A countdown begins as soon as your boat’s seasonal launch date is set. The more experienced the sailor, the earlier it starts. For months before the first flowers bloom in springtime, sailors tackle major projects by rolling up their sleeves and hiring pros for installations, major engine work, and complex upgrades. The bottom is painted, and the operational checks are completed to make sure everything is in good working order. 

Those are the key elements of a true spring commissioning—not adding an electronics network or deciding that the rudder needs replacing. It’s equally inappropriate to use this time only for cosmetic restoration. 

Instead, spring commissioning should focus on ­ensuring systems reliability and seaworthiness. Varnishing the coamings and handrails can be shifted to the post-launch project list, but replacing a corroded, leaking through-hull fitting or a worn-out cutlass bearing must take precedence. 

Bottom Paint

Bottom painting is synonymous with spring—at least for saltwater sailors who haul their boats each fall. Hopefully, the pressure washdown cleared away the fauna and flora, and the remaining bottom paint is well-adhered. If so, paint prep involves a minor amount of scuff sanding, which can be done the old-fashioned way: hand-sanding with 80-grit sandpaper. 

This can be an arduous task, even with the whole crew participating. It’s ideal to rent a vacuum-extraction random orbital sander. This tool will maximize labor efficiency and minimize the airborne dust plume. In many parts of the country, drop cloths or full matting beneath boats is mandatory. 

When it comes to working with antifouling coatings, keep the old paint residue, as well as the new coating chemistry, off your skin and out of your respiratory system. Gloves, coveralls, a hat and eye ­protection will go a long way. 

Masking up is another priority. Disposable particle filter masks must fit facial contours, and it’s important to swap old masks for new ones regularly. Paint companies usually provide helpful details in their literature. In most cases, volatile solvents are the major concern. Avoid painting in confined spaces such as under a tented hull.

Paint selection depends on where you sail and how much of the year your boat spends in the water. For eco-friendly biocides, progress has been made in formulating super-slick coatings and paints that slough off along with the critters. In warm marine environments, Bryozoa have become a major bane to sailors. Some less-toxic bottom paints work on fast-planing powerboats, but slower-cruising sailboats are best served by hard or soft ablative coatings.        

Unfortunately, more and more boatyards are prohibiting DIY bottom work. Some yards provide hauling and blocking, and still let clients immerse themselves in the DIY tradition. At ­other yards, make sure to get a firm quote for what the yard will do, what paint will be used, and the number of coats. Also seek out feedback from friends who have used the service. 

Topsides

Gelcoat is an unsung hero in ­fiberglass-boat building. It can ­weather a decade of abuse from the ­elements with a minimal amount of maintenance. Fastidious ­sailors use ­compounds, polishes and waxes to further extend the gelcoat’s life span. 

At its core, gelcoat is a specialized resin that’s sprayed onto the hull mold. As the polymerization process unfolds, solvents leave the gelcoat via the inner surface (the side farthest from the mold). This process ensures that the layer against the mold develops into a glossy, much-less-porous stain-resistant outer skin. 

Excessive use of overly abrasive ­compounds removes too much of this hard outer layer. A good way to renew gelcoat gloss is to begin with a freshwater wash to dislodge loose grit. Follow up with a sponge, soft mop, or other ­nonabrasive scrub with a mild boat soap or dish detergent. The goal is to clean away grit without resorting to scrub pads and harsher detergents. 

Once this initial washdown is ­complete, note where the challenges lie. If there are rust stains, don’t attempt to scrub them away. Instead, use an oxalic acid gel to remove the rust stains chemically. In areas that appear greasy and sticky, try hot water with boat-washing detergent. If necessary, use Goo Gone, followed by a wash and rinse.

Newer gelcoats respond well to ­nonabrasive gloss-restoration products. For the first few years, waxing and buffing after a thorough washing is all it takes. If you use a power buffer, avoid high rpm rotation that can overheat and damage the gelcoat. 

The longer you can avoid the use of abrasive compounds, the better, but the day will come when oxidation leaves the gelcoat chalky, and the next step is to compound the surface with as fine a grit as will do the job. This restorative effort results in a satin-finish look. 

Eventually, the oxidation and ­compounding cycle removes too much gelcoat, necessitating a topside face-lift, usually in the form of a linear polyurethane paint job. 

Rigs and Rigging

Before there were Travelifts and Brownell boat stands, sailboat storage involved stepping and unstepping the mast annually. The cost savings of mast-stepped storage is significant, but spars and rigging do not always get the scrutiny they deserve. This is why the spring-­commissioning agenda should include a top-down rig and rigging inspection. 

Going aloft safely involves techniques that vary from rigger to rigger. Most agree that a climbing harness is better than a boatswain’s chair and that the skill of the crew handling the halyards on deck is important.

Spring commissioning should focus on ensuring systems reliability and seaworthiness—not adding an electronics network or replacing a rudder. 

Focus on components that hold up the mast, and on the running rigging used to set, furl and trim sails. Most inspections start at the masthead and work their way down to the deck. The process includes scrutiny of cotter and clevis pins, and a search for chafe and corrosion around halyard sheaves. 

Also look for halyard wear, especially near the roller-furling headsail’s top swivel. While aloft, test the navigation lights and wind instruments. 

During your slow descent, take a close look at spreaders and their ­mast-mounting hardware. This quick rig check is not as revealing as an ­unstepped-mast inspection would be, but it does offer a chance to catch and remedy potentially serious problems. 

Overall, a successful spring ­commissioning means there’s no water accumulating in the bilge, the helm is responsive, and a dozen or so other key operational attributes continue to ­function as designed.

The post How To Prioritize Your Sailboat’s Spring Checklist appeared first on Cruising World.

Your vessel’s spars undergo a constant torture test, almost from the day they are stepped. They are compressed and tensioned, exposed to cyclical loading, and battered by sunlight, salt spray, rain and potentially extreme temperature variations. It’s a wonder they hold up for as long as they do.

Most spars are made from aluminum alloy, typically 6061 series. Its strength-to-weight ratio, durability and corrosion resistance make it well-suited to the task. When exposed to the atmosphere, it immediately develops an invisible yet tough aluminum-oxide coating, which slows the corrosion process to a veritable crawl, provided a few criteria are achieved. Chief ­among these is near-­continuous exposure to ­oxygen. Herein lies the problem for spars that are painted.  

Aluminum is subject to a type of corrosion called poultice when it is exposed to water (typically, stagnant) that’s oxygen-depleted. When aluminum is painted, its surface no longer has access to oxygen. This prevents the formation of corrosion-preventive film. 

However, because the paint also excludes water—a necessary element in the poultice corrosion process—the aluminum remains corrosion-free.   

The challenge arises in maintaining a contiguous coating of paint. Wherever there is a breach, water can enter, setting in motion the poultice corrosion demon.  

Because spars are filled with holes, fittings and fasteners, and are subject to chafe and the occasional impact, maintaining this contiguous coating can be challenging.  

With nearly all painted spars, and with virtually all other painted aluminum deck components, poultice corrosion begins at hardware and fastener installations. By virtue of the installation itself, the paint coating is invariably fractured. Once water migrates beneath the paint, it interacts with the oxygen-deprived aluminum, generating an aluminum hydroxide blister. Beneath that blister, you will find a ­powdery (if the water has drained away) or gooey and whitish substance. Unchecked, it will cause the aluminum surface to waste away, leaving behind indentations or pits, ultimately compromising the integrity of the structure and leading to failure.

Poultice corrosion can be exacerbated if the paint breach is covered with a material that retains water. A classic location for this scenario is beneath spreader boots, where coatings are often fractured by standing rigging. The damage, even if to paint alone, can be costly to repair. 

I’ve also learned that spar poultice corrosion is relatively easy to prevent. First, wherever possible, avoid damage to paint. When it does occur, touch it up as quickly as possible. 

Because spars are filled with holes, fittings and fasteners, and are subject to chafe and the occasional impact, maintaining this contiguous coating can be challenging.

Second, make certain that every fastener and hardware flange that contacts the spar’s painted surface is thoroughly bedded in polyurethane or polysulfide bedding compound. While this does not prevent the paint breach, it does immediately fill it, preventing water from entering.

 Note that compounds are available for use on the threads of stainless fasteners that are screwed into aluminum substrates. While those are valuable in preventing galvanic corrosion and fastener seizure, they do not address the paint breach issue specifically, and they are not suitable for bedding of flanged components such as padeyes, winches, steps and antenna bases.  

Maintain coating integrity by bedding all hardware and fasteners, and you will keep your painted spars free of unsightly blisters while eliminating most poultice corrosion.

Steve D’Antonio offers services for boat owners through Steve D’Antonio Marine Consulting. 

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As sailboat races go, the first Wednesday-night race of the season was off to a cracking start. Our crew maneuvered ungracefully prestart, and we were sloppy tacking aboard the J/35, but our winter fog lifted as we beat toward the windward mark. 

Then the sailing therapy abruptly ended with a crash. 

As dismastings go, this one was uncomplicated. The windward cap shroud failed at the upper T fitting. What had been installed by a rigger the week before became a mess of wires, crumpled aluminum, and torn Kevlar. I was a sailmaker at the time, and my takeaway was clear: Never trust riggers.

Two decades later, I was aloft on our Stevens 47, Totem, to inspect newly fabricated and installed standing rigging. All was fine up to the second spreader, where I found several missing cotter pins. The memory of the dismasting came to mind. Our dream of sailing to the South Pacific with three young children suddenly felt riskier. We had hired the best rigger around, but the entire project was a fraught with mistakes and delays. A couple of bucks’ worth of missing parts could’ve toppled the mast, our dream and our safety.

Most sailors don’t think it’s necessary to inspect a rigger’s work, just as most drivers never inspect a car’s engine before driving away from a mechanic’s repair shop. But there is a difference. If a car repair is faulty, resources are nearby. Rigging problems at sea can be complicated, and there’s not usually an expert rigger around the corner. 

To prove reliability, you have to own it—really own responsibility for the condition of rigging, steering cables, through-hull fittings and more. This can feel daunting because it’s technical. 

For beginners, forget about rigging terminology and engineering. Also, don’t focus on finding cracked wire strands or fittings. That’s not to say ignore them if you find them, but cracked metal is a late discovery, well past safe limits. Instead, learn to spot clues that indicate early stages of a problem. 

For instance, look for rust on stainless steel and for corrosion on aluminum. Question why a line is getting harder and harder to pull. Sight up the mast while sailing to see if the mast profiles look smooth or lumpy, stable or dynamically bouncing. Look from side to side and from front to back. Note how slack the leeward shrouds are while sailing in different windspeeds. And get to the chainplate behind your bookshelf to look for water stains, especially rusty water stains that trail downward. 

These are all clues to potential problems. You don’t have to know the solution, but rigging failures happen mostly because nobody identified the clues.

Rigging Inspection Tips

Stainless steel should be shiny with a smooth, fluid look. Being rough, dull, splotchy or striated might indicate lower-quality metal, or it can mean that the metal has changed properties from age or use. Stainless steel is least effective at resisting rust when its surface is frequently abraded, such as a clevis pin securing the articulating parts of a boom gooseneck. This is also the case when the surface is deprived of the oxygen necessary to form a protective layer, such as bolts passing through a chainplate and bulkhead. 

Have a 10x loupe to amplify what you cannot see well enough with eyes alone. Look for general surface smoothness, pitting and cracks. Light-orange rust is probably superficial, and is easily cleaned with white vinegar and a rag. Darker red and brown rust can indicate failing or failed metal. 

Does the rust have a pronounced line or edge? This could be a crack, even if it’s not opened up yet. Photograph the area to note the date and condition. Then clean away the rust to assess surface problems. If rust reforms in the same areas within several weeks, the metal is not right and needs further attention.

Additional checks for rigging wire include looking for uneven gaps between the wire strands. Run your hand over the wire, feeling for any strands that are slightly raised. These can be broken strands, which might be hidden inside a swage fitting.

Understanding Alignment

Another thing to consider is alignment. It’s the relationship between the direction of a rigging load (force) and the orientation of the rigging component meant to carry that load.

Take a pencil, grasp each end, and try to pull the pencil apart. You probably can’t. Now secure half the pencil length to a table, with the other half extending past the edge. Push down on the overhanging end. It breaks easily. 

The pencil is surprisingly strong when load is parallel to the length of the pencil. The more misaligned the load is to the length, the easier it is to break the pencil. 

It’s the same concept with rigging. Chainplates should be shaped and oriented to transfer load down the length of the metal and into the bulkhead. If the chainplate has an angle out of alignment with the shroud, then the metal flexes to pull it straight if there is enough load. The more it flexes, the weaker and more brittle the chainplate gets. 

This was the cause of our J/35 dismasting. The T fitting at the top of the shroud was set incorrectly in the mast slot. The forced misalignment was too much for the metal, and it failed.

The most common misalignment I see on rigging is with toggles—the U-shaped linkage used at the bottom of every turnbuckle and numerous other parts of standing rigging. A toggle fitted over a chainplate is often wider than the chainplate. There is room enough that the toggle slides, so one side is against the chainplate. The other side, with a gap between it and the chainplate, is misaligned to the load. The rounded-end portion of the toggle (the bottom of the U) is stressed and flexed, ever so slightly. This cycle loading, coupled with the metal pieces scraping against each other and no oxygen, is a recipe for trouble. 

Where the surfaces come together is a good place to look for dark-red or brown rust on the toggle. This misalignment is easily corrected by adding a few bucks’ worth of nylon washers to keep the chainplate centered within the U of the toggle.

A Sad, Common Tale

We did sail Totem to the South Pacific in 2010. In one year sailing between Mexico and Australia, I counted 15 boats that had dismasted along the way, and a few near dismastings. One occurred on friends’ Tayana 52 after the headstay chainplate sheared off at deck level on passage to remote Suwarrow in the Cook Islands. 

Their chainplate was ­oriented fore and aft. After years of sailing with the wind force in the genoa pushing the headstay side to side, imperceptible flexing in the chainplate without ­structural support to counter the misaligned force weakened the metal to the point of breaking. 

Fortunately, in that case, the inner forestay and a downwind sailing angle (where forces pushing the mast forward create less load on the headstay) were enough to support the mast through the midnight fire drill to reduce sail and destress the rigging. But the lesson remains the same: Try to spot and fix these problems before they reach this point.

As I write this, Totem is nearly ready to sail west across the Pacific Ocean again. Our 30-month refit has left much of Totem new, except the mast, which is original at 42 years old. The standing rigging is only four years young, but I’ll be aloft with my 10x loupe regularly in hopes of keeping the trip uncomplicated, as ocean crossings go.

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Preparing your diesel engine for the upcoming season is a task not to be feared, as long as you follow a thorough checklist and take your time to ensure that each step is completed correctly. Here’s a guide to help you navigate the basics of the de-winterization process, and to ensure reliable performance and optimal engine health throughout the sailing season. 

1. Inspect the engine compartment. Start by looking for any signs of damage, leaks or corrosion that may have occurred during the winter months. Check all hoses, belts and connections for cracks, wear or deterioration, and replace any damaged components as needed.

2. Change the engine oil and filter. Drain the old engine oil and replace it with fresh, high-quality diesel-engine oil of the recommended grade. Also, replace the oil filter to ensure optimal engine performance and lubrication during the upcoming sailing season.

3. Check the fuel system. Look for signs of contamination or water buildup that may have occurred during storage. Drain any water or sediment from the fuel tank, and replace the fuel filters to ensure clean fuel flow to the engine.

4. Inspect the cooling system. Check the coolant level, and top off the coolant if necessary. Inspect hoses, clamps, and connections for leaks or damage. Ensure that the raw-water intake and cooling system are free from debris or blockages that could affect engine cooling.

5. Inspect and test the batteries. Check the condition of the batteries, and clean the terminals to ensure good electrical connections. Charge the batteries fully. Test them to ensure that they are holding a charge and are capable of starting the engine reliably.

6. Pre-lubricate the engine. Before starting the engine for the first time after winter storage, manually turn the crankshaft a few times using a wrench or socket. This helps circulate oil throughout the engine and prevents dry starts, reducing wear on engine components.

7. Start the engine and monitor it. Once everything is inspected, cleaned and prepared, start the engine, and let it run at idle for a few minutes to ensure proper oil circulation and fuel flow. Watch the engine gauges for abnormalities, and listen for unusual noises or vibrations that may indicate issues.

8. Do a test run. Take the boat out for a short ride to ensure that the engine is running smoothly and performing as expected. Monitor the engine temperature, oil pressure and other vital parameters, and address any issues immediately.

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