TIME TO BUY NEW SAILS? Q: I have a very old set of Dacron sails on my Catalina. Friends have told me I should have them replaced because it will make my boat sail better. But quite frankly, I’d prefer not to spend the money on sails that seem plenty sturdy enough for the kind of ...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
SMOKING DIESEL Q: I have noticed black smoke from my diesel under high rpm, over 2,000, and suspect unburned fuel to be the cause. I have checked the air intake and fuel filler gauge, made sure of good flow from the exhaust and use a bio-additive in my fuel. The oil level has ...read more
WHAT’S WITH THOSE RINGS? Q: I’ve been seeing a bunch of boats at boat shows where each jib sheet passes through an aluminum ring, which is then presumably used to pull the jib sheet inboard. What exactly is going on with this kind of arrangement? Is it like a barber-hauler? ...read more
Q: My crew and I have been debating the location of telltales on our boat, a 30-footer we race only casually. We’ve already got telltales on the luff of the genoa and on the trailing edge of the main. The question is whether it makes sense to have telltales elsewhere, like in the ...read more
