OReely

Let's see, we've got our choices - Clorox Bottle, Rust Bucket, Worm Food, or a Tin Can. I've never been on a alloy boat in the water but I have been on a few at boat shows. I think one reason they are not too popular in the southeast is they get freakin hot. Now maybe there is an answer for that but what I saw (and felt) was unacceptable to me being from South Florida. As for the comment about fiberglass molds costing hundreds of thousands, yes, that can be true. However, the cost of those molds can be amortized over hundreds of boats, so the mold cost per boat is fairly low. Also the high number is really only true for larger boats with lots of parts. Quality of a fiberglass boat can be controlled quite well, even without the more technologically oriented fabrication techniques available today. The real question is does the company run a tight ship and make quality a priority? And that is a question regardless of the building medium. Now, the question you really should have asked to start a conversation is "Why would anyone put Yamaha's on the back of their boat?". That ought to make some heads spin.

Online magazine format? Does that mean the forum goes away and you just post content? Could give some more details about the change?

I think a free site with, and I hate to use the term, infomercial type teasers to let you know what the items for sale are all about would be better. And if the items don't deliver as promised, there should be some return mechanism.

Quite the undertaking. Good luck on the restoration. I hope all goes well for you.

I think we all know how this little internet sitcom is going to end. The two main characters sleep with each other and the show jumps the shark. So, why don't you two go ahead and do the nasty and save the rest of us some time. Just don't post any pictures.

For me, the absolute unforgivable sin is pulling up on the weed patch (or sea wall, or bank, etc) I'm working because you saw a bend in my rod. There's a whole freakin ocean out there, go find your own. If I can toss a line and hit you, you're too damn close.

Don't use any force multiplying levers on the handle. You're almost guaranteed to break the stem. If this is a flanged seacock (the kind that is bolted to the bottom of the boat), you may be able to loosen the body with a large wrench. The body is made in two pieces. If you look at it, you can see a hex shaped section on the upper portion of the seacock. Get a wrench on it and give it a good pull. You don't have to take it apart, just loosen it a little to free the ball. Rotate the ball a couple of times, tighten the body a little. Repeat until the body is very tight. The ball should move at this point. If it's a ball valve mounted on a through hull, unscrew it, throw it away and mount a true seacock in it's place.

Couldn't agree more.

Since they come in a wide variety of sizes it's hard to say what will or won't work for you. The small ones can indeed trickle charge your battery but if you are hoping to replace any significant amount of power you really should check into the output. The small plug-in types only produce a few watts of power when correctly oriented towards the sun. Maybe enough to replace the power used by a small chart plotter or a few LED lights but probably not enough to run a stereo. From your post it sounds like you want to replace some amount of power greater than that. Most of the panels that I've looked into have a maximum output of a little more than 0.5 amps at about 14vdc/sq ft and that's only when oriented towards the sun. You'd need a pretty good sized solar panel to put out any significant amount of power. If your plan is to replace the power drained from something like a livewell pump and/or electronics, I'd have to say a solar panel probably isn't for you.

Wonder what happened. Genset, mains?

I would also vote for dielectric grease. Also tin plated terminals help to reduce corrosion. Old style switches like Perko and Cole-Hersee that have plain copper terminals are extremely prone to corrosion. Blue Seas, BEP, and a host of other mfg's make plated terminal switches. They are well worth the investment. A final thought on this, if your switches are located above the batteries you may be getting the gases from the batteries attacking the metals. If so, it may help to relocate the switches and/or ventilate the compartment better.

I've only put about 4 hours on my boat since I added the Star Tron. I haven't really noticed a difference in the way it runs but I wasn't really having problems before, I just thought it would be good for maintenance as I don't use the boat nearly enough. I'm going to put some in my hard starting 2-stroke weed eater fuel and see if it helps. That damn thing I get to use too much.

I'm pretty sure the pavilions are reserved. I don't know about the grills. Call the Palm Beach County Parks and Recreation Dept. to your wife

Sunrise is no good for me. I'll be looking at the crack of Dawn just about then. How 'bout noonish? Best regards, Dirty William Flint

Before I ever sign any petitions I try to find out what it is all about and who is the sponsor. I looked on the RFA web site and didn't see anything about this. Are you certain it's an RFA sponsored petition? On the face of it, it sounds like a good thing but I would think that if it's that important the RFA would have some mention of it on their web site. Or did I miss it?