How-to

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A month or so ago I wrote a piece here entitled "Intelligent Networking". Two days ago I dicussed "The Convergence Continues". Just in case you aren't following my mind set here let me share with you some rather intriguing information garnered from last evening's national news with Brian Williams on NBC. Everyone has heard about Toyota's troubles with sudden acceleration by now. The current thinking is that it is somehow an electronically / computer driven problem that may be causing this. But here's the intrigue. The US Department of Transportation has admitted that they don't have the technical expertise to figure out what's going on with this. So, the government is now turning to NASA rocket scientists to solve the problem. Now, I'll grant that new cars are probably 5-10 years ahead of most production boats technologically, but we're catching up fast. When I talk about consideration for "mission critical" circuitry being totally controlled by an electronic system, or tout the simplification that the convergence of electronics with traditional electrical wiring schemes has created, remember, behind all of this is some rocket science. My bottom line on this? Its simple really, the boating sector needs to proceed with caution. I love things electronic, but when it comes to safety, we all need to step back and ask ourselves how many rocket scientists its going to take to fix any problems that may arise in spite of the best engineering intentions. …Read More

Ken Williams, who, with his wife Roberta, owns the Nordhavn 68 Sans Souci, reports that the 2010 cruising season for the boats of the Great Siberian Sushi Run (GSSR) is approaching. In an email today to followers of his blog, Williams reports that the boats, which traveled from Seattle, Washington to Osaka Japan last year, [...] …Read More

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Passing through Miami or Fort Lauderdale and need fuel? How about having it delivered to you at anchor by Peterson Fuel Delivery. They’ve been doing it for almost ten years but I didn’t know about it until Jeff and Karen Siegel took advantage of the service and wrote it up in their cruise blog, TakingPaws. According [...] …Read More

Sometimes I guess you can just have too much of a good thing. The case in point here is Interlux’s new Compass varnish, introduced last fall, which incorporated a new, fast-drying chemistry. Unfortunately, it seems to be just a little bit too fast-drying. An OceanLines reader in North Carolina noticed cans of the varnish being [...] …Read More

As part of your spring maintenance and upgrades there are some key areas of concern if you own a gasoline fueled boat and are replacing certain components that are either mounted directly on your engine or located in a space where an engine is or a fuel tank is located. The term to remember here is "ignition protected" and it applies to some common items that fall under the routine maintenance or upgrade category. This designation applies to gasoline fueled boats only (as far as engine and tanks torage is concerned) and LPG gas storage areas as well as battery storage areas and is  actually covered under USCG regulations as well as ABYC Standards. That said, way too many boaters ignore or simply don't understand what the regulations dictate. The bottom line here is that things like starter motors, alternators, ignition components like distributor caps, or any electrical device located in engine room spaces or fuel tank spaces must be rated for ignition protection. The problem is further complicated by the fact that this is a marine only requirement and the fact that the designation of a component as being ignition protected rated is sometimes obscure to the average boater. Component labeling requirements allow some latitude in how a manufacturer can mark their equipment to let you know that the part meets the specifications. Any example is shown here on a gas engine ignition distributor cap: In the center of the photo above you are looking at an engine distributor and you can see it has a label on the cap. The label reads "SAE J1171 Marine". Now a lot of dockside gurus over the years have figured out that marine gas engines are actually marinized automotive engines and think that the marine labeling is merely an excuse for the parts people to charge more money for the part. I can say definatively that in this case you will be taking your life in your hands if you substitute an ignition protected component with a standard automotive component. In the above example J-1171 refers to an automotive standard that identifies ignition protected, which means that the device will not be a source of sparks in the event of a fuel leak that could blow your boat sky high! J-1171 is not the only standard that is referenced. UL-1500 is another possible reference, and on components made overseas, you may see a reference to ISO 8846. This designation applies to things like fuses, circuit breakers, alternators, starter motors, ignition distributors and / or caps and switches, bilge pumps, and blower fans that may be mounted in the above described areas of your boat. The bottom line here? Look for one of the above references on the new parts you install this spring as you get ready for launch, and don't let the dock guru tell you that you can save big money by going down to the local autoparts strore and buying the automotive equivalent. Simply put, it is not going to be equivalent! This is NOT an area where you want to try and save money. …Read More

Our recent piece by Jeff Siegel of ActiveCaptain about a novel dinghy anchoring technique stimulated quite a bit of discussion from readers and we even heard about another, possibly even better, technique from John Marshall, owner of the Nordhavn 55 Serendipity. Marshall discovered a particular product that makes the process of anchoring the dinghy off [...] …Read More

Have you ever made a mistake that killed your boat? I know I have… more then once. Hopefully, reading this will help you avoid making any of these three boat-busters: don’t do this!!! 1.The Fishing Line Blunder – If you fish from an outboard or stern-drive boat, sooner or later you’ll wrap a line around the [...] …Read More