Arborist Gear for Solo Mast Ascents
My introduction to rope walking ascent was caving back in the 1970s. Each trip started with 75-200 drop straight into a sink hole, followed...
Excel Anchor Offers Case Study in Design
At first glance, the Sarca Excel is a Delta clone with a few added creases in the sheet metal, explaining the public perception that...
A Second Look at Anchor Fluke Shape
The new anchoring myth making rounds on the internet is that a scoop shape is what makes an anchor hold. Though it seems logical,...
Chafe Tape Plan
No one like dings, but we accept them as part of active sailing. Most boats have black marks behind winch handle pockets and dings...
Coated Chafe Gear Tested
Assuming the COVID-19 restrictions allow us to launch this season, we have another worry on the horizon—hurricane season, which means chafe gear. Recently we...
Adjustable Snubber Bridle and Chain Hook
This report focuses on multihulls, because that is what we sail, but most of what we learned from this project can be applied to...
Rhumb Lines: Sailing Through the Big Storm
Halfway between the Cook Islands and Tonga, we spent a whole day preparing or 30-foot ketch for a gale that had been forecast for...
Tips on Anchoring In Mud
Perhaps this seems like going back to school, but procedure can be critical in soft mud, and I’ll wager most old cruising hands from...
Taking Our Test Anchors Out for a Wiggle-walk
First, we established baseline holding capacities for the 2-pound anchors by pull testing each anchor after letting it settle into the bottom for 10...
Deep Anchors Stay Put in Moderate Yawing
Setting history matters. If the anchor is deeply set, a good portion of the rode is pulled underground, the anchor is in firmer substrate,...
Why the Catalina 42 Took Over the Caribbean
You see them everywhere — the Bahamas, the Virgin Islands, all across the Caribbean. The Catalina 42, especially the Mark II, has quietly become...
Latest Sailboat Review
Dragonfly 25-2 Boat Review
If you’ve ever dreamed of blasting across the water at 25 knots with the wind in your hair and the spray in your face...