Cooling the cost of a warm cabin Issue 77 : Mar/Apr 2011 A warm boat is a great comfort in the rainy Pacific Northwest. Boats stay in the water year-round here and the shoulder cruising seasons have a...
Pressing pure water out of the sea Issue 77 : Mar/Apr 2011 Osmosis is a natural process in which molecules of a liquid spontaneously pass through a semi-permeable membrane. The direction of fl ow acro...
Thinking beyond the pail Issue 78 : May/Jun 2011 Aboard Mystic the “ship’s bucket” is an important piece of gear. When it’s inactive, it holds the vacuum cleaner and is buried deep in the port cockpit...
Secure electrical wiring against chafe Issue 78 : May/Jun 2011 While preparing to run the AC and DC electrical wiring in the refi t of my 33-foot Hallberg-Rassy Mistral, Vera May, I found few products...
A custom box at the helm was the answer Issue 79: July/Aug 2011 After making the decision to add radar to Olo, our 1986 O’Day 35 (see “Radar on the Level,” May 2011), I faced the challenge of where an...
A propane locker that won’t blow the budget Issue 78 : May/Jun 2011 A standard propane locker from a marine catalog seemed ridiculously expensive ($650 or more) when I was refurbishing my Cape Dory 27...
A home-built tower with manumatic leveler Issue 78 : May/Jun 2011 Several years ago, my wife, Kari, and I decided to venture beyond the relative safety of our normal cruising grounds in the Apostle Is...
A not-so-nutty way to send a messenger Issue 80 : Sept/Oct 2011 You say you lost an internal halyard? You’re scratching your head over how to reeve a messenger with which to pull through a replacement...
A system that simplifies storage and use Issue 80 : Sept/Oct 2011 Everyone knows the importance of keeping paper charts aboard as backups for our electronics. But these things can be huge, so how do y...
Old-world wisdom helps restore white vinyl Issue 81 : Nov/Dec 2011 An article of mine entitled “Simply Clean” appeared in the May 2004 issue of Good Old Boat. It detailed recipes for more than two doz...
A convenient container for small canisters Issue 81 : Nov/Dec 2011 If you have an anchor locker with a drain, here’s an easy way to store those 1-pound propane tanks used for barbecue grills. Buy a le...
A clever little box cuts projects down to size Issue 81 : Nov/Dec 2011 Many sailors do their repair projects or build additions for their boats in home workshops equipped with all the tools required f...
Peace of mind for pocket change Issue 81 : Nov/Dec 2011 The battery-operated wireless burglar alarms widely available now for doors and windows can provide an easy and inexpensive way to protect the c...
A work-around keeps the boat in service Issue 83: March/April 2012 The diesel tank on my 1968 Seafarer was in need of repair. I had to cut it open to clean it and also had to replace the fuel lines. I...
A woodworker sometimes has to extemporize Issue 83: March/April 2012 We have all wished at times that we had three hands. When tackling boat projects, however, it seems that what we need more of isn’t...
Old hatch + new lens = brighter cabin Issue 81 : Nov/Dec 2011 Most sailboats have a hatch over the V-berth. The hatch is either solid or it has a lens to admit light. Over time, a hatch lens will beco...
A new faceplate accommodates new gadgets Issue 82 : Jan/Feb 2012 After more than 25 years sailing, I decided it was time to get an autopilot for Unicorn, our Catalina 30. When it came to installing th...
How a piece of flotsam became an asset Issue 82 : Jan/Feb 2012 One side effect of continually making improvements and upgrades to Sigfrid, our 34-foot 6-inch steel ketch, is that my partner, Magali, a...
They let you see what you seek Issue 84 : May/Jun 2012 Sailors waste a lot of time looking for things. Here’s something that, once you make it, you’ll wonder how you ever managed without. Let’s say yo...
Raid the hardware store, not your wallet Issue 84 : May/Jun 2012 When I went shopping for a telescoping whisker pole, I came away with sticker shock. Like a lot of other small cruising sailboats, my 2...
A home-store commodity fit the bill Issue 85 : Jul/Aug 2012 Turnbuckle boots last a long time, but not forever. Cracked and broken, mine were showing their age. I needed six boots 1 1/2 inches in diam...
Make them the right length for any job Issue 85 : Jul/Aug 2012 Bungees of the “loop and ball” type are very handy around sailboats. I needed some larger than those commercially available for tying up ...
A confirmed tinkerer adds muscle to his foredeck Issue 85 : Jul/Aug 2012 After a difficult anchor retrieval, the first mate and I decided it was time to bring another deckhand aboard Prime Time, our 2...
A spiffy new look for regulation flotation Issue 86: Sept/Oct 2012 They’re bright yellow, anonymous, and everywhere. New ones are expensive but they become faded eyesores after a few years in the sun....
An internal transducer eliminates a through-hull Issue 85 : Jul/Aug 2012 Signals from a depth sounder will pass through a fiberglass hull that is not too thick and has no delamination problems. The ow...
Artful modifications relieve trailersailor angst Issue 87 : Nov/Dec 2012 Several years before retirement, my wife, Johanna, and I purchased Someday Lady, a trailerable 1995 Catalina 25. It’s the water...
It’s a versatile and invaluable tool Issue 87 : Nov/Dec 2012 The hand-bearing compass, or sighting compass, is a portable compass used to take a bearing or azimuth. This type of compass has been in us...
Simplifying the water supply led to galley efficiencies Issue 88 : Jan/Feb 2013 Our 1976 Tanzer 26 served us very well for several years as a cruising boat on Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba, but on such a ...
Parts boxes no longer slip, slide, or spill Issue 89 : Mar/Apr 2013 Over the years, I’ve tried all types of containers for storing my tools, fasteners, spare parts, and so on. I finally settled on cle...
