Paul Hoffman was showing off some of this material at the Seattle Boat Show today (East 1132).

Brighterworks custom-fabricates companionways, caprails, grab rails, and tables for sailboats and motor yachts using high-density polyethylene (HDPE), a highly uv-resistant, super hard plastic made specifically for the marine industry by Seaboard.

Whether your brightwork is made of teak, mahogany, brass or stainless, they can replace it with well-crafted, low-maintenance “brighterwork”.

I was impressed with the workmanship, and on some boats this could be a really nice alternative to wood, especially if you’re not too attached to your teak. But make no mistake: your first impression is going to be “This is plastic wood!” If that’s going to offend your sensibilities, this is not a product for you. For many of us who would rather not refinish it every year or two, though, this could be a perfectly acceptable alternative.

With apologies to They Might Be Giants, and in appreciation of their 1990 song “Particle Man“:

Aluminum man, aluminum man;
Aluminum man meets stainless man.
They have a fight, stainless wins;
Stainless man…

If you don’t know the song, that probably doesn’t mean much. But I was motivated to rewrite the lyrics to that song by today’s post over at Capt’n Pauley’s Virtual Boatyard:

An aluminum mast step coupled with an aluminum mast sounds like a good idea and it was. That is, until a PO (previous owner) decided to add a stainless steel mast base organizer under the aluminum mast step casting.

A mast base organizer is a piece of stainless steel with four ears, one on each side of the rectangular center. The ears are turned up at an angle and have holes spaced in them. The holes are for attaching turning blocks for the various lines coming off the mast. The turning blocks then aim the lines at their respective winches or cleats.

While they are handy things to have, the combination of aluminum castings, stainless steel and saltwater is not a good combination. The less noble metal, in this case the cast aluminum mast base, corrodes. And this one had done so. My first inkling of trouble was the fact that the fasteners were locked in corrosion and had to be cut away.

You can see the remains of the corroded mast base, the organizer, and some progress toward a solution in this image:

Definitely keep reading! The finished product, retaining the aluminum mast AND the stainless steel organizer, but without any metal-to-metal contact between the two, is a miracle of do-it-yourselfer ingenuity:

I try not to get too excited about products I haven’t seen in person. But long-time readers will remember my attempt to overhaul my (dead) Sprint 400 windlass. Replacement was the only option, it turned out, so I covered the hole in my foredeck and went cruising.

That was last August, and I’m embarrassed to say that the foredeck still has that funny piece of plastic bolted to it. Imagine my delight to discover a compact, high-quality windlass with all the features I want.

Let’s see what the press release tells us…

Now, boaters can enjoy the water more and spend less time figuring out their marine equipment. Rated as the number one automatic rope/chain windlass in its class by an independent test report, Maxwell America’s Freedom Series offers simple mounting, saving boaters time and money.

Featuring easy two piece installation, the Freedom Series allows users to retrofit without disassembly of the windlass. The topworks can be fully dismantled by utilizing the handle provided and a screwdriver. No special tools are required.

Editor’s note: This is a HUGE benefit to me. Take a look at my attempts to overhaul the old one (here and here). Boaters need to face the fact that it’s a windlass, and you’ll need to get inside it some day.

A unique spacer tube design allows installation through almost any deck thickness. Alternative gearbox/motor positions accommodate virtually all mounting situations.

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Remember Accon Marine flush-mount tie-downs? Come on, folks, it was just last week! This thing:

Anyway, I heard from Erica Ring at Accon, and here’s what she had to say:

To answer your questions:

Yes, it is more like one big hole and four smaller screw holes.  The easiest way to install would be to use a hole saw for the big hole and drop the tie down in to mark the other 4 holes.

The sealing cup is to prevent water from getting behind the tie down.  It just drops into the hole and is secured along with the tie down by the four screws.

I hope this clears things up.  If not, please let me know and I will try to clarify

Got it. Thanks, Erica!

[I get press releases for all kinds of doodads and fittings. Here's one that could be just the thing when you need a low-profile hardpoint installed flush with the surface of a bulkhead or deck. But I'm just a little bit confused about how it's installed. Read on... —Tim]

When riding the waves, it’s important to keep everyone aboard safe and all equipment in the boat. With Accon Marine’s 195 Large and 196 Small Tie Downs, all loose gear can be secured to the deck.

Great for poling platforms, scuba gear and fenders, these Tie Downs can be used anywhere equipment needs to stay in place. The Large version measures 3.5″ L x 3.5″ W x 1.25″ D and is also ideal for docks. Suited for use on personal watercraft, the Small model is 2″ L x 2″ W x 1″ D.

Constructed from stainless steel, the Tie Down’s assembly consists of the main body and sealing cup. Installation is simple and only requires owners to drill a single hole and fasten the Tie Down with four screws. The 195 model needs a 2-1/2″ hole, while the small 196 model requires a 1-1/2″ hole.

[Hold on a minute: A single hole? Don't they mean one big whole and four small ones? And I want to know more about the "sealing cup"; I'm going to bed this with my beloved polysulfide anyway, right? I better check with the manufacturer. —Tim]

Accon Marine’s 195 Large Tie Down has a retail price of $40.71, while the 196 Small Tie Down is priced at $17.92.

Inventor of the original Pop-Up cleat, Accon Marine specializes in flush mounted, stainless steel hardware, enhancing a boater’s experience. With fresh ideas and innovation as its industry trademarks, Accon Marine strives for high-quality in its products.

Capt’n Pauley’s Virtual Boatyard is already full of great ideas, and now he’s launching a new feature called Capt’n Pauley’s Sketchbook. The first sketch is a line storage basket made from a plain old plastic wastepaper basket and some teak battens.

Because sometimes the best boating gear solutions are those you come up with yourself. Or steal from folks on the internet!

At the Seattle Boat Show, I met Gregg Casagrande of SeaSucker. He was demonstrating various boating accessories that mounted temporarily with a sort of fancy-looking suction cup; everything from cup holders to fishing rod holders to electronics mounts. I mentioned these products in my “final days” reminder. Today I’ll explain what impressed me.

We’ve all seen various suction-cup goodies over the years. If you’re like me, you regard suction cups as occasionally and temporarily useful, but not to be relied upon. Certainly not for anything fragile—wine glasses and electronics, for instance.

The SeaSucker products belong in a different category, though. Clear your mind, take a deep breath, and let the SeaSucker website explain why:

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Here are some vendors you should not overlook during your visit to the Seattle Boat Show, which runs through Sunday this year.

 
Our old friends from GetStorganized are present (East 1429), and they’ve got some new items to show.

 
Our new friends from SeaSucker are in East 1329, with a line of high-quality suction-mounted products familiar to east-coast boaters, but virtually unheard of on the west coast. This is their first boat show in our region.

Our friends at BoatLeather are present (East 1332) with leather wheel covers, chafing gear, and other functional and beautiful fixture coverings. They’ve also got these clever utility clips that slip over typical cylindrical rails.

The BottomSiders folks have a display (East 513) that shows how their custom-fabricated cockpit cushions are constructed. These are especially popular in sailboat cockpits, but more and more power boaters are finding applications for them as well.

And even if you didn’t bring any children along, head down to the Center For Wooden Boats pond (West 11, under the stairs at the south end of the hall), have a seat, and watch the action for a few minutes.

[This information provided by the manufacturer. —Tim]

After extensive research and development, Quick introduces its latest vertical anchor windlasses, the state-of-the-art Aleph and Dylan.  Designed for the harsh marine environment, these windlasses are constructed from heavy-duty materials for trouble-free operation in the most demanding situations.

For boats 22′ to 49′ in length, the innovative Aleph is manufactured from aluminum anodized in hard oxide.  Unlike common types of anodization, this method provides a hard oxide layer up to 50 micron thick.  This high-thickness increases surface area hardness and resistance to corrosion and abrasion while also providing a longer service life.

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The cap plate I fabricated to cover the hole left from my old bit-the-dust Sprint 400 anchor windlass worked out great. To recap, I was reluctant to go cruising with blue duct tape all over the foredeck:

So with a little help from a member of the crew, I got all the tape removed, and replaced it with my temporary cap plate. I think it looks about 1000% better than duct tape!
 

But then, once I got the anchor mounted, without the windlass taking up the slack, I realized that the inboard end of the anchor is going to bang, bang, bang against the foredeck each time I go over a wave. That is not acceptable.

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