of learning. Big...
Electric Winch and Windlass Safety
A decade ago a woman from Venezuela was hoisting her husband up the mast of their Amel Maramu 54. The winch was electrically powered,...
Severed Anchor in the Bahamas: Seven Lessons Learned
Leaving Rhode Island to sail to the Bahamas, I wanted to be untethered, for a while. Adrift at dawn and heading for rocks in...
Another Look at Fitting Jacklines
“Keep the crew on the inside and the water on the outside.”
This old salt's advice to new offshore sailors is somewhat “tongue in cheek”...