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Well, I've begun the process of getting Island Time ready for offshore again. So far replaced the forestay and backstay, and on inspection of the port backstay chainplate noticed some deformed and cracked glass. So began the 1st structural repair I've ever had to do to her in a lot of miles and 26 years or ownership I cut out a bit of the inner skin to find some very wet plywood mush. This was somewhat surprising, as she is a Coremat hull and divinycell decks. I did not know there was any ply in the laminate anywhere! But it turns out there were two sections - the backstay chainplate

Hanging out in San Francisco as we make our way from Alaska to Chile. Went out to welcome the Mexican navy ship in this am. Went were tje only boat apart from tug and fireboat, oh yeah and photo boat. Git a fly over too which was cool as cloud was low and so was the plane

The word "passenger" is doing a lot of damage here. On a small craft there is no such thing. Everyone aboard is crew, even if the only job they are capable of is noticing something and saying it out loud. If someone truly is just ballast, you have fewer hands and more liability, not more authority. Authority and information/advice are two different things. Being in charge means you make the call and you wear the consequences. It does not mean you are the only person aboard whose eyes work. Aviation sorted this out decades ago and airliners did not become democracies in the

I expected a bidding war for these lovely old shot glasses, but no... I was the only bidder ...

I just suffered through 30 mins of another youtube warrior ( I'm going to sail solo around the world, I'll learn how as i go). Only went about 50 miles and parked it on some rocks. But what got me was the plaintive " I checked with AI and it said I'd be ok to anchor here". It was a lee shore. Am I just getting old and grumpy?

I think this issue is Ai and how people use it. There is a major difference between asking "is this bay good to anchor in?" and "is this bay good to anchor in a Sou' Wester?" One little piece of information or context to the question completely changes the answer. The bay may be fantastic to anchor in normally, but in a Sou' Wester it's completely sh*t. My worst experience with Ai was simply googling what time the SailGP was in Halifax. It gave us the correct NZ time, but the wrong day. Couldn't handle the international date line. We were all planning to watch the racing on a Sa

15 years ago most boats that were cruising had some sort of sailing history in the family. 1 couple we met were the exception, Aussies that bought a yacht in the UK, did a 1 week RYA course & sailed back to Aus. But it was unusual. Now, when you’re chattering around a fire on a beach, a surprising number of cruisers are sailing because they watched sailing la vagabond/parlay revival/red seas or whatever on YouTube. No experience, just went & did it. Pretty cool in some ways, pretty scary in others!

I've got a Beta 35. No, flushing the hot water circuit with fresh water is absolutely no good, unless you do it EVERY time you use the engine and remove all the salt before shutting the engine down. The heat induces scale (calcification) which reduces the efficiency of heat transfer and blocks your tubes. Eventually your engine will overheat, generally just when you need it to really push your boat in some sub-optimal conditions. Mechanically cleaning the HE tubes is a pain. The commercial products are Barnacle Buster or Rydlyme. Chemical de-scalers. Last time I spoke to Andy at

I guess don't confuse "advice" with "instruction"... I remember sailing once with an old guy who knew it all. I kept giving him advice - but he knew it all - he didn't need some young guy telling him how to sail - eventually I stopped giving him advice cause he always shutting me down. you're here to trim the jib - don't tell me what the boats are doing you're here to trim the jib - I can see the wind shifts just fine - be quiet you're hear to trim the jib - I don't need your advice on trimming the main On the way into the finish line I started counting down 7, 6, 5,

This is actually an interesting one and bravado/ego is often the culprit. It also needs to be taken in context and timing. I would say after an incident and with hind sight, many a passenger has said " we told him not to" or "we were worried but he would not listen". We will never really know the facts unless ego and self interest is first stripped away. I agree with BP, this is a wild assumption to make, each incident should be analysed on facts not on ego motivated post incident comments. That said, sometimes we need to consider our passengers, on occasions they may just know

Thanks for the words of caution... I have checked all that out... everything is bog std Mitsi, filters, fuel pumps etc... It is only the seawater pump (and I will have a spare) and heat exchanger (will have a seal kit)/ exhaust manifold and a quieter air intake that are the only engine components that are aftermarket. Drive plate and transmission are the TMC260 from Twin Disc. I am leaning towards the opinion that these may be one of the better quality marine engines out there.... for certain only time will tell. Will let you know Cuzzies opinion when the time comes.

+ 1 for phosphoric Acid. That's what barnacle buster is. Easy to buy, and a food grade acid. You can leave it in the engine overnight without issues, it has no effect on Aluminium, rubber, paper gaskets, or sealant. I've been using it for years on my own boats and customers ones without a single problem.

Apparently the next “big thing” in AI land is a chip that can change the weather conditions on demand… for a fee of course.

Oxalic acid has been by go to for 50 some years servicing marine heat exchangers.

Vinegar. Typically between 6 and 8% acetic acid. And you can make a tasty vinegrette afterward.

Dunning Kruger to the power of n where n = the number of people on board.

100% agree, and stupid people will always lower the bar eventually when it comes to “how stupid can someone be?” But if you don’t know how to change the impeller on your little 20hp diesel, that info is now freely available. You still need to decide who on YouTube you trust, out of the 25 videos available. I also am talking more about general information availability, I still don’t trust AI at all. So I’m off track really from the initial post.

But there's a difference between collection of information and decision making.

I guess one huge difference is the availability of information/support/education now. With Starlink, youtube, google etc. if you’re not a complete idiot, and are open minded enough to learn, anything is possible. Whereas 20 years ago if you had some mechanical failure, and didn’t know how to fix it, you were screwed until you found someone to help. Now, 15 minutes on YouTube & you’re up to your elbows in the engine bay. May not help when you have 50 knots across the deck for the first time in the middle of a passage, but technology does help with a lot of aspects of cruising

I find it hard to knock people for wanting to escape the madness, if Mr Ai sailor wasnt running aground and having the time of his life he'd be stuck in some cubicle working for the man until all the life is sucked out and gone... The more the merrier I say, just stand well back while they are on their learning curve and dont sign on as crew🤣

Some people are destined to be a warning to others

I’m adding a tether and paddle to my inflatable…😀

Well, because I was as mad as a mongoose and decided to rebuild my 3rd yacht, I again won't be sailing this summer. But you lot that are, be sure to give us a report of how many "Water Police" are out there at the favourite cruising anchorages, dishing out tickets for ship to shore sailors not wearing their LJ's. I bet there will be none, as there is no money nor resources to police such a vast recreational area. But, I await your reports, sailors!

Or, You get this happening. Three men were wearing LJ's, went out over a bar, capsized into cold water. Two dead, one taken to hospital But the law says all you have to do is wear a life jacket, which they did. The fact the water was freezing, the guys were older and the bar rough enough to capsize there boat isn't mentioned in the law. Never mind about assessing the risks or personal responsibility, the law doesn't say you have to do that, just wear a LJ. Sure I'm being simplistic, but when a central govt agency asserts responsibility on you for you wellbeing, by it's

Ivermectin is/was all the rage in the BOI, but the latest is that it no longer works. IDK? I spoke to a paint tech a while ago and he said its application, location and season dependent, what organisms the marine environment is supportive of, temperature, end use and so on. That's why some people swear by Altex No5 and others have a very average experience. If someone uses it in a marina with low water movement and it works, that does not necessarily apply to a tidal location with lots of freshwater runoff. Too many variables to promote or condemn paints by what's written on the tin, th

You don't get empirical evidence unless people discuss it . And eventually after people have tried it and talked about it someone starts a study and lo, it becomes science.

So the conclusion there is that relying on the vaccine to prevent infection between racing crew has no technical basis. Therefore, all this twaddlebollocks about segregating our society and our yacht clubs based on vaccine status is a nonsense.