How Much Solar Does Your Boat Need? Lessons From Seven Years Afloat
When we first moved aboard Sudana, our 29-ft. Thames Mirage fiberglass sailboat, our electrical demands were pretty modest. We had a fridge, laptops and...
Anchoring Basics: How To Leave an Anchorage Properly
In “Anchoring Basics: Choosing Gear and Setting the Hook,” I reviewed the basic anchoring gear and techniques used to properly drop and secure the...
Learning by Doing on a $5,000 Catalina 30 Mk II
When Davis’s mother started talking about wanting to do something “big” for retirement, Davis and Gloria half-jokingly threw out an idea that seemed suitably...
What Cameras Can See Inside and Under Your Boat?
Whether it is inspecting your hull before entering a foreign port to ensure you are not bringing invasive undersea life into an environment, or...
What Makes an Anchor Fluke Set and Hold?
An anchor’s fluke does the real work—it bites, buries and holds. But small differences in its angle, shape and leading edge can determine whether...
What’s the Shortcut to Sailing Vancouver Island’s West Coast?
Any skipper who has ever sailed the Pacific Northwest knows that there are a myriad of islands, anchorages and marinas to explore in the...
Will the Latest Electric Outboards Win More Gas Converts?
Electric outboards have steadily gained sales in the market to power light dinghies and small sailboats. What has stopped them from gaining even more...
Bayfield 32 Used Boat Review
At first glance, the Bayfield 32 looks less like a fiberglass production boat from the 1980s and more like somebody shrank a traditional sailing...
One Year With Flexiteek on High-Wear Transom Steps
When we decided to replace the worn-out, real teak on our transom sugar scoops, we thought it might be best to look into synthetics....
Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 42 DS Used Boat Review
This boat is dangerous for one simple reason—it looks like the answer. It’s big enough, pretty enough, modern enough, and suddenly, somehow, almost affordable...
Latest Logbook
Practical Sailor Logbook – October 2026
This month leans into used-boat value and hands-on maintenance: Tim Labute tours the traditional, shoal-draft Bayfield 32, Nick Nicholson revisits the much-requested Morgan 38/382,...
Video: Catalina 356 Review – The First Boat of the Comeback
Catalina Yachts is BACK! After a change in ownership and a pause in production, Catalina has returned to building sailboats in America, and we're...
Latest Sailboat Reviews
Tartan 31 Piper: Used Boat Review
The Tartan 31 is one of the new line of performance cruising yachts from the venerable-and durable--Grand River, Ohio boatbuilder. In the last few years, Tartan Marine has come out with a range of new models, including the T-28, the 3500 and the 4600. A 41-footer is in the works. Both the 28 and the latest version of the 31 are part of the new Piper series, which are marketed in sailaway condition. Tartan has a reputation for solid construction and good workmanship and that's what the 31 is: solid and well put together. The hull is hand-laminated with alternating layers of chopped strand mat and unidirectional E glass. Behind the NPG/ISO gelcoat there's a layer of vinylester resin, which so far appears to provide the best osmotic blister protection available.
