Seamanship

Just as automobile technology is changing to match new environmental standards, so must our boats.

When building or repairing a substantial laminate, it helps to have pressure to compress the air from a stack or hold the core in place until a cure is reached. Frequently when doing hull and deck repairs, we have to work upside down, and applying pressure is difficult.

Many of us don’t cruise in large trawlers with stabilizers, vast stowage lockers and workshops, yet we do cruise with provisions, spare parts, gear, tools and consumables.

Test your knowledge with these
Coast Guard license exam prep questions from the National Captain’s Institute
captains.com

Gazing out over the ocean, I take a deep breath. A low fog bank hovers just beyond Nova Scotia’s Mahone Bay islands — a tangible if not impenetrable barrier between the land and the blue sea beyond.

At age 17 I joined the schooner Bluenose II as a deckhand when she was off St. Lucia in the West Indies.

Most engine manufacturers deliver the
 electrical system so that the installer just has to hook up a cranking conductor and engine block ground cable.

On a sunny morning in May 1958, north of the British Virgin Islands, a school of dolphins played under the bowsprit of a large sailing vessel. The ship rolled gently on the blue Atlantic, and her bow wave gurgled and hissed under her figurehead.

If the size of a boat’s battery bank is
 increased or the type of battery is changed, the engine alternator might have to be upgraded to a higher-amp model.

Doug Peterson was a naval architect whose prolific and landmark designs transformed an era of yacht racing. Peterson died June 26 of cancer. He was 71.