Give your jib’s roller furler some needed support Issue 100: Jan/Feb 2015 Headsail roller-furling systems have become ubiquitous. Walk the docks or scan the mooring field and you’ll quickly confirm th...
. . . solve line-leading issues on a multilevel deck Issue 100: Jan/Feb 2015 Even in our younger days, my wife and I tried to make living and working aboard our cruising boats as easy as possible. Thi...
Give it the best antenna cable you can Issue 100: Jan/Feb 2015 Acouple of years ago we unstepped and repainted our mast. While it was horizontal and easy to work with, I inspected the wiring. Some of ...
Only buy new if you can’t make do Issue 99 : Nov/Dec 2014 I have owned my 1967 Alberg 30, Good News, for more than 22 years. While maintenance is always needed on a good old boat — mine is now 46 year...
A quick-and-dirty repair gets the boat home Issue 99 : Nov/Dec 2014 Many resources are available to help owners of good old boats complete their projects in the best possible way: seaworthy, beautiful...
Make the engine suck its own antifreeze Issue 99 : Nov/Dec 2014 Up north, after pulling the boat out in the late fall, winterizing an engine is a mandatory and often unpleasant chore. Draining a raw-w...
A top-down core replacement Issue 99 : Nov/Dec 2014 In this, the first of two parts, Matt Bowser describes three ways to repair a delaminated deck. He then relates how he settled upon the one he would...
. . . replace irreplaceable windows Issue 99 : Nov/Dec 2014 When it was time to replace the deadlights in the deckhouse on my 1978 Eastward Ho 31, I ran into a problem. Replace them with . . . what? T...
Her past glory inspired a restoration Issue 99 : Nov/Dec 2014 The Cal 34 Vagus was once a star. That was in the mid-1970s to the mid-’90s, when Lake Michigan’s Bay of Green Bay was busy with races tha...
Simple rules ensure safety and reliability Issue 99 : Nov/Dec 2014 Sooner or later, if you own your boat any length of time, you will have to deal with replacing or adding a DC electrical circuit. Per...
A big makeover for the smallest room Issue 100: Jan/Feb 2015 It’s said that creative people can look at a pile of garbage and see opportunities. If this is true, I must possess some pretty creative ge...
Open and close a sun flap from below Issue 100: Jan/Feb 2015 Home waters for my 1980 Hunter 30, Summer Wind, are Lake Pontchartrain and the central Gulf Coast, where a generously sized Bimini over the...
Low-tech, high-precision aids for sail trim Issue 99 : Nov/Dec 2014 Sail telltales are short strips of very lightweight material of a color that contrasts with that of the sail. They are sewn on both ...
Current designs arrived via varied routes Issue 100: Jan/Feb 2015 All three of our comparison boats in this issue (see “The Vineyard Vixen 34 meets two canoe-stern cousins”, Issue 100) hav...
Tie ’em fore and aft Issue 101 : Mar/Apr 2015 If you have external halyards on your boat, no doubt you’ve been awakened at night by the annoying clanging of a loose halyard rapping against the mast. T...
Clever clamps made of rubber hose Issue 101 : Mar/Apr 2015 I like my boat to be visible in a dark anchorage, but I prefer to use cockpit and deck lighting that doesn’t use precious stored energy. Sola...
Hand-sewn cargo boosters that stow flat Issue 101 : Mar/Apr 2015 A pair of saddlebags, or panniers as they are often called in the biking world, add capacity and convenience when we make shopping trip...
Why does cleaning it require taking a bath? Issue 101 : Mar/Apr 2015 Now that we have mapped the human genome, it’s time to tackle the real technological challenge of the 21st century — foul-proofing ...
A single digit now does a two-person job Issue 101 : Mar/Apr 2015 It’s slightly more than 8 feet from the water to the head of the davits on the raised aft deck of my Down East 45 schooner, Britannia....
Renewal restores the psyche Issue 100: Jan/Feb 2015 This is the second of two parts. In the first part, in the November 2014 issue, Matt described the process of removing the deck skin and soggy core ...
Investing in overhead pays dividends below Issue 101 : Mar/Apr 2015 Having owned my almost-40-year-old Islander 36 for 17 years, I am always looking at ways to renew its beauty. One of the items that ...
. . . buys megayacht looks for a small outlay Issue 101 : Mar/Apr 2015 “You owe my father $175,” Carolyn told me one day when I came home from work. “What for?” I asked. “For the wood to make the boat...
Soft barriers keep out bugs and sunbeams Issue 100: Jan/Feb 2015 I’ve had it with mosquitoes and also with the sun shining in my eyes when I’m trying to sleep. Maybe it’s about my sense of privacy too...
A portable system becomes permanent Issue 101 : Mar/Apr 2015 Bath time on our 35-foot sloop has taken many forms in 30-some years of living aboard. The easiest and most fun was jumping overboard in th...
Where there’s no wheel, there’s still a way Issue 101 : Mar/Apr 2015 Numerous dining tables have been designed to fit on the binnacle consoles on sailboats with wheel steering, but on a tiller-steered...
A mast gets a new foot to stand on Issue 101 : Mar/Apr 2015 I’ve always been in the habit of pulling my mast when I lay my boat up each fall. It adds to the annual cost, but it’s better in the long ru...
Making the right connections Issue 101 : Mar/Apr 2015 For electrical wiring aboard boats to meet recognized standards for safety and reliability, wires should be connected to equipment and other wires...
It’s rugged, enduring and, er, rustic Issue 102 : May/Jun 2015 When I had my wooden dock built in the late 1980s, the builder asked me if I wanted expensive metal cleats or less-expensive cleats. I ch...
They are more than a buffer twixt butt and deck Issue 102 : May/Jun 2015 Closed-cell-foam seat cushions are available at home centers. I found ours at Menards under their house name Guidesman (SKU 175...
