Sailboat DIY And Repair Tips

As a marine electrician I’ve found that in-line fuse holders are the most common cause of problems I encounter with modern electronics equipment. Quality marine electronics are generally very reliable, as long as their electrical connections are sound and there is no voltage drop in the ship’s power supply. Unfortunately, all electronic devices come from the factory with in-line fuse holders on

There are times when we find exactly what we aren’t looking for, and this was one of them.I was tired of technology and wanted to write a sailing story about the good old days, when a Windex was high-tech and real navigators dealt with celestial fixes and high-anxiety uncertainty. What better place to look for such things than at the annual Annapolis Classic Wooden Boat

A. As you come alongside, it’s often the top of a hard tender’s gunwale that damages the bigger boat’s gelcoat.B. The top edge of the gunwale can be padded with a purpose-made canvas-covered fender strip.C. Some people fit old industrial hose, as shown here; others pad the void and remove the cover if it’s too

Not long ago I was bemoaning the fact that so many boatbuilders are still using highly inefficient incandescent and halogen lights, even though fluorescent lights have long been available and LEDs are now viable for most marine lighting applications. Since then, Neil Harrison, a reader from the UK, has pointed out that the next revolution in lighting may already be on the horizon—Organic

As I knelt beside the open cockpit locker of my 36-foot Pearson cutter Sonata, I could hear the gentle whir of my freshwater pump. It didn’t sound normal. I reached down and felt the pump housing. The pump was in constant-cycle mode and running hot. It could pump until it burned out and still fail to pressurize the freshwater system I thought I had just finished

John A. Moore of Punta Gorda, Florida, asks:”Is it true that putting portable electronics like GPS receivers, EPIRBs and handheld radios in the ship’s oven will protect their circuitry in the event of a direct lightning strike?”Gordon West replies:Your ship’s oven will, in fact, act like a Faraday cage, and if properly grounded, most anything

James Caven of San Diego, California, asks: “I’ve been reading some older “how-to” sailing books and one describes a technique for taking a jib or genoa sheet out to the end of the main boom when reaching. Is this worth the trouble? Is it a commonly used method today? I assume it is to open up the sheeting angle. Is there an easier way to achieve the same

Tobby Litaker of Charleston, South Carolina, asks:”What’s the best sealant to use when reinstalling windows?”Don Casey replies:If you are talking about plastic windows, do not use polysulfide sealants, because the solvents they contain will cause the plastic to harden and crack. The adhesion of polyurethane sealants is compromised by the

Ed Douglass of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, asks:”My Westerbeke/Universal M-35 diesel engine came equipped with a Mando 51-amp alternator. From its appearance, I would say it is an automotive-type alternator. It puts out a constant 14.6 volts, which not surprisingly causes my wet-cell batteries to boil. It does this even after I have charged the batteries to capacity with my