Karl Westman of Ocean City, New Jersey, asks:”Is it all right to use magnetic headings on my chartplotter to adjust a new compass?”Tim Bartlett replies:In theory, definitely not. But in practice I’d have to give you a very guarded “maybe.” The problem, of course, is that your heading is the direction your boat is pointing in. Your
Mark Karwowski of San Francisco, California, asks:”Recently we had trouble starting the diesel engine aboard our Nordic 40. Although all the lights and other electrical equipment aboard worked fine, whenever I touched the starter button, the starter motor hesitated at first then sped up. We checked the batteries and found that they were eight years old, so we decided to
If your sails are made from laminated materials there’s a good chance that you’ve struggled with ways to keep mildew from getting a toehold in the fabric.”Many of the sails made today are constructed with laminated materials,” says Jeff Andersen, President of the New Hampshire-based Sailmaking Support Systems. “Although a laminated sail will be lighter and potentially faster than a woven
Dragonfly is a sweet 1983 Bristol 35.5, based in Marblehead, Massachusetts. She still sports most of her original deck gear and the old Merriman genoa lead cars and tracks, while still functional, had seen better days. Owner Tim Sheehy sails shorthanded and wants to get the best performance out of his new suit of North sails, so he decided to upgrade to Lewmar sliding bolt track and
Dragonfly is a sweet 1983 Bristol 35.5, based in Marblehead, Massachusetts. She still sports most of her original deck gear and the old Merriman genoa lead cars and tracks, while still functional, had seen better days. Owner Tim Sheehy sails shorthanded and wants to get the best performance out of his new suit of North sails, so he decided to upgrade to Lewmar sliding bolt track and
Dragonfly is a sweet 1983 Bristol 35.5, based in Marblehead, Massachusetts. She still sports most of her original deck gear and the old Merriman genoa lead cars and tracks, while still functional, had seen better days. Owner Tim Sheehy sails shorthanded and wants to get the best performance out of his new suit of North sails, so he decided to upgrade to Lewmar sliding bolt track and
My last two columns discussed the high cost of generating electricity with a diesel engine and the relatively short payback period for solar panels on liveaboard cruising boats. The problem with solar is that it requires a lot of surface area to produce significant amounts of power. This is relatively easy to find on catamarans, but not so on monohulls.Coincidentally, I received an email
Your mast is back in the boator it may have been there all winterthe shrouds are tuned, the engine is checked, and all the battens are in the sails. You are ready for your first sail of the season. Without doubt, many boatowners follow this path, but if youre one of them, be ready to act quickly if a piece of gear holding the mast suddenly fails and the rig begins to
Despite all the progress in sailing gear and equipment certain aspects of life at sea never change. Keeping water out, maintaining good boatspeed, preserving and conserving food stores, and carrying adequate spares for the inevitable failures that occur are all perennial priorities. Plus one more thing; having a good supply of fresh air below.Someone once observed that
Top 10 Best Boats Each year SAIL’s expert review team spends boat show season—and sometimes months leading up to it—sea trialing and inspecting the new
It was a crisp Saturday morning in early spring. Six of us had assembled to commission our sailing club’s older 32-foot sloop for a season
Nov. 29/2023: And here I am—way late—with a description of how the good ship Lunacy and her faithful Lunatics finally finished their voyage down to
The results are in, and the Cruising Club of America (CCA) has announced the recipients of its 2023 awards. Kirsten Neuschäfer of Port Elizabeth, South
The Cruising Club of America (CCA) is a collection of 1,400 ocean sailors with extensive offshore seamanship, command experience, and a shared passion for making
Every year, boatbuilders of all types submit their new models to be nominees in the SAIL Top 10 Best Boats contest. We start reviewing these
SAIL Editor-in-Chief Wendy Mitman Clarke visits Harken Inc., in Pewaukee, Wisconsin, during Harken University—where the industry pros who help us choose and use our boats’
It’s not easy to smile when it’s 39° F outside and blowing 20-30 knots, but the X-Yachts Xc 47 had no problem making that happen
The new model from X-Yachts is a bluewater thoroughbred with leading edge propulsion and design. SAIL was invited for an exclusive preview test sail before
In his 59° North podcast On the Wind, Andy Schell sits down with SAIL Editor-in-Chief Wendy Mitman Clarke to talk about the sailing life, cruising,
