How Do We Get Treadmaster To Stick To Aluminum?

by John January 1, 2005

Question: We are having trouble getting our Treadmaster deck covering to stay stuck to our bare aluminum deck. What can you tell me about getting epoxy to stick to aluminum reliably?

Harken Fittings

by John May 18, 2006

As it becomes necessary to replace blocks and other deck gear, we are replacing them with Harken equipment whenever possible. We have never had a failure to date, and they stand behind their products: When the bearings on our 16-year-old Harken jib roller furler system needed replacing, Harken found the parts and did it for [...]

Steiner Binoculars

by Phyllis January 1, 2008
The latest electronic gizmos (not that ours are the latest) may be way cool but a good pair of binoculars are at least as important to safety on a voyaging sail boat.

Steiner is one of the few companies left (it seems) that is still building good quality equipment and then standing behind it. We have had the same pair of Steiner Commander RS2000 binoculars for over 20 years.

Treadmaster Deck Covering

by Phyllis January 1, 2008

We are finally nailed to the deck, thanks to Treadmaster! Though we had the most aggressive non-skid paint we could get, we still used to slide around whenever there was snow on the deck. It was a huge job to template, cut out and glue down all the pieces of Treadmaster it took to cover [...]

How Did You Install Treadmaster On Your Aluminum Boat?

by John February 1, 2008

Question: When you were installing your Treadmaster, did you grind back to clean metal and glue it down, or did you, as I was advised, paint with epoxy first?

Our Hard Dodger, Third Time Is The Charm

by John June 1, 2008
The port side view of the cockpit of aluminum sailboat Morgan's Cloud showing the hard dodger and bimini.

Question: I notice from pictures that you have a hard top dodger and bimini on Morgan’s Cloud. Who designed and built those? Was it expensive? Any pit falls to avoid? Also, I am thinking of trying to be environmentally friendly and loading mine with solar panels, what do you think?

Diamonds Are A Woman’s Best Friend!

by Phyllis June 1, 2008
A view of the deck of aluminum sailboat Morgan's Cloud taken from the top of the mast, showing the Treadmaster deck covering.

Question: Three friends and I are outfitting my Skye 51′ for a five-year circumnavigation and we are replacing the old teak decks…I have heard many more pros than cons to Treadmaster and I would like to know your honest opinion on installation, upkeep, durability and general contentment with the product. Any input that you care [...]

A Homebuilt Hard Dodger For New Zealand Sailboat Mai Tai

by John June 20, 2008
The hard dodger on Lane and Kay Finley's Annapolis 44 sailboat, Mai Tai.

After reading about our hard dodger, very experienced live aboard voyagers Lane and Kay Finley sent along a detailed description of their hard dodger, complete with photographs. The advantage of theirs over ours is that it is all hard with glass windows; much stronger and pretty much maintenance free. On the other hand, I like [...]

Issues With Teak Deck Replacement On A Metal Boat

by Phyllis September 1, 2008
Phyllis uses a chisel and 5-lb maul to chip away the varnished eyebrow on aluminum sailboat Morgan's Cloud.

Question: We are hoping to draw on your experience with teak deck replacement on our steel sailboat…Despite our initial plan of just stemming the leaks for the short term until we sailed somewhere fun, they are just too bad and the deck has to go next spring/summer. While going through the process of finding someone [...]

Clear The Decks For Action

by John February 25, 2011
JHH5-14471_thumb.jpg

I’m a big time fan of the Aubrey/Maturin series about the days of sailing warships. As often mentioned in these books, the best captains, the ones that brought their ships home in one piece and vanquished their foes at sea, were holy terrors for clear decks. Times have changed but the sea has not and [...]