Getting Weather Data at Sea
As a USCG Master who does offshore deliveries, I rely on accurate and current weather forecasts. After exploring several options, I finally settled on...
Networking the Old and New
Over the years, Practical Sailor has done many articles analyzing VHF radios, chart plotters, etc. This article will discuss how to get various brands...
Making Sense Out of NMEA 0183 and NMEA 2000
. This article is a sidebar to the article "Networking the Old and New," that appeared in the January 2019 issue. Use our search...
Converters and Connectors Round Out the Expenses
Although wireless systems have gradually made their way aboard modern cruising boats, hard-wiring remains an essential part of most systems, especially when you are...
Preventing Electric Shock at the Dock
The human body runs on electricity and if you overload the nervous system with an external field, everything goes haywire. Every year several people...
Wireless Boat Monitoring
Most of us spend a great deal of time away from our boat. Whether shes on the hard, moored in our home harbor or...
Deck-level Wind Vanes
There are two primary wind indicators on a sailboat. First, we watch the sails. Sailing to windward we watch the jib for luffing and...
Crimping and Sealing for a Life Offshore
Mast antennas, like all electrical components, are particularly vulnerable to water intrusion at connectors. In the extreme, corrosion at unions or terminals can damage...
Register Your VHF Radio
The U.S. Coast Guard continues be concerned about the misuse (or lack of use) of VHF radios for distress calling. Many boaters, it seems,...
Testing VHF Coaxial
The loss in RF coaxial cable increases substantially and quickly, when there is water intrusion. Coax that uses foam dielectric, like RG8X and LMR...
The UNIQUE Maxus 26 Lifting Keel Trailer Sailor
What is the best trailerable sailboat? One big feature is the mast stepping system. Today we look at trailer sailors like the Catalina 275,...
Latest Sailboat Review
Morgan Out Island 36 Used Boat Review
Most are familiar with Charles Morgan and his Out Island 41, primarily made to cruise and charter in the Bahamas, but not many are...