Tag: Boating Tips

by B.J. Porter (Contributing Editor) It’s the middle of the winter, so what better time to talk about…hurricanes? Hurricanes show up in June and plague the east coast until November, and can affect your boat anywhere from Florida to Maine. These tremendous storms originate in the tropics and pick up power from warm water as […]

by B.J. Porter (Contributing Editor) The other day in a Facebook group, someone asked “Do people really cook while the boat is moving? That seems dangerous.” It was a contentious topic, because admins closed comments after a while. The answer, of course, is yes – on a multi-day passage you definitely cook offshore. It’s not […]

by B.J. Porter (Contributing Editor) It’s often said that a boat is a hole in the water where you dump money. If you’ve ever paid for a surprise repair bill or filled the tank on an offshore sport fisher, you’ve felt it. But even small boats can cost a lot to keep running. With the […]

by B.J. Porter (Contributing Editor) This is a very subjective list, and my list will be nothing like yours unless you have a similar boat and a similar lifestyle and way of using your boat. For context, I’ve been cruising full time and living aboard my boat since 2012, though we’ve owned her for fifteen […]

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)  Read Part I, Part III, and Part IV of buying a used boat. Back in July we started a series on things to look for when buying a used boat. We touched on a few easy checks you can make the first time you look at a boat. Some of […]

by B.J. Porter (Contributing Editor) A good night’s sleep on a boat is a pleasure away from a dock or mooring if you can anchor your boat so it stays. Assuming you’ve got good ground tackle, there are three main points to watch for when you are anchoring the boat: positioning, a good set, and […]

by B.J. Porter (Contributing Editor) Preventing winter damage to your boat and making spring commissioning easier are the two main objectives of winterizing your boat. With these two goals in mind, what do you need to know when you’re getting ready to winterize? How Winter Can Harm Your Boat Freezing water expands with inexorable force. […]