Boat Forum / Cruising / January 2006

A friend is stuck in Mexico with a bad injection pump. Here is the
info I got:
Engine : Volvo MD7A 2 cylinder
Serial Number: 13235

Seeking manufacturer contact info for S&K watermakers.
Thanks, Jay

The joys of living aboard...and not in a marina:
Some things I have experienced and been told by those who have cruised
offshore --
Like canned carrots, peas and corn for all meals and days at a time? No

My family is interested in what sailboat to buy and learn that can handle
offshore or perhaps ocean crossing.  Older fits our budget better.
What type?  How long?
I know this is vague but just trying to develop preliminary ideas to

Our Webasto heater, not yet a year old, will not start.  Fuel line clear (checked that), full voltage available (checked that).  Trouble-shooting instructions are fairly limited.  Any suggestions?  Move to Florida?  (We're in the PNW.)
TIA
Dick B.
MV "Annie"

What is the prevailing wisdom about going offshore in the Winter/Spring
Talking mainly about Southeast US coastal hops.
What areas can be dangerous? How are weather patterns different than
other times of the year.

Anyone see the program on Super Servant on Discovery channel tonight?  Very
interesting show but I thought it only ran trans Atlantic routes.  That run
was Ft. Lauderdale to St. Thomas.  I can see Calais or Gibraltar to Antigua
but an average fee of $7,000 to transport your boat ...

Where do you carry your dinghy?  On the cabin top?  Where is a good place to
store the small outboard that goes with the dinghy?
Any thoughts on how someone can expand their storage space on a 32'
sailboat?  Any tricks of the trade?  Any neat ideas?

I am contemplating chartering out of the USVI this year instead of the
BVI but I don't know any of the companies.
Can y'all recommend any good bareboat charter companies in the USVI?
Thanks in advance.

I checked out the floating dinghy painter someone mentioned at West
Marine.  It looks like great stuff but currently only comes in
diameters suitable for towing maybe a 16 - 18 foot Whaler or similar
"dinghy".  The clerk said New England ropes is thinking of producing

I was just goofing and I found this really sweet boat up on Lake Michigan.
I started to wonder ?? How, what route, canals?  whatever .... how would I
go to sail the boat from up on Lake Michigan to Casco Bay, Maine.
Anyone???

Can someone recommend a good marine weather forecast
for the Santa Monica Basin / Channel Islands area?
Thanks a lot,
Chris

I am considering making my own black water tank. Blackwater being toilet
waste.
I would like to place the tank under the sole between the centre stringers.
The lateral stringers are over 1' off center and 15" deep, giving me a tank

CORA, the Charleston Ocean Racing Association, is holding its annual
Frostbite #1 sailboat race at 1PM, today.
Somebody screwed up!  Normally CORA race days are a great time to get out
the dingy and row across the harbor on really flat water.  But, not

Inflatables may offer a solution to the dinghy stowage problem but the
require a motor that requires gas and mounting th emotor on the dinghy
when you set it up, etc.  Many of us like rowable dinghys because we
think we need the excercise but existing inflatable simply cannot be