Story by Peter d’Anjou, from Boat Trader Most boats under 50 feet in length have 12-volt electrical systems. Yet many experienced boaters can’t tell you much about the batteries they have on board, let alone how their batteries and charging systems work. Take my buddy Jeff, for instance. It’s the middle of the season and one of the two 12-volt batteries on his 30-foot sailboat is nearing the end of its life. When I asked Jeff, an engineer by trade and an experienced boater, what kind of battery he was choosing to replace the old one, he blithely said, “Oh, [...]

Here is a interesting concept, Roth Diving Services, one of our club sponsors, has set up the ability to do on the spot videos, for inspecting everything from zincs, props, rudders, hulls, anything you may want inspected and captured on video. I plan a haulout to repaint the bottom on the one week off we have during the Spring Whitecap series. Looks like it is due, as there is some hard growth starting in some places, not exactly a race ready bottom! If you would like Mike Roth to do a video inspection, his contact information is on the scrolling Sponsor banner [...]

From Elliot / Pattison Sailmakers website, another early season boat tune-up post. The basis for tuning a boat starts with an understanding of what it is you are trying to accomplish. While many one design classes publish tuning guides the top sailors realize that those guides are merely starting points and have to be adjusted to fit individual boats, sails, and even the way that different people sail. The basis for tuning your boat should start with balancing the boat. This means having your sailplan balanced with your hull shape or having the Center of Effort of your [...]

Time to clean up some of those fraying lines, from Boating Safety Tips, Tricks & Thoughts from Captnmike This is the quick and secure whipping I use to whip the ends on double braid line.  I have not seen this in any book.  It has some of the elements of the classic quick temporary whipping but this method is much more secure  and almost as quick as the classic quick temporary whipping.  Properly whipped line ends in addition to keeping line ends from fraying also helps give your boat more “style points” and adds to your reputation as a knowledgeable [...]

Sail-World picked up a post from Captain John at Skippertips that lists the most vital rigging checks you need to make. Sailing Rigging Inspection Checklist: Just as pilots of aircraft large or small wouldn't think of taking off without their standard checks, neither should the competent skipper. Put these five inspections on your sailing checklist to keep your sailing rigging strong and secure. 1. Shroud and Stay Cotter Pins: Cotter pins are those nautical bobby pins that hold your standing rigging together. Cruising sailboats can have dozens of these vital fasteners. Look for cotters in the ends of [...]

What do you think of this idea? Does it make sense to change out steel lifelines with Dyneema which probably is stronger at the same diameter but easier to cut? The forum is open, what do you think of this idea from West Marine Rigging? One of our next projects [at West Marine Rigging – Newport] is converting an IRC’ed Club Swan 42 from stainless steel lifelines to New England Ropes STS-12 SK90. Why convert??? Weight- Converting to Dyneema from SS is a HUGE weight savings. We recently replaced a Swan 55′s runners from oversized 1×19 wire to SK90. The assembly of their [...]

by Deborah Bach from threesheetsnw.com A rash of sunken boats and oil spills over the past two months prompted the Washington state Department of Ecology to remind boaters to properly maintain their vessels. Winter weather, unrepaired leaks and other poor maintenance can cause boats to sink and trigger fuel spills that can harm marine life. In the last two months, Ecology received more than 45 reports of oil spills and sheens involving recreational boats and commercial fishing vessels. Most were a result of inattention as the boating season wound down, according to Ecology. From Sept. 13 through Nov. [...]

Take a look around the docks and it’s clear that the Wooden Boat Festival is around the corner. There’s lots of last minute work going on to get already well tended boats even better tended. In that spirit, here’s a short item on cleaning your varnish brush from the blog Windborne in Puget Sound. Good varnishing brushes are definitely not cheap! The quickest way to ruin one is to let varnish dry in the brush – not something any of us wants to do. But cleaning a brush is not an easy task. You may think that after [...]