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Battery BurnupIn your January 1, 2000 issue, Mr. Dale Botwin reported his experience with an inexpensive Group 24 starting battery getting very hot and...

Last month I reported the selling of Viva, the Tartan 44 (Practical Sailor test boat) we owned for six years.How does it feel being...

The crew of Calypso learns the danger of negotiating South Pacific reefs.

Contrary to the popular belief of Floridians, summer in New England does last longer than two weeks. At least two months, sometimes three, which...

Whether fitted with slides and shackles on a metal track or plastic slugs in a mast slot, mainsails can be difficult to hoist or strike.

Leisure furl ExperienceFollowing your advice (August 1, 1998 review of Leisure furl, Profurl and John Mast ) I purchased a Leisure furl in-the-boom mainsail...

Add a tourniquet to your first aid kit and know how to use correctly - it is less likely to accidentally loosen or inflict additional tissue damage.For further training, I would refer you to the American Red Cross, they have a Basic and Advanced First Aid certification, and along with the American Heart Association offer classes in cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and the use of automated external defibrillators (AEDs).

Regarding your recent blog post on cleat strength (Inside PS blog Striving for a Stronger Boat Cleat), a stout-looking Herreshoff-style aluminum cleat on my 1984 Sea Sprite 34 failed while moored in a storm in Maine last fall. The wind and waves were strong enough to lay the boat on its beam ends, with bare poles. The aluminum failed near a 5/16-inch stainless bolt, but the other three bolts held, as did a similar cleat with a backup line to the mooring. Take the problem seriously: there was no obvious sign of failure before it broke, and had it been a two-bolt cleat I think the whole thing would have gone. Im replacing both cleats with bronze cleats from Spartan Marine.

Before diving into a hull cleaning project, check first what the rules are in your marina. Marinas are regulated under the Clean Water Act and they often have their own policies regarding DIY hull-cleaning.

Foam life jackets can be hot and cumbersome on a long passage-especially if youre a kid and like to move around a lot. With Spinlocks debut of the Deckvest Cento Junior auto-inflatable PFD with a harness, sailing youth-and petite adults-now have an alternative to those bulky foam PFDs.