Boatworks

Get a Grip

by Sail Staff, Posted October 10, 2006

Tired of searching for the right wrench? The Bionic Wrench, a wrench/pliers hybrid, comes in three sizes (6-inch, 8-inch, and 10-inch) that collectively cover 38 metric and SAE wrench sizes, from 1/4 to 11/4 inches. Just squeeze it, and its six steel teeth grip a bolt head evenly on all sides. The Bionic Grip can also fit around objects that are impossible to put a standard wrench on. From

SensiBulb

by Sail Staff, Posted September 9, 2006

The maker of the SensiBulb boast that it has the warm color, intensity, and beam width of a 10-watt halogen—“close enough” in my testing—plus the cool operation, low draw, and long life of an LED. The basic $40 “bulb” fits as is into most dome lights, and accessories enable retrofitting to many reading lamps. Typical current usage of .14 amp can be reduced to .025 amp by using the built-in dimmer

Fear No Fire

by Sail Staff, Posted July 9, 2006

The one thing you shouldn’t do with a fire in an enclosed space—like an engine bay on a boat—is to add more air. Smell something burning, open the engine compartment, and whoosh, say goodbye to your eyebrows, and maybe to your boat. That’s why I like this simple install-it-yourself Fire Port ($8.74). If you ever see flames through the transparent window, just puncture it with the nozzle of a fire

Compact Cooling

by Sail Staff, Posted July 9, 2006

This new air conditioner from Dometic won’t cool your entire boat down—unless it’s a rather small boat—but it’s ideal for a sleeping cabin or a small saloon. The self-contained 3,500-Btu unit measures 91/4" @ 15" @ 8" and will fit in a locker or under a V-berth. It’s powered from the boat’s house batteries via an integral inverter that also lets you connect other 115-volt appliances to it. It

Solar Hatch

by Sail Staff, Posted April 9, 2006

Sometimes it can be tricky to find a good place on board to mount a solar panel. Here’s a neat idea from the German company Sunovation, which fits its solar cells to deck hatches; there’s something organic about a gizmo that both blocks sunlight and uses that same light to generate power. The photo shows a Gebo hatch fitted with semi-transparent Sunways power cells that generate about 16 watts in

Mold Cleaner

by Sail Staff, Posted April 9, 2006

The unusually mild and wet winter in the Northeast had one drawback, as I discovered during a midwinter boat check—the conditions were ideal for mildew. There are various ways of getting rid of this pestilence, but it always seems to return. YachtBrite claims its enzyme-based Moldaway powder will kill off those pesky mold spores as well as clean up stains. Dissolved in water, the nontoxic,

Stanchion Collar

by Sail Staff, Posted March 9, 2006

This is one of those handy little gizmos you never knew you needed before you saw it. The stainless-steel Stafford Universal Mounting Collar can be clamped onto a tube or pipe and has a countersunk, tapped hole so that things can be screwed to it; it’s a much more pleasing solution than the usual duct tape or hose clamps. It’s available in six sizes to fit up to 2-inch tube (from $11.95).

Two Point Five Horses

by Sail Staff, Posted January 9, 2006

The latest in Suzuki’s line of four-stroke outboards looks like a welcome addition to the ranks of small dinghy motors. The DF 2.5 weighs in at 30 pounds and is claimed to have 25 percent more power than competing motors. It offers the usual four-stroke advantages of quiet running, frugal gas consumption, and cleaner exhaust fumes than two-strokes. It comes only in a short-shaft version and has a

Flexible Epoxy

by Sail Staff, Posted January 9, 2006

Pettit’s FLEXpoxy is a marine-grade epoxy resin that retains a degree of elasticity once it cures, rather than becoming brittle like most other epoxies. Pettit says this property makes it ideal for sealing hull-to-keel joints, as well as for a number of other applications both above and below the waterline on fiberglass, wood, aluminum, or steel boats. It can be drilled, filed, sanded, and

Switched On

by Sail Staff, Posted January 9, 2006

A boat’s engine-cranking and domestic batteries are on separate circuits so that the starting battery isn’t accidentally drained, but you need to be able to combine the power from both batteries to help start a reluctant engine. Usually this means installing either three single switches or a four-position (off, 1, 2, both) selector switch; either way, it’s all too easy to leave the switch in the