My Boat Works

What’s the most ridiculous anchoring experience you’ve ever had? Here’s one of mine:

Ah yes, that magic sound “zzzzzzZZZZZZZZZ-TING!” of the halyard running up the mast and stopping at the masthead. What’s worse is when you tie your halyard and the halyard doesn’t stop at the top but goes right through and back down to the deck! Here’s how to fix that:

Here is a quick overview of an efficient, modern boat charging and battery system, with a few tips on how to wire things so you’ll know what they are and be able to work on them later.

Here is the strongest, most permanently waterproof way to make a hole for strong attachment, for use with stanchions, stringers, etc.:

Who has the most expensive engine per horsepower? I bet it’s me!

Here’s how to properly use a cleat on a dock or onboard. It’s simple and one of the things hardly anyone does right, including racers.

In this article, I’ll show you how to set an anchor, then how to set the basic configurations of anchors and why you’ll use one anchoring technique or another.

For your amusement, I present this collection of odd bits and pieces of nautical lore, tradition and terminology.

There really is no need for shouting and there’s a pride in communicating well and anchoring well with this communication – Try it!

Here is how you can safely, effectively and as easily as possible handle line and chain while anchoring.

Gelcoat is marine exterior epoxy-based boat paint. Painting with gelcoat is straight-forward but there are lots of ways to make a mess of it. This is a very brief overview of the process.

When a line is bent sharply (For rope, generally less than its diameter and for wire rope less than six times its diameter), the strands on the outside of the bend take all the pull and additionally have the strands on the inside pushing against them, levering them into even greater stress. It’s like having only one or a few strands of your rope anchoring you. So these few strands break and the load is suddenly shifted to the next outside strands, which then break, etc. The strands in splices are fairly straight and don’t bend as sharply as in knots. They also hold over much longer lengths, distributing the load much more evenly. A short splice (strongest) has a maximum 85% strength of the line and a figure 8 (one of the strongest knots) has a maximum 60% strength of the line.

How to safely and easily move, organize and handle your anchors and rodes on deck.

Here’s how to clean rust from anchors, chain, etc. and maintain them.

Come Join The Marina del Rey Holiday Boat Parade!  It’s a great, social way to start off the holiday season and here’s a glimpse of what it is and how to prepare and participate.  It is on on Saturday, December 12, from 6-8pm, after the fireworks, in the main channel of Marina del Rey Harbor.  It’s scheduled to be in advance of the holidays, so it won’t interfere with your plans.  Traffic and parking are usually completely gridlocked by 4pm, so come early, tell your friends and plan ahead!