tuffyluffy

Why don't you turn it upside down, put bigger blades on it and call it a wind turbine?

You'll be fine. I draw 7'3 and regularly come and go at close to low tide without much trouble. I occasionally have to push my way through a lump of soft slurry but that's at the bottom of a low tide. The marina management has changed recently and there's been a lot of investment made bringing the whole place up to a better standard ie dredging, increasing the height of the breakwater, landscaping, security etc etc. I've been pleasantly surprised at the improvements since the old (bean counter) management sold out to the new crew. The place is on the up. BTW. The name has changed fro

Ditto

I put a nice large pure sine wave inverter on the boat a number of years ago for this type of thing and I've never used it. As the others have mentioned, nearly everything can be plugged into a 12 volt plug these days, cheaply. If you were away cruising for long periods of time it might be a different story

Your thinking of the Turoa (sp?) which is still there

There's a bloke on Trademe selling an overhead projector for $450. I'm going to give him a call and tell him he's dreaming

Good info thanks Wheels. Nice to know Im not slowly dissolving Very familiar with the galvanic corrosion, ice cream container plastic washers and lanoline seems to take care of that although the boat does have a slightly erotic smell of sweet toothed lamb.

If you think the anode placement on a wooden boat is a science akin to witchcraft, try owning an alloy yacht covered in a layer of epoxy fairing compound with a cast iron engine, lead keel, alloy sail-drive, bronze prop and stainless steel rigging. I have absolutely no idea what i should be doing with anodes and neither do most people i talk to. I have one on the saildrive that appears to be doing something and I have a fish type anode on a wire that i through overboard in the marina that does nothing apart from collect slime. Each time i haul out for anti-fouling I tap around the hull

Anyhow, back to my original query, I finally got down to the boat today, started the engine, turned the emergency cross over on for about 5 mins, then turned it off and taadaa, the house alternator and next step reg started delivery current to the house bank, so thats sorted and thanks everyone for the tip, albeit that I'm a little embarrassed i didn't think of it! I could only run the engine for a 15 mins, hence the battery was still sitting below 8 volt once i shut everything down and left, but hopefully a run for a few hours this weekend will spark the bank back into life, but by h

Nah, sorry Knotty, apart from watching broader prices from some manufacturers i haven't got into the detail - to earlier days for me.

The house bank alternator is a monster 120amp unit, so if i can get it to recognize the bank, it wont take long before large dollops of current hit it and hopefully bring it back to life - fingers crossed. I appreciate that the banks capacity will be well down, but if i can get it to last the rest of the year, the Lithium batteries I'd like to replace it with will get even cheaper - They're about half the price they were 5 years ago and falling rapidly

Thanks for the feedback guys. Of course! I hadn't thought to through the emergency parallel switch to liven up the house bank, that should do it, i hope. Funny how often there's a simple solution looking you straight in the face that's overlooked, or is it just me. Will give it a go and if that doesn't work, I'lll try the charger idea. Here's hoping the dead bank is the problem and not something a bit more complicated.

We're finally getting around to a weekend or few away on the boat and I've discovered an electrical issue that i cant solve with my limited knowledge. Due to what I suspect is a faulty auto bilge pump, my house bank is completely flat, and i mean completely flat ie it wont even power a light bulb. Its 4 6v lead acid battery's wired to 12v and charged via a separate alternator and next step controller When i start the engine to recharge (starter battery is separate and has its own alternator) the house bank doesn't receive any current via its separate alternator and next step controller

I wouldn't touch gloss unless youve got a pretty mint surface, it'll accentuate imperfections. Satin or semi-gloss would be my pick

Google for your nearest Rockgas.

Maybe its a recent thing then. Last summer we stopped in at GH, Tuts and Opua and I don't recall being asked anything about insurance. Perhaps I signed my life away on a form I didn't read.

Are you sure about this? I cant recall ever being asked about my insurance cover when I've pulled into a marina for a night or two.

We used the stuff that the car restorers/petrol-heads use for under car bonnets and firewalls etc, its about 1/10 the price of the 'marine' equivalent. I cant remember where we got it but Repco/Supercheap would point you in the right direction. Its a black foam matt about an inch thick

We've got a TV on board but dont use the TV function. Its mostly hooked up to the laptop and used for playing movies and as a big screen chart plotter.

I need to performance manage my Santa. I'm lucky if I get a 6 pack of beer

I'll second that comment! I once won a free lift and wash at the local club, only to watch $600 of Petit Vivid soft ablative AF run down the drain. It was a free clean but it wasn't cheap!

Haha, cheers F, thats classic and great vids B. My wrap-em-in-cotton-wool in-laws are having a fit at the thought of their son-in-law (me) heading away with their 1 month old grand daughter. I'll show them that picture and tell them everyone does it.

Many thanks for the great info Booboo, really appreciate it from someone who's been there. Cute photo btw and your bubs doesnt look as uncomfortable as I thought they might

Please excuse the slight hijack, but how have any of you dealt this really small tots, ie 2 month old through to about 1yo? We're looking to head away this summer with a 2-3 month old ( If any of you have taken really small ones away I'd be grateful for any tips.

I'm no chemist, nor do I know much about about alloy water tanks, however I do own an alloy keeler with two 90 litre alloy water tanks that are at least 25 years old. Here's what i know. . . . They arent painted. Ive only ever used the standard water purification tablets in them from the chemist and never had a problem, I don't know if they contained any chlorine I filled mine up with a concentrated bleach solution, left them for a few days then flushed. So far I've never had a problem with them. There does seem to be a lot of slightly informed, opinionated 'experts' on all things alloy