Dodger-mounted Solar Panels
Solar panels meet the standard: “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” Really. You just lay these man-made things…
Author: goldenstate
Garmin InReach Mini 2 Set-Up
If I were invited to join a boat as crew for an offshore trip, after an iPhone, a Garmin Inreach…
Installing, Programming, and Testing a Balmar MC618 regulator
References: Balmar Manuals Section Balmar 2019 Service Bulletins Re Lithium Programming MaineSail – Rodd Collins on Programming a Voltage Regulator…
Balmar SmartLink Network and Balmar App
A careful user of a sailboat (or any boat, really) should want to periodically know the answer to the questions: …
Power Update 4: Yanmar Balmar Renogy Noco Lithium Installation w/Costs
Summary I recently installed a new power supply system for my sailboat utilizing lithium batteries and a new alternator. The…
Power Update 3: Product Selections
Product Selection For house batteries I believe I can fit two group 24 style 50ah batteries and a small start…
Power Update 2: System Design Factors
Battery System Requirements Basics The battery/power system has to be safe. The battery/power system should be “set-it and forget-it” as…
Power Update 1: Forensic Analysis
Until recently I had been ignoring the battery/power supply system of my boat. The previous owner had advised me with…
Aries Vane Control Line Updates
I made a couple of updates to the routing of the control lines for my Aries wind vane. My boat…
Good work by Pineapple Sails
I recently had a 3rd reef point installed on my Main sail. In the photo below I already have my…
How to Sew Reefing Dog Bones
“Dog Bones? We make them ourselves!” So says Professor Williams. A “dog bone” in this context is a helper…
How to Sew Sheet Bags
Summary I bought a Sailrite sheet bag kit and modified the design to suit my tastes. The project is fairly…
How To Sew Fabric Winch Covers
Summary: I bought a fancy sewing machine and made winch covers out of Sunbrella canvas by following a how-to video…
How to replace a battery charger on a sailboat:
Summary I replaced the battery charger on my sailboat. The most important lesson I learned was the value of using…
How to replace a Ronco freshwater tank on a sailboat
Summary I replaced an 18 gallon freshwater tank in my sailboat. Determine the correct part number from your existing tank…
How to Rebuild a Raritan PHII Marine Toilet Pump
Summary: I rebuilt the manual pump for the marine toilet on my sailboat with a kit from Defender.com. It was…
Yanmar 3GM30F Fuel Filter Change
How to change the primary fuel filter and inspect the secondary fuel filter on a Yanmar 3GM30F engine
Yanmar 3GM30F Oil Change
How to change the oil in a Yanmar 3GM30F engine:
How to update mid-boom sheeting
TLDR: I replaced and subtly reconfigured the lines for my mainsheet and boom vang, as well as replacing almost all…
Out of the Blue, Into the Black
There are many sailing skills I have yet to develop, and not the least of them is a portfolio of…
How to replace sailboat engine compartment insulation:
When I bought my 1990 Ericson 32 the engine compartment was lined with reflective engine insulation, but many of the…
Sailing to Drake’s Bay
TLDR: I took an overnight trip to Drake’s Bay, north of San Francisco with two friends. Anchoring out in high…
How to service a Lewmar winch
I recently serviced all of my winches and found the process to be straightforward and satisfying in a clean-and-tidy improvement…
Farallon Islands, Cetaceans, Beginnaker Experiments
California offers coastal visitors only a few island-visiting opportunities. Los Angeles has the lovely Catalina group, Santa Barbara is near…
How to remove Ericson Yacht galley drawers
A quick note on a task I recently puzzled out: My boat’s galley offers two latching drawers intended to store…
Yanmar 3GM30F Heat Exchanger Service, Don’t Mix Coolant Colors
While I had my engine out of my sailboat this spring, I earnestly(!) thought of good proactive, preventative maintenance I…
How to repair a fiberglass keel stub
I’m writing this note in mid-July, 2021. The repair work described was completed in June of 2021. I hit a…
How To Replace Keel Bolts
The short answer is to find a competent boatyard and have them replace the bolts. Here’s how it worked in…
Yanmar Transmission Mount Fabrication
For a Yanmar 3GM30F diesel sailboat engine, a mounting bracket is necessary to provide a fixed point aft of the…
How a Propeller Connects to an Engine
A beginner’s note for myself/for future reference: A quick overview of how a propeller shaft attaches to both the engine…
Fiberglass Surgery, Minor Engine Work
After pulling out the engine of my boat, my friendly local boatyard has now made an incision in the hull…
How to remove a sailboat engine
For those just arriving at my storyline, I recently went for a solo cruise and crashed my boat on the…
How to remove a sailboat keel
The best way to remove a sailboat keel is to do so in a boatyard with specialized equipment to manage…
Re-packing a propeller shaft stuffing box
Summary: I changed the packing flax material on my propeller stuffing box. It seems that no one had done this…
Rudder Post Observations and Anatomy
My rudder is currently out of my boat and I thought this would be an opportune time to make sure…
How to remove an Edson radial quadrant: (Clean and Rehab)
Never waste a crisis, right? While my boat is hauled out to have the hull repaired, it seemed like an…
A fine line between stupid and clever
Here’s a rambling update in the writing-instead-of-financial-advice-or-psychological-therapy vein. I recently had a bit of a setback in my sailing adventures…
The End of the Affair?
This is a long post about a short cruise with a twist at the end. Getting out of the Bay…
Projects: Voltage, Balls, Bilge, Cold Start
High Voltage I headed out for a day sail this week and was motoring about 50 yards out of my…
Using a Whisker Pole
With the purchase of my boat I inherited an under-sized whisker pole that I subsequently sold. Nevertheless I wanted to…
How to install Dyneema lifelines
Summary I replaced the aged stainless steel cable lifelines on my boat with Dyneema synthetic lines. The total cost was…
New Mast Cleats
Summary: Adding new cleats or attachments to a mast is quite simple if you have the correct size tap set…
Aries Wind Vane: Rigging and Test Sail
Summary: I completed my final installation of my Aries wind vane and went for a test sail. So far so…
Aries Wind Vane: Hardware fitment
Summary After some research and some comments and suggestions from others, I wound up buying a used Aries wind vane…
Aries Wind Vane: Fabricating transom backer plates with G10 and Epoxy
Summary I’m working on installing an Aires wind vane that I bought second-hand on eBay. I’ll write more about the…
Slip Flips, Speed Mods, Sunsets
Slip FlipHave you done a slip-flip? Spun your boat by hand in your marina/berth so that instead of being docked…
Tides Marine Sailtrack 4: Test and Conclusion
I’ve had a few days out now, with my self-installed Sailtrack. I can confirm that the sail raises and drops…
Replacing Sideliners
What’s a sideliner you ask? It’s like a headliner, but a sideliner covers the diagonal side portion of the interior…
Tensioning and Rigging a Harken Mk1 Furler
In the process of replacing all the standing rigging on my boat, I had the wire forestay/jibstay replaced as well,…
Standing Rigging Replacement: Colligo Install & Test Sail
Summary: The Colligo standing rigging I ordered for my boat was difficult to get pinned in the initial set-up, but…
KKMI Richmond Boatyard Review
It started with my haul out on July 21st and ended on October 21st, 2020 and all in all I…
Form, Function, and Folly on a Foray into Fiberglass
Summary: I shaped, decorated, and encased in fiberglass, an adult-sized(!) wooden skimboard. On a strategic basis, my key lesson was…
The Mechanical Windvane Market
Summary By the internet-testimony of their customers, the companies listed here seem to produce quality products, based on the positive…
Standing Rigging Replacement: Colligo order receipt and review
At somewhat long last, I received nearly all of the rigging I had ordered from Colligo. As I mentioned in…
Yanmar Engine Panel Warning Light Diagnostics
When I first bought my boat, the cockpit “dashboard” engine panel was something of a mystery. There were six little…
Re-bedding Lewmar hatches and mast collar with Compass Marine Bed-It butyl tape
Total hours: 12-15 hours, on multiple daysCost, $50 for butyl tape. $40 for Debond cleaner (only a little used on…
Tides Marine Sailtrack 3: Installing sail slides
After ordering the Sailtrack and installing it, the final step is to have the Sailtrack slides affixed to one’s mainsail. Any…
Removing a painted boat name
Another one from the University of YouTube. How about these nice women from Long Island? I picture them traveling merrily…
Standing Rigging Replacement: Ordering from Colligo
I’m replacing the standing rigging on my boat, and at a local workshop/seminar put on by a local sailing group…
AIS Systems for Sailboats
Summary: AIS transceivers are good – try to buy a 5 watt one. AIS Systems Generally International “Law Of The…
Splicing Tiny Wires
This note like my other one on coaxial cables has been marinating since late May, 2020. As part of my…
Connecting coaxial cables
Luke: Dang it Yoda, I didn’t fly all the way to the swamps of Dagoba to learn about some Ham…
Mast re-wiring, lighting upgrades
Time dedicated: About 7 hours – two yesterday pulling wires and five today messing with fixtures. Edit: 8/5/2020 – Costs:$165…
Stuffing box inspection, analysis
I’m learning everything about keel sailboats as I go about fixing my own. A basic problem that boats with so-called…
Tides Marine Sailtrack 2: Luff Track Installation
So after cleaning and polishing my mast while it was out at the boatyard, today I was able to install…
Bringing sexy back: Hull paint cleaning/buffing
Pretty much everything I know at this point about cleaning gel-coat boats is from a week or so I spent…
Through-hull inspection, Minor maintenance
When you turned on your computer today, you were probably thinking, “Man, I sure hope I get something exciting to…
Haul out, Initial Conditions
Up into the slings she goes. The underside was not exactly bright red: Power-washed and placed on a cart: Can…
Mast disassembly and cleaning
Arrived at the boatyard, patted myself on the back for the yard crew noting my earnest application of labels and…
Tides Marine Sailtrack 1: How to order
I decided to install a Tides Marine SailTrack system for my mainsail, based on the very positive reviews from members…
Sparcraft Masthead Tour, ATN Mastclimber review
“Dude, that Alex Honnold guy climbed up the face of El Capitan with no ropes and no help. You just…
Installing new rope halyards
I wrote about my plans to ascend my mast with a newly-purchased mast-climber on my wire rope halyards. The feedback I received…
Haul out and mast-crane preparations
I’m preparing to have my sailboat hauled out of the water for the first time. I’ve never been through the…
Preparing to climb the mast with an ATN Mastclimber
I need to climb my mast to run a new spinnaker halyard/topping lift for a yet-to-be-purchased whisker pole. I also…
Installing a NMEA2000 network on a cruising sailboat
Summary: It cost about 5.5 grand and 40-50 hours of work. Much longer time waiting for parts than installing. Wiring…
Replacing pedestal guard feet
[Rodney Dangerfield] I used to think that a hot mess was something like my ex-wife. Then I tried the West System…
Fabricating a new navigation station dashboard
Replacing the dashboard on a sailboat shouldn’t be that complicated. You just unscrew one piece of rectangular plywood, cut a…
Removing old wiring and electronics from a cruising sailboat
One of the marks of good craftsmanship is tight tolerances between materials – pieces of wood, metal ducts, pipes, etc..…
Installing a NavPod instrument enclosure and pedestal guard
Inching my way along into my electronics replacement project. Logisitics delays what with the global pandemic have slowed me down…
Replacing corroded zipper pulls
My 1990 Ericson 32-200 features a “leatherette” headliner that conceals various wires and the inside portions of deck-mounted hardware such…
“A culinary tour de force”
One spends all this time going fixing, upgrading, repairing. Fun to balance out with the actual sailing. Great progress –…
Recreational yacht as pandemic isolation chamber
I didn’t use the restroom at the marina. I didn’t see anyone or encounter anyone. I practiced anchoring, though. That’s…
How to design a NMEA 2000 network for a cruising sailboat
“Ko’olea felt the wind across his cheek, the beams of light soaking into the apex of his left shoulder, and…
Removing a stuck Edson steering wheel
Two truths and a lie: 1. “It’s important to be able to remove your wheel from your pedestal in the…
Go sailing, go sailing, go sailing
Not really contributing information, other than some pictures of a beautiful lap I took today around the central San Francisco…
Reefing revisited
More practice learning to sail my boat. The high pressure system that’s been sitting off the coast of Northern California…
Hawaii, June 2021
Sixteen months from now, prepared and well-planned, setting sail from San Francisco to Hawaii. Somewhere between bucket list and midlife…
Rebuilding Edson engine controls
In a previous post on updating my wheel brake, I discovered that my diesel engine governor and transmission pedestal controls (the handles…
Overhauling a Kenyon Boom, new reefing sheaves
After some initial sails and testing, I came up with a list of updates that I wanted to make to…
Rebuilding an Edson Wheel Brake
Edson is a manufacturer of sailing steering systems commonly found on American cruising yachts. My 1990 Ericson came equipped with…
Practice Reefing Sails
Sailing in the San Francisco Bay requires that one be ready and able to change the amount of sail he…
Maintaining a Forespar Twist-Lock Whisker Pole
My boat came with a Forespar Anodized Aluminum whisker pole that had been little used in recent years. I believe…
Prototyping Dog Bones for Reefing
My boat came with a set of new-ish crispy Dacron sails. The broker who joined me and the seller on…
Rebuilding a Whale Pumps Gusher 10 Mk 3
A manual bilge pump is a vital component for any recreational sailboat. None of us can predict if and when…
How I bought my used cruising sailboat
After my initial experience working to bring a little Coronado 15 racing dinghy back to life, I decided that I…
Compounding the gelcoat hull on a Coronado 15 dinghy
I wanted to bring some vibrancy back to the finish of the hull of my recently-purchased Coronado 15. As I…
Rehabbing a 1983 Dilly boat trailer for a Coronado 15
I bought my C15 in Oakland, California and drove it about 35 nerve-wracking miles to Vallejo, California where I planned…
I started off buying an “experienced” racing dinghy
It starts with me hiding from the authorities in a hotel bedroom. By “the authorities,” I mean my belligerent children…