An (Almost) Idiot-Proof Battery Switch
Last year we tested battery switches (PS June 2005) and a favorite was the Blue Sea Systems 9001e. The company recently introduced a new...
It’s The Golden Rule for Electronics
If the weather this time of the year is cold enough for you to give up sailing for a few months and curl up...
Xantrexs New XC Line are Multiplex Masters
To put it mildly, the battery test on the previous pages presented a recharging nightmare. Ideally, what we needed was an intelligent multi-bank battery...
12-Volt Booster Packs
Even so, assuming that this would be used on a decent-sized boat, and used as a jump-starter—rarely, we hope—it's hard to choose it over...
Spreader Light Test
Sailors often have a love-hate relationship with spreader lights. On one hand, they can turn a dark deck into broad daylight, making whatever task...
Top 10 Products for 1999
Choosing the best gear for sailboats isn't easy. But at Practical Sailor were used to doing just that. The job is easiest when empirical...
Ensuring Safe Shorepower
Power pedestals are handy and safe when they match the power requirements of the boat. Thirty amps for a 30-amp boat. Fifty amps for...
Battery Power Packs: Are They Too Good to Be True?
The etymology of the word blivit is questionable. A clean way to describe this term is stuffing 2 pounds of material into a 1-pound...
Crimp Connections: AMP Super Champ and Ancor Our Top Picks
One of the most nettlesome areas of boating electronics is making dependable wire connections that will last for years. Because marine elements are conspiring...
Cabin Fan Destruction Test
In the double issue of September, 1999, was a report—part of a special section on ventilation—on cabin fans.A dozen fans were tested for noise,...
The Great Loop – The Basics
Join us this week as we discuss taking a sailboat around North America's great boating adventure - The Great Loop. We discuss advice from...
