wheels

It is called Polyester, because that is what we were all used to. But Polyester was done away with waaaay back in the 70's. Polyester is the resin that caused Osmosis issues. That changed ruffly around 1972, although that was a slow change as stocks slowly deminished and the new Vinylester took it's place. However the name Polyester was never dropped fro use. Everyone still called it Polyester. Basically, it looked the same, smelled the same, worked the same. Except it didn't let water through it via Osmosis. The blisters that are sometines seen on modern hulls are not the same. They come ab

Most solid glass boats are not made from Epoxy. They are Vinyl Ester. Only specialised type hulls get laid up using epoxies. Like specialised racing hulls. The new names on the market have not been around for all that long in comparison to the two staples, being West and Epiglass. Plus not as many boats are built in back yards today either, so the market is not like the old days. Much less quantity to make a name with. Epiglass and West are the two most common for Boats because they were formulated specifically for use in the boat building market. Not al Epoxies are created equal. An epoxy

Before covid here in NZ or before covid world wide. Remember that the rest of the world was dramatically affected a whole year to year and a half before NZ was. Some products have undergone ownership changes and thus are now under different names or product lines dropped and others added. Especially in the coatings industry. For Anti-fouls, new regulations have meant some of the old lines no longer exist. Hence why i said it is a whole lot of diffferent issues coming together. There is no one issue, it's a myriad.

There are several issues that have come together to make that perfect storm scenario. The biggy is that products produced in several overseas countries are near impossible to get at the mo, due to the problems Covid caused. Other products produced here in NZ have had issues with getting raw materials. The issue is over much of the market in NZ, not just a few marine related brands.

Very sad. Does anyone know anymore about this, re what could have happened. https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/news/national/family-of-kiwi-couple-killed-in-tonga-fundraise-to-bring-them-home

IT is correct in that a breaker is normally used to protect cable, not device. However, The Anchor winch is possibly the only circuit on a boat, in which the breaker is there to protect the Winch itself, as well as cable. That is because there are no other items on a boat (I can think of) in which the user is likely to put into a maximum current draw situation during operation, in which the unit could be damaged by excess current draw while not in an form of fault. If the winch ever stalls or close to stall, say Anchor jams and user thinks he can stand harder on deck switch to compensate

Yikes. You mean, you need a breaker rated for the normal rated current draw of the winch and cable sizes over distance to suit the winches current draw. Otherwise, when the winch boggs down, all the current dissapates into the cable as heat and the winch will not have the power to keep it turning and will bogg down even more and the cable will get hotter and around and around we go. If the breaker is lucky, there might be enough current spare to cause it to trip. The best way to check that is to short the cable at the winch and the breaker should pop within a second or 2 at the most. If it t

That is what I would expect, yes. But just were the spring is, is anyones guess. It could be a spring inside the Solenoid, or it could be external on the lever. It's not wasted energy though. Look at how much you have learned about it all.

And that is pretty much where the name comes from. It's a Lucas starter motor, but the winch was most likely built by someone else, like maybe James Nillson of the old Simpson Lawrence days perhaps.

Smoke under load is probably just normal for an old engine like that. Although, Is the prop and Hull clean? The little black button should energise a little solenoid with that little black crinkled rubber boot on the end of it. When you push the button, the lever should pull across and shut off the fuel rack. When you release the button, the lever should return to the proper run possition. Make sure that is happening. Their will be a spring to ensure that takes place. The Solenoid will pull in under power, but a spring needs to pull it back. The spring may have rusted or disconnected or some

What a pitty I didn't still live up your way. I would have been more than happy to come give a hand...... ......by directing you to areas you missed, point out how hard such a job is and make bad attempts at humor. Bascially show that "Crew" mates would never leave you in the lurch like that.

No not glow plugs. You only use Glow plugs when the engine is cold. Do not use them when engine is hot. When at idle, did the engine run smoothly? When you shut the engine down, are your sure the stop lever returned to correct position to allow engine to start again. (just in case you did something while working in that area) Diesels are simple, in that to make it run, you need Air, Fuel (compression) and turn over at a good speed to start. Seeing as it had been running, we can rule out Compression problems. Air can be rulled out as well. That leaves Fuel. You need to check that fuel i

5 yrs already??? I swear you were talking about it just 18mths ago.

Hi to you both. My wife and I have followed you from the beginning and wait eagerly for your updates each month or so. Having had to abandon our own sailing life, we feel for you having to also give up the dream. I had often thought that if we were still out on the water, we might have met up. That would have been awesome. For us, one of the best parts of sailing was meeting new People and enjoying "sunset over the yardarm" with them. All the best.

Gosh, so many hoses running off through bulkheads. The only concerns I have are.......and a good thing for us all to check....Hose clamps. As part of your yearly pre season check, you should go over all Hose clamps and see if any need a tighten. Hoses crush over time and temp and the clamps can become lose. Plus clamps that are fully SST can loosen from vibration. Even if the hose stays in place, it can still cause weeps and that results in corrosion. Ensure the clamps are full SST. You can often get ones that are SST band and Zinc over steel screw. The screw will rust and make it diffic

Use the Biocide called "Drain" . Water always looks bad in a filter. Drain it and simply keep and eye on it. It is something we should all do before going out. But if you do want to use an additive, any of them will work. I use one from Supercheap or sometimes the Lucas one from BNT.

Very true. The problem is that the Paper Air Filters get very damp and clog. I used K&N Filter on my boat motor. That worked well. I liked the idea of something that could stop any larger item from every being sucked in. Like a small piece of Foam or rag. Do not confuse a box that looks like it should have a Filter, with a resonator Box which can aid in the reduction of the droning noise that can come from the intake.

NPD 100 is ethanol. Most outboards do not reccomend the use of ethanol additive fuels. In fact most small motors, especially 2 strokes do not reccomend Ethanol in Petrol. In 2 strokes it breaks down the lubrication property of the Oil.

Any engine designed for low Octane fuels will run happily on higher Octane fuels. But never the other way around. You will damage it. If it is designed for higher Octanes, it usually makes it very clear at the fill point on the Vehicle. High Octane is used in any engine that has high compression. Turbo's are the most common to come across, as more air is pushed into the chamber thus greater compression achieved. The uncommon engines are high performance engines, either modified or Super Cars.

It is really important to get intimate with how the Fuel system works. Whenever it doesn't work, it is usually at the least opportune time. Like it might be ruff and the last pace you want to be is head down in an engine compartment. So knowing what to do is important so you can spend less time there in an emergency. Lets start at the injectors and work backwards. The injectors are the two things that are screwed into the top of the Head and have two steel tubes running around and down to the Injector pump below. The injector on the left has a black hose coming out that has SAE100-6 stamp

So when they are talking Bio-fuel, they are actually referring to the addition of Ethanol?? Because there are many forms of Bio-Fuels. The largest producer of ethanol in NZ is Fonterra. At the moment, the only Alcohol added to Petrol is Ethanol. NZ does not use Methanol in it's Petrol. That is not to say that someone might use it at some stage. Ethanol itself does not gum up your plugs or engine. That should only be a first use symptom, as the ethanol dissolves the gum in the Fuel system and that gum, which is non combustible and a high carbon product, will move on into the engine and a

A line must have been wrapped around the pole or hooked over the pole or something. I hope it doesn't suddenly let go.

UV stabalizing additives are in themselves, not clear. Plus any material like Plastics and paints etc need two different forms of stabalizers to work in conjuction and offer the best protection. Usually one acts as a reflecter of UV and the other absorbs the energy of the UV Photon. Both work together well as a team, but each on it's own works very poorly. So there is this difficulty in producing a clarity of product vs great UV protection. So mixing stabalizes into a clear coat has always been difficult while trying to maintain the clarity of the coat. By the way, Black does not absorb UV

UV won't affect the Carbon itself, but it sure can affect the Resin. Thus often a clear coat of Polyurathane with a UV stabalizer is coated over top. But even then, the clear coat can break down over time too and it needs to be maintained. Not using a clear coat usually results in the Epoxy yellowing from UV. I would not expect much in the way of reduction in strength of the spar as the Carbon should stop the UV from penetrating any further than the first layer.

This is the resulting damage to the wiring after having to handle 1800A. Much of it is wiring the the main cable melted into and shorted out. After this, we installed Breakers and the battery isolators no lnger lived down in the engine room. They were moved to above floor in the Pilot house so I had instant easy access to isolate banks in an emergency.