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I've been trying to buy an old Stanley on eBay for a few weeks, but I'll be darned if I'm going to pay over $100 for a 60 year old plane. I started googling for a home-made solution, and this looks...

Ah... kill two birds with one stone. I like that!

Wow, I was hoping for one good trick and got a dozen.

I don't have a lathe, but I am using my drill press (Delta) to cut the groove in the sheave, using one of those Microplane rasps. I guess if I...

Simple, I never buy a tool unless I absolutely need it -- i.e., unless I can't figure out how to make do with what I already have.

If I can justify buying it for that one project, then it was...

I am trying to make a sheave for a wooden block. Something like this, except the sheave is made out of oak, not plastic:

http://relimg.reliancemarine.com/46.jpg

I am cutting the 2" blank out of...

Battens are one of those things that professional boat builders take for granted, I think. They've seen them since their first apprentice days, know what they look like, their different sizes, which...

So what is a lofting board for? For lofting, of course.

Lofting is the process of blowing up the relatively small-scale plans you get from your naval architect (in my case, from William Atkin),...

Now that I've cut out the two pieces of my lofting board, it's time to assemble it into one 3/4" x 4' x 13' surface. I also want to white-wash it.

The boat building books (BBBs) discuss lots of...

Okay! It's finally time to get started on this winter's build!

The goal is to build the William Atkin designed Vintage in time for the "I Built It Myself" show at the Wooden Boat Show in Mystic,...

At last! The final segment of "Cabin Boy's Big Adventure". Don't miss it!

When you reach the southern end of Governor's Island, you have a choice of either the main channel to the west, or the...

E.F. Knight's "Sailing" is one of my favorite sailing books. It's the book that John Walker consulted when, as a young lad, he had to sail the Goblin across the North Sea to Holland in a gale (in "We...

In the end, getting down Delaware Bay was a matter of picking the right weather.

That's a phrase you read a lot in cruising guides: "Pick the right weather to cross ______". Fill in your favorite...

There's an old English proverb that says "An yll wynde blowth no man to good".

Apparently, this was a bit gloomy for Sir Walter Scott, who completely reversed the proverb's meaning (and spelling)...

"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."
Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

I get it, Leo! What can you say about a fabulous cruising ground when every thing...

As much as I have grown to appreciate the convenience, safety, and, yes, beauty of much of the ICW, I am looking forward to finally reaching the deep, open water of the Chesapeake.

However, my...

Sometimes it pays to be lucky...

Last weekend, I sailed into the harbor in Southport, NC, straight into the middle of their 1st Annual Wooden Boat Show. Naturally, I stayed to participate!

Read...

On 29 September, I was anchored in Cattlepen Creek. I can't quite figure out how this creek got it's name, because it was just a narrow cut of open water in the middle of the vast Georgia marsh. If...

Thanks, Peter!

One of the first places I stopped in Georgia was also one of the nicest.

Cumberland Island is a large barrier island off the coast of GA, about a day's sail north of the Florida border. I wasn't...

Way back in April (April!?!?), at the very beginning of my intermittent 2000 mile voyage on the Blue Moon, I complained about being relegated to crew member:

There were many reasons why I felt...

I am a volunteer crew member on the Christine -- the oldest Oyster Sloop in America. This 50' gaffer is commanded by Captain Pete, who likes everything ship-shape and Bristol fashion.

...

This Sunday, Helena and I drove up to Mystic, CT for the annual Wooden Boat Show. One day really isn't enough for this great show. Next year, we plan to sail the Blue Moon down the Sound to Mystic so...

One of my goals on the Blue Moon is to get really good at this sailing/cruising business. I've sailed practically my whole life, first with my Uncle Marty (who's sailing the Newport-Bermuda race,...

If I had to pick my favorite city in Florida, St. Augustine would win hands down. Helena and I made a short visit here a few years ago, and we both loved it. This time, I had the pleasure of landing...

They call Florida "The Sunshine State", but for a small boat sailor in Florida in June, a better motto might be "The Too-Much Sunshine State".

When I set sail from Steinhatchee in April, I was...