Recent content by rkane

The idea of radioing our position in the fog seems a good one - just one question - having never put out a general radio message before, which channel do you do it on? 16 (I think I'm right in sayig) is just for emergency traffic / initial contact so do you radio on 16 and ask all ships to...

First of all, thanks to all of you who responded to my questions regarding l'Abervrac'h / Chanel du Four. Secondly, as the time for our first trip to France draws closer 2 things seem to be looming ever large in our minds - fog and shipping lanes. we don't have radar on our boat, and wonder if...

Anyone got any ideas about the best place to go for holiday insurance that will cover you for yachting? We've not taken our boat abroad before and I thought it would be simple but am finding it difficult to get a policy that will cover us. I'm not too worried about being covered for the actual...

We're planning on crossing to Brittany (Douarnenez) from helford for the first time on about 9th / 10th July. At the moment, we're thinking of heading straight for the chenal de Four, using l'Aberildut as a stopping off point if the tides / weather isn't favourable. Has anyone any thoughts on...

Does anyone have any advice on replacing stainless steel rigging? I know official guidlines say it should be done every 10 years but it this due to the 'life' of stainless steel or to the amount of use they presume it will have had during that time? We have recently bought an ocean-going sailing...

We're trying to get hold of the company who marinised the Ford diesel engine in our boat. According to a plate on the side of it, they're called Bowmans and did the work in 1988. Does anyone have any info. about where they are based / how to get hold of them? Thanks <hr width=100% size=1>

We're expecting our first baby in March and are really interested in what sleeping arrangements other sailors have made for babies on their boats. We've got a 32' steel boat and are thinking along the lines at the moment of a baby hammock within a travel cot to counteract the heel of the boat...

Does anyone know if it is possible to still get parts for a Smiths Wind Speed Indicator? The bit that sticks down below the barrel and has a spike on the end for the cups seems to have decided to jump ship and I can't seem to find anywheer to get hold of a new one. Thanks in advance for any...

The steel yacht that we've bought has a few superficial rust patches on the topsides. The hull (inside and out) is in pristine condition and we really want to get on top of these before they get any worse. We've had lots of conflicting advice about the best way to deal with them - does anyone...

Can anyone give me an idea of what warning signs to look for to check if the cutlass bearings have been damaged by rope / net. We got a piece of what seems to have been loose net around the prop - it doesn't seem to have gone further forward along the shaft though. The boat's in the water at the...

I've been told they just start singing slighly out of tune <hr width=100% size=1>

Following my earlier message about boat electrics, which got some really useful responses and pointed me in the direction of adverc who will be able to give me specialist help when the time comes on battery management, I have now realised that i need to go right back to basics and try to fathom...

we've just bought a 32' steel boat and intend to live aboard her and let the house. At present, she's just got very basic systems on her - cold manual water and two betteries charging from an alternator - one for engine and one for lights / nav equipment. into this system we want to add hot...

Am I right in thinking that Canary make a combined gas / CO2 detector? I'm sure I've read a review of it somewhere but can't seem to find one on the web. Also, has anyone any experience of using canary products? Are they any good - or do people think anothere make is better? Thanks in advance...

The boat that we have just bought has a fairly simple 12 v electrical system on it - two batteries (One for lights / nav equpt. and 1 for the engine) charging from an alternator on the engine. Into this system we want to add a dehumidifier, laptop, fridge and other form of battery charger -...