Jim Liggett of Cornish, New Hampshire, asks:”I am installing a lightning- ground system and plan to use a 5/8in rod extending at least 6in above my VHF antenna. Does it matter whether the pointed rod is solid copper or can it be copper-coated steel, as is often used for grounding rods on shore? If the steel rod will work equally well, is there a good way to keep the tip
Robert Miller of Port Isabelle, Texas, asks:”If I dont bother to clean my radome when it gets covered with dried salt spray, dirt and dust, will that have any effect on the efficiency of my marine radar antenna?” Gordon West replies:It could be significant, which is why you should always keep your radome as clean as possible. Soot, dust,
Steve Karas of Spring Grove, Pennsylvania, asks:”My 1985 Catalina 27 is in good shape except for some tiny spider cracks in the foredeck gelcoat. The previous owner tried to repair the cracks by drizzling loose gelcoat into them, but the repaired deck looks worse than it did before.I had to sand it all downlosing the non-slip prism deck pattern in the processand then I
D.I.Y. Outboard ShifterA lever for all reasons Although I could reach the tiller/throttle of the five horsepower outboard that was mounted on the transom of my 20-foot trailersailer, whenever it was time to go from forward to reverse I had to face aft and then bend over the transom and the motor to reach the side-mounted shift lever. That’s not a good position to be
THE EXPERTSNigel Calder is an expert on boat systems and diesel engines. Don Casey has written many books and articles on marine maintenance and repair. Tim Bartlett is a former Royal Navy officer who is an expert in radar and electronics systems. Gordon West is a communications expert and a specialist in radio communications.DIRTY GROUND
Time and again sailing has been revolutionized by the introduction of new fibers. Traditional wood hulls have been supplanted by glass fiber, Kevlar and carbon. Canvas sails have given way first to Dacron and then to laminated sails utilizing various high tech fibers. Running rigging today is entirely synthetic. And now stainless steel standing rigging is being replaced by fiber rigging,
Time and again sailing has been revolutionized by the introduction of new fibers. Traditional wood hulls have been supplanted by glass fiber, Kevlar and carbon. Canvas sails have given way first to Dacron and then to laminated sails utilizing various high tech fibers. Running rigging today is entirely synthetic. And now stainless steel standing rigging is being replaced by fiber rigging,
Time and again sailing has been revolutionized by the introduction of new fibers. Traditional wood hulls have been supplanted by glass fiber, Kevlar and carbon. Canvas sails have given way first to Dacron and then to laminated sails utilizing various high tech fibers. Running rigging today is entirely synthetic. And now stainless steel standing rigging is being replaced by fiber rigging,
Henry Meyer of Chicago, Illinois asks:”I’m thinking about getting a satellite radio receiver so I can download all the marine weather products that are available these days. But I’m curious: Will I have to mount one of those softball-sized antennas above my deck?”Gordon West replies:Before you do anything about mounting the antenna, first
Gene Cramer of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, asks:”Where can I get a galvanic isolator of the sort you mentioned in your excellent piece on wiring a boat for shore power? Also, the circuit you described in that piece doesn’t seem to provide ground-fault protection either for the battery charger or for other branch loads, such as the water heater, which would be hard-wired to the
Jan. 11/2024: Here’s one of the more interesting things that has happened to me since the publication of The Boy Who Fell to Shore, my
In little over a week, Mia and I head to Falken, 59° North’s Farr 65, for the last passage of 2023. The boat is docked
Yacht Thruster, celebrating 15+ years, is a compact & powerful bow/stern thruster, installed on thousands of sailboats from 30ft – 75ft. The minimally invasive mounting
A 20- to 30-knot northerly wind and temps hovering around 39°F on the edge of the Baltic Sea in November are not generally considered prime
Clare Thompson did not fall into sailing in the usual way. She was in her early 20s in the mid-1960s, an unwilling patient in a
You never quite know what’s going to happen on a test sail; often, these boats are fresh off the presses, so to speak, still being
As the 70-foot Sunseeker drifted down on us in the dark, I couldn’t stand it any longer. I lurched forward on deck in my bathrobe,
It was early summer, and twilight had stretched itself across the sky with feline languor. The afternoon breeze had dwindled to a zephyr, and we
Small boat sailors interested in performance and even simply sailing well know how important it is to be able to feel shifts and changes in
