Below the Waterline Projects
We wrap up our boatyard work with thru-hull, keel cooler, and transducer installations. Does splash day go off without a hitch?
Rigging Upgrades
Recent Rigging Upgrades Upgrading Our Rigging from Wire to Colligo Dux Inner Forestay Sailing enthusiasts are always on the lookout for ways to improve their vessel’s performance and durability. One such upgrade that can make a significant difference is replacing the traditional wire rigging with Dyneema Colligo Dux. This innovative solution not only enhances your […]
It’s Cracked!: Repairing Our Bowsprit
The bowsprit on our boat plays a crucial role in the standing rigging and overall performance of our sailboat. It’s also an important part of our anchoring system, providing support to the bow roller. Our boat is over 40 years old, but our bowsprit is less than 10 years old. However, it seems some mild […]
Making a Custom Boom Vang
A boom vang (US) or kicking strap (UK) is a line or piston system on a sailboat used to exert downward force on the boom and thus control the shape of the sail. There are a lot of really nice boom vangs for sale that I’m sure are fairly simple to install. We considered buying […]
Installing a “New” Self-Tailing Winch
Actually it’s a used winch we bought at a local consignment shop. It was broken and Rich was able to fix it for super cheap. We bought the winch to replace an old Barlow 20 we have for our mainsheet. While the Barlow works just fine, it isn’t a self-tailing winch and it only has […]
Measuring for and Installing a Mack Pack Mainsail Cover
We’ve had our new sails and Mack Pack mainsail cover for about a year now and absolutely love them. After using the 106% genoa last year, we decided to get a smaller yankee jib (about 85%). We had some issues using the larger genoa on the river where we sail. The wind is often flukey […]
Adding a Flag Halyard
We’ve had a flag halyard on our starboard spreader for several years and had a small burgee on that halyard until it wore out. We would occasionally hang a US flag on the halyard. It tended to thump on the spreaders and it started to get ratty by rubbing on the mast because we have […]
New Sails and New Sail Track
Last fall we bought new sails and a Tides Marine Sail Track and Slide system (formerly known as a Strong Track). The sails we got from Island Planet Sails in Reno, NV. We were acquaintances with the owner when he briefly had a boat at our marina. Sails After a few hours of measuring, we […]
Repairing a Self-Tailing Winch
We live about 60 miles east of the SF Bay Area. One day Rich went to a marine consignment shop in Alameda to consign some old boat stuff he had in his shop. While he was there he found a Barient self-tailing winch. While that shouldn’t seem surprising, it was. We rarely see self-tailing winches […]
Cutting the Boom
Weather helm is the tendency of a boat to turn itself into the wind (weather). Too much weather helm and she’s not only hard to steer but slower than if balanced. How do you counteract the tendency for the boat to turn into the wind? You turn the rudder. So, the more weather helm the […]