This tough, flexible, shiny oil penetrates old gelcoat Issue 52: Jan/Feb 2007 OVER THE YEARS, I’VE OWNED SEVERAL “EXPERIENCED” FIBERGLASS sailboats. These are boats that have already had at least one ...
Classic varnish solves boater’s problem Issue 47 : Mar/Apr 2006 Any owner of a good old boat will, at some time or another, be confronted with the sight of brightwork that no longer lives up to the na...
Use these socks on your portlight screens Issue 47 : Mar/Apr 2006 I dream of there mass extermination but, alas, it remains a dream — no-see-ums (midges, punkies, sand flies, and sand fleas) are a fac...
Or how a desperate sailor drilled out a sheared stud Issue 47 : Mar/Apr 2006 So there we knelt, staring at the bolt head in my hand in horror. What was once a beautiful 5⁄16-inch x 3-inch bolt was now...
It’s easy to help these pesky pests on their way Issue 47 : Mar/Apr 2006 Drat those wretched fruit flies! Here’s an odd, but quick and effective, way of dispatching them. Keep a plastic bag with...
Old leaking portlights? Here’s one solution Issue 47 : Mar/Apr 2006 Just about every sailboat over 20 years old has the same basic construction for its fi xed portlights. Clear plastic or glass in the...
Finding the cause was the trickiest bit Issue 49 : Jul/Aug 2006 The wheel steering of my 1973 Grampian 30 had not worked well with the autopilot for several years. Holding a course when steering manua...
How to lessen the danger of cooking with propane Issue 49 : Jul/Aug 2006 We know that 90 percent of people who sail do their cooking with liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) because modern propane stoves ar...
Temporary cushioning protects paintwork Issue 51 : Nov/Dec 2006 Docking has been the bane of my sailing career, particulary since I cruise singlehanded most of the time. Like many boats, Kalypso doesn...
Curing the clamminess under your cushions Issue 53 : Mar/Apr 2007 My wife and I live aboard our 40-foot ketch in San Francisco Bay. The weather is relatively cool, and often foggy, for much of the yea...
Holding the water out when a port breaks at sea Issue 53 : Mar/Apr 2007 According to the pilot charts of the central and north Pacific Ocean, the incidence of gales during late July and August on the ...
Faux-teak lessens annual maintenance tasks Issue 54 : May/Jun 2007 While I appreciate brightwork on a sailboats’s deck, I’m not one who enjoys the annual maintenance that usually accompanies such esth...
Examining the typical wet-exhaust system Issue 54 : May/Jun 2007 After building a custom waterlift muffler with epoxy and fiberglass, one question remained: how does it compare with the commercial one...
Ingenuity and a warm oven solve the problem Issue 54 : May/Jun 2007 Replacing a smashed aluminum stem casting had us facing the prospect of having to have one custom-machined from scratch at considera...
Air-condition your boat for less than $100 Issue 55 : Jul/Aug 2007 “It must be 104 degrees out here you think to yourself as you walk down the dock toward your boat. It’s been just moments since you p...
Maintaining a toasty cabin in freezing weather Issue 55 : Jul/Aug 2007 Winter weather couldn’t keep me separated from my project boat. I spent a couple of working weekends on Maruska, my Pearson...
This simple upgrade stands the test of time Issue 56 : Sept/Oct 2007 During cruising summers here in the Pacific Northwest, we practically live in the cockpit. The textured non-skid fiberglass sole of...
Make that deck safe again Issue 56 : Sept/Oct 2007 When it was time to apply the non-skid to the deck of my Fuji 32, I was looking at a blank canvas. Deck repairs, coupled with an ineffective existing...
Here’s how to mix those small batches Issue 58 : Jan/Feb 2008 Many good old boaters use epoxy for a variety of small repairs. Small repairs require small epoxy batches. In my life, whether I’m repairi...
New “razor” safely removes lettering Issue 59 : Mar/Apr 2008 Recently, while ordering new vinyl lettering for my Hunter 34, Pleiades, I discovered a truly must-have item for every boater. As I was sel...
Avoid a trip aloft Issue 59 : Mar/Apr 2008 Every spring I go to the top of the two masts of my schooner, Delphinus, spraying the sailtracks with lubricant along the way. Although many people never do ...
Keep those old primaries clicking nicely Issue 59 : Mar/Apr 2008 Back in the 1960s and ’70s when many of the good old boats we love were built, Barient winches were considered the gold standard for pr...
One sailor’s solution Issue 60 : May/Jun 2008 I was in the cabin of Mas Tiempo, my Islander 30, when I noticed something different in the symmetry of the shroud chainplates. These chainplates are atta...
How to check your rudder stops Issue 60 : May/Jun 2008 This excerpt is from the revised and expanded third edition of Lin and Larry Pardey’s Storm Tactics Handbook. The book has 10 new chapters and ha...
Sealants and adhesives give way to heated chisel Issue 62 : Sept/Oct 2008 Have you ever had problems removing parts installed with polysulfide, polyurethane, silicone, or other marine sealants or adhe...
A step-by-step guide to replacement Issue 62 : Sept/Oct 2008 When the engine started and the transmission engaged, a vibration underfoot told the skipper he had a problem. Experience offered a suspect...
Rescue your nose from those shipboard odors Issue 64 : Jan/Feb 2009 It’s that first waft of air that rushes up after a long winter — a heady mix of diesel, mildew, deodorizing chemicals, and stale bre...
One sailor’s method of maintaining an iron keel Issue 64 : Jan/Feb 2009 A few years back, my friend Roland purchased a used 31-foot sailboat with a fin keel made of cast iron. After his first sailing ...
A better way to mount deck hardware Issue 67: July/Aug 2009 No doubt the builders who installed the original deck hardware on your boat took the easy way, and later owners who added further hardware p...
Two good old boaters take the A-frame to the tabernacle Issue 65 : Mar/Apr 2009 Over the past several years, our cruises on Whippoorwill, our Cape Dory 27, have taken us to several places where we hav...
