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Chain size and length, explained

Chain size and length, explained

Posted by Dave on Apr 25th 2023

There are two key chain measurements that you must know in order to replace your chain: length and size. Both are straightforward. "Size" refers to the pitch (length) and width of each link. There are two common chain sizes that likely cover everyone: #50 and #60. These sizes refer to ANSI (Ameri …
What's the future of teak?

What's the future of teak?

Posted by Dave on Apr 10th 2023

Teak has always been a primary material for boats of all sizes, for many reasons. It's beautiful, it's incredibly weather resistant and heard wearing, it's tolerant of maintenance lapses, and did I mention that it's beautiful? It's also always been expensive, and it also has a tendency to grow in po …
Centering your steering

Centering your steering

Posted by Dave on Apr 3rd 2023

We've been banging on about the wisdom of finally replacing your boat's old and worn chain and wire, and offering a spoonful of sugar to help the process along. The response has been very encouraging, and as TravelLift operators across the country hear "ladies and gentlemen, start your engines!" it' …
Anchoring in the Exumas

Anchoring in the Exumas

Posted by Dave on Mar 27th 2023

We get to talk about cruising with cruisers a lot here at Edson, and fortunately sometimes we even get to go do it. I recently got to spend some time cruising in the Exumas and came away with a ton of thoughts about various things as well as a strong desire to get back there soon. Anchoring is …
Passage Prep

Passage Prep

Posted by Dave on Feb 8th 2023

Whether you plan to do one of the many major distance races on the 2023 calendar, or plan to stretch your boundaries with a bigger offshore passage this year, making sure your steering is well-prepared is a key consideration. We've put together our best passage prep tips, tricks, and know-how&n …
How wheel size affects steering

How wheel size affects steering

Posted by Dave on Jan 27th 2023

A couple of posts ago, we alluded to the effect that a different size wheel will have on steering. In addition to practical considerations like making it impossible to move around the cockpit or having the wheel clang against the floor or cockpit seats, changing the wheel diameter will affect the lo …
One wheel good, two wheels better?

One wheel good, two wheels better?

Posted by Dave on Jan 10th 2023

When I first started racing on big boats, the coolest boats all had gigantic wheels, preferably sunk deep into the deck. Getting the helmsperson outboard as far and as comfortably as possible was the goal. On our family's classic C&C 34, good luck seeing the jib telltales or anything else forwar …
Fitting a new sailboat steering wheel

Fitting a new sailboat steering wheel

Posted by Dave on Dec 28th 2022

For any number of reasons (some of which will be the subject of subsequent posts), you may want to change your sailboat's steering wheel. While this is actually more straightforward than a lot of other boat projects you might do, there are a few parameters that you need to account for to both g …
Cable Clamp Tricks

Cable Clamp Tricks

Posted by Dave on Dec 19th 2022

Our friends* at Captain Q posted a video of a staggeringly nice Ted Hood boat last week, and a few astute commenters caught a great but easily missed detail on the quadrant. Leaving aside how urgently this steering cable looks like it needs replacement - the strands show obvious rust and I …
Annapolis Boat Show 2022

Annapolis Boat Show 2022

Posted by Dave on Oct 19th 2022

What a great show at Annapolis this year, and this coming from a reluctant boat show participant. With Thursday morning and pack-out time as notable exceptions, the weather was fantastic which brought out big crowds. Normally, there's a formula of x = crowd size * crowd quality, where "x" is a const …