15 Outboard Motor Maintenance Blind Spots You Can’t Afford to Miss

July 15, 2023 $tingy Sailor

I don’t know about you, but it’s hard for me to make the time to put away my outboard motor for the winter properly. There always seems to be a dozen other chores of higher priority at the same time. Besides winterizing Summer Dance, there’s other fair weather projects to wrap up.

It’s tempting to just store the outboard as-is and deal with it in the spring. Or to just do the minimum maintenance and turn a blind eye to the rest. Procrastinating is so easy. But I know life will be just as hectic in the spring if not more so. Either I’ll forget to do those other maintenance tasks altogether or the guilt of knowing the condition I left my motor in will haunt me. So I may as well roll up my sleeves and do it. I’ll be glad I did.

Electrical, Outboard motor27 Comments

Upgrade Your Outboard Motor to Charge Your Battery

July 2, 2023July 1, 2023 $tingy Sailor

The luxury of onboard electronics and electrical devices cuts both ways. What it gives in terms of convenience, it takes in terms of a load on your battery bank that needs recharging. There are tons of good info available on the net and in books on sailboat electrical systems. I especially like Sailboat Electrics Simplified by Don Casey. The information is concise and clearly presented in a way that makes it easy to refer to when I’ve forgotten some important point. I won’t bore you by rehashing all that but instead cut right to how I solved my battery charging dilemma.

Hull9 Comments

How to Paint Cove and Boot Stripes Like a Pro

June 17, 2023October 25, 2023 $tingy Sailor

Ever wish you could repaint your scratched, faded, or worn cove or boot stripes? Have an older boat with a stripe color you don’t like and want to switch? New stripes are one of the little improvements that can make a big difference in the personality of your sailboat. You can apply them with vinyl tape, but most boot stripes aren’t the same width from bow to stern and custom cut vinyl can be expensive. Painting them isn’t as hard or as expensive as you might think. In this post, I’ll guide you through painting new stripes that look like they were done by a pro.

Outboard motor10 Comments

How to Secure Your Outboard Motor for Safe Trailering

June 3, 2023June 3, 2023 $tingy Sailor

A frequent question of new sailboat owners is what do with their outboard motor when trailering. Is it best to leave it on the boat or is it better to dismount it and haul it in the boat cockpit or tow vehicle? There are lots of owners in both camps. In this post, I describe the pros and cons of each method and how I prepare Summer Dance to hit the road.

Cockpit/stern, Sewing1 Comment

Make Your Own Lifeline Cushions

May 6, 2023May 5, 2023 $tingy Sailor

This is a quick, easy, and cheap project if you have any scraps of canvas left over from earlier canvaswork projects. Lifeline cushions are tubular foam with canvas covers that fit over the lifelines that run along the sides of the cockpit. They’re great as headrests when laying back in the cockpit seats while you check your Windex or just watch the clouds roll by. They also make sitting on top of the coamings more comfortable if you want to hike out a bit when heeled on a reach.

Cabin1 Comment

Make a Door to Storage Space Under the V Berth

February 25, 2023February 24, 2023 $tingy Sailor

Storage for gear, clothing, provisions, and sails is a universal problem with trailerable sailboats. I began solving my onboard storage dilemma with an under galley storage solution. This project is a repeat of that one but claims the unused space under the V berth in my Catalina 22, specifically on the starboard side next to the portable toilet.

It’s also different from that project in that I used different wood for this project. The first door that I made was out of stained Philippine mahogany. I made this one from Honduran mahogany with an oil and polyurethane finish instead of stain. The result is almost indistinguishable from teak, as you can see below.

Cabin11 Comments

Fix That Screeching Main Hatch!

September 10, 2022October 25, 2023 $tingy Sailor

A very common problem with older C-22s is a companionway hatch that screeches when opened or closed. Over the years, the flanges on the sides of the hatch and the teak rails that they slide in wear thin from use.

This eventually lowers the hatch until it scrapes against the cabin roof. The sound it makes is like fingernails on a blackboard, only louder. It’s not something that you want to put up with for long.

Cockpit/stern6 Comments

Lift Your Lazarette Lids With Gas Springs

September 25, 2021October 25, 2023 $tingy Sailor

We trailer sailors are the vagabonds of the sailing world, the gypsies, free spirits who can tow our sailboats anywhere we want with ease. There’s no excuse for getting bored with the same cruising areas when you can just hook up and go somewhere different. The downside, of course, is having to set up the rig every time we move.

Uncategorized4 Comments

Top 10 DIY Projects of 2020

January 2, 2021December 31, 2020 $tingy Sailor

2020 was another exciting year here at The $tingy Sailor with new all-time records:

>2,200,000 page views from 139 countries
>50,000 monthly page views in August
>2,800 page views in one day in June
>200 articles, most of which are projects
>3,300 subscribers

I’m very grateful and humbled that you have continued to visit, read, subscribe, comment, and support this website after 7 years. It motivates me to keep finding new projects and topics, write better articles, and make other improvements that I hope you’ll enjoy.

Continue reading “Top 10 DIY Projects of 2020”

The $tingy Sailor

DIY trailerable sailboat restoration and improvement without throwing your budget overboard

Tag: sailboat