Capt'n Pauley's Pages

Boating writer and video producer Paul Esterle and I have teamed up in a joint venture to deliver multimedia presentations about a range of cruising and boat maintenance topics. Paul (www.captnpauley.com) is a boating writer and “man for all vessels” with many years and a wide range of boat maintenance experience. He publishes in popular magazines such as SAIL, Blue Water Sailing, and Good Old Boat, and is Technical Editor for Small Craft Advisor Magazine. In addition, Paul has produced a series of boating related videos and CDs, including the instructional video used by Spartite(TM) at boat shows.

This is a complementary partnership. I share my cruising experience to help people effectively prepare to go cruising, but my hands-on maintenance experience is limited to handing over tools and lending extra hands to a particular project. Paul delves deeply into the how-to aspects of boat ownership and knows the ins and outs of getting the job done right. Combining our talents will give the cruising and general boating communities a great pool of advice and insight.

In addition to the free articles listed at the right, Paul's ebooklet series are be available for purchase here.  The first, Basic Maintenance, is comprised of five separate booklets available individually or as a group.

Basic Maintenance Series
These booklets form the basis of Paul's future series. They cover all the basic skills involved in boat maintenance. Paul describes each topic area in a well-organized, easy to understand manner, and includes photos and illustrations to make things even easier to grasp.  Check out the topic of each booklet and some of the contents you will find.

By the way, are you thinking that you already know how to do this stuff?
Great. How about your cruising partner?  Does she (or he) know these basic skills too? If not, these booklets will be excellent educational and reference sources!

Purchase the Entire Series (5 booklets, $37.97)

#1 - Using Epoxy (29 pages, $9.97)
There are two kinds of small boat owners, those who already know about and use epoxy and those who will need to…

This booklet is about epoxy and its uses, including additives and reinforcements, along with a few examples of how Paul has used these materials.

• Additives & Materials
• Tools
• Getting Organized
• Cleaning up
• Reinforcements
• Woven Fiberglass
• Fiberglass Matting
• Unidirectional Fiberglass roving
• Carbon fiber, Kevlar and other fibers
• Foam, plywood and other materials
• Some Quick Examples (Patching a Panel, Rebuilding a Panel, Varnishing Epoxy)

Purchase Booklet #1 Now

#2 - Tools & Techniques (18 pages, $7.97)
How to find alternative methods to use what you have instead of postponing projects until you "might" have all the tools you think you will need.

• Workbenches
• Power Tools (Drills, Saws, Routers, Sanders)
• Miscellaneous Tools
• Techniques (Bench Guide, Pattern Guide)
   

• Materials
• Tools
• Spiling
   

• Getting Started
• Core Construction
• Wet Decks/Core
• Attaching Hardware
• A "Quickie" Method
• Dealing with Openings
• Patching a Hole
• Installing and Sealing Hardware
• Sealants
• Preparation
• Taping Technique
• "Bump" Technique
• Clean Up
   

• Boatbuilding Woods
• Lumber
• StarBoard®
• Laminates
• Deck Tiles