Safety & Seamanship

PS Looks at DIY COVID-19 Mask Options

At present, the masks that are certified to provide reliable protection against COVID-19 (minimum rating N95) are in short supply, so we have to...

PFDs for Extreme Events

Seldom does one size fit all, and the same goes for whether or not one type of life jacket can meet all lifesaving needs. The...

Rhumb Lines: Cruising in the New Normal

The Valiant 40 on the cover of this month’s issue belongs to longtime contributor the late Patrick Childress and his wife Rebecca. Patrick was...

The Ups and Downs of Shoal Draft Boats

As a longtime multihull sailor I’m often told that it must be wonderful to anchor wherever I want and tuck into the smallest of...

Making the Most of Centerboards

A deep, ballasted keel does a lot of good things. It lowers the center of gravity, provides lift to windward, and stabilizes the boat....

Rhumb Lines: The Sailing Cure

This summer is shaping up to be a strange one—a pandemic moving through the land and an economy reeling from its strains. And now...

Rhumb Lines: Is Sailing Essential?

Let’s take away all the boats. Not the ships engaged in essential commerce, not the barges hauling goods, not the net boats catching fish....

New Marine Fire Prevention Tools

The ubiquitous dry chemical fire extinguisher is cheap, suitable for multiple fire types, and UL listed, but it has some serious shortcomings. The typical...

Insuring Old Boats

Editor’s note: Our recent article on marine insurance (see “Consequential DamageCoverage,” PS Jan. 2020) prompted many questions from readers regarding insurance for older boats. For answers, we...

Steering Our Way to Safer Passages at Sea

With so many conveniences aboard the modern cruising boat, it’s easy to forget that the bare essentials required to get us from here to...

Island Packet 370: What You Should Know | Boat Review

Interested in buying an Island Packet 370 sailboat? Find an Island Packet for sale? Looking to sell your boat? Practical Sailor editor Tim Labute...