Boat Maintenance

The windows on our Corsair F-24 trimaran were obviously damaged by UV radiation. All we could see through them were shapes of objects that...

In your recent report “Understanding Dew Point to Prevent Mildew,” (see Inside Practical Sailor blog) there is the comment, “curiously, the best way to...

Alot of water has rushed over the bridge since we last looked at synthetic teak decking materials—eight years worth. Since that last report (see...

We recently received a letter from a reader asking us which acids might be used to clean a bronze propeller. Although we’ve found it...

The ability for an enclosed cockpit to drain rapidly has long been a concern among yacht designers, and safety guidelines have been in place...

A recent test report reacquainted me with an age old problem, that has not yet fully been solved: How can one person, absent a...

In 2021 I bought Epic, a 2013 Lagoon 450 catamaran, and soon learned the boat’s forward bulkhead, along with other important structural components, were...

This is Part V, the final installment of a five-part series on rebuilding and modifying our Cape Dory 36 from a bare hull into...

To hold a line upstream of a winch you need a jammer or clutch. Rope sizing is important. Small lines slip, big lines won’t...

This week we're moving onto hardware, winches in particular. If you haven't serviced your winches in a couple years, or you notice squeaks, groans or slips as you grind, it is high time to tackle this project. We like to inspect our jib-sheet winches every year, but we sail our boats hard and they are exposed to some pretty harsh freeze and thaw cycles. Fortunately, winch servicing is a pretty easy, and for the wanna-be watchmaker who marvels at moving parts, it's fun—until you start dropping parts overboard. Thus, our first bit of advice: make sure you have the right winch servicing kit, including pawls and springs, before you start pulling your winches apart.