ex TL systems

The commercial Coppercoat still seems a good option if you get close to 10 years with in water scrubs every few months. Not to hard if you are living aboard and the water is warm. Perhaps not as much fun on a 60ft mono though but if you just did a little bit each time you went swimming it would not be too bad. Or just let someone else scrub it.

we have a small 12v compressor fridge with a thermostat, at the present running off the house batteries. I am thinking of installing a separate battery with its own 100w solar panel and regulator just to run the fridge, that way the house batteries will be kept up for running nav lights and autopilot etc, and I suspect that the fridge will survive on that one panel and battery anyway but if not at least it will only run one battery down plus I could divert more panels to that battery once the house batterys are full. I think at anchor we will have plenty of power but when on passage we may ne

I have a raymarine tillerdrive ram that I could use with it if their one failed or was too noisy.

No experience but from their ad I think I want one, not much more than a raymarine 2000 etc. Much better in that the controls can be separate from the ram and so kept dry. Let us know what you find out , I may order one also.

10 m new build foam sandwich cat on trademe for no reserve auction at the moment only 6k for the unfinished boat with a mast and some sails looks like it has the potential to be a fast little cruiser in the style ot catabatic but with a roof, hope it finds a good home and gets completed.

There is Okahu bay near the city that will be vacant soon, new breakwater and a bit of dredging and landfill, close to the racing , perfect as a base for AC 36, and who would possibly object to that?

what about a second hand 12v compressor type fridge , danfoss or vitrifrigo? use complete or as parts to cool your box. They are very efficient and use little power. I had a tropicool and it was not worth using, better to just use ice in your existing box.

Exciting news maybe someone could pin the notice with all the proposed dates at the top of the cup talk forum? Be good to be out on the water to watch some of the early training action if it is in Auckland

any that I have bought new , even the cheapest ones on special have been fine, any I have bought second hand have been a waste of time and money. At the moment I have the type that uses a bilge pump with a sealed toilet lid to create suction, these are supposed to be the best but the others that I have had seemed to work fine and would be cheaper. Check the price of spares when considering which to buy also.

Have had some great New Years Eves there too.

there is a guy works from home in te atatu, equal electronics he has a listing on trademe for onwa autopilot, he can fix it if its fixable

i have one of those got it from Chinese site for around 350 looks good and works here at home showing boats in port etc , easy to set up just connect an aerial and 12v power. You need to get an mmsi? number to get the transmit function working . reviews seem pretty good and very affordable wouldn,t go offshore without one now, particularly if solo or short handed.

Just buy some new batteries and use less power with the solar and hydro when sailing and run the motor at night for an hour or so if you need to. Turn off the fridge at night. I survive with an 8 amp alternator and no hydro. Or could you run a portable genny to a battery charger as a booster when required

I have a Tiki 38 also the same age, but seems the builder had a longer term view with all stainless plus it was modified to be glued in place beams as well as bolts. Still in good nick and no rot that I have found. Need to reantifoul this summer though

Agreed the problem is lack of communication from him which makes it hard to resolve and I don't doubt you at all as we have met before. good luck

Oops maybe ring someone else to get a rough comparison if they said 2k you might feel differently

Well at least it is a way to start a conversation I wonder if he just said 600 because he did a similar job 20 years ago and that's what it cost then m

Yes you need an explanation and it would have been better to be contacted first but it may not be fair to just pay 800 when he said about 600 That is not a written quote that details work to be done. And if others have recommended him it's unlikely that he has suddenly turned into a crook. Likely the person sending the account knows nothing about any discussion about the estimate etc.

I have always been careful to make sure that the weight of the boom will not be taken by the bag material if the topping lift failed..ie take the lazy jacks down direct to the boom and then hang the bag off the lazy jacks, or use webbing or similar to take the load to the boom .

If they have rules that say you can,t use an autopilot when racing offshore shorthanded then that should be changed , as a safety issue especially when short handed, if you are wet cold hungry and tired 10 minutes below to recharge or check charts etc with an autopilot keeping the boat on track may save lives, ridiculous to penalize a boat for what may be required for good seamanship.

Last summer we had 2 swallows build a nest under our cats bridgedeck on the outboard leg. We went sailing for a week and of course the nest was washed away. When we returned they were waiting to welcome us home. Don,t mind them 2 as they stayed under the boat , but hope they haven,t invited all there friends to stay for the winter.

if its just the magnets then boats with cockpit speakers maybe are staying clean, or you might need to hang them up in the rigging? Worth trying to see if it works if you are having a problem with birds.

The reality is that some boats will not sell until the vendor has a major change of heart, some will only be sold once they become deceased estate, but until then it is their boat and they can ask whatever price they want, and if you want it you can either pay the money or wait , no point getting upset about it.

that is just a bill of sale or similar from buying the boat so not difficult at all, no 5 years history of ownership as some others wanted. The statement that it is accepted" almost everywhere" could be a worry ,as I don,t know where that place is but at least if I go there I know it will be accepted there. Hopefully Fiji is almost everywhere too.

I have done this same passage with Bruce and Dinah aboard their cat in 2012, definitely the best equipped and safest offshore trip I have been on as well as the quickest, a good chance to experience offshore multihull sailing.