Projects

Repairing Deck Dings

by Sail Staff, Posted May 13, 2010

When someone drops a winch handle, spinnaker pole or outboard shaft on a fiberglass deck, it will sometimes produce a minor ding in the gelcoat and fiberglass. Fortunately, most of these dings are relatively easy to fix. Here’s how.Hole in oneTo repair a minor ding or hairline crack, first use a Dremel tool to smooth the gelcoat

Get the Shine On

by Charles Mason, Posted March 23, 2010

Photos by Mark CorkeSimply removing accumulated dust and grit on your hull with a garden hose before the spring launch might make it a little cleaner, but to get a sparkle on your topsides you’ll have to spend a bit more time and effort. Fortunately, getting a spit-and-polish shine is neither difficult nor complicated. “I know some sailors honestly believe that they can pour

Epoxy in a tube

by Sail Staff, Posted March 23, 2010

Or two tubes, actually. One of the most useful items I used while prepping our project boat for a deck and cockpit makeover was a product called Flexpoxy, made by Pettit Paint. Flexpoxy comes in a double-tube package—one tube for resin, one for hardener. You insert them into the pump, squeeze some out, mix it together, and it’s ready to go.Flexpoxy will bond just about

Old-Boat Nightmares #2

by Peter Nielsen, Posted March 23, 2010

I was watching our surveyor friend Norm Leblanc inspecting a 1970s Pearson. He was tapping the topsides with his trusty rubber-tipped hammer, sounding for all the world like a giant woodpecker. Suddenly, the sharp rap-rap-rap of the hammer changed to a hollow thud-thud-thud. “Uh-oh,” said Norm.He had been working along the bow sections, and when we looked closely, we could see a network of

Mildew removal made easy

by Charles Mason, Posted August 24, 2009

If your sails are made from laminated materials there’s a good chance that you’ve struggled with ways to keep mildew from getting a toehold in the fabric."Many of the sails made today are constructed with laminated materials," says Jeff Andersen, President of the New Hampshire-based Sailmaking Support Systems. "Although a laminated sail will be lighter and potentially faster than a woven

Manual bilge pump

by Dick Everett, Posted August 19, 2009

Water power

by Nigel Calder, Posted August 17, 2009

My last two columns discussed the high cost of generating electricity with a diesel engine and the relatively short payback period for solar panels on liveaboard cruising boats. The problem with solar is that it requires a lot of surface area to produce significant amounts of power. This is relatively easy to find on catamarans, but not so on monohulls.Coincidentally, I received an email

Anti-siphon valves

by Dick Everett, Posted August 4, 2009

Fresh air below

by Warwick M. Tompkins, Posted August 4, 2009

Despite all the progress in sailing gear and equipment certain aspects of life at sea never change. Keeping water out, maintaining good boatspeed, preserving and conserving food stores, and carrying adequate spares for the inevitable failures that occur are all perennial priorities. Plus one more thing; having a good supply of fresh air below.Someone once observed that

Simple electrical upgrade

by Peter Nielsen, Posted August 3, 2009

Our 1973 Norlin 34 project boat had been used mainly for club racing in its latter years, and it showed. Among its many outdated systems was the battery-management setup. It was no worse than what I suspect can be found on many other boats of that vintage, but it would not suffice for extended cruising.The two Group 27 90AH deep-cycle lead-acid batteries, one for house