DIY Projects

I like the outdoors. I sail year-round, and I can endure as much heat and cold as my passions demand. But whether it is summer or winter, I just can't abide cold, wet feet. There is something about damp socks that chills me through. If my feet are warm, Im warm.

Regarding your recent Waypoints article about making your own dustless sander (see Dustless Sander, PS April 2016 online) I added a Dust Deputy (~$50 Ace Hardware) upstream of my shop vac around 3 or 4 years ago.

A typical cruising boat has thousands of electrical connections. The consequence of failure range from a light that doesn't work to a fire that can cost lives.

Regarding your recent report on Seacocks (Beneteau Responds to Seacock Query, PS August 2018) I owned a 1987 Catalina 30, Mark II. It had four gate valves instead of seacocks.

They were off the coast of Bequia in the Grenadines, near the end of a breezy passage on a 34-foot cruising sloop. Just as the boat reached past a rocky point, trouble struck. The steering wheel suddenly turned freely in the skippers hand.

With $655 million dollars marine vessel insurance claims from the 2017 hurricanes Harvey and Irma, there is no shortage of broken boats accumulating in salvage yards. The nations three big damaged boat liquidators - Certified Sales, Cooper Capital and U.S. Auctions are gradually thinning out their listings from Irma and Harvey, but Florence will surely bring a new crop. But just how salvageable are these boats?

The very first project tackled on my new-to-me catamaran a decade ago was to wrap the helm wheel with line. Our delivery trip home took place in late December on the Chesapeake Bay, and I didnt want to spend the next three days with an icy stainless steel wheel sucking all of the heat from my fingers. Instead, I spent a productive hour before dinner wrapping the wheel with line.

The irregular shape of welds makes them difficult to inspect using ultrasound technology. Visual inspections can also be deceiving-especially with new welds. The prettiest bead can have internal voids and poor fusion. After a while, that pretty bead will begin to bloom with corrosion and cracks.

While many potential failures are easy to spot, some flaws are hidden under paint or within the structure, or are so small that a routine visual inspection wont pick them up. Standing rigging, hulls, decks and hardware fittings are the most common places where hidden structural weaknesses can lead to big repair bills, or even loss of life.

Single taps cost about $15, though you will need a handle. A small set (#8 through -inch) sells for about $60. Carbon steel taps are fine for aluminum. High speed steel is required for stainless steel. Chose starting taps for typical through-threading work. Taper and bottoming taps are used sequentially for blind holes and are harder to start.