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OK you guys. You complain that no one shares their experiences of cruising and since Old Salt, Marin, OldFishboat and a few more of us are all located on the North-West Coast why would we bother posting our experiences? I mean, come on now all we do is wander around in the fog and pouring rain...

Woops, I forgot to add that the prop is a 32X24 on a 1 3/4 shaft!

Marin - what is the gear reduction on your boat? I am curious as I am having a hard time getting my mind around all the prop theory with regards to our boat. In our case the gear reduction is 3:1 so with the engine's sweet spot at about 1500 RPM our prop is rotating at 500 RPM which I think is...

FF - We have a standard Sears "under-counter" AC fridge on our boat which runs from the inverter. I added 1 inch styrofoam insulation board to the sides and installed a small computer fan that comes on with the compressor and found the run times and power used dropped dramatically. We went thru...

Ah yes, you just can't beat an old style diesel engine that has lots of torque and is slow running. I have an old Volvo in our boat (MD-47 late 1950 vintage) that turns a maximum of 2000 RPM and develops a whopping 82 HP with 200 Ft/Lbs of torque. All this massive power is run through a 3:1...

To expand on what Marin has said about docking systems here in the PNW I have a little light "grapple hook" that is made of 3/8 steel rod and welded to form four hooks equally spaced. Our standard proceedure when docking along a wharf that has bull rails and no one in attendance to assist is for...

Forklift - I had the opportunity last fall to visit a boat builder here on Vancouver Island who uses the Vacuum Infusion Process to a very large scale when building their 50 to 60 foot trawlers. It is really something to see as the vacuum is pulled down and the workers get all the wrinkles out...

I have worked on several big tugs here in BC that were diesel-electric and I remember asking one of the engineers why. His reply was that the huge diesel engine was run at a governed constant speed which was its most fuel efficient and that the electric motor gave them instant full torque when...

The so called "de-suphators" do not produce a spike but rather have an output that is actually AC but at a much higher frequency than what shore power has and it is produced generally in pulses of a few milli-seconds duration. The theory is that this high frequency pulse causes the sulphate to...

Thanks for all the input guys. Turns out that the Bosh injector pump on my engine has a shut-off lever that has to be pulled such that the shaft rotates through about 20 degrees. The first 10 or so don't seem to do anything but I would not want to leave the arm in that "mid" position as I can't...

Talking about heat on board when away from the dock, I found a neat and easy method of heating up the main cabin quite quickly and safely if you have a propane stove. Take a red clay flower pot big enough to cover the burner and set it upside down over the burner. When the flame is lit the pot...

Ken - thanks for the info. I will scan the internet now and see what I can find. Bob Smith may possibly have at least the solenoid used or new so I think I am on the right track now. Again - thanks John

Thanks Marin - I should have thought about them before I bothered you and everyone else. Cheers John

Guys - it's me that has Marin looking for shut off valves and here is the reason for my thinking. I have an older Volvo diesel that uses a cable control for shut down. I have a bridge deck set of controls for everything BUT engine shut down. As the years go by I find that my arthritis causes me...

Gene - great little ship. I have a question regarding the power train - are the "dual engines" coupled to one shaft and if so how do you regulate the speed of the engines so that they are both turning at the same Rpm's ?? Good luck on the restoration. John

I often wondered what happened to her. She was in the charter / cruise business her in BC some years back and there were several articles about her and her owners problems in keeping her in top shape. I seem to remember that she was docked for a while in the Inner Harbor here in Victoria and...