I’m very grateful for the modest success of the kits that I’ve offered here for more than seven years. Support from skippers all across America has been entirely positive. My biggest regret is that I couldn’t offer them economically to … Continue reading Closeout Sale On All Kits!
No matter how well organized your gear is in your lazarettes, it doesn’t help you to hold the lazarette lids open while you dig that gear out. It’s not so bad with small items like a hank of rope or a fender but larger items that take two hands like a BBQ grill or an outboard fuel tank will leave you one hand short.
Catalina Yachts was a true innovator when they introduced the Catalina 22 back in 1969. Perhaps the most iconic feature was the optional pop top, which gives much-needed headroom inside the cabin. Extended stops and anchoring out overnight are much easier when you can stand upright in the cabin. In hot climates, the extra ventilation can’t be beat. The pop top turns the C-22 from a daysailer into a more comfortable cruiser. With the addition of the optional snap-on, vinyl curtain, the cabin becomes a weatherproof and insect resistant camper.
Continue reading “$tingy Sailor Pop Top EZ-Lift Kit [CLOSEOUT SALE]”
If you don’t have a headsail furler, a downhaul line is one of the easiest and least expensive control lines that you can add to your sailboat. It adds major convenience and safety for around $30. The line can be used with any size jib or genoa.
Continue reading “Install a Double Duty Headsail Downhaul”
When we purchased Summer Dance, the standing rigging was one system that I knew I would need to replace right away. The upper shrouds had been replaced recently with well made cables, probably from that popular online Catalina parts retailer. … Continue reading How To Replace Your Standing Rigging For Less
When Summer Dance got beat up in a freak storm back in 2014, the damage was mainly in two areas. The worst damage was the deck rim and the rub rail, for which I described the repairs in Storm Damage to Summer Dance Repaired. The collateral damage was the bottom paint, which also got hammered as you can see in the following picture. In some areas, the top layer of paint was knocked off and exposed an underlying layer of paint. In other areas, it was knocked off completely down to the fiberglass. It all needed fixed, so it was included in the insurance claim that I submitted. Our insurance company promptly paid the claim so that meant that I wouldn’t have to do all the work!
Continue reading “What To Expect From a Professional Bottom Paint Job”
It’s an enduring truth that appearances can be deceiving, especially with electrical systems. When I inspected Summer Dance before buying her, the electrical system looked like one of the boat’s strong suits. It had an upgraded panel and a new battery. The wiring was all original except for spliced connections to the panel. There weren’t any added accessories so the system was simple and I expected it to be relatively problem-free. Granted, I’m no marine surveyor and if I had ordered a survey, it would have caught many of the problems that I later discovered.
Your ability to reef your mainsail is one of the most important sailing skills that you can learn. Your reefing rigging plays an important part in that. You can do it with just a few short lengths of rope but it will be more time consuming and difficult than it needs to be. That method is not very safe to use during the weather conditions when you’re most likely to need to reef. Having a system of reefing lines in place and ready to use at any time increases your ability to reef smoothly and efficiently (in a jiffy) when conditions warrant it, particularly if you sail single-handed.
Continue reading “Single Line Jiffy Reefing Made Easy”
Galvanic corrosion can happen when dissimilar metals, stainless steel and aluminum, for example, are in contact with each other, exposed to an electrolyte, and an electrical current is applied. That’s the technical definition. The layman’s definition is it’s the white stuff that grows around your stainless steel fasteners in your aluminum mast and boom when you are around salt water.
Continue reading “Beware of Galvanic Corrosion!”
The $tingy Sailor 