Watertight Connector Test

Oh, for a good standardized 12- volt electrical connector. I’ve never had a boat without multiple connector failures, and most of them involved proprietary...

Preventing Electric Shock at the Dock

The human body runs on electricity and if you overload the nervous system with an external field, everything goes haywire. Every year several people...

Batteries, Cleaners & More

As a subscriber, you have free access to our back-issue archive-more than 2,000 articles. Here are a few topics you might find relevant this...

Testing VHF Coaxial

The loss in RF coaxial cable increases substantially and quickly, when there is water intrusion. Coax that uses foam dielectric, like RG8X and LMR...

Antenna Gain and VHF Transmission Range

Recreational marine VHF antennas are usually broken down into three categories: 3- and 4-foot sailboat antennas (3dB gain), 8-foot powerboat antennas (6 dB gain)...

Sailing Gifts for 2018

No one really wants just practical gifts, so we've tried to locate a few items that go beyond pure utility for this holiday season. The...

Blue Seas New Smart Charger

Keeping batteries fully charged is a science that cruisers have to master sooner or later. If todays high-capacity AGM batteries arent managed properly, valuable...

A New Spin on Dependable Crimps and Splices

Our test focused primarily on the small-wire connections tensile strength, with and without solder, but we also looked at their durability under tough environmental...

Small Wire Connections: Part II

Connecting two standard-size wires is pretty straightforward: Grab a ratchet crimper, adjust it to fit the crimp connector, strip the two wires to fit...

Monitoring Your Marine Battery Bank

Two recent tests graphically demonstrated the importance of monitoring state of charge in a boats batteries: Tracking Batteries, in the May 2015 issue and...

Jeanneau’s New Rule Breaking Sailboat – Sun Odyssey 350 Boat Review

Are you interested in a 30 to 36 foot cruising sailboat? Shopping for a Jeanneau Sailboat? The new Sun Odyssey 350 replaces the wildly...
X Yachts X43 Sailboat Tour video from Practical Sailor

X Yachts X43 Sailboat Tour

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Island Packet 350 Used Boat Review

The current tally of Island Packets—"More than 1,800 sold"—is impressive for any boatbuilding company. Just over 20 years ago the first boats in the...