Upgrades

Power from the Sun

by Ralph Naranjo, Posted August 24, 2011

In 1982, I mounted four ARCO Solar M-55 monocrystalline panels to a stainless steel frame above the dodger on my Ericson 41 sloop, Wind Shadow. On sunny days during the hours closest to noon, my amp meter indicated an 8 to 10 amp charge. Before and after the midday feast, the flow tapered to 2 to 6 amps.

Keeping the Sea Out

by Peter Nielsen, Posted January 28, 2010

Out of sight, out of mind…That adage is so old it creaks, but that doesn’t make it any less true. It was especially true of the cockpit drain hoses and gate valves on our 34ft project boat. Back when we acquired the boat, the surveyor looked at the ancient hoses and corroded gate valves in horror and suggested that we replace them “before long.” Three years later, “before long” still hadn’t

Take the Load Off

by Peter Nielsen, Posted September 27, 2011

For several years we sailed our 34ft sloop without feeling the need for a windlass. The weight of the ground tackle—a 22-pound Delta anchor, 70 feet of 5/16in hi-test chain and 200 feet of nylon rode—was seldom an issue in the shallow anchorages we tend to frequent. But I’ve been involved in enough anchoring dramas to know that for more ambitious cruising, an electric windlass

Cockpit Makeover

by Roger Marshall, Posted May 13, 2010

When my oldest son, David, told me about the J/24 he had just bought I had a pretty good idea what was coming next. “Dad, I’ve bought a J/24. It needs a lot of work, but the price was right.”“What are you going to do with it?” I asked.“Race it, eventually. Here’s what needs to be done,” he said and pulled out a two-page list of repairs and upgrades he wanted to make on the boat.

Warm and Snug

by David Schmidt, Posted December 2, 2011

A look at onboard heating options for every sailor, and every budget

Shedding Light on LEDs

by Sail Staff, Posted March 28, 2007

More stories on LED lights from BoatWorks magazine. Let There Be LightThink you need a bigger battery to run the lights on your boat? Changing to LEDs could lower your power consumption and mean that you never have to buy another light bulb.LED Lowdown

Cockpit Control

by Peter Nielsen, Posted July 29, 2010

If you are one of the many thousands of sailors who own a boat built before lines-led-aft became ubiquitous, and you want to be able to sail your boat without leaving the cockpit, leading halyards and reefing lines aft can be a relatively easy upgrade

Testing Ultrasonic Antifouling

by Charles J. Doane, Posted May 8, 2012

I’d been wrestling with the problem of antifouling for some time prior to this, as I don’t like to use copper-based paint on Lunacy’s aluminum hull. I had tried E-Paint ZO, a zinc-based ablative paint, for a couple of seasons but was disappointed with the results.

Better Water-Tank Vent

by Sail Staff, Posted August 20, 2008

Edited By Mark CorkeBetter Water-Tank VentJim Hancock sends us this idea from New Zealand, where he and his wife, Eleanor, cruise aboard their Freya 39, Solstice. Solstice’s freshwater tank vented into the bilge, so when the boat heeled, water from the tank would siphon into the bilge. Jim’s solution was to buy an inexpensive off-the-shelf dishwasher air gap—a device that

Replacing Your Lifelines

by Peter Nielsen, Posted July 29, 2010

When we acquired our “new” boat I saw at a glance that the plastic-sheathed lifelines were junk. Not only were they too thin–she had been used only for racing, so I guess the wire was underspecified to save a few pounds – but they were all too obviously old and dangerously corroded. I once saw a friend fall overboard because a rusty lifeline gave way, so I knew I would replace them as soon as