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RGano, Right on about the heat and humidity here in the Panama City area. Every day I look out at the boat and then look at the thermometer...and..."not today". I bought some new fishing gear that I am impatiently waiting to try out to see if I can catch bigger dolphin (fish) also called...

'Lo All, I have had two lightning strikes. My old sailboat had a 65' mast with two antennas on the top. I had a 2" wide copper strip running from the bottom of the mast to a large thru-bolted ground plate. It was never hit by lightning in the years I owned her in Virginia and Florida. However...

'Lo All, Whenever I see a "Newbie" ask a question about what to buy and what to avoid, I think about my first "big" boat that I bought as a newbie to big boats (no TF to ask then). It was a 1958 Owens that had twin Hercules gas engines. The carburetors were of the "updraft" type, which means...

'Lo All, When confronted with questions like this, for both, types of wood or fluids, I have sent them to the University of Florida and asked them if they can identify them. They always have and reported the results back to me. You might try asking a university in Seattle, if you have not...

'Lo All, My old Albin 43 had twin Cummins 6BT5.9M 210 HP engines. Power required to put the boat at hull speed (where I usually ran her), was calculated at about 54 HP (IIRC). I was considering investigating detuning the engines by removing the turbos and changing the injectors. Hurricane...

'Lo All, A few months before Hurricane Micheal struck, we had a natural gas whole house generator installed. After Hurricane Michael, commercial electricity was off for about 2 weeks (varied by location) commercial water was restored a little before that. Our bill for gas that month was about...

'Lo All, My old 46' sailboat came with a traditional shaft log, but I wanted a dripless shaft log. I installed the dripless log per instructions including the hose between the exhaust water and the shaft log. It did not leak at all - ever. When the shaft cutlass bearing had to be replaced, the...

I second use of the Garmin RV GPS's, (we have the dezl580) as you can customize it to the size and weight of your RV. It will then warn you of conditions outside of your parameters. I found the size to be perfect for the location where I placed it.

'lo All! Our Albin 43 trawler (now deceased due to Hurricane Michael) had teak decks that never leaked. While installing a security system, I had to get under the teak decks in several areas to attach the pressure sensors. I found the construction of the decks to be unique to all other boats I...

Hi, The Celestial had only a fully functional upper/flybridge helm when we bought her. The lower helm had no navigational instruments other than a compass, not even a VHF radio. Over the years I added piecemeal components until it had everything needed - thanks to eBay. Then the boat took a...

Hi Dave, Your boat looks like the same hull and deck I had on the Celestial, an Albin 43 Sundeck. At any rate, we had about the same windage. I rigged up a bowsprit with two anchor rollers and two anchors. We deployed the anchors at about 30 degrees apart. Boat always sat happily on the two anchors.

Hi, Years ago, I worked in a US Navy-contracted Aegis radar development facility in NJ. Contractor was RCA, which was then bought out by GE. The building was protected by a large Halon system. Navy crews received their Aegis radar training in the facility. Part of the training was on the Halon...

I put vinyl weighted Soundown on the inside of the generator sound shield on the Celestial. It had self-stick adhesive on it. I did not use screws w/washers as the pieces were within the guidelines not to use them. Within a year, the foam separated, leaving the adhesive and a soft almost gooey...

Chlorine and Rubber 'Lo All, First, I am not a chemist.... Ever pour chlorine into a toilet with a rubber duck-bil? If left sitting for a while, the duck-bill will be ruined because the chlorine will attack the rubber and soften it and cause it to swell, and therefor, to not seal. Same for...

Annin Flags 'Lo All, A few years ago, an Annin flag that was on a Harbor Freight pole :blush: literally fell apart. The flag is lighted and flown 24/7 in the NW Florida weather. The hem was still good as was all but the white stripes. The white stripes could be pulled apart very easily. I...

Boat/US Claim Service 'Lo All, I have insured my last two boats (43' Albin and a 17.5' Bayliner) with Boat/US. I have had two claims, both on the Albin: a lightening strike took out all DC powered electronics ($42,000 total bill) and then the total loss due to Hurricane Michael. I could not be...

Ablin Rudder Setup. Hi Pete - The Celestial had the same emergency rudder setup as your boat. The Celestial was a twin engined boat.

Hi, use compressed air with a long tip to blow the crud out. Wrap the tube with a rag to catch the crud, especially if you used some type of crud cutter/solvent. Don't want that to go into your eyes, etc.

'Lo All, Ref posts relating to legality of renting slips. Here on Pitts Bayou, off St. Andrews Bay / Panama City, FL. On our side of the bayou, it is zoned residential and one cannot legally rent a slip. On the other side of the bayou it is zoned (?light?) Commercial and private property owners...

I didn't perform the procedure - I only observed it, the surveyor did it with the owner's permission. I don't actually know the RPMs that it was done at, but, from what I remember it would probably have been about 1700-1800 RPMs as that was what we cruised at. This was a VERY experienced...

"Lo all, I have only bought 3 " big" boats. First was a wooden 1958 Owens with twin Hercules updraft gas engines - was the Owens "showboat" in the 1958 New York City Boat show. No telling how many owners it had. It essentially had no systems other than a head, a bilge pump and an antique HF...

'Lo All, Prior to selling my 46' sailboat and purchasing the Celestial (43' Albin sundeck trawler w/ twin Cummins BT5.9M engines), I talked with as many mechanics I could that worked on commercial shrimp boats (most prevalent commercial type here at that time). Once, while standing on the deck...

If you are concerned about being caught out in heavy weather where you question the integrity of the windows and doors, I would suggest you equip it with removeable weather boards. It is easy to do as long as the windows and doors are not curved. That way, you can enjoy the boat and be safe if...

Does your fuel tanks have sight gauges? If so are they placed where you could remove the top one to insert a borescope? My old Celestial was built that way. It had a wooden panel up against each tank, but the tank ends were visible. I don't remember where I got it, other than eBay, but I bought...

In a former life, I was a senior engineer in a Navy-contracted radar development site. All Navy work areas were "protected" by a huge, very complicated Halon system with bottles of Halon in various locations with pipes extending the system to every nook and cranny. Every Navy crew that came...