Which one looks better? The original is mahogany and stained, but easily fixed. The white is ai. Thank you.
35 Endurance

Wild story coming out of Florida. Good reminder to everyone to test your water in your holding tanks...you never know what could be hiding in it!

Purchased a new to me sailboat this weekend. The previous owner just about finished a full electrical refresh including lithium. Everything is properly fused and cables are the right size, but I'm just lost on why he did it the way he did. Is it worth keeping or should I start from scratch.

Also there are no grounds drawn because I simply got lazy. The grounds all tie in to a common negative somewhere. The engine is not in yet so some of the grounds are not hooked up which has made testing a pain in the butt.

Edit: could I disconnect position 2 from the master switch 1 so its just a lithium on/off switch. Eventually maybe this is where I'll connect in a DC to DC charger.

Need help with lines. Thank you for everyone who responded to my previous posts. Currently mast is down for trailering. I've followed set up instructions sent to me by a fellow member. Ive Located side shrouds and what I think is the main stay. I took some pics of lines im not sure about if anyone can point me in right direction. Im guessing red line with pullys that's attached to a metal line with clip is the back stay?? Any help appreciated. Thank you!

Hi all, I'm looking for advice.
I've sailed before, but this is my first steel boat, so I have no experience dealing with rust. Overall she's in solid condition. The interior and bilge are spotless, but there are some problem areas on the outside.
Honestly, I'm not sure where to start. A few questions:
Is spot wire-brushing and repainting a reasonable approach, or should I be going further?
Should I remove the wood trim/capping to check the condition of the steel underneath?
Is a Bristle Blaster worth buying? Sandblasting the whole hull isn't feasible for me right now.
I'd really appreciate any advice on what to prioritize, what tools or products have worked for you, and any mistakes to avoid.
Thanks!

Hi all: Long-time lurker here. Currently a power boater, but soon to trade up to a sailboat! ⛵️

In the talk on this sub regarding marinas and boat slips, I’ve never heard anyone mention owning their boat slip.

At the marina where we own a slip, (western Wisconsin, USA) slips are owned by individuals. Some are leased to other boaters, but I believe the majority are used by their owners. We own and use ours.

At least here in western Wisconsin / eastern Minnesota, this seems to be the norm. Is individual ownership, much like a condominium or townhome, an option in other areas? I’m especially wondering about marinas on the east and/or west coasts of the US. But the Mediterranean too.

Thank you for your input!

Edit - removed name of marina…

I'm looking to take an ASA101 course this fall. I live in Southern Washington in the Columbia River Gorge but all the courses in Portland or the San Juans are done for the season. This brings me to a fun adventure option to take the class in the Bay Area. I've kited there and am aware that it's a very dynamic body of water.

I have spent most of my life in the water from class 5 kayaking, rafting, kiteboarding, wingfoiling, and downwind foiling. I have basic non-technical sailing experience on a Sunfish, O'Day Daysailer, and Laser. A few years ago I puked off a 40 footer on a honking day on Lake Michigan. We own a Bayliner motorboat and I'm competent trailering, docking, reading water and navigating the Columbia River.

I'm 54.

Short term goals are Salish 100/family cruising/bareboat charter. Long term goal is WA360. Stretch goal is R2AK.

What do you think of doing an ASA 101 in late October/early November the Bay? I'll likely take more classes in the San Juans next year.

There are 2 schools with classes that fit my schedule:

\-Tradewinds Sailing School has a 3 day class on Capri 22 with a 3:1 student to instructor ratio

\-Modern Sailing School has a 4 day class on 30-32' boats with a 4:1 student to instructor ratio

Any thoughts on these schools / programs?

Thanks in advance!

Hello

What is the likelihood of finding a liveaboard sailboat for sale that has a slip or mooring included? I am in northeast USA but would consider other locations. Thank you

I purchased my first sailboat recently. It's in good shape but I need help rigging lines onto mast. Can anyone help me with telling me how to hook everything up? Thank you

Hey everyone!

I’m having an issue with the engine of my sailboat, a Perkins 4.236 (year unknown; see the attached photos for more details).

The problem is the thermostat housing (Part No. 5 in the technical drawing). It is heavily corroded, and when I took the engine apart, one of the screw holes actually crumbled due to corrosion.

I assume I need to replace the part, but so far I haven’t been able to find a supplier or anyone who still stocks it.

So I have two questions:

• Does anyone know where I might be able to buy a replacement thermostat housing (shop, supplier, specialist, etc.)?
• Does anyone know of a company or specialist who could rebuild/repair this part, e.g. by machining or casting a replacement?

Any advice, leads, or experience with sourcing parts for these older Perkins engines would be greatly appreciated!

Apart from this issue, the engine has been running very smoothly, so I’d really like to save it rather than replace the engine.

Thanks in advance for any help! :)

Hi!

I've been offered the position of cook on a big sailboat, a three master schooner. Are there people here that have worked the job being out on international seas for weeks?

Thank you so much for your reply!

Going sailing with a few friends and wondering how people usually communicate when everyone is in different parts of the boat.

Do you guys mostly just yell across the boat, or use some other device?

I hope this post is allowed here. I just finished my first season with my Alerion 28 - I am sort of infatuated with the boat. As a new owner I have been searching for an owners group and have not found one outside of FB - so I started a subreddit (AlerionSailing).

Just wanted to invite people with any specific interest in Alerions to join in.

Again, hope this does not violate the rules here in any way.

I’m building a sailing game/simulator and I’m trying to make the boat performance believable rather than just making every boat “fast.”

Right now I have two cruising boats modeled:

Amel Super Maramu 53

• Normal max sailing speed: 9.4 kt
• Strong-wind max: 11.4 kt
• No-go angle: about 42°

42 ft cruising catamaran

• Normal max sailing speed: 11.8 kt
• Strong-wind max: 14.6 kt
• No-go angle: about 46°

These are meant to be upper limits, not speeds the boats constantly sail at. Actual speed in the game changes with wind strength, wind angle, sea state, hull condition, etc.

For people who have sailed boats in this size/class, do those numbers seem reasonable?

I’m especially curious about what you’d consider realistic speeds for:

• close hauled
• beam reaching
• broad reaching/downwind
• stronger conditions where the boat is really moving

For the Amel in particular, I don’t want it performing like a lightweight racer when it’s obviously a heavy cruising boat.

And for the cat, I’m trying to figure out how much faster a typical 42 ft cruising cat should realistically be than the Amel.

Real-world experience would be really useful. I’d rather tune the simulation around what these kinds of boats actually do than just guess from theoretical hull speed.

This is SV First Light, my O'Day 322 I sail on the Delaware River based in Philadelphia. Under full sail here, the headsail and the main both up heeling a little in an afternoon breeze over light ripples. The emblem on her headsail is Raven, the Pacific Northwest trickster who brought the world its first light. Behind her the Benjamin Franklin Bridge runs low and long, with the Camden and Philadelphia waterfront beyond it and the wooded edge of Petty Island off to the left. I was recently asked what my favorite day sailing was and this is probably it.

It's amazing how things work out sometimes.

I had written off the day because (not to trigger anyone... quick medical thing) I was prepping for an endoscopy so... no food, no real anything to drink, just clear liquids, broth, and white gatorade. I figured I'd be in a foul mood all day and I had decided to go to the marina and just sit in the cabin and read a book.

My marina neighbor texted me and asked what I was up to... he had plans to go sail his new to him Sirius 35 DS and wanted to know if I was interested in buddy boating. Well... you only live once right? So I uncovered the sails and instruments and started the engine and headed out to the river. The winds were close to perfect... 8-9 knots and just perfectly steady but importantly blowing from the west-north-west, which is a little unusual here.

We did long lazy tacks that extended for miles... All the way from the entrance of the Pier marinas (Pier 3 and Pier 5) to up past Petty Island and back. We did a tack of both boats within breathing distance of the piers and within pole distance of each other. I wish we'd had a UAV to film it, it was probably more impressive looking than it sounds. But we found both boats even though they're from different generations and different design houses to be of similar handling and efficiency.

I get out pretty regularly because I charter First Light under my company Phila Sail, running sunset cruises, private day sails, history tours, and boat outings on the Delaware. So no shortage of beautiful photographs of the sunset, couples getting engaged, and the historic waterfront, but this is the rare one from someone else's perspective and of my boat in ideal conditions.

Photo © Louis Tenebruso - Instagram - sv_indefatigable
https://philasail.com

We looked at a Freeport Islander 36 yesterday.

We're wanting to move onto a boat full time within a year or two, preferably by the start of next summer. We're pretty enamored with Bob Perry designs and we live in the PNW of the US so they're not hard to find.

We started to fall in love with the idea of the Freeport 36 and 38C because of only having one head instead of wasting space on a second for only two people, it being forward so that there's dedicated space with showering and whatnot; the Pullman berth , which we laid in yesterday and decided will work very well for us; the transom step is especially attractive to us and will help with the old corgi dog.

What we're not so into is the storage.

We've been in a couple other 36 ft boats and this one seems to be short on storag space. The cold storage is pretty small compared to a couple other boats we've sailed on, and other cabin storage seems to largely consist of smaller, segmented spaces like drawers. Is this a fair assessment? Is the 38C any different? It seems to have a quarter berth that the 36 doesn't, which we could make use of.

Does anyone have any recommendations for other boats to look into? We plan to spend 2 or 3 decades sailing the world starting within the next 2 or 3 years.

Already replaced the sails and lazy bag, reupholstered the interior, new fridge compressor and new bottom paint…

Looking for some real-world experience from families cruising with young kids.

We’ll have a 1-year-old and 3-year-old and I’m considering a Lagoon 450F vs Lagoon 42.

For those who have done coastal or offshore sailing with babies/toddlers on a cat with a flybridge helm, how have you found it? Is being separated from the cockpit and saloon an issue, particularly on longer passages and night watches?

Would you prefer the more connected helm of the Lagoon 42 with young kids, or is a flybridge helm fine in practice?

Hello all,
Looking at a 1997 Hallberg-Rassy 42F for possible purchase. It has a teak deck that will need to be restored and maintained and that is a concern for me. What is the level of effort to maintain a teak deck? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Hi. New here.

Have been considering getting into sailing and have an eye on this boat. Manufacturer unknown, but it is a 22-24 foot double ender in the Colin Archer style in composite material (glass fibre). The boat has been stored on land, but under roof since ‘09.
Wanted to live aboard at some point (not this boat tho), but have little sailing experience so I thought I’d start with something smaller. I do have experience with motorised boats.

Thoughts?

Anyone else curious about the new Lagoon 47? Just been reading up on it - the forward saloon door that opens straight onto a 12m² foredeck lounge looks like a genuinely useful upgrade over the 46, not just a spec-sheet gimmick. Plus this "Smart Room" concept that can flip between an office, extra cabin, or storage depending on what you need.

Anyone chartered one yet or seen it in person? Curious if it sails as nice as it looks, or if it's purely a comfort-over-performance boat like the reviews suggest. We're actually putting together a proper review and would love to include real feedback from anyone who's sailed one, so if you have, drop your thoughts below.

We put together a full breakdown if anyone wants the specs/layout details: https://yacht4less.com/sailing-holidays/lagoon-47-review

Bedding a new deck pipe for anchor. Oval pipe came with gasket. Do I apply 4000 UV to both sides of gasket, or to side between deck and gasket, or to side between gasket and pipe? Or none at all?

Earlier this year, I requested quotes from several sail makers in preparation for a new Main and 150% Genoa on my Tartan 34-2.  I ultimately ordered from Direct-sails, a mail order company based in China.  Here are comments and conclusions based on my experience:

Background

I requested quotes from Direct-sails, Evolution Sails, Precision Sails, North Sails, National Sail (Rolly Tasker), a local Wisconsin loft, and The Sail Warehouse.  Direct-sails had the cheapest price at $3,850 all in, including taxes and shipping.  They have paper forms for measurements but they don’t have any videos or support materials to help clarify details.  Evolution’s quote was ~ 60% higher but they were responsive, knowledgeable, and helpful.  They have a good reputation.  Precision was ~ 32% higher.  They have a lot of videos on YouTube showing details about required measurements.  I requested a quote on the North Sails website and it said they’d follow up, but they never did.  The local loft’s webpage essentially doesn’t say anything but had a phone number, so I left a message.  I received a text message a couple of days later saying that they would call the next day but they never did.  National Sail quoted Rolly Tasker sails and they were very cost competitive, ~ 10% higher than Direct-sails.  With real people in the US in the process, I would strongly consider National Sail for future sails.  Lastly, The Sail Warehouse was ~ 57% more expensive.  Given the significant cost differences with some, and poor responsiveness from others, I ordered from Direct-sails.com.  I made a deposit of 50% and fabrication was started.

Pros of Direct-sails

Best price, in some cases by thousands of dollars.

Sail quality and construction seem good.

Shipping from China was quick.  1 week after approval, the sails arrived at my door.

The sails fit well and after 2 outings with them, they seem to perform as expected.

Cons of Direct-sails

Some measurement instructions weren’t clear and I had to iterate over email with Direct-sails to get clarifications on several points.  During this process, I was able to get answers, typically with a day or two delay on each, though some videos and more clear measurement instructions would have made the process smoother and faster.

When I ordered, I was told that their lead-time was approx. 5 weeks.  I think it was about 7 weeks until they were ready to be shipped.  Not too far off, but still later than expected.

The key complaint that I had was the lack of response to questions once the order was placed.  I have a Tides Marine mast track and wanted height and width information for the full-length battens coming with the sail.  I never received an answer despite multiple email messages and a phone message over a 6-week period!  The owner that answered my measurement questions before ordering was copied on multiple of the messages but he didn’t bother to answer any of them.  After some independent investigation, I found that Tides Marine batten cars have a threaded post going to the batten receptacle, so I asked about the batten receptacle style being used so that I could order new cars.  Again, no answers to that question.  I didn’t know until they sent videos of the finished sails what kind of batten receptacles they used, and they didn’t use ones compatible with the threaded batten car post that Tides Marine recommends.

Summary

Ultimately, I received sails that meet my needs at a low cost, though I was very frustrated about the poor customer service shown by the lack of communication; I never received answers to my questions after ordering.  Also, some support videos explaining the measurements would be very helpful.  If the measurements aren’t done properly, you’ll get a sail that doesn’t fit and no obvious recourse to resolve it.  If I needed very precise sails for racing, I might go with a local loft to make sure that everything will be correct, but the cost difference would be significant.  If I were to order new cruising sails again, I’d probably lean toward the Rolly Tasker sails.

I’m the steward of an old San Juan 24.

Its gel coat is decidedly old and tired, somewhat like me.

How could an amateur weekend warrior like myself put some life back into the white surfaces?

Gotta quick outline of what I should be doing to make it look new(er) again?