Siggi Churchill

there once was a couple named Kelly who walked around belly to belly because in their haste they used library paste instead of petroleum jelly

Sweet boat! Completely indestructible...well everything except for the rails pretty much. Enjoy her

Same story for me. I could see zero...logged into my "other site" account...and poof! they appeared over here. I bet if I log out they go away again. sweet setup by the way

so the stripers are allergic to you too? Speaking from experience that's a tough disease to live with...no one understands that it's a random genetic mutation and has nothing to do with my fishing skills... tight lines!

I assume you are talking about a fixed (not floating) dock. If so, your boat will float away a few feet if the wind is off the dock. Good call on the tides - you must leave enough slack. I've seen more than one boat hung up with too short lines...if not cut in time the can pop cleats off (usually off your boat). Depending on the tidal range, and assuming you have 2 low tides/day....you have to monitor your boat as the tide ebbs, and once you hit low tide you can set your lines and leave them there. Do not shorten them as you ride up the tide, or you will have to monitor them as the tide drops again. No one likes getting up at 2AM to check your lines, but if you haven't had a chance to see how low low is before 2AM...I know I would be checking at least.. To keep the boat off the dock use fenders. It depends on where you are tying up what fender setup to use. On pilings I strongly suggest using a fender board (big piece of wood laid across your fenders to make it easier to "aim" at a piling...dock may have them, if not they are easy to make). On a dockish dock or a wall, fenders rigged at the widest part of the boat (probably the rub rail) should do it, although a fenderboard may not be a bad idea. As for lines - bow, stern, fore and aft spring should be sufficient. The springs are necessary to keep the boat from going too far forward or aft due to the slack left to accommodate the tide. Short term you can get away without them, but overnight I'd have them. As for the boat floating away...I'd say that is ideal...keeps your boat off of the wall. Much worse to worry about rubbing. Really the direction of the wind will determine where you float at high tide though (when your lines are the most slackened) You may want a fifth line tied straight from wall to boat (kept slack) to make it easier to pull the boat back in. It's a pain to pull a boat in by angled spring lines, but with a 20' boat, it might not be too bad. good luck!

it's gonna look good... have fun. I have a love/hate thing with projects like this...hope you have more love than hate

You'll like the chocks for anchoring too I suspect, if I'm picturing your boat right. They keep the line from rubbing up against the rub rail and scuffing up the front of the boat. Important for docking as well as said. The most important function of a chock is to control the angle of pull from the line. A constant angle is better for keeping the hitch to the cleat secure and keeping the line from binding over on itself. Ideally you want the line to be fed from the chock towards the horn of the cleat so that as you take the first turn around the cleat, the line is close parallel to the long side of the cleat. That prevents the line from exerting too much torque on the cleat. You don't want it completely parallel or the line tends to ride over itself and bind...just a few degree offset to minimize torque while still keeping the line clear of itself. I don't know how much flexibility you have in placement, but if you can try to get as close to that angle as you can. If not it's hardly the end of the world, just might mean a little bit more torsional strain on the cleats than is necessary (cleats are much better at resisting being pulled upward than being torqued). Something like this, only not on a sailboat, and with only one cleat:

I would agree with you...butttt In order to do that, they'd acutally need the scanners to read my new super technology advanced (not frecking waterproof! ) ID badge. Last I heard they were ironing out all sorts of wrinkles with the things....I don't think there is anyone in my neck of the woods that is likely to have the ability to check my "papiers." More likely scenario methinks: "Let me zee your papeirs plezzze?" "I cannot reeed theze papiers, I never lurned to reed, would you read it to me pleeze?"

If you buy a new one, use the old ones for practice if you've never shot one off before. Even better if you practice putting out a (controlled) fire with one. In theory it's simple, but never hurts to experience it. Plus its kind of fun...

OK so I lied...I don't have any children, and if I did they'd be responsible for their own food... I know this has been brought up before, but I just had to sign up for my appointment to get my TWICS (late) and I felt compelled to register my displeasure with someone. What are they smoking at the TSA. I drive a tiny boat in a teeny harbor with no possible strategic importance (unless the navy is hiding warships there somewhere) or need to go into a secured area. The "engine room" on my vessel consists of a splash well on which a motor is bolted, the "bridge" is separated from the "passenger area" by..well...nothing... and I really don't think I'm at a great risk for being hijacked by anyone more scary than a mischievous teenager. Nevertheless, I've got to haul my butt to the Port of Boston twice, maybe go through another background check, pony up a hundred and thirty clams, and waste a few hours of my time to get this stupid card.... I had thought they changed the rule so that only people who were likely to have to go into a secure area had to get the card....ha!....how silly of me....I should have known that if anything the TSA/USFG did started to make sense, I was misunderstanding something... Turns out the rule is still that any licensed mariner needs one. Well at least I get a cool ID with all my info on a "very secure" little chip that I can flash around like I'm important. I'm willing to bet a lot of money that I have to produce this ID exactly zero times in my life. Heck its probably 40 miles to the nearest scanner.... Oh well, at least our camouflaged fleet of super-secret US Navy Attack 420's and anti-submarine Opti's is safe.... OK Rant Over. Thanks for indulging me....

That occurred to me also - that could well be it, but I've had bilge pumps get so clogged with crap that the impeller could not spin, and they never blew a fuse when trying to run them. If the ice just stopped it from spinning, I don't know if it would be any different. Maybe it takes a long time for enough heat to build up to trip the fuse....I don't know. Easy enough experiment to do i suppose...

They that go down to the sea in ships.... Terrible tragedy. RIP.

Any idea why the breaker tripped? Keep an eye on it...now that it's failed once, be very suspicious that it will fail again unless you can track down the source of the problem. If it were me (especially if the boat is on a mooring unattended) I'd be temped to rip out all the wiring and re-do it just to be safe. Good luck.

I've had great experiences with ICOM M-32...they aren't made anymore, went to the M-34 as the base ICOM model...I hope they are as good. During the summer we have a bunch of these that are used and abused all day every day. They've held up to repeated drops, every sort of weather, recharged every day, etc. Never had a malfunction, the batteries still last all day (being used..not just listening) no signs of corrosion, etc. They get very good reception and have good transmit power...I've even had the harbormaster borrow it when he can't communicate with somebody on his hand held. The only problem I can say I've seen is that after about 4 years of use all the clips on the back have broken off. They can be repaired with a properly large but ugly application of gorilla glue, but its a pain. If this is a backup that will never be an issue for you....it took years of everyday use to do that.

Don't pee on it...no evidence it works, might make it worse by releasing more venom. Vinegar (the household white variety) is the front-line treatment for jellyfish. Salt water soaking for both jellyfish men-0-war. Do not put either in fresh water...the change in concentration can cause more venom to be released. The vinegar acutally deactivates the stinging cells...doesn't make it hurt any less, but keeps more venom from being released. do not rub the tenticles. The tentacles need to be carefully removed and then the remaining goo carefully shaved/scraped off. Allergic reactions if minor can be treated with antihistamine ointment. Severe allergic reactions, severe pain, altered conciousness, etc. all get a call to 911.