Systems & Propulsion

How do we reduce and even eliminate our sailboat's carbon dioxide emissions when using auxiliary propulsion and electrical HVAC systems? Just like with automobiles, how...

If I were to sum up, in one word, how James Frederick has managed to create his sailing life, I’d say “resourcefully.” The 49-year-old...

After replacing the raw water pump on his 30-plus-year old Universal diesel, former PS Editor Darrell Nicholson reconnected the tangle of hoses on the...

In this short article I want to chat about ideas for making the radio bombproof in an emergency. I haven’t “invented” any of these...

As with all things in life, everything goes well until it doesn’t. It is an inevitable truth that something will go wrong eventually and...

Power pedestals are handy and safe when they match the power requirements of the boat. Thirty amps for a 30-amp boat. Fifty amps for...

Sometimes as a sailor you are learning to run before you can walk or even crawl. If the auto bilge pump isn’t working, maybe...

An efficient, clean rainwater catchment isn't just for cruisers venturing into remote areas. While biologically safe, many areas of the U.S. are served by well water that is not chlorinated, high in sulfate that makes it prone to going bad. When stored in the absence of oxygen, the sulfate becomes the preferred oxygen source for microorganisms and hydrogen sulfide is the byproduct. Only .05 parts per million (ppm) sulfide is required to make water distasteful. Even if the water at your next marina is fresh and sweet, filling from an unfamiliar source is always a roll of the dice.

It is always discomforting when you know, and actually feel, that something is not quite right. For a little while now, while navigating under...

In the first part of our three-part series covering onboard water quality, we discussed protecting the tank with basic filtration and securing the tank vent. Further action is required, however, as the tank and its contents will always be far from sterile. Municipal water is filtered to remove turbidity, disinfected (typically with chlorine, ozone, or ultraviolet light), filtered once more (often very fine filtration to remove cryptosporidium cysts, which resist disinfection), and disinfected once more (with chlorine or chloramine) to protect the water while its in the distribution system. However, since we are storing the water on our boats, this process of secondary disinfection becomes our responsibility. So what are the options for treating water that is already in an onboard tank?