Boat Maintenance

Whether its wood flooring or boat decks youre dealing with, cleaning teak presents special challenges. In March 2008, we tested one-part teak cleaners to see which ones cleaned teak decks without being too harsh on the wood, the applicator, or environment. In this report, Practical Sailor follows up with an evaluation of two-part cleaners and how they compare to one another and to the top pick from the test of one-part solutions for cleaning teak. Testers applied five two-part cleaners for this test. Four of these were liquids: Amazons Quicki-II Teak Cleaner, Nautical Ease Teak Cleaner and Brightener, West Marines Teak Cleaner and Brightener, and TE-KA Teak Wood Cleaner by Marinetex. Tip Top Teak combines liquid and granular powder parts. Two-part cleaners were compared to Iosso one-part teak cleaner.

I am re-mounting the handrails and deck hardware on our 26-year-old Tartan 33. I had detected some moisture around the mounting area on the handrails and decided to remove them, and fill and re-drill them with epoxy. To my surprise and dismay, I found a lot of crevice corrosion on the existing bolts, and at least three of the heads broke off when I removed the rails.

Spring is here, and that means its time for systems and safety checks. Among the items that should be on your to-do list are checking your seacocks and making sure essential safety gear is on board. For us, that has always included keeping an inventory of soft wood thru-hull plugs for plumbing emergencies, but this year, we decided to also add a few of Forespars new closed-cell foam TruPlugs.

As all boatowners know, spills and stains are inevitable, particularly when you count children among your crew. Our heavily trafficked teak cabin soles and fabric-covered settees have seen their fair share of misfortune, so we keep our ears open for any recommended stain removers. A recent hunt for a product to clean stains from teak led us to K2r SpotLifter, which came highly recommended by Teak Decking Systems Jeff Scott.

Practical Sailors endless testing of hull waxes and polishes gives us ample opportunity to try out electric buffers. Weve used countless brands and types over the years-from cheapos to professional grade-and decided to see how Shurhold Industries new Dual-Action Polisher compared.

Practical Sailor tested a bevy of bird repellents to determine which are the most effective in keeping the pelicans, pigeons, cormorants, gulls, and other fowl from fouling your boat. Bird repellents fit into four basic categories: acoustical repellents, visual repellents, biochemical repellents, and those that use physical exclusion. Sailboats most commonly use visual devices, which are the easiest and most economical to use and install on boats. We installed a sampling of the various types and monitored them for six months. The test products included: Bird Barriers Scare Eye, Bird-Xs Terror Eyes, Bird Xs Prowler Owl, Bird-Xs Irri-Tape, Bird Barriers Polly-Spike, Bird Barriers Bird-Flight, Fly Byes Stainless Steel Wide Spike, Fly Byes Bird Umbrella, Bird Barriers Daddi Long Legs, Bird-B-Gones Bird Spider, Birdoffs Bird Off, WhirlyBird Repeller, Gull Sweep, and Bird-B-Gones Bird Deterrent.

For the northern sailor, April is the cruelest month. Its been five years since I moved back to Florida, but I remember those Rhode Island winters well. With the morning chill and evening darkness coming still too early, it is a dispiriting time to get real work done. The false hope of April, more than anything else, chafed upon my psyche.

Letters to Practical Sailor's April 2010 issue include: MOB drills, tethers, nav lights, cleats, no-buff shines and tankless water heaters.

Cape Dory sloops-even those like the 25, which was not designed by Carl Alberg-have one of the most loyal followings among production boats. These loyal owners, added to a reputation for quality construction, enables Cape Dory boats to hold their resale value well, making them prime candidates for a do-it-yourself project boat like Practical Sailors test boat, Satori, a 1981 Cape Dory 25.Satori was purchased in 2008 in Sarasota, Fla., for $1,500. Although structurally sound for a boat her age, the interior had been gutted.Satoris sale price included an inventory of like-new sails, a new 5-horsepower Nissan outboard, and ground tackle. Completely rebuilding a boats interior would seem daunting to many, but Satori owner Jon Perkins is a carpenter by trade so he had the tools, resources, and know-how to get the job done. Cape Dory is an ideal fixer-upper boat, if the owner is up for the project. On today market, the Cape Dory 25 can fetch $3,000-$8,000. The pocket cruiser is also an excellent boat to fix and sail as a nice weekend cruiser for a family or a coastal cruiser for a couple.

These six-month and 18-month bottom paint test updates cover dozens of antifouling paints that were immersed in Florida waters.Tested paints include marine coatings from Blue Water, Epaint, Flexdel, Interlux, Pettit, Sea Hawk, and Copper Coat, an epoxy-copper blend that claims multi-year protection. BoatKoat Laminates experimental stick-on antifouling for sailboats also was included in the fray. Hard antifouling paints and ablative antifouling paints work differently and are intended for different applications. Find out which type best matches your sailing style and boat maintenance regimen. Testers flagged the best bottom paints in each category, including ablative paints, hard paints, freshwater paints, aluminum paints, racing paints, water-based paints, and eco-friendly paints. Copper-free bottom paints and low-copper coatings performed surprisingly well at the six-month mark.