When less than perfect is bright enough Issue 114: May/June 2017 About an hour after I put what I hoped was the last layer of varnish on some of Nurdle’s brightwork, it started to rain. The rain was f...
A mirror warms the ambience of a harsh LED Issue 115: July/Aug 2017 After replacing with LEDs all of the old-style incandescent bulbs in the cabin lights aboard Pelorus, my AMF Paceship 26, I started ...
Now it’s on the level, it’s a straight steerer Issue 115: July/Aug 2017 Pelorus, my AMF Paceship 26, sustained a bit of damage in her brush with Hurricane Joaquin in 2015. In the spring of 2016, I reb...
A home for electronics hides clutter from view Issue 115: July/Aug 2017 After purchasing my Spirit 28 sailboat, Wastin’ Time, in 2009, I began looking for a suitable space inside where I could build a...
Keep ahead of it and never look back Issue 115: July/Aug 2017 We’d neglected the bottom of our boat for a month and the warm Mexican waters had transformed our sleek hull into a furry ecosystem teemin...
The riddle of “overheating” engine Issue 115: July/Aug 2017 It was a beautiful summer’s day and we were heading out for a two-week cruise. Our first leg was 26 miles across the Strait of G...
Jet it off with a homemade washdown wand Issue 115: July/Aug 2017 Dirty rode in an anchor locker can make a mess and get to smelling pretty foul. A clean rode is especially desirable when an anchor lo...
It removes the aroma before it can envelop you Issue 115: July/Aug 2017 Ah, the holding tank, that place where we store our waste until we can find a pump-out station. In a perfect world, a marine hol...
Make holding-tank chemistry work in your favor Issue 115: July/Aug 2017 You’ve polished the gelcoat, cleaned the seat covers, and put out matching towels, and yet when guests visit the head, their rea...
Insurance against the 0-dark-thirty cartridge change Issue 115: July/Aug 2017 I well remember the first time I had to change a diesel fuel filter under duress. We were on our first trip away from the ...
A water-cooled fridge keeps its chill in warm waters Issue 116: Sept/Oct 2017 Sailing in any region where the water is warm — the Tropics, Florida, and the Bahamas come to mind — can impose a real str...
Weighing cruising gains vs. performance losses Issue 116: Sept/Oct 2017 By modifying the keel on his Tartan 37 to reduce its draft (see “A Keel Too Deep”), Tom Wells has taken a step that many sailors...
Turning a deep-draft racer into a shoal-draft cruiser Issue 116: Sept/Oct 2017 As we approached our retirement, Sandy and I confronted a dilemma. We had owned our Tartan 37, Higher Porpoise, since 199...
A cannibalized cockpit enclosure provides versatile shelter Issue 116: Sept/Oct 2017 How much shelter from the weather does a sailing crew need? Some sailors look at their bare unprotected cockpits an...
A beloved family member receives a whole new cockpit Issue 116: Sept/Oct 2017 Our 1961 Alden Challenger yawl, Christmas, has brought us joy season after season for many years. She is one of 53 Alden C...
Is it real? Is it laminate? No, it’s paint! Issue 116: Sept/Oct 2017 My good old boat is a 1979 San Juan 28, a plastic production-line IOR fin-keeler. When I had her hauled one recent fall for a multi...
A new alternator delivers on the promise of faster charging Issue 116: Sept/Oct 2017 Electrical systems aboard cruising sailboats hang by two threads: the capacity and reliability of the batteries and...
Securing non-human crew against the unexpected Issue 117: Nov/Dec 2017 We were hand-steering my Southern Cross 28 in rather blustery winds on a fairly smooth Conception Bay, headed for the Royal Newfo...
Anyone handy and well tooled can make them at home Issue 117: Nov/Dec 2017 Over the course of 30 years, the unfinished handrails on my friend’s 35-foot Bruno & Stillman powerboat had become whittl...
The onboard “just in case” locker supplied the parts Issue 117: Nov/Dec 2017 Over the years, our method for boarding the boat from the dinghy has changed. In our South Coast 25 days, we used the swim ...
Years and years of antifouling succumb to chemical stripping Issue 117: Nov/Dec 2017 After a pressure washing at the boatyard, the hull of our new-to-us Morgan 382 did not present a pretty picture. Wh...
Replacing them with shelves created more storage space Issue 117: Nov/Dec 2017 When our youngest son, David, his wife, Hannah, and their toddler, Ashleigh, began the transition to being liveaboards tw...
A deflated blow-up makes way for something solid Issue 117: Nov/Dec 2017 We bought our Mercury inflatable dinghy 11 years ago, despite some misgivings about the concept of its inflatable floor. The di...
Dropboards give way to user-friendly doors Issue 117: Nov/Dec 2017 Companionway dropboards are cumbersome to remove and replace and inconvenient to store. When you need them, they’re often buried deep...
Getting a grip on a tired molded-in deck surface Issue 117: Nov/Dec 2017 My 26-foot Paceship, Pelorus, was built with non-skid molded into the deck in a cross-hatch pattern rather like a gun grip. Lot...
Don’t be sidelined by bad bearings Issue 117: Nov/Dec 2017 Two hours into the 3-hour drive to Virginia’s Ware River Yacht Club, where I was taking my Chrysler Mutineer 15 to race in the Governor’s Cup...
Tame an unruly gennaker with a homemade snuffer Issue 117: Nov/Dec 2017 Aboard Smooth Moves, our Hughes 26, we do most of our cruising up and down the Strait of Georgia during the warm summer months. ...
Lasting social mementos created with imagination and recycled sailcloth Issue 118: Jan/Feb 2018 It wasn’t until my partner, Jim, and I made our first trip to Mexico on our Outbound 46 that I was intro...
Extending the life of an engine’s raw-water strainer Issue 118: Jan/Feb 2018 The Perko intake water strainer that feeds the engine on Phantom, our Pearson 365 ketch, was on its last legs. A hinged bol...
It keeps the air fresh in a closed-up boat Issue 118: Jan/Feb 2018 When cleaning our good old Island Packet 31 shortly after purchasing her, I noticed a little white mold on some of the wooden interio...
