Safety & Seamanship

Offshore Log: The Volvo 60: Not Your Mom’s Station Wagon

Practical Sailor's Nick Nicholson, one of three measurers for the Volvo Ocean Race, monitors the design and construction of the boats, sails, and equipment used.

Daytime Distress Signals: Flares Shine in the Wind

No matter how you put out a call for help on the water—VHF, EPIRB, cell phone, or mental telepathy—sooner or later you'll need to...

Offshore Log: European Safety Solutions

Nick Nicholson photographs man-overboard gear on the docks of Marmaris.

PFDs Set Straight

Confused about today’s growing number of types and styles of life jackets? No wonder. Here's a primer on the rules, as well as some common-sense advice.

Wrestling With PFDs

We have a good article on PFDs this month, and it's worried me every time I've looked at it. These worries can probably be...

Brinkmann, LSI, Optronics Shine Bright in Spotlight Test

Sixteen lights from six manufacturers.

Offshore Log: Mediterranean Idyll

Calypso checks the styles in Marmaris, and overhauls her chain.

Offshore Log: A Haulout in Turkey

With good facilities available, Calypso receives some standard TLC after traveling half the globe.

Fire Extinguishers: A Good Bunch, But Get More than the Minimum

They all performed comparably, but we'd pick the Kidde 1044, which was somewhat effective on Class-A fires and discharged for three seconds longer than the others.

Steering Compasses: Show Me the Way to Go Home

For this review, Practical Sailor collected, from the hundreds available, 18 steering compasses. Included are binnacle, bulkhead and bracket models, plus several interesting ones shown only in photos. Except for the bronze Telltale compass shown on page 7, all have 12V lighting and gimbal systems.

Why Is This 46 Foot Sailboat So Cheap? Hunter 460 Review

Is the Hunter 460 really one of the best-value cruising sailboats on the used market? In this video, we take a deep, honest look...

Latest Sailboat Review

Irwin Citation 38 Used Boat Review

As the largest of the Citations, the Irwin Citation 38 is probably the best looking, handling the high-sidedness better than her smaller sisters. The boat has three windows set in the sheer stripe on each side, so they are not very noticeable. Like the other Citations it is distinctly modern-looking not pretty, but not ugly either.