Inside Practical Sailor

In response to ship reports of radio interference from LED lights, the U.S. Coast Guard has issued a step-by-step guide to checking for interference on VHF frequencies used for radiotelephone, digital selective calling (DSC) and automatic identification systems (AIS). Because mariners use these frequencies for communication and tracking of nearby vessels, interference can create a safety hazard. Practical Sailor has been warning sailors about problems with LED lights for several years, and has tested several LED navigation lights for VHF interference.

We wished the silica gel drying filters used in marine fuel tank vents could be as maintenance-free as the carbon canister on your car, but our simple DIY filters (as well as those made by various manufacturers) don't have programmed regeneration cycles like the automotive carbon canisters. The makers of silica gel fuel filters say the silica gel resin should be replaced annually, but Practical Sailor testers have found that three years is about right for diesel and five years for E-10 gasoline.

If youre headed to the U.S. Sailboat Show in Annapolis October 4-8, we encourage you to stick around a few days to pick up some wisdom from Practical Sailors Technical Editor Ralph Naranjo. Ralph will be teaching a couple of his signature courses at the Annapolis School of Seamanship in downtown Annapolis during the days shortly after the show.

Old teak decks can be a deal breaker for the used boat buyer. Unless the previous owner(s) have taken a white-glove approach to deck maintenance, about 30 years of use is all you can hope for in a modern 12-millimeter-thick teak deck. The wood's biggest foe is the scrub brush, which can chew through the soft grain and shave years off the decks life. So if you are looking at an old Taiwanese-built cruiser from the 1970s with a deeply grooved old teak deck, give it a close inspection, especially the subdeck; you might be biting off more than you can chew. Even if the core sub-deck is still good, re-caulking and refastening an existing deck is a time-consuming project.

Those of you who missed Practical Sailor's report on how a weak winterizing solution can create a Sandals Beach Resort for waterborne bacteria may be noticing a pungent odor coming from your galley tap. Regardless of the cause of your onboard water woes, our favorite chemist-sailor Drew Frye offers a series of simple steps to decontaminate that tainted water tank.

This week I had the opportunity to poke around a ketch-rigged Pearson 424 that was for sale in the neighborhood and I was reminded of the many advantages of the ketch design. The Pearson 424 is an example of several decades-old designs that were offered in a variety of rigs, giving owners an opportunity to compare the sail plans.

When it comes to comparing the fuel treatment products on the market-whether its for gasoline or diesel- consumers are effectively left in the dark. Our own testing with both gasoline and diesel treatments indicate that limited use of the most popular brand name products will not cause any harm, but how much good the additives actually do is tougher to measure.

One topic often overlooked in any anchor discussion is shaft strength. Yet, as anyone who has spent any time around boats knows, bent anchor shafts are hardly rare. Sure, sometimes the anchor gets wedged into a crevice where bending might be excused, but were hearing about more and more anchors bending under what would be considered normal use.In the upcoming April issue of Practical Sailor, contributor Jonathan Neeves explores this topic in great detail. In his view, the reasons behind bent shafts are many.

Depending on the size of your fuel tanks, having a professional clean your tank and dispose of the dirty fuel can cost more than $1,000. But for the careful, competent do-it-yourselfer there is another option. For those sailors whose tanks have reached the contamination point-of-no-return, heres a helpful article on DIY tank cleaning that accompanied our July 2009 test of diesel biocides.

Iron tends to retain its general shape and size as it rusts, however, it decays from within. A piece of iron that appears sound may crumble if tapped with a hammer. This type of decay is called graphitization because when it occurs, all that remains after the rusting is complete is graphite residue.