Recent content by Sandro

@andsarkit #20 +1 Literally from the original "OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS" booklet got with the new motor in 1963: "... and avoid grease for the gearbox like the plague."

Apart from freezing and leaking, I noticed that, as the OP says, good old time car batteries used to give early warnings of decading, whereas nowadays batteries work properly until last minute and suddenly die.. No idea which could be the inner difference.

Some Yamaha 3 hp Malta were issued with a tell-tale hole, some not. As mine had not one, I pierced a suitable hole in the power head lower casting. Before taking to the drill, the pro and con and where etc. were thoroughly discussed in a long and useful thread in this forum lasting from 2019 to...

Also in Italian in a sailing boat we sometimes use "barra sotto" meaning "tiller down" or "barra sottovento" meaning "tiller to lee" for luffing, but either in naval or merchant to day shipping the unambiguous orders are "timone a dritta" and "timone a sinistra" meaning "rudder to starboard"...

You just want to renew the wiring. Can't you do it without disturbing the mast foot? From the picture this seems to be still in acceptable conditions. If it not broke....

A rigid one-axe trailer can unload the boat on dry land without back-breaking, just unhitching it from the car and lifting the towbar. I added two small nailon wheels at the rear end of the spine to ease the trailer wedging itself under or pulling itself out from under the boat.

Fisherman said: "I don't like hauling the boat up over the trailer back end ". Same worries: to relieve the spine I fitted a retractable little leg under the back end of the trailespine (neither I ever dip the trailer). There is a time, the first moment of retrieving, when the cable pulls up the...

In the very interesting articles suggested by john_morris_uk, I was impressed by the lack of reliability of the locking helical spring washers ("Grover washers" as as we call them), in which I trusted life long. My idea was that, when vibration causes a momentarily gap under the nut thus freeing...

Nice work. This reminds me of my first car in the fifties: The Fiat 500 "Topolino" (little mouse) C station wagon that had wood and masonite panels. Not my car photo. Mine was much more battered.

Thank you Binnacle. Found a lot of information that I am going to put in practice. About knives, since a little boy I have a small folding knife in my pocket, now a three inch Opinel; I am aware that I risk some problems but I would explain them it is a tool, not a weapon, hoping they would...

As I see here many knowing about sharpening, I have a question. I inherited from my father in law a few oil stones, all embedded in wooden holders, that I use for shrpening woodworking tools, kitchen knifes and boat knife. The problem is they all are not flat, but worn hollow in the central...

@BobnLesley, deck shoes are used on shore too... Anyway OT

A friend's 6 m catboat had the sink just beside the stairs from the gangway. Often you walked with shoe sole on the sink rim. For sake of hygiene I very strongly convinced him to rig a sink cover.

Neeves seems looking for a boat to sail IN and not ON. A 12' international could suit. Wooden or GRP, oars, lugsail, outboard motor, and a real "boat", not a sports tool wetting your back bottom. Ours was our first family boat in 1954 and is still in commission, even if seldom launched. I...

3 HP, good 2 stroke outboard, very well made.