2020 September 1
Dear Boat Doctor,
I have had a few close calls with accidental jibes, and I now typically use a preventer when sailing downwind. I just use a spare line and tie the boom down the to rail at the point
Home / How-to
2020 July 1
Dear Boat Doctor,
I recently replaced the original standing rigging on my 1968 Islander 34. I wanted to make sure everything was correct, so I confirmed the wire sizes with my own righting moment cal
2020 May 1
Dear Boat Doctor,
I have read a lot about regular inspections of my boat. This seems like a really good idea, but I don’t know what to look for. What am I supposed to be looking for?
Rob R
2020 March 1
Dear Boat Doctor,
I just got a new-to-me boat and I have a charging problem: the house bank won’t stay charged when I run the engine. When the engine is running, there is 13.5 volts at the alternat
2020 February 1
Dear Boat Doctor,
I am interested in improving my onboard emergency gear. I have carried a personal EPIRB for years, but it feels inadequate. I have been looking at shipboard EPIRBs, but maybe I shou
2020 January 1
Dear Boat Doctor,
I am struggling with the fuel system on my Hylas 51, which seems to have a lot of small issues that add up to a bigger annoyance. First, I don’t have enough tankage and no good wa
2019 November 1
Dear Boat Doctor,
I am having some problems with my Yanmar 4JH2DTE, and I’m embarrassed to say I may have created one of the problems myself. I installed a new Balmar alternator and an AltMount ser
2019 October 1
Dear Boat Doctor,
I am having a problem with my engine, a Yanmar 4JH2DTE. It has always worked well, but recently I have not been able to get it to run over 2,200 rpm. I checked the Racor and t
2019 September 1
Dear Boat Doctor,
I am taking my boat to Grenada and would really like to be able run an air conditioner. I have read about the new efficient air conditioners that you can run from an inverter.
2019 July 1
Dear Boat Doctor,
I am doing some maintenance on my old electric Barient winches. I have taken down the manual parts of the winches, and I am pretty clear on how to clean and lubricate those parts. I
2019 June 1
Dear Boat Doctor,
I own a Caliber 40 and have been working my way down the Windward Islands, planning to spend hurricane season in Grenada. The trip has been great, but we’ve been caught a little o
2019 May 1
Dear Boat Doctor,
My Selden boom vang doesn’t seem to hold up my boom any more. It was OK before I installed the main, but now the boom just sags. For now, I have resigned myself to holding up the
2019 April 1
Dear Boat Doctor,
I have owned my Tartan 37 for more than 25 years, first on freshwater and now in the Chesapeake and the Bahamas. I love saltwater, but it is eating my boat. What can I do to keep th
2019 March 1
Dear Boat Doctor,
We stored our boat on the hard in Puerto Rico and launched after hurricane season. When we put the boat back in the water, I had a rigger help me re-install the sails. When I went t
2019 February 1
Dear Boat Doctor,
I recently upgraded the alternator on my Yanmar 4JH2DTE and things aren’t going smoothly. It is a Balmar 100A alternator with a Max Charge alternator. The alternator is working gr
2019 January 1
Dear Boat Doctor,
I installed a Frigoboat keel-cooled system a few years ago. The system worked amazingly well until last summer when I noticed that it would cool down very nicely if the icebox was w
2018 November 19
Dear Boat Doctor,
Every couple days the shore power breaker on the dock blows when my boat is connected to it. This started happening when the marina replaced the power pedestals. How do I know if th
2018 September 1
Dear Boat Doctor,I am having a problem with a black water smell in the bilge. Well at least I am pretty sure it’s a black water smell, I don’t really know. Do you some ideas how I can diagnose my
2018 July 1
How do I fix a failed fiberglass repair?
Dear Boat Doctor,
I need some advice on a failing fiberglass repair at my keel stub joint. There is a crack that appears to be the result of repair tha
2018 June 1
Dear Boat Doctor,
My winches desperately need to be lubricated, and it’s been more than a few years since I’ve done it. A friend told me to use wheel bearing grease but cautioned me not to use it
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Retro style but modern performance are the trademarks of this new cruiser
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This powerful one-design racer has a superyacht pedigree
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This new sportboat is the shape of things to come
