Charter sailors who fly into St. Thomas in the United States Virgin Islands, and quickly hustle to the ferry dock to catch a ride to the BVIs don’t know what they are missing. From Christmas C

Dear Boat Doctor, My new-to-me boat has a keel-stepped mast. I’m happy to have it, but I cannot get the mast-to-deck joint to stop leaking. Even in a gentle rain, I find water dripping into my salo

My dad was an executive for Douglas Aircraft and we lived in Tucson, Arizona, when I was a kid. As a young man, my father had run away to sea, shipping out on tankers and working his way up to navigat

I’ve heard people express sympathy for the men and women sailing in the Ocean Globe Race. That’s the 27,000-mile race that started last September and will go on for about eight months with short

Moon Dancer wasn’t a name that Rob and Kristin Browne chose for their Hinckley Pilot 35 yawl, but it turned out to be entirely appropriate, and like many things about the boat, it seemed meant to be

Features  Cruising connection Sailing the San Juan Islands brings both joy and challenges to an extended family that finds kindred spirits along the way Favored child, once agai

This month we are going to look at a revamp of the X4.9. I’m not very familiar with the 4.9 but the promotional material I have does a good job of highlighting the changes and there are many. X-Yach

Holy cow! We have a 40-foot folding trimaran to review. This will be fun. My buddy Doug, who lived on the next beach, had one. It wasn’t a Dragonfly but it was similar and not as nice as the Dragonf

The Annapolis Sailboat Show is the place to catch all the newest models making their debuts, but there’s always one boat that creates a bigger buzz than the rest. Last October the Jeanneau Yachts 55

I think we’ve lost steering,” my brother Alex said in a calm, matter-of-fact voice, his tone out of place in light of our situation. Kyoko and four-legged family members buzz back to the boa

Winches are amazing pieces of equipment. They last for years providing a crucial mechanical advantage that makes sailing possible.  And because they require little in the way of everyday maintena

For 2,800 nautical miles, the sailors aboard the Polynesian voyaging canoe Hōkūle’a have spread a message of unity and restoration to thousands along the North American Pacific Coast. Hōkūl

Who jumps in a truck, drives 1,300 miles from one corner of the country to the other, to see a bunch of wooden boats? We do. Jerry, Marcia, Shelly and me. Together, and separately, the four of us have

It’s not unusual for boats, particularly those of a certain age, to have some areas of wet core and delamination. This is often found near deck hardware, often because of poor mounting and bedding p

The Excess 14 was in high demand for test sails following the Annapolis Sailboat Show in October. It was easy to see why as the boat swung by my pickup point at the end of the South Annapolis Yacht Ce

I’ve developed a reputation among friends as a sailboat matchmaker. It often begins with an irrational text message: “I found an amazing boat. Almost free. Needs work. I should get it, right?”

How should I rig a preventer? Dear Boat Doctor, I experienced my first accidental jibe a few weeks back. I was flying downwind on a beautiful afternoon, and my autopilot lost control. The boat tur

What would sailors do without foul weather?  Sailors spin yarns. By definition, yarns are sea stories enhanced by exaggeration, but sometimes the subject matter needs no hyperbole to be a grippi