Boat Maintenance

It probably comes as no surprise to our readers that Practical Sailor editors are serious gadget junkies. Our jobs feed our habits with a steady supply of gear to play with, disassemble, and subject to mild abuse. The latest product to evoke the "kid in the candy store" reaction from our staff was the Power8workshop Delux. Powertools, in particular, hold a special place in our hearts, and this was a whole box of cordless powertools, neatly kitted in a plastic and stainless carrying case, promising workshop capability anywhere with space enough to put the 23-by-12-by-16-inch setup.

The way I was taught towing Lightnings to LIS regattas, you used a towing hitch around the mast for the line ahead and a similar hitch around the mast for the line to the boat astern. A towing hitch (two wraps around the mast, a wrap around the standing part, back the other way around the mast and two half-hitches around the standing part) could be cast off under tension or even eased under way to place the boat astern on the second wave. Bowlines, we were told, presented a danger of catching a finger in the knot if the towline came under tension while you were catching on or casting off the tow.Recently, a sailing director setting up a tow of Ideal 18s, directed us to tie a bowline with a generous bight around the mast and then to take up the towline from the boat astern and tie a bowline through the bight around the mast. He asserted that this would produce no pressure on the mast at all, as the forward pressure of the tow would be offset by the aft pressure of the boats behind. Can you advise on the best method for securing sailboats in a tow? And what is the optimal distance between boats in a tow?

Our July 2009 issue compared 26 bottled waxes and gave an update on our test of 10 traditional paste waxes. This month, we offer a one-year checkup on acrylic coatings. Acrylic coatings differ from paste waxes in their chemistry and how they are applied. Acrylic finishes penetrate pores and chemically bond to the boats surface. We tracked down seven products, applied them to our blue-hulled test boat, and rated them at the one-year mark. Products tested were Vertglas from Lovett Marine, Poli Glow, NewGlass2, Star brite Glass Cote, Klasse High Gloss Sealant Glaze, Higley FiberGloss Restorer, and Presto Gelcoat Rejuvenator.

Boat maintenance master Don Casey, on the BoatUS website (www.boatus.com), suggests cleaning the surface using a mild abrasive like Bar Keeper’s Friend (www.barkeepersfriend.com) and fine bronze wool, and then sealing the surface with a wax. Sparmaker Seldén Mast recommends applying Woody Wax (www.woody-wax.com) using bronze wool to seal the surface and remove the pox. Casey cautions against using a polish on aluminum as some are so abrasive they will peel away the anodizing. We’ve had success with Mothers (www.mothers.com) and Prism Polish (www.mppros.com), but we do not recommend using the Mothers with the Powerball on aluminum. Be sure to read the label on any polish before using it; some advise against use on anodized aluminum.

Practical Sailor editors pored over the dozens of products reviewed in the previous months to find the best of the best sailing gear, products that are worthy of the designation Gear of the Year. This years editors choice list includes a rugged rope clutch (Spinlock), a grippy ratchet block (Ronstan), feature-filled VHF handheld radios (Standard Horizon and Cobra), high-quality nesting cookware (Magma), a proven paste wax (Collinite), an ocean-ready first-aid kit (Adventure Medical Kits), a reliable LED bulb for cabin lighting (Imtra), an economical ice box conversion kit (Frigoboat), an innovative ultrasonic tank sensor (BEP Marine), cold-weather gloves (Gill), and an easy-to-install Wi-Fi booster (5mileWiFi).

As a prior owner of a Charley Morgan yacht, I greatly appreciated your article on the Morgan 30. I could relate to the difficulties of that boat, having had to replace a broken centerboard pennant, replace the Palmer M60 with a Yanmar diesel, install a second battery, and live with fairly primitive belowdecks amenities. Yet for all those issues, I loved the boat. The centerboard could be used to move the lateral resistance forward or back, so it was possible to get the boat to balance perfectly and track with barely a finger on the tiller. Ive sailed the Chesapeake Bay for 39 years and have owned a Morgan, Bristol, and Pearson. Of the three, the Morgan was the most fun to sail.

In the magazine business, our calendar is set forward several months, so while summer sailing is reaching its peak, were stowing away editorial acorns for winter. Articles on cold-weather sea boots and heavy-weather sailing are on the horizon, along with a two-part series on inverter-chargers. The upcoming story that bothers me most, however, is a long-overdue update on maritime websites. Its something of a sore subject because were undergoing the painful revamping of our own website (a process akin to rebuilding your diesel engine in the middle of your galley), but also because the deeper we dig into the world of websites, blogs, and reader forums, the more trouble we find.

Isn’t there an old adage about rousing the rain gods by opening a can of varnish (or paint)? Having lived (and sailed) mostly in sub-tropical climes, we can definitely sympathize with a rain-delayed boat project. The rain actually isn’t doing any harm to the wood or varnish so much as it’s just a nuisance, adding more work and time to the job at hand. After the rain ceases, let the wood dry for several days. The higher the humidity, the longer the dry time. Denatured alcohol or Naphtha can remove surface moisture. Once the wood has dried, you will need to resand any bare wood areas so that you’re coating fresh wood.

While our topside paint panel test (Practical Sailor August 2008) seeks out the most durable topside paint, this test was to determine which two-part LPU is the most user-friendly for the amateur painter and whether the project is manageable for the average do-it-yourselfer. We chose to use the roll-and-tip painting method, and selected two-part polyurethanes from manufacturers that historically have done well in Practical Sailors topside paint durability tests: Interlux and Epifanes. On the port side, we applied Epifanes Poly-urethane No. 800 white thinned with Epifanes poly-urethane thinner, and on its starboard side and transom, we painted Interluxs Perfection Mediterranean White and used 2333N brushing reducer.

Testers evaluated five different knots to determine which would be the ideal for holding a tensioned line. Testers considered ease of tying and untying, ease of learning and recall, and holding power with various types of line. The old standard rolling hitch was pitted against the modified rolling hitch, icicle hitch, gripper hitch, and sailors hitch.