Posted: 08/10/2010 9:55 AM
Fixing it Up or Killing it Off
The bottoms of boats in the Caribbean often get to look pretty ugly. Even after the fouling has been taken off after a hauling. Often this also exposes a large number coats of anti fouling some of which have already parted company with the boat but have also left large parts of coating where the anti fouling seems desperate to stay with the boat in spite of the brother molecules already having given up adhesion .
So the ambitious boat owner decides to remove all the anti fouling and do the...
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Posted: 07/23/2010 4:39 PM
Anodes for Headaches
Soon after I got to the Caribbean I was at the counter of a yacht chandlery where a customer asked the amiable sales lady whether she had any anodes. She replied that she did not have any Eno's but recommended another medicine for the same ailment.
Many people in the marine industry do not understand what anodes do even though they do get the spelling right. They know they have to put anodes on their shaft when they...
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Posted: 09/22/2010 9:43 AM
Props Can Stay Clean
There has suddenly been a surge in products to protect your propeller from fouling. At Budget Marine we have been active for many years in trying to get products that will work and save huge amounts of fuel and time. Everybody will probably agree that it is really dumb to go around with a dirty propeller but real good solutions have not been easy to find.
In the old days in the Caribbean they used to put grease on the propellors which did help a little but not for very long.
We have...
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Posted: 06/22/2010 5:45 PM
It's moving to Aluminium
In the beginning aluminium dinghies were problematic. Everybody knew it was a good idea but they fell apart. In particular the tubes fell off the hull and that really ruined the usefullness of the item. That problem has been solved however and now there are still a few detail problems but they are the dinghy/rib material of the future.
They are much lighter, stiffer and stronger. It is really very difficult to ruin them unless you unleash some very powerfull force on them. You...
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Posted: 06/22/2010 5:46 PM
Ultimate Hurricane Advice
There is plenty of hurricane advice and most of it is good . This is the most important:
The worst thing about hurricanes in the Caribbean is the scare mongering. Actually preparing for a hurricane is a regular predictable affair and can be made to be routine. You simply need the right engineering and everything will be fine. It's that simple.
The situation is made worse by persons who gain great pleasure in mongering scarey feelings, particularly at bars when everybody is just trying to...
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Posted: 09/22/2010 9:44 AM
Caribbean Differences
You can be a great sailor and have many miles under your belt, but you are still going to learn a couple of things about sailing in the Caribbean that are different.
Some of them are pretty dumb but you still are better knowing them.
This blog is about helping you pick them up more quickly and then enjoying our great sailing waters more:
Awnings : Are very important and the best ones are pulled very taut so that they do not flap on the breeze. Getting them taut...
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Posted: 06/14/2010 8:16 AM
Trufit plugs are a long awaited innovation!
In the Good Old Days in the Caribbean when a boat suffered a considerable leak from hitting rocks or such like the “experienced “ people in salvage and boat repair knew that in order to move a sinking or pumped boat back to a hauling facility they needed a special sort of plugging material.
The typical solution was to raid pool floats from a pool and sculpt them into a shape that would be suitable to keep the big flow of water out of the boat with a temporary material that would...
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