Estimating Total Capacity in an Old Battery
Volt meters, ammeters, and bank monitors can all give you part of the story, but only a draw-down test, performed over 6-24 hours will...
Solar Power and Battery Checkup
Batteries and solar panels can be a black box. We can’t see or hear or feel what is going on inside. They’re not complicated...
Mailport: Carl Alberg, Tinned Wire, Fiberglass Durability
HIGH PRAISE FOR CARL ALBERG
Regarding your report “Small-boat Dreams and Carl Alberg’s Classic Daysailers,” my first sailboat, 25 years ago, was a Pearson Electra....
Reliable Three-way Wire Connections
Connecting two wires is simple; a crimp butt connector using a ratchet crimper, and adhesive lined heat shrink in damp locations, where there is...
Extra Anchor Lighting
When summer comes, a dozen or more sparkling white lights will adorn every popular anchorage. Visible from miles away, they promise to provide good...
Preventing Electric Shock at the Dock
The human body runs on electricity and if you overload the nervous system with an external field, everything goes haywire. Every year several people...
Batteries, Cleaners & More
As a subscriber, you have free access to our back-issue archive-more than 2,000 articles. Here are a few topics you might find relevant this...
Testing VHF Coaxial
The loss in RF coaxial cable increases substantially and quickly, when there is water intrusion. Coax that uses foam dielectric, like RG8X and LMR...
Antenna Gain and VHF Transmission Range
Recreational marine VHF antennas are usually broken down into three categories: 3- and 4-foot sailboat antennas (3dB gain), 8-foot powerboat antennas (6 dB gain)...
Sailing Gifts for 2018
No one really wants just practical gifts, so we've tried to locate a few items that go beyond pure utility for this holiday season.
The...
Lagoon’s WILD NEW 43 Footer is Replacing the 42!
Are you interested in chartering a catamaran sailboat? This is Lagoons new entry level cat. The 43, and while you can still buy a...
Latest Sailboat Review
Cape Dory 30 Used Boat Review
When the Cape Dory 30 entered production in 1976, it was the largest boat in the expanding line of the Taunton, Massachusetts boatbuilder. In...