Inside Practical Sailor

When shopping for—or making your own—anti-chafe gear, there are a few key things you should keep in mind. First, make sure that the material will fit your chocks and will extend far enough to prevent rails and other hardware from becoming a secondary source of abrasion. We also found that there needs to be a rugged means of preventing the gear from sliding away from where the action happens to be. There is more on this in Practical Sailor's Hurricane Preparedness Guide.

Spring is but a month away, so I am plunging once again into polishing and waxing fiberglass boat hulls. This post covers almost everything you need to know about cleaning, polishing, and waxing your boat. It includes links to our online "how-to" resources and links to our tests of various classes of products mentioned. The main purpose of the article is to provide an overview of the many archive articles we have in our library on this topic, so that you can choose which reports best apply to your situation and then dig in as deep as you like.

Noise impacts individuals differently. If your sailing partner complains about a noise that doesn't really bother you, it might not necessarily something that they can simply get used to. You will have to address it through active sound reduction measures. There are three basic approaches to making your boat quieter. The first step is to use flexible mounts to isolate the vibrating machinery from the hull. These help prevent the transmission of vibration through the solid structure of the boat, and the consequent reverberation of hull sections that can act like amplifiers. Correcting any engine-shaft misalignment will certainly help. The next step is to surround the noise-producing machinery in a tight, insulated enclosure to reduce air-transmitted noise. The final step is to line enclosed living quarters, such as cabins, with sound-absorbent materials.

Mechanical terminals allow sailors replace a broken shroud or even re-rig their own boat  without hiring a professional rigger with a swage machine. Although...

Early in the sailing season, the things we overlooked during winter storage can come back to haunt us. And with regard to our boat's...

After cruising three oceans on an old wooden boat when I was in my 20s and perpetually short on cash, I vowed my next...

With proper care and protection, clear vinyl dodger windows can remain crystal clear for more than 10 years, yet many of the windows we see are burry, scratched, or cracked after just three years. Often, the damage occurs because the owner didn't carry out a few simple steps before putting the windows away for the winter. The cruising sailor can also shorten the life of clear vinyl by neglecting to carry out some very basic maintenance at sea. Whether you are storing your dodger for the season, or caring for it while cruising, these tips will help extend the life of your clear vinyl windows.

Canvas dodgers and biminis are the hallmark of a cruising yacht, keeping the sun at bay and allowing the crew to "dodge" the worst of the weather. Canvas also protects sails, windows, and machinery. The cost of these fabric covers adds up quickly, so we wanted to find the best way to protect the investment and extend the lifespan of the fabric.

Glen Raven, the manufacturer of Sunbrella, recommends that routine maintenance include frequent freshwater rinsing plus spot cleaning the fabric. After a more thorough cleaning, Sunbrella advises owners to apply a treatment (specifically Gold Eagle 303 High Tech Fabric Guard) to restore the fabric's repellency. In our February 2014 report on canvas maintenance, we took a look at 303 High Tech Fabric Guard and other treatments designed to keep on-board canvas water repellent and looking its best.

While many North American sailors have already hauled out their boats for winter, there are plenty of cold-weather diehards who refuse to bow to the season. In a recent issue of Practical Sailor, contributor Drew Frye shares his tips for sailing year round above the frost-line. It has always seemed a shame to me that the great majority of boats in the country are only used in the summer," says Frye, who sails through the winter on Chesapeake Bay. "[In winter] I have the waters virtually to myself.

Lest you think multi-billion-dollar chemical companies and their geeks in white lab coats have a lock on cleaning your boat, there are numerous homebrew solutions that have the ability to bring back that new boat shine.