Recent content by paul culver

Many dodgers have web tension adjustment straps to secure the aft bow corners to the coaming. I'd recommend stainless tubing instead. Much more secure when using the dodger as a handgrip which inevitably happens.

Brian Fagan has a chapter on weather in his book "The Cruising Guide to Central and Southern California". As I recall he points to the location of the Pacific High, which is always in flux, as the dominant force in our coastal weather.

I have a dim memory of someone posting at this site of a dash of gray colorant added to E-boat gel coat. Ah, Google found it: Expanding on Frank's comment, Ericson white is not white but a light grey. I discovered this by patching scratches with white. A local repair yard claims that the...

There's also a rhyme I use for a score of six, but I'll leave that to your imagination.

Way cool! Fifteen two, fifteen four and the rest don't score.

Welcome to Oceanside Robid ! This is a great little harbor. I'm the E29 on your right coming down the G ramp. Maybe I'll see you around some day.

FRP in white, smooth side out.

My yard places the slings as you described -- fore and aft of the keel. After taking up the slack, a guy goes below and spins the prop shaft by hand to confirm it did not get pinched by the aft sling. Then they continue with the haul-out.

I'm blistered also. My haul-out yard guy told me "blisters sink more boat sales than sail boats".

With a shackle like that you're going to need some huge pliers to get the pin out.

With all of today's electronics the ship's compass and oil lantern have become considered as “when all else fails” equipment, apart from adding that traditional visual appeal. To ensure the reliability of the compass after equipment is installed in the binnacle area you could put the boat...

I do like Christian's chair idea a lot. I'd face it amidship with ability for side to side swivel. Alas, there's not enough room in my E29 for the chair I would want: high back recliner with cup holder in the arm. Built-in heater/vibrator would be nice too.

Of course it would be nice to get a heads up that fog was likely to set in and maybe you should head back from your day sail a little earlier than expected. You can get that warning by noting the difference in wet/dry bulb thermometer temperatures over time. From the differences you can get...

At motor boat speeds in a fog I would say vital. At sail boat speeds, less so. Vigilance, proper horn signalling and running lights are vital. And now we have GPS to keep us apprised of our position in relation to land and marker buoys, as well as AIS to watch out for the really big vessels...

Part 29, if its an oil pressure sender, should have a wire attached instead of a tube. If you have a mechanical oil pressure gauge instead of an electrical one then a tube from the block would connect to the back of the gauge. Conversely, an electrical pressure gauge will have a wire connected...