Battery Cabling & OCP Service
Discover crucial insights on battery cabling and high-amperage overcurrent protection, exploring ABYC standards, battery banks, fuses, and more for optimal marine electrical systems. There are several practical considerations that ABYC doesn’t really address about battery cabling and high-amperage overcurrent protection. Although ABYC standards permit up to four cables to be connected to a battery stud, […]
Engine Room Inspection
Explore a captivating journey through diverse landscapes from Washington to Oregon. Plus, dive into crucial tips for safe underway engine room inspections. From the Masthead I’m writing this column, while lying alongside a dock in Portland, Oregon, having just completed an eight-day passage from Kennewick, Washington, via the Columbia River. The trek took us through […]
Reference Cell Testing
Delve into corrosion analysis and learn the crucial role of sacrificial anodes in protecting underwater metals. Discover how to perform a reference electrode test for effective cathodic protection. From the Masthead I recently made a flight aboard a de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver, a seaplane manufactured in 1959. It’s in commercial service and flies almost every […]
Installing A Through-Hull Fitting
Learn the crucial steps for installing or replacing a through-hull fitting on a boat’s hull. Expert advice for a safe, proper installation. My best advice for anyone contemplating adding a through-hull fitting is don’t. Through-hulls sink boats. If you can accomplish the same thing by installing a tee-connector in an existing inlet or discharge line, […]
Boat Plumbing
Boat plumbing is a lot easier for the DIYer than plumbing at home, mainly because it doesn’t involve rigid pipes running inside solid walls. Tanks Because water is heavy, tanks should be mounted low in the boat. Where space is available, it is a relatively simple matter to add extra tanks. Rigid polyethylene tanks are […]
Fiberglass Blister Repair
A fiberglass blister can occur because water passes through the gelcoat. Learn more on how to prevent and repair this issue. Water soluble chemicals inside the laminate exert an osmotic pull on water outside, and some water molecules find a way through the gelcoat. As more water is attracted into the enclosed space, internal pressure […]
Bilge Blowers
Protect your boat and life by ensuring proper ventilation with bilge blowers. Learn about regulations, types, and sizes for optimal safety on the water. Bilge blowers are important not only because the USCG may require it, but also because your life may depend on it. The Coast Guard stipulates the use of a mechanical ventilation […]
Spring Maintenance Tasks To Complete
Spring maintenance is the time to ready your boat for the season and do some chores you may not have gotten around to during winterization. Last winter was likely a flurry of activity as you put your boat to bed, spending hours checking off every conceivable chore to make sure it was ready come spring. […]
E-10 In Winter
Recommendations on Storing Ethanol-Enhanced Gasoline. For better or for worse, a shotgun wedding took place this past spring between boat owners and ethanol-enhanced gasoline. Everyone wore black. Now, almost four months into the honeymoon, it seems that at least some of the warnings of matrimonial acrimony may have been premature. The key word is some. […]
The Power Of Checklists
Our memories may be fallible — checklists are not. Learn how to use the power of checklists to your advantage. We’ve all been there. We leave the boat, then halfway home wonder if we remembered to close the seacocks or connect shore power or some other potentially worrisome chore. We either turn around and go […]
