A small sailboat can take you big places Many sailors will tell you that small sailboats are the ticket to going cruising NOW. They’re affordable, simple, and seaworthy…however, you’re unlikely to see many small sailboats in today’s cruising grounds. In three years and 13,000 nautical miles of bluewater cruising, I could count the number of
Boat bottom paint buyer’s guide
GETTING TO THE BOTTOM OF BOAT BOTTOM PAINT! A GUIDE TO SELECTING ANTIFOULING PAINT You’re perusing the chandlery looking for a gallon of boat bottom paint (a.k.a antifouling paint). You just want to get in, get out, and get on with painting your boat. But alas, you reach the paint aisle and you’re awash in
How to build a boat – 5 kits we love
Learning how to build a boat might not be as hard as you think For many, learning how to build a boat is a lifelong dream. Today, with boat kits, YouTube instructional videos, and online boat building communities, it’s easier than ever to build a boat. As a result, the internet is awash with designs
Buy the boat
“Should I buy a boat?” you may be wondering. The days are getting warmer, you’re already dreaming of summer cruising… but what about the cost, maintenance, and responsibility? “Buy the Boat!” says 27-year-old Julia Kane (@sailingdazz). In this guest post she shares the trials she faced becoming a first time boat owner and why it was
7 boat DIY rules to live by
Each spring and fall we embark on our boat DIY projects, brimming with enthusiasm (how hard could it be to rebed a couple of leaky hatches?) only to find ourselves an hour or so later utterly defeated and weeping into a puddle of semi-cured Sikaflex. With winterizing the boat just around the corner, we’ve been
Brighten up your boat with non skid deck paint – Waterborne
Looking to give an old boat new life? Repainting the decks with non skid deck paint is a quick, easy, and inexpensive way to dramatically improve your boat’s appearance. Chris Valentino is in the process of restoring his 1967 O’Day Widgeon and has been blogging about it at C2 Valentino. He shares this quick and easy
How to troubleshoot outboard motors
Yep, we’ve all been there. Hunched over the back off the boat yanking the pull-cord with increasing desperation! Guest poster, Mindi Braswell, from Aboard Marguerite shares how to quickly diagnose and troubleshoot outboard motors. Plus, we’ve a included a bonus “$#!T my engine won’t start” checklist at the bottom of the post. I’m not a professional
How to buy a boat – everything you need to know
Want to buy a boat but your head is spinning? When we bought our first boat, there was so much to learn about the different makes, models, features, not to mention the boating lingo (what’s the heck is a pushpit or a garboard?!). We didn’t know where to find the good deals and couldn’t understand
How to build mental toughness
The ocean can be a very unforgiving place and while most sailors have given some consideration to emergency preparedness (i.e. stocking first-aid kit, flairs, etc.), very few (with the exception of some offshore racers) have actively trained for performing in extremely challenging conditions. As I recently discovered, there are several ways that the average sailor
How to careen a sailboat – the low cost haulout
At 24, John Pennington and his wife Kara Potter set out to circumnavigate in their Cape Dory 30. Over the following 4 years they occassionally found themselves in far-flung places where haulouts were either unavailable or prohibitively expensive. In the guest post below, John explains how they beached, cleaned, and painted their boat over two-days
