chippie

Just been away for three weeks and had the gas sensor go off a couple of times. Checked everything with the soapy water method and every connection was fine. (not many connections because we only run the stove off the cylinder). Almost accidentally dripped some of the soap solution on the actual solenoid casing and saw bubbles coming from both the top and bottom of the casing. Took the regulator off and replaced it with our spare non solenoid operated regulator, carefully tested and everything fine. I'm bit perturbed by this. The solenoid operated regulator is only about six months old a

Yeah, we've had the kingies doing the "whack the boat thing" at the Barrier. Any idea why they do it?

I feel your pain BP. Almost exactly the same thing happened to us with a similar product nearly twenty years ago. We'd got all the old antifouling off and spent many hours longboarding the hull getting it as fair as we could. The guy who sold us the product insisted on applying it as well to "make sure it was done right". He sprayed on the first coat and we started to get the impression that he hadn't done much spraying before because it was a pretty unusual technique compared to what we'd ever seen before. It came out grossly orange peeled with major runs everywhere. Got a bit worri

Ron Given's Delta. Could be too big at 3m. Fibreglass, but no heavier than our old 2.4m ply dinghy. Honks under sail, easy to row, and virtually planes with a 3.3hp outboard.

Also wonder if there's any value in asking the question as to how many boats are in shared ownership. We have been for many years. It's worked out great. Two to share the costs so either half the cost or twice the boat for the same money. (very roughly speaking) And two people to do the maintenance.

We had a "bruce" type anchor on our boat when we bought it. Can't remember if it was branded or not. Lovely stainless steel thing that we unhappily dragged all round any sea bed we tried to anchor in unless it was flat calm and then we think the heap of chain on the bottom did all the work. Ashamed to say we sold it on TM to a launch owner. Shackled on the spare which was a Delta, ….much, much, better. Then KM talked us into a Sarca Excell. Best ever! Do it right and the thing hooks on almost immediately and don't let go. So good, we occasionally have to short the chain as much as we c

Just been watching the latest video and wondering what those struts either side of the transom are for. I'm curious.

Building inspections are paid for by the owners.

Was thinking of both, but that's a good idea for racing.

That's exactly what I've been wondering. Will it work on a bigger boat even though I know how well it works on a smaller one. The only tricky thing I remember is trying to get the far end of the pole into the ring on a bumpy day. We're 44ft, anyone doing it on a similar size boat? The kite pole thing I mean.

It's a leisure furl boom so the sail cover is well clear. Now that it sounds like it will not be a problem I'm thinking about the most elegant way to design the stowage. It's got to be practical, easy to use and secure. Thinking the outer end of the boom needs to be some kind of ring or semi enclosed ring and the front an eye to clip the pole end into? I remember the Piedy one used to rattle like hell in big winds!

Thanks for that, might give it a try.

We're thinking of getting a longer kite pole and the guy at the front end keeps nagging for a carbon one. The one we've got is an alloy 5m and we're thinking of a carbon 6m but it would be a bit harder to stow on deck and avoid all the other bits. I remember that in our Piedy days (long ago now) we used to stow the pole along the boom in couple of brackets leaving the topping lift attached during the race. Our boom's long enough to take the longer pole (although it's a bit higher off the deck than the piedy one was) and wondering if I'm nuts thinking it would work in a scaled up version.

Call me cynical but….none?

We've taken out the furling line too. Much easier and less foulups. You can also do it single handed if you either take the halyard around the winch and back into your other hand or just put one or two loose turns on the halyard winch and then wind from the front of the mast. The Leisurefurl guys made us a stainless insert to replace the alloy socket which got too worn after a while.

Downwind?

All the painters I know use heat guns and scrapers and make sure they get a coat of oil based primer on the same day.

Hey Jojo, contact the Richmond Yacht Club and ask about crewing in their 6.30 Special series. Might suit you.

Ok, been searching the empty caverns of the brain today. Salacia, Moehau, Infatuation, Acapulco Gold, Suspect Device, Tantara, Bandolero, Yosemite Sam.

We had a Piedy way way back when at least twenty boats would race with Akarana. Tightest racing we ever did but kind of sad to see so many of the names have changed. I think you lose the history of the boat when you do that and I always thought many of the names like "Dancing Mouse" for instance, were pretty cool. Ok, now I'm going nuts trying to remember some of the names. The Fleury boys had "Rising Damp", there was Waimania, Lelant, Triumph, Pied Piper of course, Minx, Rat Catcher, Ratz, Motamouse, Beep Beep, Party Piedy, Humbug, Clarinet as above, Hot Water Pipe, Jim Beam, Tartar, W

Hi Kevin, plucked out of one of those obscure bits of the brain which seem to hold odd information and not entirely sure I've got it right. Earling Tambs and his yacht was called Teddy, but I think he went up on this end of Kawau. Engineless, and had stowed his anchor below in preparation for going to sea. No wind and he got pushed onto Challenger Point. Saved his wife, child and dog but lost the boat.

To be fair, when we watched the guy put ours on with a spray, (the early version) I don't think he really had a clue how to spray anything other than a lawn.

I don't know if the current "copper coat" is the same product as one we tried way back in '94 but we certainly had problems. From memory, it was a water based epoxy and the copper grains were stirred in just before application. We spent many, many hours sanding down the old antifoul, long boarding until we couldn't stand it no more, followed by a couple of coats of epoxy primer. When the agent at the time sprayed on the coppercoat, the finish was unbelievably rough, way past orange peel and into avocado type texture. We expressed concern. He said it would flatten out. It didn't. Mont

Does Auckland council have a downloadable plan of mooring locations?

Oops, sorry TC. Didn't know what the little arrow buttons were until I pushed one. Wrong one of course!