A stout double-ender for cruising I’ve heard that New England sailors have seawater running through their veins and after meeting Margaret Pesaturo, I would say it’s true. Her grandparents were boatbuilders in Nova Scotia and she grew up near Massachusetts Bay, spending summers boating on Martha’s Vineyard. Margaret married her husband Ron in the early ..read more

A series of bad decisions leads to a potentially fatal situation. Squalls were building rapidly as Jo Beth rumbled along under engine power, some 10 miles southeast of the entrance channel at Cape May Harbor on New Jersey’s southern coast. Winds blew from the south-southwest at 25 to 28 knots, with a few lulls around 22 knots ..read more

When my wife Susan and I bought our Contessa 32, Hunter Star, in LaPaz, Mexico, I asked the owner if the boat came with a dinghy. He hemmed and hawed a bit, and finally said there was an old fiberglass dinghy that was probably serviceable that he would include. I usually try to squeeze all the ..read more

Graveyard of the Pacific: Shipwreck and Survival on America’s Deadliest Waterway by Randall Sullivan There are many North American inlets out there that at times can be difficult, even dangerous. I once entered Ft. Pierce on a spring ebb with an east wind as a thunderstorm approached. I thought I was going to die. When ..read more

Installing a cabin heater for cool cruising adventures in a warm boat Honcho, our 1998 Beneteau 36s7, needed cabin heat. Even though we had given up cruising in the coldest months of the Pacific Northwest winter, we still wanted a warmer boat for those cool early mornings and evenings on damp summer days, and for shorter […] The post Heating Honcho appeared first on Good Old Boat ..read more

Hitting a Tanker in the Dark Sailing through the night is a phenomenal experience. I have had some of my best and worst moments in the inky black of night — ghosting, coasting, flying, and hanging on for dear life through the ocean. The more miles we put under our keel beneath starry skies, the more diligent […] The post Night of the Falcon appeared first on Good Old Boat ..read more

The Deepest Map: The High-Stakes Race to Chart the World’s Oceans by Laura Trethewey Sailors don’t use “maps” for navigating, we use charts. So why review a book called The Deepest Map? The short answer is it can improve our understanding of the world over which we sail. Nautical charts employ soundings to give a three-dimensional […] The post Book Review: The Deepest Map: The High-Stakes Race to Chart the World’s Oceans appeared first on Good Old Boat ..read more

On an ill-fated voyage home, a young family learns lessons in seamanship and community spirit. All sailors start somewhere. As a teenager, I was infatuated with stories in National Geographic in the late 1960s of young Robin Lee Graham sailing singlehanded around the world in his tiny boat. I found building plans in Popular Mechanics and constructed a sailing dinghy out […] The post Rudder Emergency appeared first on Good Old Boat ..read more

When you break a mast or need a new spreader base or just want to have a fresh coat of paint applied to an old aluminum mast, where can you go? What if you want a new cockpit arch, bow rollers, pulpits, or fixed rails? For many years on Lake Ontario and well beyond, the answer […] The post Klacko & Klacko: Sparring Partners appeared first on Good Old Boat ..read more

Even though the sailors in our lives might think they have it all, we know there is always something they need. Their preferences can vary as much as their boats. Read on for suggestions for many types of sailors in your life. The DIYer These sailors often find themselves troubleshooting in lazerettes and engine rooms. […] The post Good Old Boat Gift Guide appeared first on Good Old Boat ..read more