Know how much water you have — at a glance Issue 62 : Sept/Oct 2008 Water tanks are located in the nether regions of the boat and are covered by bunks, liner pans, access hatches, and all the stuff th...
Food-safe epoxy makes potable possible Issue 65 : Mar/Apr 2009 At the end of a two-year search for a fixer-upper cruising boat, I acquired a Pearson Vanguard, hull #142 built in 1964. I found her in a...
Captive bolts mean freedom from worry Issue 69 : Nov/Dec 2009 Like many boats from the early 1970s, my Hallberg-Rassy Mistral 33 was originally fitted with bronze gate valves. They were mounted direct...
The less costly route to water independence Issue 72 : May/Jun 2010 When we decided to transit the Panama Canal and head across the Pacific, we knew we would face a problem that had cropped up occasio...
Vegetable oil fixed one, the other remains Issue 73 : Jul/Aug 2010 My usual motto, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” has served me well in many life experiences but has never been the best strategy t...
Installation, operation, and maintenance Issue 73 : Jul/Aug 2010 In the May/June issue of Good Old Boat, Randy Baker described how to build an inexpensive reverse-osmosis watermaker. In this second an...
A large PVC pipe eliminates odors Issue 74 : Sept/Oct 2010 During a recent trip to southern Florida, I spent two enjoyable afternoons walking the docks. I use these opportunities to chat with sailors ...
No more muddy souvenirs to foul the foredeck Issue 74 : Sept/Oct 2010 Nothing says you need a washdown system quite like hauling up an anchor and rode full of black goop that attaches itself to the an...
Faster discharge from flooding waves Issue 74 : Sept/Oct 2010 My boat’s original cockpit drains were adequate for a rain shower or a light wash-down but often became partially blocked with one thing o...
Storing life’s essential element Issue 78 : May/Jun 2011 Water is necessary for living aboard a boat. Since a gallon of water weighs 8.3 pounds, full water tanks can be very heavy and should be instal...
A homemade filter keeps the cabin sweet Issue 80 : Sept/Oct 2011 Boating equipment retailers offer dozens of chemicals to make your head smell fresh. We tried them all in our attempts to eliminate the...
A cruising family installs the Air Head Issue 80 : Sept/Oct 2011 While debating a return to the continent after nearly six years in the Caribbean, we tried to imagine the changes that would force us t...
Its irregular shape dictated DIY Issue 82 : Jan/Feb 2012 My 1986 Pearson 28-2 had a rubber-bladder waste tank that had seen its day. After being filled and emptied many times since it was installed, i...
Unsuspected chafe could have sunk him Issue 87 : Nov/Dec 2012 Sailors are well aware of the danger of chafe to sails, halyards, mooring lines, anchor rode, and various and sundry other pieces of equip...
A little elevation keeps the toilet base dry Issue 88 : Jan/Feb 2013 I have seen quite a few marine toilet installations where the presence of even a little amount of salt water has caused green stain...
Adding a tee adds versatility Issue 90: May/June 2013 My Columbia 10.7 was suffering from hardening of the arteries. More specifically, it was hardening of the seacock. The Groco SV Series seacocks we...
A vented loop keeps the boat afloat Issue 91 : Jul/Aug 2013 Having heard horror stories of boats sinking due to a marine toilet overflowing, I have resolved to never let that happen on our 1979 Ericso...
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...
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...
Out with the old . . . er, not so fast! Issue 104 : Sept/Oct 2015 Why was there water in my normally dry bilge? Rain, I suspected. I checked all the hose clamps on the deck drains and the portholes, t...
A holding tank vent revamp clears the air Issue 104 : Sept/Oct 2015 I found an easy, inexpensive way to improve my boat’s holding-tank system. It cost $10, the stink is gone, and the catastrophe the o...
Welding plastic for a superior sanitation system Issue 104 : Sept/Oct 2015 Our 1978 Bristol 29.9 had been experiencing a number of “holding tank issues.” Despite new hoses, we’d been getting frequent ...
If it ain’t broke, it just needs cleaning and painting Issue 111: Nov/Dec 2016 The inspiration to rebuild, rather than replace, the non-functioning Whale Gusher 10 bilge pump on our Ericson 31 had two...
It opens and closes with a throttle lever Issue 110 : Sept/Oct 2016 I’m one of those sailors who likes to keep seacocks closed when they’re not in use. My problem was that the inlet valve for the head...
Removing drawers leads to safer plumbing Issue 111: Nov/Dec 2016 We bought our Mariner 28, Day by Day, in 2014, downsizing from our Corbin 39 as a concession to our advancing years and the desire for ...
When water pipes reach the end of the line Issue 112: Jan/Feb 2017 The plastic freshwater plumbing that had been in my Down East 45 schooner, Britannia, since 1977 was a horrible spaghetti-like mess a...
Using à la carte components to make a watermaker Issue 114: May/June 2017 Living aboard almost full time as we do, what a treat it is to have an endless supply of fresh water we make ourselves. With a...
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...
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...
