bigal.nz

Hi All, Getting the boat ready for summer - last of the winter jobs (until something breaks) is sorting out the gas locker. The gas/oil/fender locker is for'd and a drain is going to be installed, but I also want to install a lpg/co2 detector. I was looking at one of the ones with dual sensors, so one for the locker, one for the saloon. Presumably mounted down low in the bilges. Anyone have any experience installing these? Cheers AG

I have read several threads on various places that rubbish Raymarine, B&G, Garmin etc etc etc. I think overall everyone's experiences differ. and it becomes personal preference at the end of the day. How old is that radio?

Good to know, I will ask about the servicing price. Manufacturer specifies service every 2 years. Has both manual and auto inflate options FYI.

Hi, I am looking at one of these, which has the air cylander built in, presumably a bladder too etc. How often do these need to be inspected? Does it form part of the CAT-1 off shore check that the harness / air cylander is in date? Cheers AG

Great thanks - someone else suggested him too. Do you know what the hourly rate is? (Its Phil BTW and he is away till Thursday). AG

Hello, Does anyone know a good diesel fuel mechanic, preferably around East Auckland (I was going to say cheap but good and cheap don't go together). I have a fuel supply issue with a Perkin's 4.108 in Panmure that needs attention. Possibly the lift pump. Cheers AG

I have been using autosol, but there is one metal bar in particular that might need something more aggressive before finishing with Autosol - which product do you suggest before the autosol?

I used a old Motorla 9505 for email and it required several attempts to send a email. It used the little external hexagonal puck antenna and phone calls were pretty average too with calls dropping out. We even tried to use some software so we were catching satellites at the beginning of a pass which helped a little. This was several years ago. More recently I have done some research on the IridiumGo and it should be OK for gribs, text only email and phone calls, but I think the proper marine based external, permanently mounted type antenna is a must to avoid frustration. I am waiting a

Yeah - a quick google and I wrote off that Gill stuff fast. $1000 off? Thats some serious discount.

Hi All, I am looking at buying a new jacket and have settled on Musto after some reading. But the question is now one of HPX or MPX - both Ocean versions of the jacket. Other than about $500 difference in price, I am wondering if I really need the HPX - most of my sailing is NZ coastal - and its pleasure sailing at that. I don't intend to be going to the Auckland Islands. The coldest place I could possibly imagine I would ever go might be Fiordland but for the most part my Oceanic voyages will consist of heading north on the 1st of May towards Fiji as fast as possible. We don't

Anyone else go out to see them off? Was kinda busy on the water (and this is just the ones with AIS!!)

What about just the bulb only matt?

Hmm, I wondered about that - I got the version that is in a glass housing (as well as the fixture housing): http://www.ledsunlimited.co.nz/node/75 Were yours in glass?

Has anyone got any advice with Navigation LED bulbs? My masthead nav light bulb needs to be replaced. Its Glamox/Aquasignal brand with a standard BAY15D fitting. LEDs Unlimited sell the bulb for $18. DrLED who make USCG certified bulbs sell a OEM part for $59 USD (ouch)!! https://www.doctorled.com/store/nav-LED-bulb/Single-color-Nav-bulb/BA15D-NAV-LED-BULB-PERKO Even if I brought 4 of the LED unlimited ones if they didnt last as long I would still be on top financially. Thoughts? AG

Yip - 50m distance? Maybe. 200m from shore he wasn't. Its a bit hard to see in the video but he was within the 200m. He was the 3rd punter that day to zoom past.

Point England today.

Sunrise under sail from the Barrier a few weeks ago.

Everyone is talking about the crays at the barrier. Wouldn't it be nice if we were talking about the Crays at Waiheke or the Noises/Rakino instead?

I recently took my kids to the Barrier and besides getting a feed we saw Dolphins, Sharks, Orca all in the first 24 hours. What a awesome place. Doesn't appear that can be said for our Crayfish stocks. CRA2 is in crisis. Take the survey - I supported a total ban for 2 years: https://www.legasea.co.nz/crayfishcrisis/ http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11989593 Cheers

Updated tonight - still no tides on Plotter

I am glad you found the GPS weak southernman because I was begining to think it was just me. Even in a opencockpit the solar panels were enough that once every few hours I would loose fix for a few minutes - just enough to be annoying so I got the external antenna. However other than that I love it. Its very fast, and as you pointed out the Rayview and Raycontrol App's are very handy if you want to watch what the crew are doing from your bunk at night/anchor watch etc. I have not had any crashes on my Axiom Pro 9" yet. I have it hooked up to a EV400 autopilot which works mint. I ha

I have to admit that's pretty cool. I was thinking about just getting a Intel NUC - but you can't beat the convenience of all those 183 and 2K ports built in.

Hi Winter. lateral is dropping some off later today. Enjoy your sail

I got Pactor too - but havn't got it going yet. What radio and ver of pactor? Who in NZ sells pactor?

A mate did it using Gough's. As has been pointed out you need a baseline then regular submissions after that. Might give you piece of mind if you were doing a offshore passage.