Inside Practical Sailor

A changing climate brings changes in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather in the Atlantic and Pacific basins, and that's another good reason to raise your awareness of all the meteorological tools available to mariners. A recent addition to the marine forecaster's toolbox is probablistic wind speed forecasts disseminated by the Ocean Prediction Center (OPC). The forecasts take the available weather data and graphically present them in an easy-to-understand weather map.

If you havent put much thought into storing your battery for the winter yet, don't delay. If the batteries are removed from the boat, they should be stored in a cool place that does not drop too far below freezing. A basement or garage is fine. You can keep house batteries on the boat, but if you do, you should take the usual winterizing steps-cleaning the battery top and battery posts, filling the electrolyte, eliminating any loads that may discharge the battery-and checking voltage and recharging on a monthly basis.

The right mainsheet solution depends upon your own sailing preference, but a few general principles reign true. The farther forward on the boom the mainsheet is attached, the more of a downward effect (vang-like) sheeting elicits. The resulting elimination of twist may or may not be desirable, but it's part and parcel of the trimming process. It's no surprise that almost every performance-oriented sailboat is designed with end-boom sheeting.

In response to the recent failure of a safety tether that resulted in a fatality during the Clipper Round the World Race, weve completed a fairly comprehensive round of testing on various tether (boat-end) snap-hooks. Some of our findings are disturbing and do not fully agree with public statements being made by race officials, but this is not unexpected since the official investigation is still ongoing. Here we will focus on the most important findings, and offer specific tips on safely using your safety tether.

Just as we were wrapping up the report in our December issue describing how to make your own safety tether, 60-year-old British sailor Simon Speirs went overboard and died during the Clipper Round the World Race in an accident linked to a tether safety clip failure. The race, which charges non-professional sailors to race with pro skippers, was already under scrutiny after two deaths in the previous running …

In the wake of the recent fatal accident in the Clipper Around the World Race, we look again at the hard won guidance on inflatable PFD/harnesses. It is not enough to simply have sufficient number of PFDs on board. Today's inflatable PFDs require regular maintenance, special care when re-arming or repacking, and regular testing to confirm that they will work as designed. Given our experience with these devices, we also recommend at least one test (manual) inflation before setting out on a long cruise.

Our research into the various marine antifreeze additives on the market has produced many interesting findings, among them the correlation between improper boat winterizing and a stinky water tank.

Two different harbors suffered almost the same fate as Hurricane Irma raked South Florida with hurricane force winds. In both places, tens of thousands of dollars in damage might have been prevented had the owners of large vessels better secured their boats.In Boot Key Harbor, Marathon, a fifty-foot houseboat broke lose from its anchor and went careening through the mooring field where dozens of boats where moored. According to the salvage crews I spoke with, the houseboat was one of the key contributors to the pile-up in the harbor that caused several boats to break loose and go ashore. Falling like dominoes, boat after boat stacked up at the dinghy dock, in the mangroves, or into a bridge on the north side of the anchorage.

As we found in our test of do-it-yourself nonskid deck paints and panels, revamping a nonskid deck is a time-consuming project, one that you'd rather not have to repeat every few years. Here are a few tips to help you get more mileage out of your nonskid deck.

PS ContributorsJohn Neal and Amanda Swan Neal of Mahina Expeditions bluewater voyaging school have weathered a few earthquakes and tsunamis in their decades of...