Tim C

I'm looking hard at electric hot water systems even on my boat for the same reason. On a sunny day there is lots of power to use. And these days gas caliphonts have a high degree of installation difficulty with gas regulations. There are 5 and 10L ones available out of Aussie, I haven't seen any here in NZ.

Talk to Jason S, he'd know most things about that ramp too...

Not if it can be avoided. Rain on the glasses and woolies stuck to sails is just not fun...

The tail of my jib car pulls the mast around on each tack, and it's limited by a central rotation rope. So each tack it is automatically set and rotated. I can manually rotate and lock it if need be. But then no spreaders means it HAS to be rotated, and there is no boom load to rotate it, so it all took some thinking about...

Epoxy them in. When it does come time to replace them, then a few solid taps is likely to break the epoxy bond and the fitting comes out. With 5200 etc it is a battle all the way, or a hole saw.

You're thinking of going offshore. The list has got to the Nav station. So you need: International communication. Position via GPS or Celestial Depth. You'd like: Weather Information at sea. Satellite phone. SSB A really big Chartplotter. Radar AIS Speed through the water Wind gear Automatic steering Full integration Lots of redundancy Complete reliability Low electrical draw Of course the wind is free so all this should be low budget! Name brand vs Unknown on Trade Me Chart plotter vs Tablet. Boat power vs independent There's a myriad of options now. Wh

I resemble that comment. Whats wrong with spending 500W of naturally generated power this way? Haven't had that many complaints...

I've had two Honda's on Pulse. First one was a 15 hp, the old square model as it was the last one to be upgraded into their current form. It was a very good and reliable engine. A year overseas and not getting used probably killed it, eventually getting gear box problems and a cracked water jacket. Still it did nine years without getting flushed of course. Then there was a 15 hp 'Sail' outboard. It was called a 'Sail' because mostly that is what I did as it was hopeless. Stay well clear. Now I have a 10 hp Honda, only because there wasn't a 15 hp available in the country just before a Coast

I'd like to report on progress on this, but progress is best described as glacial. Have to say my VHF is not on much sailing. It has to compete with much nicer stereo sounds. Then if it is rough, I often have it on, but the hatch is closed. I should sort out having a remote speaker on deck I guess... I've been at sea (on another boat) when a boat behind us was frantically sending off flares after hitting something. I bet not everyone looks aft on a rough day every 30 seconds either. Which is perhaps why a LED flare that lasts for hours is a better bet of being seen. Did I just ar

I have an outboard between my hulls that I retract to go sailing. Yes there is some drag if I leave it down, but not frightening amounts. I'll try and quantify it sometime. Interestingly if the engine is in gear, it will easily turn it over, but flood it not start it. Possibly the real problem with a towed charger is how little time as a percentage that a cruising boat is sailing for, relative to the rest of the time on anchor. Have to say my wind generator has earned it's keep over the last couple of days; not much sun...

Okay I'll start a new thread from the previous discussion on DSC on VHF Radios etc. Personally I am beginning to think having an EPIRB for coastal racing or cruising should nearly be considered old technology. It takes so long for a signal to be received and transmitted to Search and Rescue, and then they are relied on for a rescue. An EPIRB signal is invisible to other boats in the area that could effect a quick rescue. The DSC option on VHF, connected to GPS gives the opportunity for a boat close to the vessel in distress to assist. But, as noted, it is not monitored by SAR here. Whi

Have to say I'm very impressed by the flexible solar panels. I had the perception that they were much less efficient than hard ones. I've put a 100W one from AA Solar aboard, and simply lashed it to the sail cover when anchored. It means I have nearly doubled my solar power, with a hard 110W aft. I often see my battery bank (300 Ahr) at 14.4V when the fridge cycles off. But there are cloudy days when I'm still happy to have the wind generator aboard. For serious cruising you need options. Having just sailed to Fiji (on another Cat) I too am thinking of towed charging systems. At this tim

Having just sailed to Fiji with the latest, best and pricey chart plotter (and everything else there and integrated), with a iPad alongside, it was interesting the comparison. Certainly the iPad was a great back up on independent power. But the good news of this offer is finally a marine unit is getting close to the size and functionality of what we mortals can afford in a marine unit, before we just go and buy a tablet and a cover...

Very cool filming! ( I can't bring myself to say footage!)

Mate we really already have this. Auckland Anniversary is attended often by cruising multihulls. On the Saturday there is lots of kids events on the beach at Sullivans Bay at Mahurangi. Then there is the classic yacht regatta to watch. We often manage a modest raft up and get together. There is the option of a big band at Scotts landing on the Saturday night. Then we typically go to Kawau for the Sunday evening. It is usually a very fun weekend. I'm sure there are other weekends we could do more family cruising events at too though. Keep the suggestions coming!

I am thinking about it on Pulse...

Definitely 3 reefs, the last one at 50% of the luff. It's NZ. Hauraki Gulf can change in a heart beat. Also, there is the 'Sunday Factor' where you just have to get home for work. Needs to be matched with orange storm jib on inner forestay, to support the mast and keep good helm balance. No it's not a sexy look for the boat. But it does get you home safely, and gives you a nice option to survive unexpected conditions. Especially on a cruising boat; why would you worry about the weight of the reef. I think it should be compulsory on all yachts to have this set up. There have been many

I had fun trying to answer that question accurately! If it was effort, thought time, and money then the answer was racing. If it was hours or nautical miles it easily would be cruising. I answered the former, but a marginal call. What is interesting is how boats, or at least their owners, don't seem to be able to do both in the same boat so much. Much of the fleet seems to be in one corner or the other I think. Which is a pity, as a boat is such a big investment in time and money it's good to be able to do both!

How about we have a discussion about what we want for our racing, and cruising get together type events, for next season while we are still enjoying this one. If we had some good consensus we would get better numbers at events. Better to support a few good ones than lots with few entries. What's your thoughts?

I think it's best just to accept that you all have a likely top motoring speed of 6-7 knots, and don't try too hard to go faster! If you want to go fast go multihull sailing! (See I changed it!)

Sounds like your prop is as good as it gets. Not sure how much faster you expect to motor? The limitation is not the prop, but horsepower (lack of) and also a sailing boat (mono or multi) does not motor much faster than 7 knots at this length because of the aft shape of the hull. The stern gets sucked down at speed. A genuine power boat has 'buttock' line relatively flat to the waterline, which help support the weight of the boat and reduces the displacement wave the hull has to climb over to go faster. This is why it is so hard to get a good 'motor sailor' design...

For pushing multihulls ( or dare I say any displacement yacht or even small barge) you want big blade area, big diameter and fine pitch. Think of a prop moving through butter like a screw. If you are going fast, say 20-30 knots, which is what most outboards are aimed to do, then you need a course pitch to keep the prop gripping at its high speed through the water. But that same high pitch prop will stall the blades at low speed, especially in reverse. A bit like having your sails over sheeted going downwind. The ideal is 'under square' which is less pitch than diameter, but can be hard to

Of course I'm biased and would say Hard Drive too. and yes it would need a good deck tent. The problem with little trimarans, much as I'm sure they are lovely to sail, is that there is relatively little room and no privacy as your family grows up. Any cat has four corners/berths, so that anyone of the crew feeling grumpy can escape to their 'corner' and have a private read or sleep. Much harder to that on a tri or mono of the same length. For that reason I wouldn't discount the Sundowner. It is probably the one here in Sandspit you are looking at. A competent little boat, well built a

Finally back on line on this. Not sure about the Turissimos but I know the others. Sundreamer, Mystify, Redkin, Interceptor, Pulse, Razzel (Purple main cover gives it away)

What still hasn't been decided is the subject matter of the thread. Who is going to buy the $1 reserve old boats on Trade Me? Or are they just going to magically disappear??