Fuel-Fire Prevention Techniques
Excerpted from Seamanship Secrets, 185 Tips & Techniques for Better Navigation, Cruise Planning, and Boat Handling Under Power or Sail by John Jamieson
Marine firefighters...
Commonly Asked Question About Lightning
Is any purpose served by "interconnecting” all large metal objects on board?
Connecting large metal objects on board (called bonding) may help protect some gear,...
DIY Installation Tips From the Pros
We made some calls to a few well-respected boat yards and asked their electricians what problems they have experienced with customer-installed (DIY) breaker panel...
Hydro Generators
Back in 1992, a friend of ours competed in the OSTAR (Observer Single-handed Transatlantic Race). Onboard electrical demands, especially from electronics, had recently grown,...
Top 2 Grease Cleaners vs. Homemade Recipe
Sailors - cruising sailors in particular - are famously thrifty. When each saved dollar translates to another mile voyaging, the incentive to save is...
Extend the Life of Your Sail
Sails aren’t cheap, and it makes sense to maintain them just as you would maintain a diesel engine or a set of winches. Sails...
The Do’s and Don’ts of Cleaning Your Boat
When it comes to maintaining lines, running rigging, ropes and sails, using the right cleaner takes a backseat to using the right cleaning method....
Which Specialty Cleaners Do You Need?
When it comes to marine cleaners, there’s no end to the choices available – as it should be, since there’s seemingly no end to...
How To Safely Remove the Dreaded “ICW Mustache”
We’ve all seen it. That slow buildup of brown discoloration along a boat’s waterline, sometimes growing with time to a darker brown or gray...
Tips for Gelcoat Maintenance
Painting fiberglass boats is a huge business. The development of high-gloss, long-lived polyurethanes means you can get multiple years out of a paint job....
Latest Logbook
Practical Sailor Logbook – September 2026
In September we tour the Hans Christian 48T — the offshore cruiser many sailors call the holy grail — walk the custom Antigua 60...
Video: The BEST Sailboat You Can Buy for $35,000 – Catalina...
If you’re searching for a mid-30-foot sailboat, affordable cruising sailboat, liveaboard sailboat, first sailboat, or a capable used sailboat for coastal cruising, the Catalina...
Latest Sailboat Reviews
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...
