DrWatson

Now that it's not 1am I can come back to this with some more thought. Yeah some good points here. KM I agree that sailing is a personal choice, and how do we measure the cost of that personal choice? Perhaps better questions would be: How much $ value do you spend per year on your sailing? How much of your income (household) is that in %? What type of sailing? (dinghy, sport dinghy, trailer sailer, small keeler, midrange keeler (under 35ft) larger ship, rocket ship, schooner. Do you have your own yacht? Do you own your own home? How much, as a % of income, do you spend on rent/mo

That'd be one option, but ALso you could just put down what your share is worth? I did also wonder about net worth, but started running out of options - can only have 3 poll questions. Also, net worth (unless you spend that capital) is not usually used to fund your sailing except in the initial outlay. Generally more expensive (i.e. bigger) boats cost more to run per year. Thanks, I was a bit unsure about starting it, because i got a feeling that most people like to stay quiet about their income, and that's understandable. But i do think it's important demographic information,

Yeah I considered whether it should be personal or household. I think any indication there is warranted, as in your case the income is "shared" as is the boat - unless she's spending your money to maintain her part of the boat . It's the boat/income ratio that matters, I guess.

I'm not sure if this is where to post this but whatever. Many people and especially media seem to think that only "rich pricks" own yachts, and us sailors also believe that the politicians see us as "rich targets" who can afford to cough up for the growing range of fees and regs. We're all sure (or maybe sure) that this is the general perception, but some solid data to base our wild assumptions on would perhaps be extremely beneficial, in just the same way that those stereotypes of us that the general public have might be best dispelled by the same data. After all, to counter alte

I'd firstly want to be wearing a helmet...

The Question is, is KM bold enough to consider that this is purely an accident? Maybe someone was aiming for his Achilles?? So, do you report it and risk looking like a worry wort fool, or do you not report it and risk that the next one goes through your liver?

http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/327474/auckland's-75m-cruise-ship-jetty-plan-falters walkway out to the planned mooring dolphin is apparently axed.

We had damage to Mrs Micawber while on the mooring at Birkenhead. I suspect the waka ama crews. One morning about 7am I watch a full speed waka ama T-bone a dude rowing his dinghy out to his yacht.. Frightening stuff.

I always wonder how they want to monitor or certify antifouling etc for folk who do their own haulouts etc? I mean it's not hard to haul a Piedy at your local ramp if you have a suitable trailer and cart her to your workshop if you live close to the water. In fact if you live on the water's edge and have a suitable trailer, almost any boat can be hauled and worked on in your own shed (no run-off or containment issues etc.) without the council seeing it come and go...

Given that I can buy a new, european made, 6 man raft for 2185 euro (~3200 nzd) or a 4 person plastimo transocean for 1799.00 euro. I'd say that 1400 for a service is taking the piss...

so...honest question, enlighten us? please?

Nah, that's usually Sodium Borate. The Sodium salt of boric acid.

Done and dusted!

Kevin, this is possibly one of your best posts. Correctly interpreting the evidence and adjusting your view to fit the evidence is the foundation of the enlightenment that started in ~14th C. Adjusting/controlling the facts so they fit your view/ideology is the rocks in your pockets of the dark ages. I can only hope that our current and future governments and populace don't fall into the attractive trap of alternative facts. The propaganda war is now no longer won based on the facts or the stories themselves, but by confusing the issue and thereby attempting to invalidate the concept of ob

Dunno but this woman lost her leg to a rudder on spindrift... http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/2015/06/22/serious-injury-mars-volvo-ocean-race-finale/

SO does that go at the top of the mast? or simply installed before the switch panel? I'll need a decent one anyway for the SSB (and Wallas stove), unless I also run a dedicated 12V system for them...

Sorry that the below seems a bit rambling, but just my thoughts on the matter: That boat looks to be in pretty good nick. I think that if sailed well, you could do ok, and have a ton of fun. The Didi38 Black Cat just did the Cape to Rio Race - she's a 22 year old plywood boat, home built. She came in 7th on handicap out of 20 something boats (TCF 1.05 or something). If it wasn't for a less than spectacular tactical move earlier on she'd likely have come in better. I'm quite surprised at the level of agreement here, and I also find myself agreeing with some other posters wit

Yes I could get a 12/24v step up box, but the masthead has 5? 4? wires? Whatever gauge you need for 12v, you can go smaller again for 24v even if it's a very low current draw. Unless of course it's so low it doesn't really matter and that you simply can't get a finer gauge or it will corrode. OK, I think I've chatted briefly with Matt before about Can-bus. Seems would be good for lights and information systems (nav etc.?), but for high load systems?, or pumps, is there any advantage? I mean you'd still have to run designated feed to those, no? For things that you switch off and on I

I have a beautiful Optolamp from IT, unused in it's box in my store room; 12V model with strobe/anchor etc. As it's a new build, and the mast wiring is the longest run, I'm probably going to change tack go 24V so I can cut down on the gauge of the wire and also losses (except for the SSB and stove damnit), So, if someone wants to swap it for the same model in 24v... I have a nice 24v inverter and a couple of other things in 24v already (serendipitously), so it's kind of picking the voltage system to match... Speaking of lights and masts, who's got the simplest but most comprehensive w

Slow going for Conrad. Still 250NM, He's running terribly low on food and electrons. And at 3-4 knts that still a bloody long way to sail. Breeze looks to die out completely over the next 12h, then build from the WSW for bit before turing back into a Northerly... The battle will be tougher yet. I hope he's still got it in him...

OK, I was mainly interested in it to ease production of the keel. Did a few calcs, however, and need to think again. Don't think what I was considering will work cause would leave too much weight in the foil. Necessitating a deeper foil or larger bulb to get the right righting moment. TimB, if you're out there, who designed this and the new floor arrangement? I assume the foil is thick walled box section (not solid) and then faired?

BP, You could go all out and replace the cooker with a Wallas Dt85 and Heater/blower lid... Can't remember what the blower unit is worth, but the cook top is about €1280 Of course you could also find an interim solution and install one of these when you visit us here in Europe...

Kevin, you should reference when you pull stuff straight off a website: http://www.jjstech.com/ethanolc2h5oh.html If you'd looked further down your google search you'd have read that the situation is not so simple. But there's an interesting thing about pH. You need an aqueous solution for pH to mean anything. It's like saying the pH of air is blah. pH is the log of the hydrogen ion concentration [H+] in aqueous solution. If you define or determine it in some other solvent (e.g. DMSO) you need to qualify it. If there's no H2O present (i.e. 100% EtOH), how is CH3CH2OH going to liberate

indeed. i missed that originally. there's a good photo of her on the hard, can clearly see the planking through the sheathing

I thought she was steel...