Recent content by Don Smith

I'm a day sailor/coastal cruiser and agree with Christian's comments, but I think he omitted one important thing. The sailmaker should deliver the new sail to your boat and go with you for a half hour sail. That way if there's a minor deficiency in the new sail the sail maker can observe it in...

This an old story locally inasmuch as it was covered years ago in great detail by the LA Times newspaper, as I recall. At the time some of the more strident tree-hugger types insisted that all of the the DDT had to be removed from the sea floor and properly disposed of on land. However...

My boat is berthed close to this one, so if any of you from outside the area are interested and want me to take a look at it and report back with my amateur's opinion let me know. I think most us of have taken long drives to look at boats that turned out to be not as advertised.

I second Christian's comments . Several years ago I took a damaged stanchion to a weld shop that does stainless steel work to fabricate a replacement. They recommended straightening instead. They straightened it and it turned out fine. Unrelated comment: I've found that shops that make and...

E26 I had a couple of interior cushions replaced on my 1985 E26. I was advised by a couple of sages at the marina to avoid marine shops and find an auto upholstery shop. I took the worn cushions to an auto shop and they used them as patterns to make new ones. They were able to closely match the...

My E26 has a similar set-up. There's a short piece of rubber hose leading from the locker drain hole to the exterior drain hole. Put a couple of gallons of soapy water into the anchor locker. Then from outside insert a piece of somewhat stiff, insulated copper electrical wire into the drain...

E26 head porthole Roger, for years I kept repairing the sliding portlight in the head but was never able to get it watertight. Finally I replaced it with a Lewmar opening porthole and have been happy with the results. The only downside is that it makes all the original portlights look kind of...

My view is that safety items, like, "Examine/replace lifelines", belong in the High Priority column of your Trello Board, while merely cosmetic tasks such as, "clean interior", do not. I agree that you need to go sailing too as you risk hating your boat, and if you have a wife she may hate...

Rather than thinking of this as a long sail from MDR to Dana Point, think of it as two consecutive day sails. In my youth I twice single-handed an O-Day 17 center boarder without engine from MDR to San Diego, harbor hopping along the way. Only once did I come in after dark, but that was okay...

I'm not a lawyer. My non-lawyer understanding is that in terms of liabilities, there's a big difference between a private party selling something and someone who is in the business of selling the item. By example, if you sell your used boat there's probably little legal liability absent fraud...

Less animosity If you ever have the misfortune to be in the area again, try King Harbor which is about 12 miles south of MDR, and about 1000 miles away in attitude. Captain Don Gitana, E26

Sometimes giving up is the smartest way to go I had similar issues with the head window of my E26. I removed it, worked on it and reinstalled it at least three times before I gave up and purchased a Lemar replacement. I never was able to determine the cause of the leak. The replacement looks...

I own a 1985 E26 and about 20 years ago had damaged fiberglass and rubrail. It was an insurance job and the boatyard was able to locate new rubrail, which apparently is a stock item sold by the foot. You'll probably want to replace the entire length of rubrail on the side damaged. The boat...

Chris, would you consider a 1985 E26 with diesel engine? Boat and all systems in excellent condition. If interested email me at jumpy48@aol.com. Captain Don

Lee shore, Redondo Beach, Boat Lost My boat is berthed in King Harbor and I've sailed through this areas hundreds of times. There's an anomaly in the bottom near the harbor entrance commonly referred to as the Redondo Trench or the Redondo Canyon, which runs approximately parallel to the...