Making Sailing Affordable
Every sailboat occasionally needs to leave the water. Sometimes it’s more of an emergency room visit, caused by a grounding, collision or rigging failure. But more often than not there’s a less traumatic reason for the haulout; bottom painting, a new paint job, or perhaps a cutless bearing replacement and propeller change. The current trend […]
Epoxy Barrier Coat Update
There’s more than a little irony in the need to keep a fiberglass boat away from water. The reason revolves around chemistry and the...
Boat Disposal Options
Once upon a time, old wooden boats had the good sense to rot away. Not that I’m anti-wooden boat—there are some lovely examples in...
Mailport: Alexseal Topside Paint
Caution Aloft
Regarding your recent “PS Advisor” on going aloft (see PS July 2020, “Simple Tricks on Going Aloft”), I don’t go aloft without a...
Step-by-Step Deck Core Repair
Last month we looked at the effectiveness of injecting resin to repair damaged core sections (see “Can Glue Injection Fix Rotten Core,” PS July...
Can Glue Injection Fix Rotten Core?
It starts with a small leak around a piece of deck hardware or even a pinhole in a resin-starved layup. Water seeps between the...
Passivating Stainless
Stainless steel is a miracle for boaters. It’s reasonably strong, stays shiny, and requires minimal maintenance. But savvy boaters also know it’s not corrosion-proof,...
Brazing Repairs
Unless you’re a welder by trade, mechanical fasteners are the best bet for repairing metal failures on a boat. This includes through bolts, taping...
Building a Faster Rudder
We’re cruisers not racers. We like sailing efficiently, but we’re more concerned with safety and good handling than squeezing out the last fraction of...
Bottom Paint Update
I’ve been aware of Propspeed (a New Zealand product) for many years having been based in Auckland off and on since 1979. Propspeed, is...
Doing ‘The Ditch’ Capt. Frank’s Way
Be aware that a less-experienced sailors report of a great anchorage with plenty of depth, or statements like We ran aground here! don't do you much good if they fail to include basic info such as their boat's draft, state of the tide, etc. Other sailors' facility reviews should also be taken with a grain of salt. For example: The dockmaster hates Algerian Snaggle-tooth Poodles (like our Fluffy), so were never coming back, and you shouldnt either!