Sailing With Josh

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Thank you again, Small Craft Advisor Magazine, for re-publishing The Resourceful Sailor Warps a Boat Around at the Dock on October 13, 2025. Also, this October is spooky sailing story month. Check out some of the stories after you finish The Resourceful Sailor’s installment. Or submit one of your own. CLICK HERE to be directed to the Small Craft Advisor article. Thanks for stopping by.

Here are a couple videos about lowering masts on small sailboats for the DIY folks. First, a keel-stepped mast using a gin pole. Courtesy of the Port Townsend Sailing Association. Video: Steve Scharf Second, a deck-stepped mast using the boom. There was also a write-up on this in ‘Lectronic Latitude – Lowering the Mast on a Small Boat with The Resourceful Sailor.

Have you ever skyed a halyard on your sailboat? Not yet? Give it time. Here we go again…‘Lectronic Latitude, the online version of Latitude 38, was kind enough to publish another Resourceful Sailor article called The Resourceful Sailor: Skyed Halyard Retrieval Made Easy for their September 13, 2024 issue and I really appreciate it. And there’s a video to boot. It discusses how I retrieve a skyed halyard on Sampaguita, a Pacific… Read More

Monica and ‘Lectronic Latitude rock! It’s fun to be the far away Port of Bahia Asuncion in Baja California, Mexico and see your column still exists. Thank you so much. I’m not sure what my sailmakers at Northwest Sails, Sean and Holly, will think of this, but it wasn’t one they made for me anyway. But it sure is a necessary one. Something had to be done. Here is the link: https://www.latitude38.com/lectronic/2023/11/27/#resourceful-sailor-performs-sail-surgery

Looking for a little more light in the cabin? How about a better view from down below? There’s a new Resourceful Sailor installment, Transparent Drop Boards, which highlights how I made acrylic drop boards for Sampaguita, a 1985 Pacific Seacraft Flicka 20. The full article was published in Latitude 38‘s online magazine, ‘Lectronic Latitude, on January 5, 2022. Thank you for checking it out, and special thanks to Monica and the crew,… Read More

More Video! Check out the new Resourceful Sailor Series piece, “Lowering The Mast Of A Small Boat,” published by Latitude 38’s online magazine, ‘Lectronic Latitude. In this one I highlight an advantage to going small by lowering the deck-stepped mast of Sampaguita, a Pacific Seacraft Flicka 20 at the dock. No cranes, no fees, and if you are really ambitious you can do it single-handed. It does take some set-up, research, and… Read More

I can’t thank Monica and the crew at ‘Lectronic Latitude enough for their support. They have done it again. On March 12, 2021, they published my latest Resourceful Sailor Series piece, Outboard Thermostats – An Open and Closed Case. “There is a simple test to determine if a thermostat is opening and closing properly. Place it into boiling water. It should open in the water and close when removed.” Click the link… Read More