When your autopilot dies offshore, you need a backup plan. Two bungee cords and properly trimmed sails can keep you on course for thousands of miles on a ...

A full-keel boat like the Tayana 37 tracks with minimal input and keeps the rudder well protected from grounding damage. For offshore work, those trade-offs ...

350 miles offshore and a restricted vessel calls "sécurité" on channel 16. It's up to you to understand what that means and act accordingly. You get on the ...

Median yacht length has increased every year since 1960. This Pacific Seacraft 61 is a good look at where things are heading. 📗 Get My Book: ...

The passage to Easter Island can be straightforward or it can beat you up for weeks. The year you go matters more than you think. 📗 Get My Book: ...

A skeg protects the rudder and gives it two bearing points instead of one. Losing your rudder offshore is a serious emergency, and improvised fixes don't hold ...

1,800 miles from the nearest road and the autopilot is in pieces on my lap. It didn't fail in a storm - it failed in 15 knots and 3-foot waves. The boat just ...

Before Robert Perry's Valiant 40, you were either on a fast racing boat or a slow full-keel cruiser. His decision to combine a fin keel with a skeg-protected ...

Lin and Larry Pardey logged hundreds of thousands of miles on small boats. I'm starting to see the light of their message - smaller means lower costs and more ...

Cheap gear usually becomes expensive gear eventually. You buy the cheaper option, spend hours installing it, then replace it months later with the thing you ...

Not everyone can take months off to sail — but that doesn't mean you can't get real offshore experience. The Atlantic is full of passages that will take you ...

Most watermakers don’t fail because they’re old - they fail because they’re neglected. Membranes get destroyed, systems corrode internally, and owners skip ...

Cruising boats are systems-heavy machines, and buyers can feel overwhelmed fast. Keeping a detailed boat document — from filters to line lengths to spare parts ...

Marine electronics age fast. Support disappears, charts stop updating, and expensive systems quickly become outdated. Buyers often overvalue electronics, but ...

A boat can be insured on paper and still not be covered in practice. For solo sailors, the fine print matters as much as the policy itself. 📗 Get My Book: ...

Not all marine engines survive equally well over time. Certain engine designs last dramatically longer in saltwater environments, why mixed metals become a ...

Buying a boat in Europe comes with a major tax reality most buyers don’t fully understand. VAT status, shell companies, and ownership structure can completely ...

Every system on a sailboat has an expiration date. Standing rigging, refrigeration, plumbing, batteries, and engines eventually become your problem. The key is ...

Lady K Discord: https://discord.gg/EHzy8YjmWc Need a consult? Click here to drop a message: https://ladyksailing.com/consults/ Want to help support Lady K ...

Taxes, titles, and the US Coast Guard: Sailing Zingaro breaks down the bureaucratic hurdles of buying a boat in the U.S. and the critical '90-day rule' every ...

One of the biggest mistakes sailboat buyers make is focusing on the interior. A beautiful interior can blind you to soft decks, leaking fittings, UV damage, ...

Most people look at a sailboat emotionally. You need to break it down system by system — engines, rigging, plumbing, batteries, electronics, and everything ...

If all the lines are green, the boat has been sitting outside for years. Fresh paint can disguise neglect, but mold and moss don’t lie. This is one of the ...

Ferrocement boats might look solid, but they fail from the inside out. Once cracks form, seawater corrodes the internal structure until the boat essentially ...