diy

Push-Button Reefing Boats have never been easier to sail, and yet, designers and builders still strive for that extra iota or two of convenience. A case in point is the growing acceptance of powered headsail furlers. Roller-furling headsails are ubiquitous not only on cruising ...read more

Presented by Vetus-Maxwell. Got a tip? Send it to sailmail@sailmagazine.com Mark up for the crane driver  How many times has a crane or travelift driver who doesn’t know my boat asked me where I want the slings when he’s about to lift her out? Next time you’re successfully ...read more

Our 1987 Pearson project boat came with an elderly but functioning Raymarine chartplotter, located belowdecks at the nav station. Since I usually sail solo or doublehanded, it was of little use down there—it needed to be near the helm. When I decided to update the plotter along ...read more

Both of the heads on Britannia, my Downeast 45 schooner, are Raritan Elegance electric models that I installed nearly four years ago. They have performed flawlessly, and one of the reasons for that is that for about 90 percent of the time, they are flushed with clean freshwater. ...read more

Good to Go? The boat’s in the water, the rig has been tuned, and you’re ready to go off on your first summer cruise. There are just a few things you ought to check before you head off, says Peter Nielsen Belowdecks Electrics: It’s really annoying to run out of battery power when ...read more

As with so many other things on our 1987 Pearson 39-2 project boat, the lifelines looked to be original equipment. Made of vinyl-coated 3/16in 7x7 stainless steel wire, they were bleeding rust where the sheathing had cracked, and it was obvious they needed to be replaced. The ...read more

Before setting out on the boat’s major refit, I sailed Passion for nearly five years. I wanted to learn all about her personality and identify her quirks and needed improvements. Some were painfully obvious. Others only emerged after years of sailing and under certain ...read more

I found my sailing “dream boat” in the spring of 1979 while racing on Lake St. Clair in Michigan. Everyone had heard about the hot new boat in town, and we were anxiously awaiting the appearance of this new Pearson 40. She made it to the starting line just before the race ...read more

In the second of a two-part series on light-air sails, Rupert Holmes looks at how today’s furling gear has revolutionized sail handling off the wind. Read part 1 here. It’s easy to look at long-distance racing yachts of 60ft and above with multiple downwind sails set on roller ...read more

When we acquired our new project boat, a 1987 Pearson 39-2, it was evident that she was in need of much TLC. Not only had she been sitting forlorn and unloved in a boatyard for a couple of years, but those of her systems that were not original were a couple of decades old. ...read more

Without a doubt, the best way to “clean” stainless steel parts is to have them electropolished. Electropolishing is an electrochemical process that cleans the stainless and removes any surface iron particles, leaving a shiny and far more rust-resistant surface. The downsides of ...read more

“Ready to take the dink ashore?” Never had those words invoked as much anxiety as when my husband, Jeff, and I first moved to the Pacific Coast. Why? Because we had exactly zero experience with dinghy surf landings, and the possibility of being flipped upside down along with our ...read more

Portland, Oregon. The fuel nozzle at the dock had a recoil like a small caliber pistol. The fuel tank sits tightly immediately beneath the cockpit of my sailboat. The fill pipe, if you want to call it that is 3in long. I couldn’t just squeeze it off, the fuel hit the tank point ...read more

CETOL SKIN I used Sikkens Cetol on the bare wood on my Catalina 30, Morning Dew IV. The can was compromised over the spring, and I put the balance in a 16oz clean glass mayo jar. Last spring when I went to use it, a skin had formed over the top of the liquid, so I just cut the ...read more

Don’t take your rig for granted. Show it some love before you start the season During spring commissioning we often lavish far more attention on our engine and electrics than we do on the rig, even though the latter presents a much greater risk to both the boat and crew. Because ...read more

On Deck Give each winch a quick spin. If they’re not turning freely, now is the time to strip and clean them. Windlass issues are almost always down to poor connections. Inspect these closely, especially at the foot switches, and if necessary take the connections apart, clean ...read more

Q: I am the owner of a 1985 Cal 22 sailboat that is moored during the season in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. The boat is in very good condition; however, when I pulled it out of the water at the end of the season in early October this year I noticed a slight crack in the keel that ...read more

Over the last 25 years, there has been a dramatic shift in the types of refrigeration systems carried aboard cruising boats. Today, 12-volt systems prevail, but the systems most often installed up to the late ‘90s were driven by the main engine. Engine-driven refrigerators ...read more

Keeping your diesel fuel clean should be one of your highest priorities, and you can avoid a lot of trouble by adding extra filtration. During the 2015-16 winter aboard Eclipse, our Tayana Vancouver 42, we pulled out our old Perkins 4-108 for a rebuild. With the engine out of ...read more

Look after your sails, and they’ll look after you Dacron sailcloth has two natural enemies—sunlight and chafe, both of which are found in abundance on the typical sailboat. There is not much you can do to stave off damage from ultraviolet light except to keep the mainsail ...read more

Q: I have an old 35ft, full-keel CCA-era sloop, and I love everything about it save one thing: the serious prop walk whenever I try to back up or even bring the boat to a stop. Over the years I’ve developed various strategies to compensate. But I was wondering if there’s ...read more

Military strategist Helmuth von Moltke said, “No battle plan survives contact with the enemy.” This is also true for a boat refit plan I started the refit of my boat, Passion, with a simple plan. Just as my geezerly body has needed a few parts replaced and some other repairs to ...read more

“Scalpel,” I said, an open hand waiting. Phillip passed me the unwieldy angle grinder we were about to use to cut into the stringers under the mast on Plaintiff’s Rest, our 1985 Niagara 35. I couldn’t see what I was supposed to be cutting, but I could feel the tool—hot and ...read more