Safety & Seamanship

Rhumb Lines: Seamanship, Not Size, Is What Counts

Years ago, one of my first assignments as a sailing editor was to join the famous sailor and yacht designer Steve Dashew and his...

Rhumb Lines: The Saddest Story I Ever Heard

The familiar opening sentence to Ford Madox Ford’s classic “The Good Soldier” in the headline above could easily apply to “The Boy Who Fell...

Rhumb Lines: Lessons from Hurricane Ian

Well, Hurricane Ian plowed south of the refuge-by-default for Opal, the 1971 Yankee 30 I spent a good part of last year working on. With...

Damage Control at Sea

For many boaters, damage control means a cell phone call to Sea Tow, Tow Boat US or another marine assistance provider. These are reliable...

Steering with a Broken Rudder

Cruising Club of America member Mike Keyworth, has done some significant research into emergency steering. Mike has had decades worth of ocean racing and...

Emergency Rig Repairs at Sea

Rigging problems at sea are like broken shoelaces. Ideally, replacement is in order, but in reality a knot might be the right short-term solution....

Powering Portable Devices Safely

Most mariners, especially those on the West Coast, have heard about the horrific fire aboard the dive boat Concepcion near Santa Cruz Island, California,...

Lifesling Inspection Tips

For many sailors in the northern hemisphere winter is the off-season, which means it's a great time inspect safety gear. Personal floatation devices (lifejackets)...

Cordless LED Spotlight Update

Our first LED flashlight test appeared in March 2000. Even two decades ago, we were becoming concerned with beam patterns. In fact it was...

Practical Boarding Ladders

Every year I read of near-drowning episodes that were compounded by the deficiency or complete absence of a boarding ladder. A fall from a...

The Best Way to Live on a Boat in the Florida...

While it is legal to live on a boat in the Florida Keys, it’s not always easy. Today we talk about anchoring vs mooring...

Latest Sailboat Review

Catalina 34 Used Boat Review

American sailboat manufacturers have had their highs and lows, and many have dropped right off the map. But Catalina has been going strong for...