Safety & Seamanship

Offshore Log:An All-Purpose Deck Shelter for the Tropics

One characteristic shared by virtually all tropical cruising boats is some form of deck awning. These vary in quality and design from an old...

Offshore Log:A Long Worklist for a Long Stop in New Zealand

In New Zealand at last, Nick Nicholson itemizes a long list of maintenance and repair jobs for Calypso.

Not Quite A Life Raft

Following our three-part series on life rafts, we now briefly examine five inshore rescue platforms from Survival Products, Switlik and Winslow.

Offshore Log: A New Sail Inventory

Calypso dumps her old sails for a new suit from North, and what a difference it makes!

Life Raft Materials, Construction and Servicing

A follow-up to our three-part series evaluates PU, PVC and various rubber fabrics.

Sea Anchors & Drogues

Taking bad weather bow-to or stern-to is a fundamental quandary. Much depends on your boat. Then you have to decide which sea anchor or drogue to buy. We sort through the decision tree.

Mailport 08/01/00

Handheld GPSI have the greatest respect for the equipment reviews in Practical Sailor, but I think that you overlooked very critical attributes for your...

Close As A Pencil Point

On May 1, President Clinton announced that the selective availability (SA) system used to degrade GPS (global positioning system) signals was terminated, effective at...

Mailport

Stripped Hose ClampsRe: The Case of the Stripped Hose Clamp in the September 1999 issue:First, torque is not the issue. Clamping force is the...

A Foolproof (and Simple) Way to Set Jib Leads

An excellent, surprisingly simple way to set jib leads is to use jib luff telltales as a guide. This technique applies to all types of headsails-genoas as well as working jibs.

Fast, Beautiful, and Practical – Meet the New Beneteau First 30

The Beneteau First 30 isn’t just another 30-foot cruiser — it’s the Porsche 911 of sailboats. Heritage performance, everyday usability, and thrilling design come...

Latest Sailboat Review

Pearson 30 Used Boat Review

The Pearson 30 was designed as a family cruiser and daysailer with a good turn of speed. The boat is actively raced throughout the country, however, with some holding IOR certificates, and many more racing in PHRF, MORC, and one-design fleets.