Recent content by Topcat47

Older 1GM10's can be buggers to start. I know, Mine's one of them. A fit battery and a good starter motor are essentials. My method from cold is, spin the engine up with the decompressor on and full throttle. then drop the decompressor and only when the engine is firing regularly, stop the...

Comma do a perfectly good mineral 2T, available for most auto factors. my bottle has a price of £8.49 on a barely visible label. I've no idea how long I've had it and it's main use is my strimmer and hedge cutter. My Tohatsu outboard only has fuel in it when I need to use it and part of my...

My son in LA was quoted $560 to change the plugs and filters on his Mazda 3. I talked him through it and he did it himself for $ 50.00 including the purchase of a socket set and a Torx set. Either Labour costs in the US are huge or ripping off customers the norm.

My original engine was an 8hp. I replaced it with a Yanmar 10. IMO anything over the 14hp Beta is overkill. Diesels like being run hard and the boat is overdriven at anything over 6 knots. One '26 I know had the 23hp Yanmar fitted but this wasn't any faster than mine unless conditions were...

+! best seal I've ever fitted.

Me too

As she's been in the family for some years, I have no problems with using her first name:- Snark.

Two possible problems here. My old Hitachi alternator failed so I bought a Chinese copy. While it was rated the same on the paperwork, it was producing about 70w and the poor old engine couldn't swing it. After testing six the supplier offered to rewind the hitachi, which he did. No problem...

Ok, it is going back 20 years but I had experience of a military issue emergency manual water maker , like this one, except the barrel was longer. Two of us pumping alternately for 30 mins produced 1 litre of drinkable water. By this I mean you could safely drink it. I wouldn't use it to make...

It depends on the boat and the tidal flow. Havelet Bay was where I'd anchor Snark if I'd been flushed a little too far south by the tide but she's only 26'. Once you're in it's pretty sheltered. Another favourite bolt hole of mine is Havre Gosselin, east of Sark. Last time I was there, there...

Financially and aesthetically, the thing that still infuriated me is the money wasted re-painting the hull and coachwork. The paint started flaking off within days of my paying for the job and despite several attempts to keep the coachwork looking sound, it still looks bloody awful. Sailing...

The carb will need a good clean, especially the jets. Small engines like the Tohatsu 2.5 & 3.5 have very narrow jets and they can be easily clogged after a layoff. +1 for the E5, too

Where did you get the idea I was wealthy from? I'm a pensioner, I sail a 56 year old boat; keep it at a club, not a marina, and do 90% of the maintenance myself. I have no illusions. Were this the 15th century I'd not be one of the knobs, I'd be the swineherd, living in an earth hovel, eating...

It's good there's someone prepared to stand up for us serfs.

My Parasail is about twice the size of the spinnaker it replaced. The material used is NOT the same in both cases. The Parasail cloth is a modern Parachute material. I'm no sailmaker but I very much doubt it's a viable project.