DIY Mast Boot
With a little imagination and some inexpensive materials, you can put together a leakproof mast boot in a few hours.
1 Roofing Rubber
One reliable boot...
Exterior Wood Finishes
After a brief-and for testers, much needed-hiatus from testing wood finishes, we recently launched a new long-term evaluation of exterior wood coatings. Our last...
A DIY Water Filter
For those of you unfamiliar with Baja fuel filters, they are multi-layer strainers, purchased or handmade, used to filter diesel fuel of dubious pedigree...
Making Engine Oil Changes Easier
Some boat manufacturers have no concern for simplifying things, like changing the auxiliary engines oil, once the boat leaves the factory. But the process...
Out, Out Brief Wiring Terminals!
Photos by Rod Collins
Eurostrips, Euroblocks, set-screw terminations-whatever you want to call them-they are here to stay. Many companies supply set-screw terminations as part of...
Painting Water Tanks
When it comes to onboard water tanks, we prefer stainless, fiberglass, and even roto-molded tanks (in that order) to aluminum ones. Aluminum tanks tend...
Electrical Panel Upgrade
After several design iterations with both vendors, we settled on using Blue Sea Systems. Blue Sea Systems worked with us in designing the panel...
Heavy-Duty Rubbing Compounds
Gelcoat provides a fiberglass boat with a hard, water-resistant protective shell. When new, its polished and waxed to a bright shine, but after a...
Tired Daysailer Hull Serves as Test Platform
Practical Sailor tested the compounds on the badly oxidized hull of a neglected 1974 ODay Javelin daysailer that has been stored uncovered in the...
DIY Rigging Hacks
Photos by Jonathan Neeves
Over the years weve owned Josepheline, our 38-foot Lightwave catamaran, weve figured out a few simple fixes to some niggling onboard...
Diesel Overheating Dinghy Pump Hack
Bert Vermeer tells his story of an overheating Beta Marine 20 diesel sailboat engine with clogged sail drive intake ports and how he used...
Latest Sailboat Review
Caliber 40 LRC Used Boat Review
Brothers George and Michael McCreary, and Marshall Jones, formed Caliber Yachts Inc. as a backyard boatbuilding company in 1979. No strangers to the sailing...