Tips, Tricks & Thoughts:
Tips
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Jordan Series Drogue Works Even if Caught Beam On
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Read more: Jordan Series Drogue Works Even if Caught Beam OnSusanne Huber-Curphy and I were chatting by email about her use of the Jordan Series Drogue, our (and her) recommended storm-survival gear, when she clarified a point I think many people worry about, unnecessarily as it turns out: The most amazing thing of the JSD is that after a front has passed with a dramatic […]
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AAC Site Slow Down
0 CommentsReading Time: < 1 minuteFreeRead more: AAC Site Slow DownWe had a three-hour slowdown on Sunday afternoon (AST) that made the site pretty much unusable. This was the result of a new site-search engine that we are installing that was building an index and ran amok. Fixed now. Sorry for the problem.
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Instrument Loads
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Read more: Instrument LoadsSeems like a lot of cruisers are leaving their instrumentation on, even when at anchor, these days. Do what you want, but this practice could push you into a major electrical system makeover that might not be necessary if we just turned that stuff off. The above photo shows the load (battery monitor to the […]
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NMEA 2000 Trouble Shooting Kit
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Read more: NMEA 2000 Trouble Shooting KitI’m in the throws of installing a new autopilot and radar on our new-to-us J/109. As part of that I cleaned up the dogs breakfast of a NMEA 2000 network the boat came with to make it both easier to trouble shoot and hopefully more reliable, particularly since this new kit required adding quite a […]
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Stopping Rigging Hum Q & A
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Read more: Stopping Rigging Hum Q & AMember Arne asked: When I tuned the rig on my OVNI, it started vibrating/resonating in the wind when on anchor. It starts at fairly low wind speeds, and I can’t tell exactly where in the rig it is. I can sometimes feel some vibrations in the shrouds. It sounds like a motorboat approaching a couple […]
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Is Reading Time a Good Addition to AAC?
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Read more: Is Reading Time a Good Addition to AAC?Early this week we added a reading time estimate to the header of every article (but not these Tips). The idea is to show how much information you can get from a small investment in time at AAC, particularly when compared to trying to get technical information from YouTube, podcasts, or the biggest time sink […]
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Turnbuckle Securing Hack
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Read more: Turnbuckle Securing HackHere’s a quick way to secure turnbuckles with no need for taping and that is quick to take off when we need to adjust the rig. The secret is selecting a ring-ding (a technical term that shows the user is a real professional rigger) that is just too big in diameter to allow the barrel […]
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A very bad place to put a solar panel
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Read more: A very bad place to put a solar panelSeriously? One wave strike, or even a gale, and this will end very badly. More on why we should not do stuff like this, at least if we plan to go offshore.
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Electrical Quiz
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Read more: Electrical QuizQuiz is closed, here’s the answer. Why am I methodically disconnecting each load from the battery, and then reconnecting it while looking at a volt meter? And what’s the meter connected to? Answer in the comments: First right answer wins an Adventure 40 T-shirt.
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Preventing Unintended Jib Unfurls
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Read more: Preventing Unintended Jib UnfurlsThe furler line is only secured by a cam cleat (under dodger flap in shadow) on our J/109, so when leaving the boat we clove hitch it around the winch. Also note the sheet is half hitched around the standing part. Before leaving the boat we also make very sure the jib is neatly rolled […]
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A Not Boring Accountant
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Read more: A Not Boring AccountantMark Goodfield was our accountant and tax advisor, both personally and for AAC, for some ten years until he retired from public practice, and he never steered us wrong. He has blogged about personal finances, investing, tax planning, and accounting for some 15 years (guess) as the Blunt Bean Counter. Given that, if we want […]
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McCurdy and Rhodes 56 For Sale
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Read more: McCurdy and Rhodes 56 For SaleThe McCurdy and Rhodes 56 that we owned and loved for thirty years is for sale again. The asking price has recently been dropped to CAD$349,000 / ~US$259,000. This is a great boat at any price, but at this new price she represents a once in a very-long-while opportunity to buy an offshore-ready boat at […]
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Mono- or Multihull?
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Read more: Mono- or Multihull?As I have said many times before, I’m agnostic about the number of hulls a cruising boat should have. There are benefits and drawbacks to one, two, or three. That said, I do have a soft spot for some boats with three hulls, but that’s another post. Anyway, I came across this good article comparing […]
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Servo-pendulum is Not Bullet Proof Either
4 CommentsReading Time: < 1 minuteFreeRead more: Servo-pendulum is Not Bullet Proof EitherA few weeks ago I pondered the very high loads that auxiliary-rudder self-steering gears put on themselves and the parts of the boat they are bolted to, based on the failure of Simon Curwen’s Hydrovane gear while leading the GGR. Now we are getting reports that Abhilash Tomy is having a hell of a time […]
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Invaluable Measurement Tools
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Read more: Invaluable Measurement ToolsI have a couple of tape measures (one metric, the other imperial) in my tool bag, and even have a really nice digital calliper for when dead-nuts measurement is required, but the two measurement tools in my kit that get the most use are a cheap pocket calliper (top photo) and an even cheaper metal […]
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Inflatable Boat Maintenance Wisdom
3 CommentsReading Time: < 1 minuteFreeRead more: Inflatable Boat Maintenance WisdomI just got off the phone with a local guy who repairs inflatable boats. Seems like he really knows of what he speaks. I learned a few things: He is going to rehab our nearly four-decade old Avon. If it goes another 20 years I’m thinking I might be done with it. Final tip from […]
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The Perfect Mallet
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Read more: The Perfect MalletI pretty much never use a hard-headed hammer on a boat; in fact, I don’t even have one in my onboard tool kit on our new-to-us J/109. But I use a mallet often to move something stuck without damaging it, or drive a punch or chisel. This one from Lixie is just the right weight […]
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Garmin Cut Vesper Users Loose
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Read more: Garmin Cut Vesper Users LooseAlthough we had a lot of trouble with our first Vesper AIS, I have long been a fan of their products, with the exception of the Cortex, which tried to do too many things in one unit and had a lot of issues as a result. When Garmin bought Vesper I had a sense of […]
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Lubricate Steering Chains and Cables
3 CommentsReading Time: < 1 minuteFree
Read more: Lubricate Steering Chains and CablesI mentioned in another tip that I have just finished a full maintenance on the steering gear on our new-to-us J/109 and that nothing was properly lubricated before I started and probably never had been. On that subject, I have long noticed that the chain and steering cables on many boats are bereft of any […]
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TZ iBoat Updated
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Read more: TZ iBoat UpdatedI have used a bunch of iPad navigation software over the years, but TZ iBoat, by the same folks who have been doing navigation software on computers for some 30 years, is by far the best. Lots of reasons, but the most important is that it’s the only app that I can enter and edit […]
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A Good Hacksaw
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Read more: A Good HacksawSince I let all my old tools go when we sold our last boat, I have been upping my standards as I buy new tools for our new-to-us J/109. One of my best acquisitions has been this premium hacksaw from CK Tools. It’s quite amazing how much easier this saw is to use with its […]
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Are Auxiliary Rudder Self-Steering Gears Strong Enough?
21 CommentsReading Time: < 1 minuteFreeRead more: Are Auxiliary Rudder Self-Steering Gears Strong Enough?I was really saddened to hear that Golden Globe Race leader Simon Curwen is probably out of the race due to a catastrophic failure of his auxiliary rudder self-steering gear in a broach. I have long wondered if these gears that actually steer the boat with a separate rudder, rather than control the main rudder […]
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When Did Your Steering Last Feel The Love?
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Read more: When Did Your Steering Last Feel The Love?I’m just about finished rebuilding the steering gear, less the rudder since we did that last year, on our new to-us J/109. When I pulled it apart half the bearings fell out and there was not a drop of grease or oil on any of it…except the brake pad, where we don’t want it! I’m […]
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Installing a Propane Detector
18 CommentsReading Time: 2 minutesFree
Read more: Installing a Propane Detectori just finished installing a propane gas detector with two sensors, one near the stove and the other just aft of the engine where gas would pool prior to kaboom, on our new-to-us J/109. I settled on the above-pictured unit from BEP Marine. So far it seems like a well-thought-out piece of safety gear. One […]
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Q & A: Iridium Go! or Go Exec
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Read more: Q & A: Iridium Go! or Go ExecThe new Predict Wind Iridium Go Exec device does indeed have a subscription plan that limits data according to how much one pays, i.e: $159.95/month buys you only 50MB of data. That includes all data transfer including tracking data. Do you happen to have a clue how much data you found that you used, on […]
