Mailport & PS Advisor

Im trying to determine the cause of erosion of the centerboard pivot pin from Arcturus, our 36-foot Soverel keel/centerboard cutter. It is a -inch diameter silicon bronze pin installed new in 2004. I removed the centerboard a few weeks ago and was surprised to see that the pin was heavily corroded. Ive attached a few pictures of the pin. The boat has a fiberglass encapsulated lead keel, with the lead bedded in a resin/sand mixture. The pivot pin fits in a hole drilled through the keel and centerboard trunk (which has encapsulated lead on both sides).

You have written thousands of words about shackles. One item that I don't think you have ever addressed is the use of double shackles. Our boat weighs 14,000 pounds dry (probably 17,000 pounds fully loaded for cruising). We use a 45-pound Manson, 200 feet of 5/16-inch G4 chain rode, and a Crosby 3/8-inch shackle (working load limit 2 tons). After hundreds of nights at anchor we have never dragged. We are big fans of a having a single anchor that you trust, and keeping a spare ready-but don't ever use it unless you lose the one you love. So I have no motivation to change the set up.

Joker valves are no joke for us. Weve spent far too many hours tackling what has to be one of the least favorite tasks of sailor-dom-the cleaning and rebuilding of the marine head. Situated at the toilet outlet, the joker is the infamous valve between what you want in the toilet bowl (odorless clear water) and what you want out (the other stuff). It never seems to work right and requires the sort of lavish attention wed rather save for our beloved. The most common problem is that the valve stiffens with lime deposits and remains open, allowing holding tank odors to permeate back into the cabin. When we heard Thetford had come up with yet another iteration of the infamous valve, we were intrigued.

When I searched the internet for advice on repairing a small leak between the lens and sealant on a 20-year-old Lewmar Ocean 60 hatch, on my 1996 Valiant 42, I was dismayed by the dearth of information. Even the Lewmar site does not provide a schematic of the hatch or a service manual. You can purchase a new gasket but that is not what is leaking. There is no mention of the sealant. Hatchmasters quoted a repair cost 1/2 the price of a new replacement with a greater than four-week turnaround. I would still have to remove and replace the hatch. I will wing it, but thinking that if it came to that, I would definitely not want to replace it with a hatch I could not readily service myself. In my subsequent search I found a reference to a PS July 1, 1994 comparison of Offshore Deck Hatches. I was then dismayed to find that the PS archives stop at year 2000. Fortunately, after some rummaging I found the print version. It was still relevant and useful. In fact as far as I can tell, it is the most recent hatch comparison out there.

When an anchored boat spins, the anchor chain twists, and the anchor can come up backward. One solution is an anchor swivel, but failures with some poor designs are a concern-a lovely stainless swivel on one of our test boats had an interior crack that became visible only when disassembled. And as we found in our most recent test, many swivels arent very effective at reducing twist due to the inherent friction in the swivel.(see How Well Do Swivels Reduce Twist, Practical Sailor March 2016 online).

Regarding your recent blog post on the future of wood on boats (see Farewell to the Wood-trimmed Boat? Inside Practical Sailor blog), my last boat was a beautiful, cold-molded (West System) custom 26-footer designed by Gary Mull. It was built by the very talented late Jim McClelland of McClelland Boatworks in Kenora, Ontario.

The US Navy has finally gotten around to a serious study of watch standing schedules (https://goo.gl/dE4W4R). As an active duty Navy Medical Officer, I certainly saw enough injuries related to sleep deprivation; fortunately, none were as disastrous as the recent collisions. I am glad to see the navy move away from a centuries old approach to scheduling watches.

Thank you for the distillation of basic cleaning agents (see The One Bucket Cleaning Kit, May 2017). The presentation is clear and will be cost-saving. Id like to add a plug for a small sponge and Bon Ami. Most gelcoat blemishes disappear with this basic combo. Other abrasive cleaners (e.g. Comet) mar the finish. In my experience Bon Ami is the most friendly to gelcoat. Just make sure you use boat soap to clean afterwards, or it leaves a residue.

I was wondering if there is any information regarding the protocol for replacing canvas with a rigid Bimini/dodger on a small 36-foot catamaran. I could not find a review of solid Bimini replacements. We have strong stainless steel frames. They are fixed with metal struts with no flexible straps. I do want to be able to see the sails from the helm and bulkhead mount. I want to be able to take advantage of roll up clear plastic front and side curtains. Most summers my current set stays in the rolled up position. They have since shrunk enough that they can no longer be fully snapped.

In response to your recent blog post on Inside Practical Sailor regarding dogs on boats, weve had two schipperkes aboard more than a half dozen boats for the past 25 years, and theyve been everything we could ask for in boat dogs. Smart, attentive, loving, mischief-loving, and, did I say smart? Katy, who lived to 13, and Dory, who is 121/2 and still going strong, have been ideal boat dogs for my wife and I.