406 MHz EPIRBs
The ACR Global Fix 406 with internal GPS is the top pick, followed by the Pains Wessex SOS Precision. The NAT Satfind lacks an integral GPS, but has a user-changeable battery.
PS Advisor: 07/01/03
Data, Displays, and the NMEAI currently own navigation equipment from three different companies, primarily because I felt they were the best value or provided...
Flamestop
There are some things you can’t have too many of. Fire extinguishers are a good example. A fire extinguisher is most effective when...
Offshore Log: Fit To Be Tied
Musicians practice their scales, wrestlers their grips. No reason why sailors shouldn't go back to the primer once in a while, and review how best to keep a boat secured to something solid.
Offshore Log: Gelcoat Maintenance
Practical Sailor's guide to bringing back a gelcoat and keeping it glossy.
Chart Kits
It's still important to carry paper charts, and it can be a pleasure, not just a duty. Maptech's market share and attention to detail are hard to beat, but some of the more local publishers also have much to offer.
The Moorings in Belize
This company is a powerhouse, but can any charter operation keep everything nailed down on a complex boat in a remote part of the world? Even if they can, is it worth it?
Glove Up!
There's a big market these days for "exam" gloves—the kind that used to be reserved for doctors and dentists, but are now used...
Meltdown in Auckland
As readers know, Practical Sailor's Editor at Large, Nick Nicholson, is an official America's Cup measurer, and spent most of this past winter in New Zealand. Recently returned to the States, he brought back the following quick report and photos of the series' end.
Offshore Log: Waypoints
For most sailors, a waypoint is a point on a surface, a defined location with special meaning. It can be a goal, an obstacle to avoid, or merely a marker to be passed on the way to somewhere else.
$40,000 for a 40 Foot Cruiser? The Bristol 40 Reality Check
You can find Bristol 39s and Bristol 40s for around $40,000 — and at first glance, that sounds like one of the best deals...
Latest Sailboat Review
Tartan 33 Used Boat Review
In 1978, Tartan brought out the Tartan Ten, a 33', fairly light, fractionally-rigged "offshore one design." The boat was a huge success: fast, easy to sail, and unencumbered by the design limitations of a rating rule. But the Tartan Ten had one big problem: limited accommodations with stooping headroom, an interior most kindly described as spartan. A hardy crew could take the Tartan Ten on a multi-day race such as the Mackinac, and you might even coax your family aboard for a weekend of camping out. But cruising or extended racing in comfort? Forget it!