Keep Tapered Bronze Seacocks Working Smoothly
Are the tapered plug seacocks on your boat difficult or impossible to close? If you tighten the adjustment nut enough for them to stop weeping all over the inside of your boat, does it take two hands and a hammer to operate them? If so, it's time for an overhaul. Even if they worked well last season, a little care while the boat is hauled can save you a lot of grief in the future. As part of your boat's routine maintenance, tapered plug seacocks should be disassembled, cleaned, lubricated, and reassembled on a regular basis.
Give Old Boat Parts New Life as Holiday Gifts
There’s nothing worse than getting or giving yet another ugly sweater or never-to-be-worn tie. Why not try up-cycling old boat parts to give new...
Can Exterior Paint Revive Faded Dodger Canvas?
One of the little luxuries many sailors treat themselves to is great canvas. I just went sailing on a brisk, cold and windy day...
Freeing Seized Hardware
Simple ferrous-metal oxidation is a process in which iron, oxygen, and water chemically react, and it can cause rust to seemingly weld fasteners together. This unyielding grip often turns disassembly into much more of an ordeal, but with a few, regularly available products and a good set of wrenches, the big battle becomes a minor squabble.
Winter Sailing Tips for Diehards
For many seasonal sailors, the winterizing routine is already well underway. But there are more than a few diehard sailors in the mid-Atlantic regions, on the West Coast, and even in New England, who plan to spend all or part of the snowy season afloat. Some, we daresay, look forward to the quiet of winter. If youre toying with the idea of keeping your boat in the water during the winter, heres a short rundown on some of the more important steps to take.
DIY Winch Feeder
It was snowing and I needed a project. Ever since the article on cross sheeting, “Where Winches Dare Go,” I’ve been wanting to add...
Dirt-cheap Winter Insulation for Liveaboards
Insulation is a greater energy-saving expedient; if our heater or air conditioner is undersized, fixing drafts, shading or insulating windows, and insulating non-cored laminate are all ways to reduce the thermal load. For boaters, however, that is only half of the equation.
Repurposing Chain
When a rope is no longer fit for purpose, for example a halyard with a chafed spot, we either keep it for future might-needs...
DIY Bulkhead Replacement
Many of the fiberglass sailboats constructed during the 1970s and 1980s are still in existence, though often in varying states of disrepair. These vessels...
Stickier Sail Tape with 3M Primer
Self-adhesive hardware-store hooks don’t stick well to bare fiberglass. Just last week we had one wash into the bilge-pump strainer on our test boat....
Lithium Batteries on Sailboats: The 3 Mistakes Everyone Makes
Lithium batteries are one of the most popular sailboat upgrades today—but they’re also one of the most misunderstood. In this Practical Sailor Saturday episode,...
Latest Sailboat Review
Island Packet Estero Used Boat Review
Florida-based Island Packet targets a relatively narrow niche, so the toughest competitors to its new boats are often older Island Packets. Introduced in 2010, the 36-foot, shoal-draft Estero is the company’s latest attempt to introduce a distinctive model that doesn’t stray too far from the company’s proven formula for success: moderate displacement, full-keel cruisers designed to be lived on, sailed far and in comfort, and endure the bumps, scrapes, and storms that cruising boats inevitably encounter. After sailing the Estero on Florida’s Sarasota Bay and inspecting its interior, construction, and systems, Practical Sailor testers noted that the shoal-water cruiser will appeal strongest to Island Packet fans who’ve been waiting for a shoal-draft, easy-to-sail boat that compares to the IP37 in terms of interior space. These strengths will be most apparent on intracoastal or riverine adventures like the Great Loop.