DIY Projects

Were not naturally bug phobic, but when they eat our food, clothes, or boat, something needs to be done. Since we don't like heavy doses of pesticides in a space as small as a boat, lets first look at low impact approaches that focus on specific pests. After that, well look at the more potent approaches

At first I thought that standing on the V-head toilet and climbing awkwardly into the chain locker was funny. I tried not to think...

How do you manage major sail repairs in remote locations? By using whatever you have onboard to get you home—or beyond. After an easy three-day...

As with all things in life, everything goes well until it doesn’t. It is an inevitable truth that something will go wrong eventually and...

One of the pleasures of boating, at least for me, is reading boat names! I enjoy the many humorous names and those that are...

Have you been wanting to add a bootstripe to your boat but aren’t sure how to do it? Perhaps you have a bootstripe already...

Choosing a marine caulk for use above the waterline comes down to which product offers the best resistance to weathering, dirt, mildew, and ability...

Are you one of those sailors who believes there are too many holes in the hull of your boat? Have you ever wondered if...

Wood is strong, stiff per unit weight, easy to work with, attractive, and economical. And it rots. A few special types of wood, such as teak, are highly resistant to rot, but these woods are generally heavy and almost always expensive. Pressure treated lumber is an option, but it’s ugly, warps, does not take coatings well, and is not always very rot resistant. Western red cedar, on the other hand, has long been used in canoes, and cedar fence posts have a deserved reputation for durability. We started our rot resistance testing eight years ago in 2015, and we finally cleaned out our accelerated rot test box in July 2023. Results ranged from abysmal (untreated samples of fir have nearly disappeared) to astounding (our teak samples are still just like new). Let’s see what we learned.

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....