Ask SAIL: Loose Depth Connection
LOOSE DEPTH CONNECTION Q: The LCD readout on my boat showing bottom depth has become intermittent. When I pulled apart the nav station panel, it
LOOSE DEPTH CONNECTION Q: The LCD readout on my boat showing bottom depth has become intermittent. When I pulled apart the nav station panel, it

HOLDING TANK PUMP-OUT FREQUENCY Q: How long can I go between holding tank pump-outs? I can see it being over two weeks easily between uses

Q: Do I need to buy an expensive VHF test meter to check my AIS antenna, which is separate from my normal VHF antenna? T.

REVIVING NONSKID ON DECK Q: The molded-in nonskid is becoming less and less nonskid on the side decks and foredecks of my old 35-footer. I’m

WHAT KIND OF MARINE TOILET? Q: I recently purchased a 1979 Cal 2-25, which has a ceramic head. With all the flexible tubing, the plastic

REACHING SAIL NOMENCLATURE Q: I keep hearing about different kinds of headsails, like Code 0s, gennakers, A-sails, etc., and for the life of me can’t

A DIN WHEN DIMMING Q: I just purchased an 18ft roll of amber/white flexible LEDs to light up our cabin down below. They are plenty bright

DEEP GOUGES Q: While on a night passage aboard my boat, I struck an unidentified floating object. It did not penetrate the inner laminate, but
SERIOUS BATTERY DRAIN Q: While sailing on a friend’s boat we noticed what we thought was excessive voltage loss overnight. The vessel has five 8D

Q: The electronics at my nav station rely on the old NMEA 0183 protocol for sharing data. I can’t seem to find my original wire-color

Six IMOCAs are lining up in New York this week for the inaugural Ocean Race Atlantic, a fully-crewed sprint from New York City to Lorient, France.

Tank water can easily be contaminated with anything from a lingering bad taste to dangerous bacteria. Installing a triple filtration set up on Ben-Varrey helped.

The effort to save Maine’s classic plastic fleet began—as so many great things do—with three friends and a foolish idea.

Boat meets spaceship at the luxury end of the market.

Tides are an essential part of coastal sailing, so don’t forget to look at the moon once in a while.

The Magenta Project seeks applicants for their 2026-2027 mentorship program.

Twist: The Big Question When asked to help out onboard, I’m sometimes surprised to find how many skippers only have a vague notion of how

The sailing world has lost another great this week in the passing of John Rousmaniere, author of Fastnet Force 10 and numerous other sailing texts.

As a yacht broker, many people have talked to me about wanting to buy a boat, learning to sail, and then taking their own boat

A new flagship elevates an iconic and evergreen cruising brand.