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?

My pirate name is: Dirty William Flint You're the pirate everyone else wants to throw in the ocean -- not to get rid of you, you understand; just to get rid of the smell. Like the rock flint, you're hard and sharp. But, also like flint, you're easily chipped, and sparky. Arr! Scientific questionnaire indeed! They didn't ask one science question.

Great, thanks for the info. I'll report back soon.

I received my bottle today. Thanks! I do have a question for you. I currently have a treatment in my fuel (Fuel Medic). Since I only have one tank and obviously don't want to run completely out of fuel, will adding yours cause any problems? Let's say I run the tank down to 10 gallons or so and I fill up with about 55 gallons of fresh fuel. Any issues?

I'm in (hopefully ). By the way, how many gallons does 8 oz treat?

I've used Arjay Technologies Ceramic compound on new boat builds with great success. It is extremely dense and has great compression values, just what you want in a transom core. I used it on my brother's boat when we rebuilt it and it didn't work out so well. I believe what happened is the exotherm made the glass pull towards the centerline creating a warp in the transom. On new boats the glass is against the mold and a lot of the heat is absorbed by the mold so it doesn't create the problem. I've read good reviews on the Seacast system although I've never used it myself. Supposed to have low exotherm. One thing to consider is the weight. If your boat is sensitive to weight at the stern, you may want to consider something else. This type of material can add quite a bit of weight depending on transom configuration.

Yeah, kids today are so spoiled. Of course it's our fault. We have too much disposable income and we buy the kids all the things we wish we had as a kid. When I was a kid my parents didn't have any disposable income. I'm tellin ya, after the beer and the cigarettes and the cheap scotch, there just wasn't anything left. We were dirt poor. That's right, we didn't even have dirt. We had to break rocks into dirt so we could make mud pies.

Yeah, your wife made you watch it Note to self: Send pictures of Mrs 240 on stripper pole so 240 can post them.

I received a nice email from a wonderful gentleman today. Not all my customers are this polite. Below is a copy so that others might learn from his politeness. "Hello my name is Perry Smith how are you doing today? please do you do Boat Engine Repair my 1996 GRADY-WHITE 300 Marl Mercury OX66 had an Engine problem while visit my parent in Grove land, FL, and i want the Walk around Boat tow Down to your shop in other for you to repair it... I hope you can handle it for me. The Boat is 1996 GRADY-WHITE 300 Marl Mercury OX66 and it's presently in Sea Ranch Village FL, so it need to be tow back home or to your shop for Engine repair and according to the woman on cruise that recommend your shop to me, She said you are very perfect in handling 1996 GRADY-WHITE 300 Marl Mercury OX66 as well good in Engine repair... Can you promise me a very good job on my 1996 GRADY-WHITE 300 Marl Mercury OX66 ok fine the Boat is (Walk around Type) a 1996 GRADY-WHITE 300 Marl Mercury OX66 and there is no insurance & warranty involved...So i will personally pay for the repair including the towing fee for the towing guy who will have it drop to your shop for the repair at a scheduled date and i will need your favor. The favor is that i will be giving you my credit card to charge for the sum of $6000 and deduct the sum of $2000 as deposit for the repair of my Boat and send the remaining balance ($4000) to the towing guy (Private Shipper) via western union money transfer so he can deliver the Yamaha OX66 to your location. once he deliver the Boat, you can go ahead with the repair and after your service, you will have to give me the total estimation for the repair which i will take care of the balance on delivery day or on my visit to your location for inspection Can you provide me with your further contact details. I will be needing your email address, Full Name, Fax number and Phone number for easier communication to enable us proceed on the payment which will be placed on my credit card. Thank Perry Smith" :lol:

Those Schmitt Destroyer wheels are decent but I prefer the cast wheels made by Gem. Really solid and no worries about rust at the spoke connections. The knobs are on a delrin bearing (at least I think it's delrin). The first wheel with a knob I put on a boat was about 15 years ago at the customer's request. I thought it was a waste of money. That is, until I ran the boat. Just leaving the boat ramp changed my mind. Now, I can't imagine not having one.

Thanks for the reply. Sorry I wasn't more prompt. To answer your questions, yes the program automatically updates every day (sometimes twice a day). I don't believe I'm currently infected with anything. When I scan (automatically once a week), there are usually a few files that get blocked or quarantined. I have to decide to keep or delete them. I usually end up deleting most of them. The reason I was asking was because Boz stated that he had to reload everything after he got infected. After rereading his post, I guess he got infected after he backed up to the external harddrive. Sounds like no matter what you do, there's always a chance you could get infected by some jackass. Hopefully the MacAfee will keep the wolves at bay.