CATEGORIES

Diversity Afloat
Small Craft Advisor

Diversity Afloat

As the sailing season comes to an end on northern waters, I find myself pondering the modern sailing scene.

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3 mins  |
January - February 2021
Boat Review: Salish Voyager
Small Craft Advisor

Boat Review: Salish Voyager

Gig Harbor Boat Works releases a new design aimed toward adventure

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10+ mins  |
January - February 2021
Anchor Juice
Small Craft Advisor

Anchor Juice

That’s odd, I said to myself. It hasn’t rained, yet there’s a cup of water in the bilge.

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3 mins  |
January - February 2021
Reader Boat: Precision 165
Small Craft Advisor

Reader Boat: Precision 165

During my three years of ownership, here are just a few things I’ve observed about my P165. Most of these features have contributed to my joy of sailing this little boat.

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3 mins  |
November - December 2020
Are Power Tools Corrupting Us?
Small Craft Advisor

Are Power Tools Corrupting Us?

“Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” —First Baron Acton, 1904

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6 mins  |
November - December 2020
Getting in Touch with Reality
Small Craft Advisor

Getting in Touch with Reality

As part of my usual in-depth research for this column I decided to ask Google whether sailing was safe. “In fact, it can be deadly,” came the response, “A study from Rhode Island Hospital concluded sailing is more dangerous, and has a higher fatality rate, than skiing and snowboarding combined with NFL football.”

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2 mins  |
November - December 2020
Five Days in the Turnbull Islands
Small Craft Advisor

Five Days in the Turnbull Islands

I rowed out of the marina at Blind River, Ontario, and raised the sail just offComb Point. It had been a ten-hour drive from Wisconsin, followed by the usual scramble to launch and load the boat.

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10+ mins  |
November - December 2020
The Worst Sailor Still Alive
Small Craft Advisor

The Worst Sailor Still Alive

Upon retirement I decided to learn how to sail, so I bought a little dinghy and taught myself how to efficiently capsize, founder on rocks, and embarrass myself in front of large groups.

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5 mins  |
November - December 2020
SMALL BOAT CRUISE: Tobyhanna Lake by Sunfish
Small Craft Advisor

SMALL BOAT CRUISE: Tobyhanna Lake by Sunfish

Tobyhanna is a Native American word for “a stream whose banks are fringed with alder.”

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7 mins  |
November - December 2020
PLAN STUDY: Kombi Sail and Paddle Canoe
Small Craft Advisor

PLAN STUDY: Kombi Sail and Paddle Canoe

The first boat I designed was the Beth Sailing Canoe, which, for better or worse, made me a marked man.

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4 mins  |
November - December 2020
Born Again
Small Craft Advisor

Born Again

An 1881 Bowdish sailboat, abandoned in a northern Michigan junkyard, is rescued and restored to museum condition by John Parlin, wooden boat surgeon extraordinaire

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10+ mins  |
November - December 2020
AUSTRALIA THE HARD WAY
Small Craft Advisor

AUSTRALIA THE HARD WAY

The David Pyle Interview

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10+ mins  |
November - December 2020
Amateur Boatbuilding: What if I Make a Mistake?
Small Craft Advisor

Amateur Boatbuilding: What if I Make a Mistake?

Everyone makes mistakes. If we try new things we will make mistakes, an essential part of the learning experience. It’s nice to learn from mistakes of others, but we learn more lessons and they stick better when they are our own. The more painful the mistake, the stronger the lesson learned.

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5 mins  |
November - December 2020
Simple DIY Jam Cleats
Small Craft Advisor

Simple DIY Jam Cleats

Legend has it that Einstein once said “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.” In truth, the quote isn’t actually Einstein’s, but he did agree with it. And so do I, especially when it comes to jam cleats.

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2 mins  |
September - October 2020
The P7 Gig: Return of a Legend
Small Craft Advisor

The P7 Gig: Return of a Legend

My story begins in 2016, when I left for a westward crossing of the Atlantic aboard my self-made, 5-meter-long (16.4') plywood boat Still crazy. The three-month voyage to the Caribbean messed with my head and, to be honest, I still haven’t gotten over it.

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4 mins  |
September - October 2020
Sailing with Colly
Small Craft Advisor

Sailing with Colly

Sailing the bays of Texas is not exactly crystal clear water, gentle breezes and sugar-white beaches.

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4 mins  |
September - October 2020
SMALL BOAT CRUISE: Nootka Sound
Small Craft Advisor

SMALL BOAT CRUISE: Nootka Sound

I designed and built my 18-foot sail and-oar boat, Fire-Drake, with a major adventure in mind—rowing and sailing British Columbia’s Inside Passage in 2016 and 2017.

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10+ mins  |
September - October 2020
Dancing on the Water
Small Craft Advisor

Dancing on the Water

Exploring the Salish Sea by Oar and Paddle

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7 mins  |
September - October 2020
SLOT CANYONS & STARRY SKIES
Small Craft Advisor

SLOT CANYONS & STARRY SKIES

This adventure, like many good ones, began with a last-minute change of plans.

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7 mins  |
September - October 2020
Dunlin: An Experimental Peapod
Small Craft Advisor

Dunlin: An Experimental Peapod

A brief row in a 13-foot peapod during one of our local small-boat gatherings inspired me to design and build a small cruiser.

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10+ mins  |
September - October 2020
READER BOAT: Sovereign 18 called Slowmotion
Small Craft Advisor

READER BOAT: Sovereign 18 called Slowmotion

Sometimes the boat you get is one you’d never heard of.

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4 mins  |
September - October 2020
Boat Review: Com-Pac 19 (Revisited)
Small Craft Advisor

Boat Review: Com-Pac 19 (Revisited)

Twenty years later we take another look at the still popular Com-Pac 19 sailboat

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10+ mins  |
September - October 2020
Alternative Rigs for Multihulls
Small Craft Advisor

Alternative Rigs for Multihulls

I’ve posted some brief notes about multihull rigs on the “Useful Articles” pages of my website, www.sailingcatamarans. com. There, in the “Different Design Features” section, I explain why the sensible choice for multihulls is the single-mast Bermudian rig, either masthead or fractional rig.

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4 mins  |
September - October 2020
Small-Boat Gear
Small Craft Advisor

Small-Boat Gear

XPL EXPLORE MORE

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3 mins  |
July - August 2020
SMALL BOAT CRUISE: Waldo Lake, Oregon
Small Craft Advisor

SMALL BOAT CRUISE: Waldo Lake, Oregon

I decided to go to Waldo Lake, in the mountains east of Eugene, Oregon in mid-September, hoping to be on the water from Friday through the following Tuesday or Wednesday. Having been to Waldo five times in June and once in early August. I wanted to feel the nighttime chill announcing the coming winter, and be both grateful for it and fortified against it, in my winter sleeping bag. I wanted to watch the long and early shadows of Autumn seizing the forest in the afternoon.

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8 mins  |
July - August 2020
SHALLOW DRAFT
Small Craft Advisor

SHALLOW DRAFT

It is early May and, like many of you, we’re thinking about life in a challenging time—about gains, losses and what might come next.

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3 mins  |
July - August 2020
SAFE AND SIMPLE
Small Craft Advisor

SAFE AND SIMPLE

Changing rigs extended this sailor’s time on the water

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6 mins  |
July - August 2020
S-CAMPING
Small Craft Advisor

S-CAMPING

Glenn Tripp on building a bunk

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1 min  |
July - August 2020
RESTORATION
Small Craft Advisor

RESTORATION

The true cost of bringing and old boat back to life

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10+ mins  |
July - August 2020
READER BOAT: A Drake 13 called Grebe
Small Craft Advisor

READER BOAT: A Drake 13 called Grebe

I have always wanted to build a sharpie. For me they are archetypal—like a boat from some dream. And mine is a very specific dream: sitting low in the cockpit on a sunny, breezy day, sailing on starboard tack, tiller and sheet in hand, just cruisin’ along in my beautiful little sharpie.

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6 mins  |
July - August 2020