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...
The Art of Maintaining Teak Trim on a Sailboat
As the owner of a modern Beneteau, Jeanneau or a host of other recently-launched dream boats, you’ve probably noticed the distinct lack of teak...
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.
Sailboat Stewardship Tips: How Not To Be “That Person”
Good boats outlive us, or at least outlive our interest in them. In time, we become the dreaded Previous Owner (PO). Will we make this...
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...
How To Extend Your Canvas’ Lifespan
Protecting your canvas will extend its life as well as provide you and your crew protection from the sun and elements for many years....
How To Streamline Your Maintenance Program: A Beginner’s Guide
Owning and using a boat is all about maintenance. While maintenance is not fun—it can be filthy and arduous—it must be done if you...
Deep Keel vs Shoal Draft – Which Should You Buy?
Deep keel or shoal draft: which should you buy? In this episode, we look at one of the biggest sailboat buying decisions cruisers face....
Latest Sailboat Reviews
Endeavour 37 Used Boat Review
Rob Valdez and John Brooks founded Endeavour in 1974 using the molds from Ted Irwin's 32-footer to launch the business. The company built about 600 32s in all. Spurred by this success, Valdez and Brooks began looking around for a larger sistership to expand the line. Just how they "developed" the 37 is a tale best left untold until the principals pass away or become too senile to read the yachting periodicals. Brooks calls the 37 a "house design," and that is generous. The total number of Endeavour 37s built is 476 a lot for a boat that size.
