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diy

Ask Sail: Cetol Skin

I used Sikkens Cetol on the bare wood on my Catalina 30, Morning Dew IV. The can was compromised over the spring, and I put the balance in a 16oz clean glass mayo jar. Last spring when I went to use it, a skin had formed over the top of the liquid, so I just cut the skin off. It is 1/8in thick. In the future, is it still OK to use?

Know-how: Electrifying Betty Jane

Quiet. That’s what you hear as you back away from the mooring. No chug, chug, chug from the diesel as water cascades out of the

Know-how: Inflatable Dinghy Repair

Properly maintaining your inflatable boat can be vexing, no? Wait a sec, though, before throwing up your hands and marching off in search of a

Know-how: Modern Rigs 101

I pretty much took rigs for granted when I first started sailing on other people’s boats. After all, unlike exciting, moving, tweakable things like sails

Know-how: Chainplate Replacement

Everyone dreads the day that something as major and costly as a boat’s rigging must be replaced. For my 1984 Tayana 42, Eclipse, still sporting

A Cruiser’s Wine Cellar

I’m not going to lie. This all started with wine. I wanted (needed?) to find more space on the boat where we could stow the

Know how: Thru-hulls and Seacocks

Duncan Kent explains what you should look for in these vital fittings Clearly, with any device that penetrates the hull of a yacht, the choice

Installing a Helm Pod

Our 1987 Pearson project boat came with an elderly but functioning Raymarine chartplotter, located belowdecks at the nav station. Since I usually sail solo or

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,

Photo: Lydia Mullan

Part 2: The Doldrums to Belém

Editor’s note—This is the second installment of a story that began in the March 2026 issue.Click here for part one. I’m dimly aware of the

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