Recent content by koliver

Check this out: Sal (the guy on this U tube) is a PhD and gives a very unbiased account.

yes, tpi. as I said, mine is older than dirt. Yours may be different. Easy enough to check.

Paul: I am not at my boat, so the following is from memory and may not end up being the same Racor as yours, but.... As I recall, my Racors are assembled with the same screws in every position. None are 10/24. None are a machine screw thread, and due to the material being plastic, I would...

Where will you be going? From Seattle, your most frequently used courses will repeat themselves, at least near your home port and near your most frequented destinations. AP will give you several times the enjoyment of each passage by reducing the time you need to be concentrating on steering...

All of the preceding responses accept removing the existing finish as a necessary part of refinishing. I have so much teak trim on my 1980 Taiwanese Trawler that the time it would take to do that complete refinishing is more than I have in two or even three summers. So what i do is to lightly...

How many revolutions to start your JD? My boat had a 4D start on a pair of TMD40s and an old Onan Genset. It was completely adequate, on the main s that required 2 to 10 seconds of grinding to start. I re-powered to TAMD41s that start on less than 1 rev, and a Westerbeke genset that starts...

When my boat was new to me in 1994, I had a "no start" issue that was solved by pulling the wiring harness apart at a connection that was attached to the stringer on which the engine was mounted. My mechanic went to that first, as a high water event would cause that connection to corrode to the...

Axopar 37s are one of the most successful new designs to arrive on the local scene. In the Yacht Club I am in alone, there are at least 6 of them. I have spoken with an owner, who has moved to his second, with a pair of 300 hp engines. His first had 350s, but the design of the hull has been...

I have both. My original venturi faded from "bronze" to a purplish before I bought the boat at 14 years old. Then I dropped the bimini onto it and it shattered. I replaced it with plexiglass, in a "bronze" colour. In the next 30 years, the "bronze" colour has stayed bronze, but I now have a...

It is all about fitting an appropriate sized dinghy to the available real estate on the transom. I had a swim platform on my 37' sailboat. It was only about 5' wide, but adequately held an inflatable on Weaver snap davits, while in the marina. As sailboats heel, the dingy had to come off of...

Sounds like you are coming home! You will have no difficulties adapting to your twins. As an introduction, find a channel in which you can know your exact position and back down it. I find standing at the upper helm facing backwards with the wheel behind me works very well. Steer with the...

Heavy smoke on startup was common with my old D7L. Same tech as the 8. My conclusion from several years and many $$$ in maintaining that unit: Cold fuel. With warm fuel, ie, when your need of a quick start and good heating is way less, they work much better and smoke way less at startup...

There is a floor finishing applicator, like a small mop, that you can get at most paint stores. This allows you to stand, pour the varnish on the floor and push it around until you get the area covered with a decent coat. Temperature should be close to what is stated on the can, for decent...

Well...it wasn't actually moving fast. Once the boat's fwd motion was stopped, the falling anchor and chain were pulling chain out of its locker at a rate that was slow enough that I could grab and hang on without any drama. I have a line that runs to the head of the anchor that I had neglected...

The hardest part of boat control to get used to is the speed of the water across the rudder. In fwd gear you know when you lose steerage as you slow to something around 3 knots. In some boats, loss of steerage occurs at a higher speed than that when the engine(s) are in neutral. Now think...