CarpeDiem

Hi boat tech people, Should I be able to see Heel angle from an RC42 compass on the NMEA network? I can't find it anywhere in the settings... hoping it's a different name? Solution is Triton2, AC12, Zeus2, RC42 Thanks

On the B&G Zeus... On chart view, when you select a waypoint, (or anything else) a little speech bubble pops up with the name of the thing you selected, the name only sticks around for a couple of seconds and if you touch anywhere else it disappears. When you touch the speech bubble a screen appears giving you the details of the item you selected. At the bottom is a "goto" button. (on my b&g the goto is slightly obscured by a predictwind auto route overlay, but the goto button is still there). Now if that doesn't work, long press the screen for a couple of seconds

By sleeve do you mean outer cover? Then enough to be able to human handle it. I leave the cover on all the way to the exit point in the mast. That allows good capture/holding power by a crew member or application of rolling hitch or other jammer. Also gives some abrasion protection. If you're always winching it and never intend to hand haul it, then you only need enough for the clutch to grab. I would also put a 30cm dyneema cover at each reefing point. At the clutch end make the bury 400mm (50x diameter). (the reefing points don't matter as much).

100% certain, the tube is uninterrupted from hull to deck. So what's the process? There's obviously a big hexagonal thing at the top, infact apart from the four screws in the photo there is nothing else... What stops the rudder hitting the mud if I undo that nut? Does the rudder have to be supported first?

Does anyone have some insight into how I can service/inspect this without the rudder dropping into the Westhaven mud? Underneath I have a nipple for the bottom bearings, but nothing for the top. Underneath is just a fibreglass tube going from top to bottom with a nipple at the top attached to a flexible bit of hose that seems to go to the bottom bearings only as evidenced by grease commming out the bottom after filling it up. It started to squeak a bit on the way home from White Island so I think I need to do something about it. Thanks

I just got the D1-30, pretty sure it's the same 115A alternator. I also had a Next Step and didn't want to butcher the alternator. I went down the DC/DC route and settled on the CTEK250 coupled with the CTEK120. It includes solar, low voltage cut out and even float charges the starting battery from the house battery when the house is full. I currently use the solar input attached to a fixed 14.8v 10amp shore power supply whilst I decide on solar. I dislike that I can't adjust or tweak any of the settings but the factory values are ok.

If I needed to replace my stainless rod and I didn't need insurance (or could get someone to insure my diy) then I wouldn't hesitate. Insurance agent said they wouldn't even cover me for diy dyneema runners, they have to be professionally spliced and sized by a rigger.

So I just went through this. Jaycar only had fuses up to 200A and didn't sell the posts. Got the posts from Lusty Blundell in Albany who only had 100A fuses. So back to Jaycar for the fuses. Turns out the Jaycar fuses won't fit on the posts, the ceramic is just too small so had to stack a 1mm stainless washer under the fuse so it made contact with the post. Havn't been able to source a 300A one yet.

We just hadn't taken the square top out while choosing to stay the night or head home. Ended up staying the night.... Our keyboards operator suffered multiple broken fingers (we thought it was two at the time), 34 screws and 4 plates later... Massive thanks to Coastguard who were already on their way to Thirsty Work and turned around for us. Four years of membership, first time needed, money massively well spent.

Out of curiosity, why does the shore earth need to be connected to the boat earth if there is no connection between the shore power and the boat DC? Eg, running just a dehumidifier or any appliance not connected to the DC If you have multiple earth points, should they be connected? Eg, a Engine/Saildrive and a SSB earthing plate - do these need connection between them? Does this requirement change with/without shore power? I don't currently have shore power, it is something I am considering adding for just a dehumidifier, but this thread is putting me off ...haha

Pulled my sail drive out today. Quite a lot of growth, shells etc in the area between the sail drive mount and the hull of the boat. There is quite an area that would be difficult/impossible to antifoul/clean when the boat is out. Even if I was to replace the rubber groove everytime. What do others do to maintain this area? Given I have just cleaned it up in preparation for a new drive, should this area be antifouled? It's always just been out of sight, out of mind...

Hi all, I need to replace my top lifeline covering, it's aged and started to crack and split. As I can't replace the covering without cutting the wire, I thought now might be a good time to switch to Dyneema top lines. On other boats I have always found Dyneema life lines to suffer from abrasion and constantly needing replacement, therefore my thought was to use Dyneema inside the plastic lifeline covering. Subject to no one saying that this is a ridiculous idea (and giving a reason why) Where in Auckland (or online) can I purchase the life line covering? Thanks folks!

Might be a stupid question, but do I need two engine sea intakes? The Saildrive has one and there is a thru hull fitting under the berth next to the engine. The hose for that one loops through the "condensor fridge thingie" and then loops around to join the intake from the Saildrive. I am replacing the Engine driven fridge compressor with an electric one so the "fridge condensor thingie" (what ever it is) will be coming out... Thus the thru hull fitting seems possibly surplus to requirements.... Thanks as always.

Hi all, Looking for some more advice please. My Gooseneck has gained a bit of a wobble over the years, the centre piece that attaches to the mast has more oval than a circle hole for the bolt. Any recommendations on how this could be repaired? Thanks

Hi all, I am in the process of replacing my Volvo Penta 2003 raw water exhaust mixer. The previous one had been modified to take BSP pipe fittings. I am hoping to find someone who can manufacture the original pipe parts. To me these just look like tri clamp connections... The part I want made is #26 in the diagram: Here is the old exhaust mixer, with a brass BSP hose fitting that has been tapped into the cast steel. Not a bad solution and I might go back to this (if I can find an engineering shop to do the drill/tap) if I can't get the pipe made. But keeping brass out of

Thanks all. I don't have a radiator. The water from the ocean is just pumped through the engine. That same water is pumped through the heat exchanger in the hot water cylinder. I have followed the hoses and there is no pressure release valve anywhere. So it's not surprising that the cylinder blew its outlet hose off. I am guessing that I need to fit a pressure release valve in the circuit, but I am not sure where to release the pressure too... Thanks for the responses all. Rowan

Is there supposed to be something in the engine hot water circuit that stops the temperature in the cylinder from reaching explosion levels? I started using our hot water cylinder the other day for the first time in two years and since we have had the boat and the freshwater outlet blew off after motoring for a couple of hours. The engine temperature was sitting around it's normal 90degC. The boat became a bit of a steam room for he next half an hour while the remaining water boiled off. I haven't tried exploring the water pipes to see if there is something in the circuit, like a tem

I can build it anyway I want, I just kind of want to know what the advantage is, cause it's got me stumped. My guess was it's somewhere between 24:1 and 28:1... Thanks

So it makes no difference that the compound 7 is linked to the load as well? I don't understand this, why doesn't some of the force from the 7 get distributed away from the 4 and directly to the load. What if the dotted line was attached to the second pulley from the top, would it still be 7 x 2 x 2, or would there now be some equal or unequal distribution of the 7. I totally get that if the dotted line was attached to the block of three, then it would deffinitely be 7 x 2 x 2, but I am not understanding why it would be still 7x2x2 when one leg of the 7 is connected to the to load.

Hi folks, I am rebuilding the vang on a Cookson 47 that I am racing on out of Australia occasionally. The vang was repaired after a breakage and I am trying to calculate what the current mechanical advantage is of this setup. I don't know how the formula works when a compound pulley system is connected to an intermediate cascaded system. In the attached diagram the dotted line is confusing me and I don't know how to calculate it. I am probably not going to rebuild it like this, I just want to know what the advantage is, because it's adequate and I don't need more or less. Thanks

Thanks for this @markm, very interesting rule. So my sail maker advises that the SMW (maximum width) of the largest spinnaker is 7.6m. I assume that is the right number? So have I worked out correctly that my Spinnaker pole could be a minimum of 4.18m (7.6 * 0.55)? And going the other way if I cut off 150mm from my 4.35m pole, my kite should be 7.56m SMW. (4.2 * 1.8 ) (So the kite will be just a bit wider than the rule of thumb). Thanks

Hi all, I have some damage to the end of my Spinnaker pole and I am toying with the idea of shortening it rather than replacing it. I need to lop off about 100 - 150mm. The pole at 4.35m is already quite a bit longer than "J" which is 3.85m. The boat is a 10.6 Fractional rig (if that is relevant). Obviously my existing spinnakers (MH and Frac) were both "made to fit" this Spinnaker pole. So what impact would I notice or see if I just shortened it? Thanks

Hi all, I am wanting to replace our mainsheet with a 6:1 with a cascaded 4:1. It's currently a very difficult to manage 3:1 that goes back to the mast, down to the shroud and then comes along the deck to the cockpit. I have tried to use the Harken Calculator http://www.harken.com/MainsheetLoading/ to calculate the load, but the technical notes say that it shouldn't be used for sails with large roaches and we have a square top. I tried contacting Harken NZ for support, but it's been a week now and I have had no response. Which is kind of disappointing because I was intent on using

No. I am in Auckland. Never been in Whangarei longer than a few hours.

The prod is retractable. I will launch all sails on the 2:1. I plan to leave the Tylaska LB on the bight for non furling sails. I looked at the fairlead but I don't like it because it has a screw pin (like a d-shackle) which is prone to going over the side when changing sails or setting up when underway. If all my sails were on the furler then it would be perfect as it could be left on permanently when underway.