Category: Boat Care

by B.J. Porter (Contributing Editor)  One of the weirdest summers in memory is drawing to a close. With the pandemic, we tossed all our usual summer activities and plans in the air to land where they would. Many people took to boating with their families as a good way to get some social distance from […]

by B.J. Porter (Contributing Editor)  Jacklines and tethers can save your life. But used incorrectly, they won’t work and can even cause harm. So what’s the proper way to use jacklines and tethers? Jacklines need to be installed with enough tension in a position that won’t let you go overboard, and a tether should always […]

by B.J. Porter (Contributing Editor)  Midway through the summer…the “Spring Commissioning” work list is a distant memory, and we’re still denying that “Fall decommissioning” will ever happen. But it’s been a few…er…weeks or months since we’ve done all those spring prep items and we’re well into the season and using the boat. What have we […]

by B.J. Porter (Contributing Editor)  Read Part II, Part III, and Part IV of buying a used boat. There are a lot of things to look for when you’re buying a used boat. This started out as “Five things to check…” but we decided we didn’t want to get boxed in by a numbered list […]

by B.J. Porter (Contributing Editor)  Now and then, I open the knot book to look up something for a specific application. I’ve come to it with questions like “what’s the best way to tie this slippery piece of uncovered Spectra to this anchor chain so it never slips” or some other specialized knot. But for […]

Small outboards give us the freedom to roam away from the dock and past the mooring field. Unless you’re booked into a slip, an engine that won’t start puts a major crimp in your plans, whether you’re headed out for a weekend or living on the hook. With minimal tools and experience, what are some […]

by B.J. Porter (Contributing Editor)  My iNavX Experience We’re introducing a new occasional feature on the iNavX blog – interviews and discussions with real users. We hope sharing their iNavX stories will give you new ideas about how our software can be used. When I mentioned I’d be writing for iNavX to a friend of […]

by B.J. Porter (Contributing Editor) In 2018 in the United States, the Coast Guard counted 633 deaths and over 2,500 serious injuries from recreational boating accidents. Not to be dark and grim, but boating safety is a serious topic and many fatalities and accidents could have been prevented with care and caution. This isn’t an […]

by B.J. Porter (Contributing Editor) Every book on cruising, every engine user manual, every “tips and tricks for not killing your engine” guide, every coastal and cruising instructional course out there says one thing in common: Check your engine oil every day. This is basic, but I am convinced that only the most meticulous people […]

by B.J. Porter (Contributing Editor) The little joys of boat ownership are without number. I really DO love boats and owning them, but every now and then something happens that makes you shake your head and wonder just what we are thinking. This time it is Swedish engineering. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE the […]