Safety & Seamanship

Practical Sailor's guide to bringing back a gelcoat and keeping it glossy.

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.

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?

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...

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.

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.

The Standard Horizon CP150C is a Best Buy. The small Si-Tex and Garmin units are also strong. At the higher end we like the Simrad machine, but wish it could run Garmin's BlueChart.

Cold hands and feet can be debilitating and dangerous when you're trying to get things done at the beginning or the end of the sailing season. We like the Grabber Mycoal pouches, but the other brand names work well, too.

While the attention of much of the sailing world in February was focused on the America's Cup matches, a very different group of boats was leaving on the next leg of their 29,000-mile odyssey around the world.

From the most traditional polished metal galley pumps to the latest carbon fiber tech, New Zealand has a good grip on the marine gear marketplace. Nick Nicholson continues his series.