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On a mooring at Shelter Island over Labor Day weekend this guy in fins and goggles swims over to us and asks for some help. He stated he has to ferry this guy's (stunning 70's, fresh Imron) Hinckley from there to Nantucket at first light and so he is removing some barnacles from the prop and...

Last weekend the head would not pump well. Intake is only a 1/2" opening and I am docked cross-wise in a river so all kinds of stuff hits the side of the boat and sometimes parks there (reeds, other plant matter for example). Toilet pumping very hard, pulled out the Jabsco filter screen (yes...

The wife rightly points out we are getting on in age and that there will come a time when hoisting and lowering the main will become a task. She wonders about the feasibility of converting our current set up to a furler unit. Probably gonna cost 3/4 the value of the boat, right? Current unit...

My Honda 2.3 dink OB was attached to the stern pulpit and during the storm somehow managed to do an almost upside down deal, still not clear how, but oil was dripping out of it when I got to it after 2 days. The clear window shows that the engine oil is low (or out maybe). There was some oil on...

I used to be religious about changing the foam rubber filter element in my Universal M12, first yearly then every 2-3 years and I would see it did not have much wear and I did not use the engine so much so I figured "what the heck, why bother" until I was reminded by some owner who brought the...

Having trouble locating a replacement piece of braided poly cord. You know, the two that run along the side of your dinghy? Stores seem to stock 3/8 but this looks to me probably 10-12 mm or as much as 1/2" if I measure right. Zodiac's website does a great job showing their boats, not so much...

Just happened to be up on the deck yesterday and notice this "C" shaped ring lying on the deck right under the gooseneck. I quickly realized it was one of the the two clips that fit into the gooseneck ball. I squeezed it a bit and put it back in but got the feeling something might have broken...

I installed this hose when I converted my hand pumps to pressure water 25 years ago (3/4") and overall it has served me well, but there have been, over those years, 4-5 pinhole pressure leaks that I have had to repair, cut out and install a connector, etc. This stuff is stiff, thick walled...

Those of you with inboards, in particular older ones, I was wondering how often you find you have to make the adjustment to the packing gland and how "leaky" you allow it to get before you do so? In my case, it has been once a season, though last year in a shortened season I did not have to do so.

Westerbeke Part 33100 water pump impeller kit, unopened. Free for shipping cost only.

Last Saturday we got caught in a deep fog in Long Island Sound (no problem, happily), but it go me to thinking about some kind of backup for our trusty Garmin GPS should it die. Looks like there are some free nav apps out there that will run on i-phones. Anyone tried, have a favorite?

This is the only feature I do not like about this boat. I have lived with it for many years but it is not getting easier to operate as I get into my 70's. It's nice it's not located in the cockpit (O'day moved to above main hatch at some point), but the downside is the effort to reach and...

O'Day 28 flange leak into the starboard quarter berth area. Occasional drip for years now too much and needs attention. Pull all three bolts, lift flange and Life Caulk the outline of the flange, plus the bolts or is there a smarter technique?

Over the years we have had a lot of discussion about these beasts. I have a Jabsco 18590-2092 (2007 purchase). Am I correct when they start to leak (not at the fittings of course) they are all done and need to be replaced? Is getting 8-12 years about all one can expect, not that this is so...

This summer I put an impeller in this old style Sherwood pump (OE on my Oday 85) after seeing weak water discharge out exhaust. Pumped great for 4-5 weekends. Now the boat just sat for a month and today I fired it up. Almost no water discharge, but a look at the pump showed a lot of water...

The threads about engines overheating or running sharpened my senses (Thanks, folks!), so this season, when my engine started to make a throatier "putt putt" sound, I sensed maybe the raw water pump was not outputting as it should. Accordingly, I began watching my temp gauge more often. Early...

I have used the Cetol varnish product for 25 years or so. Lasts 3 seasons maybe, then it chips and I have to sand and re-coat. The can I have is very old (15+ years I guess) with little remaining so I am going to buy a fresh one. Looking at the directions, I am pretty sure I did everything...

No sailing weekend is complete without breaking something, right? This time it was the black plastic threaded locking ring that secures the female connector to the boat connection. 30A Version. Just broke in half so I went to West and bought a new one. Of course no one there could tell me how...

Well, my wife and I managed to screw up royally over the weekend, dumping our 2011 Honda 2 HP air cooled engine into about 10 feet of water at low tide. One search trip no joy, but trying again tonight. Assuming we can haul it out, I am thinking of getting it into a bath tub for a fresh water...

Some of the lines on my O'Day 28 (Universal M12) have been replaced but not the ones from the tank petcock to the fuel pump or the one into the engine. Both are factory swaged fittings. It seems sensible to replace these with a barb fittings. In my case the barb end would be for 1/4" ID fuel...