Spurr's Boatbook

Book excerpt: Now in its second edition, completely revised and updated, Spurr's Boatbook remains the best single source for understanding and improving your boat. You need not live with a dark or dank cabin, insufficient space for stowage or chartwork, or sheet winches, halyards, and reefing arrangements so inconvenient that you often find yourself motoring when you'd rather be sailing. Somewhere beneath your boat's crazed gelcoat, untamed rig, patchwork electrical system, and stubborn steering lies the boat of your dreams. This book will enable you to envision that boat in detail--how its deck hardware is laid out, what the rig looks like, where its hull and decks are reinforced, and how its cabin arrangements are altered to fit your needs. And the book will help you translate that vision into reality by showing you what work should be done and in what order, which projects you can do yourself and which you should probably hire out, and how much time or money might be involved. Along the way, Dan Spurr gives step-by-step instructions, supported by Bruce Bingham's beautifully clear drawings, for many useful projects any do-it-yourselfer can tackle, including autopilot installation, deck hardware modifications, and electrical system upgrades. The gear, equipment, design, and construction standards cited in this book--often in very specific detail with brand-name recommendations--are as useful for evaluating a new boat as they are for buying a used boat or improving the boat you already own.