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Nigel Calder

Ask SAIL: Using Fuel After it’s Been Stored

I have an 8hp two-stroke outboard engine on my sailboat. I use a 5-gallon portable gas tank and always mix water-absorbing additives and the required lube oil into my fuel. The problem is at the end of last sailing season, I had about four gallons of fuel left in the tank. Is it okay to use this fuel after it has been stored on the boat over the winter, or should I dispose of it and get fresh gas instead?

Ask Sail: Solenoid Surgery

when first pushing the start button, I sometimes get no response. Releasing and pushing the button a couple of times finally engages the starter.

Ask Sail: Low Revs and Soot

I own a 1987 Catalina 27 with a Universal M18 diesel engine. I’ve had the boat for just over two years, but because the hour meter is broken, I don’t know how many hours are on the engine.

Ask Sail: Smoking Like a Hippie

“Can you give me some ideas on what might cause excessive white smoke in the exhaust of a 2-year-old Yanmar diesel?” Nigel Calder replies.

Fuel Consumption: Tug Vs. Cruiser

A dinosaur of an engine that is over 70 years old can push a much larger boat than ours, weighing eight times as much, at similar speeds with more-or-less the same fuel consumption!

Ask Sail: A Faltering Start

My Yanmar 3GM30F diesel engine has about 650 hours on it, and this season, it’s been a little hard to start it. Are injectors or compression the problem?

Ask Sail: An Explosive Situation

When the engine is under load and moving the boat at a decent speed, the voltmeter is pegged past 16 volts, and after a little while the wires (which are appropriately sized) running to the battery switch from the engine get pretty hot. Am I hurting my batteries?

Ask Sail: Running Rough and Dry

I have a Soverel with a small diesel engine that has sat idle for a couple of years without fuel stabilizer. The engine starts, but runs rough. There is also no discharge from the exhaust line.

Ask Sail: Too Much Protection

How can I stop the galvanic action I suspect is causing the delignification of the surrounding wood? More zincs, or no zincs?

Ask Sail: No-Go Engine

My Catalina 40 has a Westerbeke 42B diesel engine with less than 800 hours. After a head-gasket repair, the engine was put back into the boat…

Squalls at night are no joke, but good preparation will get you through safely. Photo courtesy of Andy Schell

Storms & Sea Stories

The wind built faster than it was forecasted to. We ate dinner with full sail, close-reaching on a building SSW’ly breeze. Before dark we had

Photo: Lisa Smith Molinari

A Charter Passage Rewritten

Sailing on a schedule is famously a recipe for disaster, but on charter you don’t have much of a choice. The adventure is what you make of it. 

Photo: Zuzana Prochazka

Tahiti Revisited

After a long absence, one sailor finds herself sailing the waters of her youth and contemplating years of change in all its forms.

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May Issue Preview

Spring is in the air and warmer weather is right around the corner. Get ready for the season with SAIL’s adventure issue! Through the Eyes

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Caught in a Squall on a Daysail

When several members of our Florida sailing club, the West Coast Trailer Sailors Squadron, decided to get together for a group daysail on a recent

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DIY: Fixing a Diesel Engine

The morning our diesel engine experienced a runaway started like any other. We were headed out of Monterey Harbor on our 1979 Cheoy Lee 41,

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