Recent content by charles_reed

Has anyone, with a post 2014 model, able to report that their habit of using mild steel parts (mainly fixings) has changed and that the lawnmower engine has now been properly marinised?

Anchored Boufalos, mid Evvia. Wind speed this morning 05:30, 37kts. GRIBs seem uncertain about outcomes, but probably 7s continuing until tonight (Thursday) and then probably dropping to a BF3 by 18:00 Friday night. Endless problems of dinghy flipping, now got it nestling on twin bridles, bows...

I'm sorry to see I appear to have misled crisjones into thinking I was slating LiFePO batteries, I was merely trying to point out that high currents = high temperatures = possible fires. In that the 787 fires were very clearly due to a lack of cooling capacity. Perhaps reading some of the...

Two major problems:- 1. Cooling - any who've run for a long time in Med temperatures will know that problem. 2. Batteries - ordinary lead-acid batteries are way overstretched. So as has already been said, you've got to go for a LiFe battery bank (remember how the 787 kept on having on-board...

Yes one would be searching for ever for a sub 50 decibel suitcase. Here's a fact-based site to correct some misapprehensions. http://www.generatorgrader.com/quietest-generator/

Correct- I'd looked at VicS photo which had got two hooks bolted to it. One of the problems of conversion to slab reefing is where the mainsheet attachment is fixed to the boom. If mid-boom, deflection is a risk.

A grand simplification - more elegantly covered by the original old saw "buy cheap, buy twice" I've heard good reports of the Kipor, except for noise levels and fuel consumption. For most leisure users the better engineered Honda scarcely justifies its extra cost.

Not according to people who really know in Southampton - it depends on speed through water as to whether it gives more or less drag. For most sailboats, at their normal cruising speeds, a locked prop will produce slightly less drag, for folding and feathering props it's essential to make sure...

I am surprised at the references in this thread to the low cost of repairing the raw water pump ($18 I think). I did that job last winter and it cost over £70 in parts from Volspec. It needed the kit including shaft as the shaft was scored. Well they usually are when the seal goes. The kit came...

Cheap and cheerful parts make one lose sleep, money and utility. Definitely the control unit - not fit for use. My BD 35 draws 6 amps on start, 5 amps with the fan on and 4.5amps on economy mode. So did its predecessor and they've a total service life of 27 years. The transformer/controller are...

Make sure that you don't have anything magnetic within 300mm of the fluxgate compass - even a knife will do it. If it works accurately I'd not touch it - the magnetic reading is a matter of opinion.

Correction, the Navionics charts cover the whole world - not just the UK. You choose the area you want and pay the cash. I think you only download the app from the mobile phone store and the database - the plotter ones come as a MMC. An alternative is OpenCPN and Meggeson Ed 2 - totally free...

I think you mean Lenovo - whose tablets and phones use the Android OS. You will need to purchase and download the app from Google Store, after registering your payment system - to do this you will need to be within reach of a local area wireless network (WLAN). Lenovo are one of the more...

Maltese company - I wonder if they're only charging the 7% VAT rate on print/paper products. Should be 13% cheaper!!! There are a chain of Posiedon marine chandleries in Greece - but they charge 24% VAT.

Whilst the OP likes to add spice to life by keeping his boat type a secret, it may well be that the plate and exposed bolts are merely those of the cover plate - I'd be very wary of a boat which doesn't have long internal tangs to a structural bulkhead to retain the caps. However as Vyv suggests...