idlerboat

A yes from me too.. See earlier posts. Will get a faster response than an epirb if shipping around.

Amazing... As to sailing ? Where do you draw the line when solo ?? You just have to have auto pilot(s) .. In the scheme of modern sailing and methods I think they have done an excellent job. What is also very exciting is that I think there is still quite a lot of scope for more speed yet. This is like aircraft going from propeller to jet. : )

As per Dr W. Non Stop ?. ( Our rescue boats go faster but at 176 litres an hour aint going around the planet on a fill !!) Earthrace stopped 13 times.. So far all I can find is obscure references to a nuclear sub...

Fantastic..... He is traveling at warp speed...... and to think there is not a powered vessel on the planet that could do the same ...

...another important factor with chain plates is "The leading angle" , that is ...That the line of the chainplate is in line with the stay. As the cyclic loads come on and off , the small amount of deflection in an out of true chainplate can cause it to let go with out any warning. You will find this even more often with Tball fittings. Particularly where they sit in the mast, they often dont allow the wire to run true and it will fail at the point of exit from the swage.

Twits who take liberties with other people's lives in order to have 'an adventure' - that's a whole next level of narcissism > ​I agree. As someone who is involved with marine rescue and a cruiser... I try and have a well prepared boat and crew...I totally except that "stuff happens"....thats the point of having a rescue organisation...It may happen to me.....but.. I think it is VERY unfair to place someone elses life at risk unless it is of reasonable no fault and for no gain. Our rules are clear and for a reason. 1st our boat 2nd our crew 3rd the party being rescued ​

Sorry IT lazy on my part...(hours) added by edit... I will repeat this in case you missed it.. When asked about the whole fridge thing, I am happy to say the the water cooled eutectic system that is well set up with perfectly working thermostats are more efficient. But have also explained why I dont think those efficiency gains are worth it . ​It is also worth bearing in mind that if the greatest value of the eutetic system (the reason why it was originally used for sailing vessels all those years ago ) is the ability to "hold cold mass" from times when energy is easily available

...about 24 amp (hours)...in high ambient temps..its only 60 litres though. (For the two of us that has been heaps). I have to say that 30 amp (hours) for 580 liters is extraordinary.... I have never had any problems with the system in "the tropics"...and dont know of any one that has had problems with the aluminium chiller plate type fridge system. I have heard this only as a myth. The only difference is the chilling solution in the eutetectic type (as a cool storage) and the use of a water instead of air in the condenser. The use of water can be not quite as efficient as made out due

..any reason for Raymarine instead of much better B & G (Simrad) gear ?

I run an EvaKool (a fiberglass box, camping chest fridge, like a Waeco). It is very efficient. We make ice cream. It has been continuously running for many years now and runs just off solar. I would not have Water cooled, eutetic type systems on board anymore, and have just recently removed a large version (separate fridge and freezer) from a vessel and replaced it with a Waeco. The drop in power usage has been huge and the getting rid of all the extra plumbing and through hulls a real bonus. If you run two units you can run one as a freezer only or turn one off when not needed. They will a

external ant much better, but just received a weather forecast request txt from one with no ext ant 2 minutes ago ....

...most of the pram type nesters. Mine is 10 foot 6 when assembled. Kept on the aft cabin coach house roof. I run a 2.5 mercury and it will actually plane with one person . They row beautifully having a bit of a V in the hull and most have a simple un-stayed gunter rig for sailing . The mast dropping into a support tube in the forwards buoyancy chamber. Mostly are ply built but my next one will probably be glass, honeycomb panel.

....some areas here now have mandatory, so called environmentally friendly moorings... At its simplest they involve a secondary float and or a rubber bundgey thingy.. The idea is that the chain (or whatever) is held off the sea bottom regardless of the state of tide. The bottom screws, looking something like a post hole borer bit have met with mixed success, because it is so dependent on bottom type. Thin silt over rock is not ideal !!

yep ... and the tests that I mentioned were all hand held...not rocket.. Different Australian states have different rules...and they in turn have different zones that may or may not demand rocket flares.(Enclose,Inshore or offshore waters). The most common requirement is two orange smoke and two red hand held. ...its also probably not a good idea to get into trouble around midnight on new year....

A group of rescue organisations recently did some real world tests of LED "flares" We strongly recommended that they not replace traditional flares at this stage. The results were just not very good. As KM has said visibility is poor at best. In any situation of near coastal you would have no hope as they simply either blend into other back ground lights or if near shipping are not unique enough to attract quick and positive action. They may be useful in a situation that needs a visual guide to an already known situation. Given that some kind of contact has already been made and most proba

hey good for you Geoff.. as much as DSC with GPS may not seem to be local....it will be. and it may well save your life. It really is less about shore based "rescue assets" than normal shipping. International shipping all now must run full dsc gps connected radios (VHF)... ...and if you are any distance off shore they are the ones who will be coming to help you in an emergency. They often (in my experience) no longer maintain a reasonable radio listening watch (due to the change in legal requirements with dsc radio) ...but if their alarm goes off ...all hell breaks lose......and yours , n

i admit to liking it a bit to much.... The stuff you do ...and the stuff that comes from...a phone..? So do you have musical instruments on board and what ? (I have a guitar a uke, several sets of "patica" or kosha ko...(Yep you will have to look it up.) but history says I play piano ..and thats not easy on a 38 foot boat. The stuff in a can...I do that too..Me and the dolphins like it thick and loud ... Draws more power than anything else on the boat.. (including a 15 inch Kenwood sub ..and two rather large power amps..)... I dont have it to annoy anyone else, or even as a party

Yep what island time said. There is some serious power that goes through HF radio sets ..and antenna matches. To give you an idea ...the HF radio should be direct connected to its battery..via a suitably large fuse...(you will see this in most manufacturers installation notes) ..unless you are running a 12 volt microwave an HF is probably going to pull more power than anything else on the boat (all be it for a short time).. and most antenna matches have stickers inside saying "Do not open when transmitting as serious burns can occur" !! . and auto pilot black boxes are a bit sensitive

It's nice to work with, especially if you have a good MIG properly set up for it and it's easy to finish. Totally agree...plus having the sheet and bar materials of a marine grade to hand.... but.....if you headed off in the wild blue yonder...what material would you chose ? (hey no right or wrong here)

chrisc...I do understand. I type this tonight in a most stunning saloon. Not mine, I couldnt afford it, but it is a work of art. ...No ...it is a work of craftsmanship of the highest order...and art.. This vessel has grown Knee,s in the roof structure. Put there to stop diagonal wracking. It is the best of the best. built in 1985. but..if I stuffed up and hit a reef...and had to pay for it...I would rather be in my boat.

Bloody hell the worms are out ,... please dont think that with me, I have being doing this for a long time.

Chrisc Steel ?..most were... a few were timber but big timber was getting rare by then.. The early steel ones were hand hot riveted. Even before welding. the canal guys liked steel....

I write this with the idea of a boat in transit. Going some place... Local boats, that live in local places are different to remote boats. Local boats that go places and come back home for repairs are different to boats that need to do repairs in remote places. Most boats come home...and dont go too far. It is very important to think about what your boat is doing when you chose a budget and a boat. I didn't really like the steel thing , it has its uses , was hard under foot , noisy under sail , battery's and other metals fight with it , and salt water eventually gets it , S

.....now myj......that is very close to pushing statistics... firstly how many small sailing vessels do you know of, that were built of steel 60 years ago ? I skipper and maintain boats for a living....and I live full time on my boat.....Most of my time is spent on the upkeep of timber vessels. No ...good wood dosnt last longer than steel... and good steel lasts way way longer than wood. (even good wood). Its basic chemistry. As to labour...it is far less time to maintain (properly) steel than wood. It is far less time to repair steel than wood. Traditionally built timber boats

Second hand boats are getting cheap... VERY cheap.. A fixer upper in steel ...happens to be similar flavour to mine...a 38 roberts offshore in steel..professionally fitted out. SOLD at $5600 !! (on ebay).... there wont be any point selling mine after the many years (hopefully) to come.... its worth more in scrap metal !!