Maintenance

Soda Blast your Boat

by Roger Marshall, Posted November 13, 2012

You have a thick layer of antifouling paint on the bottom of your boat. It’s rough and worn around the edges, so you’d like to get rid of it and have a nice smooth bottom that will help you sail faster. The options are quite simple.

Protect your Bottom with Epoxy Bottom Coating

by Roger Marshall, Posted October 31, 2012

If you own an older boat and are worried about osmosis problems, there are a number of cures and they do not need to be expensive. The first step is to get your boat's bottom clean of old paint.

Learning the Ropes

by Mark Corke, Posted October 31, 2012

Your ropes and lines are a very important part of your boat’s inventory. Mark Corke offers some advice on cleaning and care.

Ask Sail: Centerboard Corrosion

by Don Casey, Posted September 27, 2012

After I fix the pin and remove the rust, what product do you recommend to protect the steel before I reinstall the board? The boat is sailed in both fresh and salt water, and is stored on its trailer.

Epoxy Resin in a Caulking Gun

by Peter Nielsen, Posted August 25, 2012

Like all owners of older boats who like to do their own work, I’m extremely familiar with epoxy resin. I reckon I’ve used a good few gallons of it, for both major projects and little jobs where only small amounts are needed.

Recharge Your Refrigerator

by Peter Nielsen, Posted July 5, 2012

Ever had refrigerator angst? It’s a dreadful state of mind that consumes you when your reefer doesn’t deliver the goods. It’s been known to paralyze cruisers for weeks on end, trapping them in exotic ports while they lay in wait for that rare, elusive creature known as a marine refrigeration technician.

Holes Be Gone

by Connie McBride, Posted April 12, 2012

When a boat’s systems or interior are modified, you may need or want to glass over existing holes in the hull. One season when we hauled out in Trinidad, we decided to eliminate three through-hulls in our Creekmore 34, Eurisko. The holes were all different sizes, but we treated this as one project.

Why You Should Paint Your Boat Yourself

by Wally Moran, Posted April 12, 2012

The cost of hiring a yard to repaint a 30- to 40-foot sailboat is likely to be over $10,000, which is uneconomical given the actual value of most older boats. The alternative, if you’re willing to put in long hours with a rotary sander, is doing it yourself.

Get clear steering

by Don Casey, Posted April 15, 2009

I’ve seen it happen many times. A boat turns in to the channel between two piers at a marina but then begins to veer off line. The skipper makes a small steering adjustment, followed by a larger one, and then he realizes that the wheel is no longer connected to the rudder. What comes next is often not pleasant, and it is why you need to check your steering system at least once a

Blister repair

by Rosie Burr, Posted April 15, 2009

We know that every other year our annual haulout will involve a little more than just sanding and painting the bottom of Alianna, our 1983 Corbin 39. While some might call our problem osmosis, we like to say that we just have a few blisters. Simeon and I knew there might be blister problems when we bought the boat five years ago, but we didn’t have time to wait for the hull to dry out so we could