too_tall

I thought that the production yachts like the bene's etc were several tonne lighter - often as a result of a lighter but deeper keel. We are only 1.6m or thereabouts. Still bumps into the bottom as will anything else if you are pushing things a bit far but at least its not held on by bolts to break off... That being said, I have never really bothered to look at them much so I may well be a mile off the mark. We get good speed out of her, but there are most certainly faster. We are also definitely cruisers and will do all we can to make for a comfortable and safe passage as opposed to a fa

Thats a pretty standard clause with brokers. An unpleasant one, too. It takes some arguing to back away when you discover under sail that the thing is an absolute pig. Can be done, but the broker will fight you hard. Specially if they are from that nationwide ( and Fiji ) brokerage firm....

Danpat. If your being offered this chance by IT, I would strongly suggest you make a weekend of it and get up to Auckland to go for a sail on a properly set up yacht of a type your looking at. It will give you invaluable experience in deciding what you really want/need. Yes, it will cost to get there, but nothing like the cost of finding you didn't buy the boat type you really need. We have a moderately heavy displacement yacht - a Pearson weighing in at 9.5T for a 45'. So I guess midway in your range although a little larger. Its a ketch, which some frown upon ( although Sir Peter Blake l

I think that most of my batteries are either Enerloops, powerhaus or camelions. The first two are FAR better than the last one... I might have the same charger as you do KM, but I have never been brave enough to recharge a non rechargable. I believe it wont be long before people start using LiIon batteries almost exclusively. The energy density of those vrs a NiMH are significantly better. My Led Lenser H14.2r has a pair of 18650's in it and they burn a very long time. Compared to fitting 4 NiMH AA's ( I think its 4? Cant remember ) the burn time is about 10 times greater, and probably sti

I have been using NiMH rechargables for many many years now. I never bothered with NiCd as they were of insufficient capacity. What IT says about the voltage is true, however, and 1.2V is sometimes insufficient for particular devices. That being said, the NiMH sag far less than most cheaper dry cells under load. I have a couple of Led Lenser lights which do not operate at all well with NiMH batteries, but are brilliant with Duracel or Energizer alkalines batteries.

Looks like the rudder is still attached... Would not steer in the conditions... I wonder if that was simply a case of inexperience. Anyway, no one is dead, no one is lost, and no real majors apart from a bit of a pain for an insurance company. And who really cares if they have a bit of a pain to deal with? Its wise to wave the white flag before a different kind of flag gets waved against your choice.

Autorotation is building momentum in the blades and transmission that is useful in an emergency. Firstly, it allows for a controlled descent which is vital for the second part of the landing to be successful, where the energy that has been gained in the form of momentum ( rotational, in this instance ) can be utilized to arrest the downward velocity of the helicopter. I have been in an autorotation landing and it was as controlled and soft as a powered landing, although the ground did approach alarmingly rapidly. Timing is everything!.

To go sailing and enjoy it vrs to be seen sailing..... Is that the real question here?

Well, there have been some funny posts..... In several different places wanting to move yachts, never wanting to spend a cent, elusive as to income source. It paints a poor picture for someone such as myself who maybe is just a little old fashioned but I don't like to see such a muddled picture. I have been wrong before however, but Shane, how about you give a little more disclosure as to whats up please? I will happily change my opinion if the picture is put a little more in order and context is given to your posts.

I agree 100% Wheels. I guess there should have been a bit of a question asked as to which part of the CG organization we are actually discussing here. The "Head Office" The "Radio Room's" The "Guys who go out in some really terrible conditions to try and rescue someone who is in distress, self inflicted or not" When someone talks of the CG to me, I only ever think of the last group in that list - but I realize there are others. The VHF radio service I have never used and probably never will except to relay a Pan Pan at one point, and then to decide we were closer than anyone els

I am a CG member, but mostly for when I am out fishing, on a fizz boat with one motor and no backup. I have needed a tow once, when the ECU decided it was not longer computing things and telling other things when to squirt petrol or even more other things when to make a spark. They came out, gave us a tow back ( a bit faster than I would have towed, but we were fine and they took us right to the slip. I have never used them when sailing, never had to consider it ( but have towed about 12 other vessels back in ). What I do know is that they have rescued people who are headed int

Dreaming to be farming and milking cows is currently a bad dream. Or a nightmare, if you understand just how much it costs to milk cows and how little we are getting paid!. But like any dream, if you stick at it, you will get there. But please do not go outside the gulf until you know what your up to. As Wheels said, help might be literally just over the horizon, but might as well be on the moon. Even Helicopters, pilot vessels and the coast guard have their limits, and they will not risk themselves or their gear. They have an opps and there is no one left to rescue them, and you.

Is wet chemical not a product that reacts with the fat and forms some form of non flammable surface to the fat? I have first hand experience of a DP extinguisher on a fat fire - it sure worked, but then the bastard decided to reignite as the powder dispersed on the surface. CO2 has a similar effect and water is just plain dangerous as mentioned above. Whats best is a Wife who does not forget she turned a pan of oil on 30 minutes ago and then went outside!. The outcome was ok though, the DP extinguisher quenched the flames that were starting to get into the wood behind the stove and now we

Indeed, I feel that Wheels has really spoken what quite a few of us here have been feeling. When things are heading wrong, you need to have experience and knowledge as well as the vessel being fit for purpose. This means the vessel not only needs to be sound but you need to have the right safety gear, emergency gear and know how to use is. When the poo hits the fan, you also want everything to be reliable. Not just your motor, but your winches, sheets, rigging , steering gear etc. Most people can deal with one issue - but compound that with 3 or 4 problems and even the most experienced and ski

Yes, good call. I was referring to "traditional" batteries. I really should have stated that sorry. Going right back to the start of this thread - I am not interested in changing the entire system. Hence whilst the thread has moved toward discussing Lithium variants, I was still in the mindset of FLA, Gel or AGM. Incidentally, I managed to source a pair of new 12 v 150Ah c10 Sonnenschein industrial batteries for a very compelling price - $1.40 per Ah. Very comfortable with that although being industrial they are a difficult shape.

I don't race, and its not high on my priority list, so considering maximum weight savings is not my thing either. Jay, put simply, the less you take out of your battery bank between full charges, the longer it will last. Be it that you have 600Ah capacity and take 100aH out as a maximum, or you have 50Ah and take out 8Ah as a maximum, and you have a good charging system, you should get great life out of your batteries. If you took 300Ah out of your 600Ah bank or 25 out of a 50Ah battery, your going to get a lifespan probably well less than half that of the above scenario. Howeve

This thread has taken on a life of its own!. I believe that AA solar are getting a bit confused between inverters and inverter/chargers. That's all I can see would have an effect on the batteries. A pure sine vrs modified sine? That's going to be isolated from the batteries by a large bank of capacitors. The same caps which in our yacht have an inrush current in excess of 1000 amps momentarily. This is not a huge inverter either - a 1400w Xantrex Prowatt about 2 years old. AA solar have some unusual claims in a few areas - as Wheels noted, the battery warranty requires you to have full dat

Looking back through my notes, we paid a minimal fee ( I didn't note the amount ) for the mmsi and I noted it was via coastguard. No annual fees noted and nothing to indicate we needed anything. I think that IT is pretty much bang on the money.

The soggy paws "charts" were great for us in Fiji. We didn't find anything which you would not have expected. They are literally just google earth images georeferenced. But an overhead view is pretty good for spotting areas you wish to keep your hull and keel away from!. As I said, nothing beats having eyes up front and a good set of lungs to yell!.

Yes and Yes.

We have never had to pay any annual fees.... Should we be? AIS is a nice comfort. As long as the big vessels are actually watching/listening for it!.

Navionics around Fiji are horribly inaccurate and will result in tears if your not on your guard. Get the SV soggy paws google earth photographic charts which will open in openCPN .They show reefs very clearly. No data needed. They are freely downloadable, just send them to your charts folder then update the chart locations in openCPN and you will be sweet. I gave them to maybe 15 different cruisers in Fiji last year as everyone was struggling somewhat for charts. http://svsoggypaws.com/GECharts/index.htm Work great in open CPN. cmap charts appear to be better than Navionics. We had na

With a data connection, yes. Without, I believe you have to jump through a few hoops and effectively use their charts through open CPN or similar. Just be aware of the quality of their charts. Would have run us onto more than a few reefs and rocks over the years. Even directly into an island.

That 15.5v comment was somewhat my point - they appear to not know overly much what they are preaching. Or, they know more than any of the rest of us They appear to know more than what they get written on the side of their batteries also as they state 14.5 to 14.9v bulk according to the images on their website. I like AGM in principal. No spill, no maintenance, can mount in more creative ways ( could free up a lot of space with different mounting options ). I had looked at Crown but only found FLA?. Optima had been thought about. But pricing is pretty eye watering for the capacity. Also

IT I guess we both think the same way. I feel that that minimal discharge is one of the main keys. Living attached to a decent smart charger when at the marina and using a smart regulator probably helps no doubt also. We have no real solar on board at the moment. Having to use the motor to run the fridge allows us to keep the battery bank well topped up when not connected to 240v. I am leaning toward a known brand but lower cost AGM. Probably will go with 6v batteries as the battery boxes suit this arrangement well and also its nicer lifting 35Kg batteries as opposed to 65Kg. Have people come