‘Tis the time of year when used boats are selling rapidly and almost all of them need condition and valuation surveys. Marine surveyors are harder to find these days since many have retired, and their reports are more expensive. However, insurance companies and some lenders want a survey, and you would be wise to have…
The rudders are on, provisioning is done, the task list has gotten smaller (is any task list ever really complete??) and there’s nothing keeping us from going offshore to New Caledonia—except weather. Since we sailed north from the Hauraki Gulf almost three weeks ago, it’s been an almost unbroken string of bad weather in New…
For years, boaters didn’t much worry about obtaining insurance on their boats, they were mainly concerned with who gave them a better quote. The tables have turned. Prices for coverage have gone up and insurance carriers are pickier about what they will insure. The main reason is the number of “catastrophic losses” over recent years,…
As we get back to boating after a seasonal layup, we often take stock of safety items and inventory them to ensure we’re properly equipped and legal and refresh any items with expiration dates. While having serviced, operable equipment is important should a safety issue arise, do we give the same time and attention to…
The last two summers, I had the privilege of sailing our J/9—both non-spinnaker racing and daysailing. With that much time aboard, I feel very confident in writing about it. For starters, the J/9 was designed first and foremost as a daysailer; everything about it was created with that purpose in mind. Like all J models,…
Our Back Cove 37 Essential had a very good winter in Windmill Harbor Marina on Hilton Head Island and so did Donna and I. But the time has come to move north for two reasons—to get her closer to the Erie Canal to get back to Rochester, and to not to rub up against the…
As our time in New Zealand winds down, our to-do list seems to get ever longer. Though our upcoming passage to New Caledonia will only be five to six days, then another five to six to Australia, both countries are planned to be relatively short stops on our way to Indonesia. Once we’re in Indonesia…
High school sailing, spring fling at Shumway Marine and Lake Ontario salmon Spring has finally landed, and activity has picked up in all the marinas and yacht clubs. It’s heartwarming to see boats launching on a regular basis. Makes it almost possible to bury memories of the last six months of winter weather! Irondequoit HS…
I was finally able to look this new boat over in more detail, and the more I looked, the more impressed I became. We would like to point out some of the features that are new and different from most others we have seen. The boat is built in a Slovenian factory by different craftsmen…
When and how to check the hoses on your boat What comes to mind when you think of the words “boat smell?” Is it a fragrance reminiscent of the expensive sandalwood and lavender candle you smelled that one time at the day spa? How about musty basement mixed with a pile of wet wool sweaters?…