Belowdecks & Amenities

Standard power on cruising sailboats is 12 volts, and since the beginning of time, the standard low-voltage outlet, as a consequence, was a 12V...

Some will claim urine is sterile and doesn’t smell. Horse hockey. No matter how careful you are, urine is loaded with nitrogen (urea) and...

There are really three reasons we ventilate; in summer to beat the heat, in the off-season to fight moisture build up from cooking and...

This month’s article on ventilation got me thinking about how the current situation will impact living aboard in marinas. During 10 years of living aboard,...

It seems anomalous, but whether at home or on the boat, when we bring X volume of goods in, they expand to X+20 percent...

With winter upon us, and boats sitting on the hard in many places, its a good time to troubleshoot or update systems, and to make a to-do list for the off-season and pre-season.

At home, laundry is about removing grease, grass, and coffee stains without damaging the fabric of the clothing. Energy and water efficiency only matter in a secondary sense. Rinse water is plentiful, and the only water quality consideration is that it is sufficiently soft to avoid interference with the detergent and calcium build-up in the clothes.

Generally, a deep locker will have a recessed lid. Some modification may be needed to fit locker bags.

Storage is a challenge on small boats, and my new-to-me Corsair Marine F-24 trimaran was particularly Spartan this regard. The skinny hulls provided minimum volume and the race-focused designer intentionally omitted proper lockers. A performance-oriented boat such as this must be kept light if she is to sail to her potential. But even day sailers and racers attract a certain amount of necessary clutter, sure as honey attracts flies. Something had to be done, and yet, as a new owner its tough to know what will best suit your needs and what the boat needs. Its even harder to cut the first hole. This project was 100 percent non-invasive.

With regards to your recent marine oil filter tests (see PS July 2019, Marine Oil Filter Comparison Test), having spent my career in the aeronautical engine technical field specializing in maintenance I must state my allegiance to non-encapsulated filters and independent housings. This trend towards spin-on filter assemblies prevents in my opinion the most important aspect of filter maintenance which is particle inspection. Filters are not removed so you can inspect or replace them, they are removed so you can ascertain your engines condition. This practice seems to have been set aside to make way to quick and easy maintenance using spin-on filters. Oil analysis is fine but it should start with a simple sediment inspection after a low cost electro- sonic cleaning in a 60 Hz bath (jewelry cleaner bath).