Saturday, February 5, 2011
WIND GENERATOR INSTALLATION
Well, I finally got around to installing the 400 watt wind generator. I've had it for about a month now and finally decided to start the installation. It took about the whole day to almost finish it. Tomorrow, if weather permiting I will go back up the mast and install the blades. Yesterday the wind was really brisk and I did not want to try installing the blades in that kind of wind so tomorrow I will try. I put on the frig. to bring the batteries down so the when testing the wind generator it will sense that the batteries need a charge and if all goes well it should put in the necessary amps into the batteries. We will see. I will follow up with the finialization of this project.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
WIFI INSTALLATION
Well, I just finished installation of a wifi antenna and hookup so that I can get free internet while on the boat. I mounted the antenna on the davits and ran the coax to the chart table. Now I can get the internet while on the boat and don't have to lug the laptop ashore to an internet cafe. I tried out the system back in May while cruising and only used a temporary antenna setup and it worked perfect, now with the permanent installation it will be eaiser to just plug and play. If you would like more information on this type of setup just drop me an email.
Fairwinds & Following Seas
Fairwinds & Following Seas
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
GOGGLE ADSENSE A SCAM ????
As all you viewers to my page have noticed that their were google ads posted for your convience and now they are not there, well in the beginning I was told that if I had google put some ads on my page that I would get paid for the clicks to the ads. Sounds good doesn't it well, I was informed that it was a scam and google after awhile wouldn't pay, but I did it anyway. Over time I acummulated a few dollars about $150 or so. See google makes money from the advertisers and was to pay me a small %. After I reached the min. $100 I would recieve a check, I did and got one check and I said ok this is for real so I had more google ads put on my page and I acummulated more than $200 and thats when google decided not to pay up and pull the ads for whatever reason they make up. I think that is not fair that they make money using the viewers to your page then decided to cut you off so they do not have to pay you. It is like taking advantage of my page and those viewers that visit. Like they don't have enough $$ anyway. Just remember that every time you click on a google ad on the internet you are making Google that much more money. And what are you getting for of it ? So that's what happened and is why you see no ads anymore. So you be the judge, is it a SCAM OR NOT. YOU HAVE MY OPNION...............BUT ANYWAY,
THANKS FOR VIEWING MY BLOG, I WILL CONTINUE TO KEEP ALL YOU CRUISERS UP TO DATE ON MY TRAVELS AND PROGRESS, WE DON'T NEED THE GOOGLE ADS TO BE SUCCESSFUL. SO STAY TUNED FOR FUTURE UPDATES AS THEY PROGRESS.
THANKS FOR VIEWING MY BLOG, I WILL CONTINUE TO KEEP ALL YOU CRUISERS UP TO DATE ON MY TRAVELS AND PROGRESS, WE DON'T NEED THE GOOGLE ADS TO BE SUCCESSFUL. SO STAY TUNED FOR FUTURE UPDATES AS THEY PROGRESS.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
PVC PIPE FOR PLUMBING
PVC PIPE FOR HOLDING TANK PLUMBING
I am always amazed that more boats are not plumbed with ordinary PVC pipe, but then again we never thought of using it either until I had to replace me holding tank and all its plumbing. During the installation I added PVC sch. 40. I feel some of the benefits are:
1. Economy:. PVC pipe ist cheap. The total at the cash register after you buy several lengths of pipe, together with the fittings and glue to go with it, comes as a surprise—a pleasant one; a lot cheaper than the sanitation hose you find in the marine stores. Availability: Even a small corner hardware store has enough PVC plumbing fittings in stock for most jobs and the bounty in the bins of a large building supply store will let you build almost anything.
2. Flexibility : PVC does not bend, or at least not much, but the variety of PVC pipe fittings allows you to solve some very vexing problems surprisingly easily. Want to connect a 2” line to a 1/2” line and then T off a 1” line? A quick trip to a hardware store and a bit of ingenuity and you are done.
3. Fast Assembly. With a little practice and a pipe cutter you can assemble a plumbing system amazingly quickly using PVC pipe. (You can cut the pipe with a saw or a pipe cutter. It us long lasting. Even good quality hose only seems to last five years or so, but PVC pipe will last decades.
4. Impervious to Most Chemicals:. You can flush a PVC pipe system out with muriatic (hydrochloric) acid; the quickest and, as far as I know, only effective way to get rid of the scale that builds up in head discharge lines. Don’t try that with hose.
5. Impervious to Odors: You can spend a fortune on sanitation grade hose and your holding tank system will still stink, but it won’t if you use PVC pipe.
One caution: I do not recommend PVC pipe for piping that is open to the ocean and below the water line where a crack could sink you.
I am always amazed that more boats are not plumbed with ordinary PVC pipe, but then again we never thought of using it either until I had to replace me holding tank and all its plumbing. During the installation I added PVC sch. 40. I feel some of the benefits are:
1. Economy:. PVC pipe ist cheap. The total at the cash register after you buy several lengths of pipe, together with the fittings and glue to go with it, comes as a surprise—a pleasant one; a lot cheaper than the sanitation hose you find in the marine stores. Availability: Even a small corner hardware store has enough PVC plumbing fittings in stock for most jobs and the bounty in the bins of a large building supply store will let you build almost anything.
2. Flexibility : PVC does not bend, or at least not much, but the variety of PVC pipe fittings allows you to solve some very vexing problems surprisingly easily. Want to connect a 2” line to a 1/2” line and then T off a 1” line? A quick trip to a hardware store and a bit of ingenuity and you are done.
3. Fast Assembly. With a little practice and a pipe cutter you can assemble a plumbing system amazingly quickly using PVC pipe. (You can cut the pipe with a saw or a pipe cutter. It us long lasting. Even good quality hose only seems to last five years or so, but PVC pipe will last decades.
4. Impervious to Most Chemicals:. You can flush a PVC pipe system out with muriatic (hydrochloric) acid; the quickest and, as far as I know, only effective way to get rid of the scale that builds up in head discharge lines. Don’t try that with hose.
5. Impervious to Odors: You can spend a fortune on sanitation grade hose and your holding tank system will still stink, but it won’t if you use PVC pipe.
One caution: I do not recommend PVC pipe for piping that is open to the ocean and below the water line where a crack could sink you.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
TOP TEN REASONS TO BUY A BOAT
1. Financial Consultant advised you that hemorrhaging a fortune into a depreciating asset was a sound financial strategy.
2. You want to become intimately acquainted with every single working part of an engine.
3. You find constant scraping, painting and waxing to be very therapeutic.
4. You feel a moral obligation to help support OPEC.
5. Instead of sitting on shore not catching any fish, you prefer to sit on a boat, not catching any fish.
6. You want complete strangers to call you, “Captain.”
7. If you drink all day in a bar, you are a “lush.” If you drink all day on a boat, you are “enjoying life to its fullest potential.”
8. Aren’t some of those knots really cool?
9. You enjoy using a toilet the size of a saucepan.
10. A million skippers can’t be wrong.
2. You want to become intimately acquainted with every single working part of an engine.
3. You find constant scraping, painting and waxing to be very therapeutic.
4. You feel a moral obligation to help support OPEC.
5. Instead of sitting on shore not catching any fish, you prefer to sit on a boat, not catching any fish.
6. You want complete strangers to call you, “Captain.”
7. If you drink all day in a bar, you are a “lush.” If you drink all day on a boat, you are “enjoying life to its fullest potential.”
8. Aren’t some of those knots really cool?
9. You enjoy using a toilet the size of a saucepan.
10. A million skippers can’t be wrong.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Prevent Bugs from Getting Aboard
There’s nothing worse than opening a food storage locker to find it infested with bugs, particularly cockroaches. Ugh! Bugs aboard can be a real problem, whether you're cruising in the tropics or weekending in the temperate latitudes. Here are some simple precautions you can take to prevent the little critters from getting aboard in the first place.
Screens are the first line of defense and will keep mosquitoes, flies, wasps and other common flying bugs out of the boat’s interior. Oceanair makes the best retro-fittable screens (www.oceanair-marine.com) or you can make simple frame screens that will fit hatch and porthole openings. Lewmar and other companies have screens that can be adapted to their products (www.lewmar.com). In the tropics, burn mosquito coils on deck to keep the flying menaces (that carry Malaria and Dengue Fever) away.
Crawling bugs are more of a problem. They live and lay their eggs in corrugated cardboard cartons, so avoid carrying groceries aboard in containers other than those you bring to the store yourself. Even cardboard beer and soft drink cartons should be left left on the dock as the cans and bottles are stored aboard.
Finally, be careful of fruit and produce bought at famer’s markets or the open air markets in third world countries. Cabbages, lettuce and other leafy items are often home to larvae that can and will hatch at some point, so make sure you inspect and wash the produce before storing it aboard. Bananas and other fruit, particularly if bought on the stalk, can deliver to your boat such fruit gourmets as scorpions and tarantulas hidden deep within the bunches.
Screens are the first line of defense and will keep mosquitoes, flies, wasps and other common flying bugs out of the boat’s interior. Oceanair makes the best retro-fittable screens (www.oceanair-marine.com) or you can make simple frame screens that will fit hatch and porthole openings. Lewmar and other companies have screens that can be adapted to their products (www.lewmar.com). In the tropics, burn mosquito coils on deck to keep the flying menaces (that carry Malaria and Dengue Fever) away.
Crawling bugs are more of a problem. They live and lay their eggs in corrugated cardboard cartons, so avoid carrying groceries aboard in containers other than those you bring to the store yourself. Even cardboard beer and soft drink cartons should be left left on the dock as the cans and bottles are stored aboard.
Finally, be careful of fruit and produce bought at famer’s markets or the open air markets in third world countries. Cabbages, lettuce and other leafy items are often home to larvae that can and will hatch at some point, so make sure you inspect and wash the produce before storing it aboard. Bananas and other fruit, particularly if bought on the stalk, can deliver to your boat such fruit gourmets as scorpions and tarantulas hidden deep within the bunches.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
GALVANIC CORROSION
Galvanic corrosion is the corrosion that results when two dissimilar metals with different potentials are placed in electrical contact in an electrolyte.
A difference in electrical potential exists between the different metals and serves as the driving force for electrical current flow through the corrodant or electrolyte. This current results in corrosion of one of the metals. The larger the potential difference, the greater the probability of galvanic corrosion.
Galvanic corrosion only causes deterioration of one of the metals. The less resistant, active metal becomes the anodic corrosion site. The stronger, more noble metal is cathodic and protected.
Galvanic corrosion potential is a measure of how dissimilar metals will corrode when placed against each other in an assembly. Metals close to one another on the chart generally do not have a strong effect on one another, but the farther apart any two metals are separated, the stronger the corroding effect on the one higher in the table.
This table lists the potential differences for various metals in water. The order of the series can change for different electrolytes (for example, different pH, ions in solution).
I have omitted Stainless steel alloys from this table as they can significantly change their potential and become much more active if exposed to stagnant or poorly aerated water.
Electrode Potential at 77 F (25 C)
Anodic end (this is where the corrosion occurs)
Element Standard Electrode Potential (Volts)
Lithium -3.045
Potassium -2.920
Sodium -2.712
Magnesium -2.340
Beryllium -1.700
Aluminum -1.670
Manganese -1.050
Zinc -0.762
Chromium -0.744
Iron; Mild Steel -0.440
Cadmium -0.402
Yellow Brass -0.350
50-50 Tin-Lead Solder -0.325
Cobalt -0.277
Nickel -0.250
Tin -0.136
Lead -0.126
Hydrogen reference electrode 0.000
Titanium +0.055
Copper +0.340
Mercury +0.789
Silver +0.799
Carbon +0.810
Platinum +1.200
Gold +1.420
Graphite +2.250
Cathodic end, passive - (no corrosion here)
A difference in electrical potential exists between the different metals and serves as the driving force for electrical current flow through the corrodant or electrolyte. This current results in corrosion of one of the metals. The larger the potential difference, the greater the probability of galvanic corrosion.
Galvanic corrosion only causes deterioration of one of the metals. The less resistant, active metal becomes the anodic corrosion site. The stronger, more noble metal is cathodic and protected.
Galvanic corrosion potential is a measure of how dissimilar metals will corrode when placed against each other in an assembly. Metals close to one another on the chart generally do not have a strong effect on one another, but the farther apart any two metals are separated, the stronger the corroding effect on the one higher in the table.
This table lists the potential differences for various metals in water. The order of the series can change for different electrolytes (for example, different pH, ions in solution).
I have omitted Stainless steel alloys from this table as they can significantly change their potential and become much more active if exposed to stagnant or poorly aerated water.
Electrode Potential at 77 F (25 C)
Anodic end (this is where the corrosion occurs)
Element Standard Electrode Potential (Volts)
Lithium -3.045
Potassium -2.920
Sodium -2.712
Magnesium -2.340
Beryllium -1.700
Aluminum -1.670
Manganese -1.050
Zinc -0.762
Chromium -0.744
Iron; Mild Steel -0.440
Cadmium -0.402
Yellow Brass -0.350
50-50 Tin-Lead Solder -0.325
Cobalt -0.277
Nickel -0.250
Tin -0.136
Lead -0.126
Hydrogen reference electrode 0.000
Titanium +0.055
Copper +0.340
Mercury +0.789
Silver +0.799
Carbon +0.810
Platinum +1.200
Gold +1.420
Graphite +2.250
Cathodic end, passive - (no corrosion here)
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