Inflatable Life Jacket-Safety Harnesses Performance Test
In the water, the ComfortMax vests provided plenty of buoyancy. It was easy to fine-tune the harness fit in the water using...
Gear for Battening Down Ahead of Storms
No one need lecture most sailboat owners about the profound dangers of hurricanes and tropical storms. That goes double for those whose boats are...
Trying to Reason With . . .
Our 2008 article on hurricane gear brought back memories of one of my most terrifying cruising experiences. In 1997, Super Typhoon Paka tore through...
Medical Kits for Coastal Cruising
Practical Sailor found the quality of the contents to be high. All materials and medicines are arranged into six separate modules that keep the...
Comparing the Latest Inflatable PFDs
The PV9308 provides 40 pounds of buoyancy using the same system with two 38-gram CO2 cylinders. All the Viking CO2 cylinders are covered in...
The Art of Defying Gravity
It is easy to dismiss singlehanded ocean sailing as sheer madness. It is challenge enough to meet the sea in a small boat-why would...
Saving the Man Overboard
The Spot can even play a helpful role in emergencies. With the push of the 911 button, an automated emergency message broadcast transmits the...
Medical Kits for Onboard First-Aid
Most readers will concur that there is often certain important gear on boats that receives little attention, that is, until its needed. The storm...
ISAF Bans White Handheld Flares
White hand flares have been used for signaling since the time of Nelson and Trafalgar. They were used in Civil War times, most famously...
Marine Myth Buster: Can sun-reflective tapes also reflect ships radar?
Three common adhesive, light-reflective materials were examined: 3M Scotchlite SOLAS-A reflective tape, ACRs Res-Q reflective patches, and 3Ms Scotch-brand reflective adhesive tape. Kitchen aluminum...
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
Beneteau 40.7 Used Boat Review
Beneteau began building boats in France in 1884 when Beneteau opened shop for the purpose of constructing trawlers at Croix-de-Vie. Eighty years later, under...