Repair, Tools & Materials

Choosing and Using Jackstands

Were guessing 90 percent of sailors have their boat hauled by a yard. A travel lift or crane plucks the boat from the water,...

Mailport: Cold Weather Suits

Regarding your recent Inside Practical Sailor blog post Drysuits vs. Survival Suits, I raft the Colorado river in Grand Canyon where water temps are...

The Get-Home Sailboat Tool Kit

The tools and materials required to maintain and repair everything on a boat will barely fit in a room. Just the kit required to...

Welds on Your Boat Require Special Care

The irregular shape of welds makes them difficult to inspect using ultrasound technology. Visual inspections can also be deceiving-especially with new welds. The prettiest...

DIY Materials Testing

While many potential failures are easy to spot, some flaws are hidden under paint or within the structure, or are so small that a...

Deft Theft: Make & Find Your Own Marine Gear

Heres a bet: Someone at the next boat show will try to sell you something you already have. With more time than money on...

The Penny-Pinching PhD Sailor

For more than 30 years, Practical Sailor has provided serious sailors and DIY boat owners an unbiased source of evaluations. We've done our best...

Anti-Corrosion Bags Live Up to Claims, But So Does Ziploc

Our test of anti-corrosion bags presented conditions far more rigorous than what one might typically encounter for equipment stored on a boat. Our testers estimated...

Reviving Fuel Filter Beads – Again and Again

A few years back, we introduced fuel tank vent filters as a simple step toward drier fuel (see Practical Sailor January 2013, EPA Mandate...

No-Rust Bags? A Bit of a Bust.

Your boat and fittings may be made of corrosion-resistant materials, but not your electronics, spare electrical components, and many engine parts and bearings. They...

$650,000 Yacht Tour : Hanse 460 – This Luxury Cruising Sailboat...

In the $500,000+ cruising sailboat market, the competition for world traveling sailboats is full of exceptional sailing yachts like the Catalina 445, the Amel...

Latest Sailboat Review

Vancouver 27 Used Boat Review

I was single handed on our Islander Bahama 30 on a spectacular fall afternoon, white caps dancing on the blue waters of Plumper Sound...