DIY for motivated masochists, sorry, boat owners

Optimize Your Cruising Sailboat: 101 Ways to Make Your Sailboat Better

By John Roberts,

ISBN: 0-07-141951-9

Boat Improvements for the Practical Sailor

By Stephen J. Fishman

ISBN: 1-57409-068-2

The weather outside may be frightful, but the cabin sole’s delightful, or so the sailor’s take on the old song might go. ‘Tis the season for hot toddies by the fire, to be sure, but only after a good weekend day’s work on a cloaked boat.

Yes, now, in the proverbial dead of, and not in the merry month of May, is the best time to attack those fix-it projects aboard. Whether you own a boat of sail or power, the one thing all folk of the sea seem to have in common is the inordinate amount of maintenance, improvement, repair and plain upkeep their vessels demand. That’s why a good nautical library tends to break down into two parts: one, books of rousing tales of adventure at sea, and the other? Books with chapter headings like “How to Fix Your Refrigeration Before The Steaks Thaw” and “Advanced Crimping”.

Winter boat shows may convince you to get fancy electronic gear or robotic PFDs, but a couple of books reviewed below address the more practical side of boating: where to put stuff, and how to correct the flaws and shortcomings endemic to the production boat industry, where they sure know how to make good looking boats, but try to find chart stowage or a decent wet locker these days. Or fiddles where fiddles should be. Or a place to stow binoculars or that probably not at all waterproof GPS that keeps bouncing around the cockpit.

Well, I could go on, but these books do it better, and provide easy to make solutions for ambitious sailors looking to add comfort, class and safety to their pride and joy. Both books are similar to Ferenc Mate’s now-venerable The Finely Fitted Yacht, but are much more up-to-date and don’t feature Mate’s idiosyncratic sense of encrusted humour. The first book, Optimize Your Cruising Sailboat, is a new one from John Roberts, who did something similar with Why Didn’t I Think ofThat?, a compendium of sailor-tested tips, tricks and fabrications for a more pleasant trip at sea. This book is somewhat more in-depth and rigorous, being divided into sections headed Make Your Boat More Comfortable, Easier to Handle, More Seaworthy and so on.

Roberts assumes an intermediate level of skill on the part of the reader, such that if you aren’t comfortable cutting new portholes or drilling and bedding deck hardware, call guys who can and point at the diagrams. Projects like fabricating companionway doors and covering the interior cabin lining with wood are fairly labour-intensive, but making stern rail seating could be done to a professional-looking standard on a calm afternoon. Roberts does reintroduce some bygone ideas to the modern boat owner that are too clever to stay forgotten, like angled teak grab bars in the head, grab poles in today’s cavernous cabins, and the nearly extinct art of installing lee cloths, which is a very handy and I think essential method of staying put when off watch in a seaway.

Some things Roberts mentions, like how to rig reef lines and why fixed props slow boats down, are pretty basic, but I still found this a worthwhile read, as would any fan of the books of Don Casey or the various columns in Cruising World and similar magazines.

By contrast, BoatImprovements for the Practical Sailor has fewer projects, but greater depth. This book is a well-written set of instructions on how to do common improvements and repairs right, the first time. Particularly helpful are diagrams and names of some of the specialty tools, techniques and products used in boat repair, with a sound evaluation of all the alternatives and their proper use. Good examples include: how to bring control lines to the cockpit, how to insulate the engine compartment, installing a second shore power inlet, and how to maximize battery and bilge pump performance. Fishman’s style is clear and concise, and as he’s essentially self-taught, his tone is pleasantly matter-of-fact. There are several projects dealing with the installation or improvement of electronic gear, such as cockpit stereos and VHFs, TVs and their antennas, and the like. As many sailors use their boats as small, pointy cottages as much as sail-powered vessels, Fishman’s projects will appeal to them.

The problem and the pluses of books like these is that hardly anyone will read them from cover to cover, because the improvements range from dead obvious to fairly daunting (anyone up for fabbing a V-berth cedar closet? Fishman is) and for some people, these are just another pair of hobbyist books. For others, however, if even one chapter provokes an “aha! I can do that and save hundreds!” moment, they are well worth the read and the price.