Vetus Maxwell

It’s too easy to take your navigation lights for granted until something fails or gets obscured.

It's a good idea to keep your seacock levers moving smartly, just in case you have to close or open one in a hurry.

The most critical thing you can do to preserve the well-being of an anchor windlass is to retrieve your anchor in the correct manner.

Losing an anchor due to a bad detachable link or a worn-out swivel or shackle can be VERY expensive. That’s why you should range the chain on your boat every few years.

AIS is valuable on any boat, but treat the information it displays with a dollop of skepticism and remember that boats not transmitting on AIS are not as noticeable as those that are.

If you allow air to enter the supply line of an engine it will promptly airlock the engine and summarily shut it down. Here are the steps to get things going again.

No amount of horsepower or gadgetry compensates for seamanship skills, so get yours in order

This old-school system for managing maintenance tasks still holds up today.

How to simplify swapping out that old, damaged chunk of rubber.

Large 10- to 12-gauge butt connectors? Much finer wire? Try this trick and keep right on chuggin’.

Finding a perfect replacement is not often easy.

Forget to wear a long-sleeved shirt when grinding fiberglass? Nix that dust with a lint roller.

That smartphone’s not just for talkin’, ya know.

Believe it or not, busting rust on stainless steel can be both an easy and satisfying task.

Vibration, galvanic corrosion, calcium buildup—oh my! Why not take a few minutes this coming weekend and give your boat a once-over?

Sometimes, all your self-contained air-conditioner needs is a couple of shots from a common dock hose.

Leverage from a trusted tool is always welcome.

Creating a library of owner’s manuals and other stuff has real, hands-on advantages.

Here’s another nifty usage for the tapered wooden plugs designed to prevent a sinking if a through-hull or other fitting fails.