Walking around the trailer I couldn’t see a thing. I ran my hands around the tires and on one things didn’t feel right … a bulge. The section of tire that seemed ‘off’ was resting on the pavement so I couldn’t see much. I moved the truck forward about a foot. Looking at the tire I could clearly see that the tread was failing and cords were showing. Back to the shop I went for a tire change! … More Trailer tire lifespan is short
The tires on a boat trailer are not the same as those on your car or truck. Trailer tires are designed and manufactured differently and treating them like automotive tires will cause you problems. … More Safer trailering – tires
Trailers are very different ‘beasts’ than their tow vehicles. Their moving parts – axle, wheels, hubs, lighting get abused through through the multiple dunkings in water … the worse offender being saltwater … and neglect. As a result it is up to you as a trailer owner to keep a close eye on your boat’s ‘road wheels’. In this post I’ll be covering trailer hubs. … More Safer trailering – hubs
Besides the joy of going down memory lane and reading old entries, information noted about how the boat sailed, anchorages, weather patterns, etc. are great resources for future voyages. Keeping track of items needing attention when back home is also helpful … this was especially helpful after the first sea trails conducted on AIR BORN in the San Juan and Gulf Islands. … More Keeping a ship’s log
Trailer sailors are great boats … one of many reasons it is easy to inspect the rigging each time the boat is put on/off the water as we rise/lower the mast. … More Rigging Inspections
As Spring has come I am touching up AIR BORN’s rudder & tiller varnish. Sage 17 and Montomery 15 owners, as the rudder design is the same, will find this post helpful in doing rudder and tiller maintenance on their boats. … More Spring commissioning – rudder and tiller
a common question is ‘where and how do you cook? … More Feeding the body part 1 – where to cook and what with?
Oil is a simple and easy solution that works very well. The #1 thing to do is keep up the oil treatments so the teak doesn’t begin to weather. I didn’t do a great job of keeping AIR BORN’s teak oiled and as a result I needed to put some extra effort into getting it ‘ship shape‘. If AIR BORN’s teak had been treated with varnish, or ‘a varnish-like product, the job of getting the teak looking good would have taken over a week (best case) or more than two weeks. Because I use oil the task was competed in just over three hours. … More Spring commissioning – cleaning teak
M17 #375 - SWEET PEA 