Boat Forum / Cruising / December 2004

I thought I'd have left on my cruise by now but am still finishing my
nesting dinghy so while that is happening, I am wondering about taking
a computer. Is a computer really desireable on a cruise?  I like to do
weird calculations with spreadsheets and work out bizaare optics for

AS my cruise is coming up, I decided to go out night sailing to see
how everything worked in the dark.  Havent been night sailing in
several years.  Had very little wind, sailed about 12 miles due south
till I was near "O" tower (an AIR Force navigational structure for

On occasions on startup, the oil pump doesn't prime. This is most likely
 when the motor has been running for a while, has been shut down, and
is restarted shortly thereafter.
The axial clearance of the pump's gears in the pump body is close to

I'll be in Canadian water soon and wish to be dry/warm, of course. What
dehumidifier has the group had good experience with
regarding..........cost, energy requirement, reliability ?
Appreciatively,

Did anyone hear anything about these Sea Dragon inflatable boats? Very
similar to Zodiac dinghy boats. They have a web site
http://www.BoatsToGo.com and it seems that their prices suspiciously low for
inflatable boats.

I recently purchased a Questus self-leveling radar mount off of Ebay.  
Unfortuantely this unit was designed to be mounted on a backstay, and my
boat (a Freedom 40/40 with a carbon fiber mast) doesn't have one.  I've
designed an adapter for it, which I will machine out of 3" round ...

I am looking at wind generators. According to the latest literature, the
Air-X marine wind generator is claimed to be 80% less noisy than the
(very loud and annoying in my opinion) older model, the Air Marine.
Can anyone offer any first hand experience with Air-X Marine wind

any views on the best way to remove antifoul without sandblasting???

I swear that I've seen the Bahama's Explorer charts in raster/BSB format on
CD, but I can't find a source for them.  Anyone know where I can get them?
-- Geoff

I'm looking for an inexpensive source for teak strips to frame out a couple
of transom port.  Does anyone know a goodf online source for teak?  Pls
advise here or e-mail to
jtrabey AT aol.com

I'm an armchair cruiser, daysailer, epoxy salesman and
thinker...
I've been reading a book about 40 or 50 'yachts lost at
sea' stories. Interesting reading. Made me start to

I have an auto helm, and latley it has been wandering, back and forth. Any
sujjestions on how to correct this?
Thanks, in advance
Sterling

I know this is the wrong place but I am not going to risk going over to
rec.boats to ask.
My son and his girlfriend are living in Tampa on Pelican Island and are
making noises aboput buying a boat.  He wants something he can fish on near

i am seeking parts for my 1979 evenrude / johnson 2 hp outboard.
if anyone has one (one or two years, either side of 1979) laying
around they would like to sell for parts...i am interested is
discussing the details, i think the main part i need is a working

We have an opportunity join a group of other cruisers who are having
their anchors and chains re-galvanized.  However, we have several
questions about this:
1.  We have 3/8" HT chain.  We've heard that re-galvanization can