SAIL.SailMagazine

Finding a big leak is relatively easy, but a small one can be a major challenge because a boat’s interior is a bit like a room in a funhouse, where water flow often seems to defy gravity. A trickle in the cabin, for example, may be coming from a leak in the deck half a boat length away. Conventional search techniques include 1) flooding the deck by sections with a hose, and 2) building a dike of

Mark Gagyi of Vermilion, Ohio, asks:"Last year I converted from a manual to an electric windlass and replaced the rode. Now I wish I had more chain. Is it is safe to weld some more chain on to what I now have?"Don Casey replies:The answer is no and the reason is that the welds in every link of an anchor chain must be stronger than the rod

Pete Ward of Wilmington, North Carolina, asks:"The packing in my stuffing box has become so tightly compressed on the shaft that when I put the transmission in gear, the whole thing turns in the rubber hose that’s connected to the pipe going through the hull. I’ve tried to get all the old packing out with a hook, but it’s still there. I don’t want to use a hammer. Can I

Although the technique of using sand as an abrasive goes back to the stone age, the first recorded example comes from the 13th century, when Chinese craftsmen bonded sand, crushed shells and sharp seeds onto parchment with natural gum. In the western world, abrasive paper was being used in France by the 18th century and “glasspaper,” which consisted of glass particles glued to paper, was