Customer Reviews

Don Casey's Complete Illustrated Sailboat Maintenance Manual: Including Inspecting the Aging Sailboat, Sailboat Hull and Deck Repair, Sailboat Refinishing, Sailbo

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is a must have for the occasional do-it-your-selfer. Being a compilation of all of the Don Casey books on sailboat maintenance, I find myself pulling this book off the shelf more often than any other maintenance book I own.

I find the drawings and step by step instructions to be well thought out and easy to follow. Geared for the occasional weekend warrior, this book shows you how to do it right while pointing out many of the pitfalls that often accompany a sailboat maintenance project.

I highly recommend it for those like me who own an aging sailboat but don't have a Pentagon sized budget laying on the side to give the yard.

This is compilation of 5 Don Casey's books, but only very small portions of material are doubled. There is part on marine diesel, but there isn't on marine gas engine. Fiberglass repair chapter describes only strightforward repairs of the hull. I couldn't find much info about propeler and rudder shafts repairs. But these are my only complains.
Besides it is excellent book full of very clear pictures. Great source of info about materials and paints, great chapter on AC/DC systems etc.
I probably won't buy any other "sailboat repairs" book.

I own a 30 foot sailboat that is just about 30 years old. Although my boat is in overall good condition, there are always things to touch up and fix.

I am extremely happy with this book and refers to it constantly before attemtption a new task. A few of the things I have used the book for:
- Refinishing interior wood
- Maintaining the engine (oil changes, valve settings, shaft alinghtment)
- Maintaining topsides (gelcoat repairs, general maintenance and upkeep, re-sealing deck hardware)
- Electrical work, troubleshooting stray currents and partial re-wiring
- Maintaining and fixing the head
- Canvas work is next. :-)

I am amazed at Don Casey's huge knowledge on sailboat maintenance and repair. I do not think there is a better or more copmlete book on the subject of sailboat maintenance.

I highly recommend this book for all sailboat owners. I can also reconmmend it as a gift.

Fair winds to you!

As full-time cruising liveaboards for the past 3 1/2 years, I can honestly say that every sailboat owner should have a copy of this fantastic book!

From engine issues to canvas work there isn't any feature about sailboat maintenance Don hasn't covered in good easy to understand detail. When things go wrong (and they always do) his book is the first place I turn to figure out what course of action to take.

For those who wish to do all the work themselves or for those that will hire others, the book will pay for itself many times over without a doubt.
Great illustrations and a subtle wit make this a very enjoyable read.

It's always enjoyable to discover a product that delivers real value and not just fluffy hype... obviously written by a guy who really does know his stuff!

Beware when you buy Don Casey-books. If you are not careful, you end up with buying the same books twice. This book is a compilation of 6 books by Don Casey that has previously been published separately.

Don Casey is easy to read, but at the same time he is never shallow. There are plenty of illustrations. Here you get a lot of information. It is written for sailboats, but I think every boat-owner should have a copy.

I got this book based on previous reviews, and because my husband and I just bought a 40 year old sailboat that is in good shape but needs some restoration, and we know very little about restoring a boat. My husband is a very handy guy, and always needs a project to be working on (eg. a old boat). First thing he did was open the book, flip through it, and declare it a waste of money because he could have figured all of this stuff out on his own! Now, after actually READING parts of it, he has to have it next to the boat at all times and calls it his Boat Bible. Before doing anything he consults this book first. To date we have just started renovating the boat, but I am sure this book will be well used by the end of the project.

got this book, in part, to try and gauge how big problems would be with some used boats we were looking at. covers lots of ground and I've seen his work reproduced in some other books we have on the same subjects, for what that's worth. it's a great way to get some armchair project time in over the cold winter months!

This manual is so valuable it should be made available in Kindle. I'd be the first to buy in addition to my hard copy.

Only four stars here for his bad advice on cleaning teak. He is using TSP (tri-sodium phosphate) to wash teak. Do NOT use TSP or a brush on teak ever. Not only is TSP environmentally unsound, after all, we removed phosphates from our laundry soaps, but you would be much better off using Murphy's Oil Soap or the linseed oil soap you can order from Solvent Free Paint dot com. You can also use Lyn and Larry Pardy's method of cleaning teak with half a lemon to bleach it out. Casey also recommends using a brush and rubbing with the grain of the wood. If you do that, you'll be gouging out the soft fibers of the teak and be left with only the hard raised cells, kind of like swiss cheese. Read the Pardy's book on boat maintenance for much better wood maintenance methods that will keep your teak looking good for years to come. Also, don't use Cetol for the finish because it's been found to melt certain glues. Instead, use the marine varnishes sold by Solvent Free Paint dot com because you don't have to sand them. They soak into the wood and in five years you just add more, no scraping! They also have marine worthy paints, same process of eventual penetration into the wood, after which you just dab on some of their linseed oil or more paint if needed. Or build up layers of tung oil.

If I'd taken a minute, I would have realized that this book is by the author of our old and much used This Old Boat, with much of the same material as This Old. The illustrations are clear. I'm not sure why he has two versions of what is essentially the same book.

Every sailboat owner should own this comprehensive guide for repairing their boats. This handbook pulls parts from five other books into one handy resource.