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Apparel and Accessories

Gear Review: Aruba 7X50 binoculars from West Marine

Whether you’re looking for the next mark, the entrance to a strange channel or scanning a mooring field in search of a home for the night, a good pair of binoculars is an essential part of your onboard kit.

Gear Review: Jefferson’s Ocean Bourbon

With the spike in the popularity of bourbon we’ve seen in the last few years, there seem to be different boutique versions of the stuff popping up everywhere, from Brooklyn to Berkeley.

New Gear for Cold Weather Sailing

For sailors in the northern climes, just because Old Man Winter is here doesn’t mean the fun has to stop. Add these items to your kit and you’ll be better prepared for time on the water, despite the elements.

Gear: Qualicom CIS Swiss Army Jacket from Helly Hansen

Helly Hansen’s new Qualicom CIS (Component Insulation System) Jacket is the veritable Swiss Army Knife of winter coats, with its combination of a light insulator jacket made with PrimaLoft Black insulation for maximum warmth and minimum weight that can be zipped into the waterproof exterior shell or worn on its own

Gear: Cold Bay Boots from Sperry Top-Sider

Cold Bay Boots from Sperry Top-Sider boots are built from stain and water resistant leather to keep them in your kit for a few seasons, and they’re topped off with Sperry’s seam-seal construction to keep the water out.

Gear: Resolute Pants from Atlantis

The Resolute Pants from Atlantis are made from a lightweight, waterproof and breathable three-layer AWG Defender Fabric, and provide a comfortable and durable option for keeping your bottom half warm and dry while out on the water.

Cobra Winter Gloves from Henri Lloyd

You’ll have a hard time handling the lines if you can’t feel your fingers. As every sailor knows, a good pair of gloves is essential to cold-weather cruising.

This 2026 Top 10 winner is a functional and fashionable update to the 410.

Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 415

Developed in record time and on a shoestring budget, a new design hits the bullseye of the cruising market. 

Boat under shrinkwrap

Selecting a Marine Pro

Note: This story is excerpted from SAIL Contributing Editor Christopher Birch’s upcoming book The Four Seasons of Boat Maintenance—a compendium of lessons learned during his

Squalls at night are no joke, but good preparation will get you through safely. Photo courtesy of Andy Schell

Storms & Sea Stories

The wind built faster than it was forecasted to. We ate dinner with full sail, close-reaching on a building SSW’ly breeze. Before dark we had

Photo: Lisa Smith Molinari

A Charter Passage Rewritten

Sailing on a schedule is famously a recipe for disaster, but on charter you don’t have much of a choice. The adventure is what you make of it. 

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