Recent content by soup1438

During my daily commute to work (I now drive almost an hour each way to get to/from work) odd little thoughts drop into my mind from... ...well, let's drop describing the majority of my thoughts, all right? Suffice it to say that I possess (or, perhaps, am possessed BY) a "Y" chromosome...

A4 Lubrication... Yes, I understand the SAE 30 -- though, realize, Florida's sailing season, at least on the west coast, is over 12 months long. (All right, so July and August are kind of unpleasant.) But... Detergent? Non-Detergent? John Muir said that switching from non-detergent...

Three-blade vs Two-blade... compromises... All engineering is really a study of compromises, though, truly, there's a lot of variables involved. I do NOT know whether the advice I heard is authoritative or not... The Marine Architect who did my C&V survey, on seeing the two-blade prop...

Now, realize, I have an A-4 which does not have an oil filter in the loop (not that the filter kits I've read of will filter 100% of the oil flow) and I'm wondering... Realize that I've done mechanical work on cars-- all right, so we're talking ancient air-cooled volkswagens-- and I've...

Propane's other problems... One question I have-- and, yeah, being on Florida doesn't make heating something high on the agenda, though cooling, on the other hand... -- is about the fact that PROPANE units are under discussion. Color me paranoid. On my job (Systems & Network Administration)...

Therapeutic Effects of Sailing ...especially sailing to "no place in particular". For me, I believe that sailing has helped me manage a lot of my stresses. Stresses of work. Stresses of family. Stresess induced by self-identity issues. I believe that stress comes from being in an...

Hydraulics "out of the weather" "Other than the expense is there a good reason not to install the hydraulic drive unit on the tiller arm below deck?" Actually, you want to protect the piston-- which will be exposed above decks-- from any kind of corrosion, simply because it's part of the...

What of an Otto Pilot? Sorry, this thread triggered a recall from the movie "Airplane!". It is possible that this Otto Pilot may not be an approved flotation aid.

Engineering still includes Art "Also, no product is 100% applicable for 100% of the applications." - John Moses A lot of *real* engineering is a study of compromises between theory and practice. The better the engineer, IMHO, the more he (or she) will accept reality as the final judge of...

Poleshuck's Law of Competition I've repeated this to others and had to explain it on the Linux-390 Mailing list...

Which end is which? "I spoke with CDI direct.....might as well go to the horse's mouth and not the other end." I'm a techie... so I tend to be very leery of speaking with anyone in sales or marketing. Q: How can you tell when a salesperson is lying? A: You can hear him (or her)...

ATN Top Climber still available? Do you still have that Top-Climber for sale?

Padeye? In the middle of the foredeck? I wonder if it could be part of a self-tending jib, even if that doesn't make much sense. That would imply that it predates the roller furling jib.

ATN Top Climber Do you still have this item? I can't make a move on it but I know I need one; my old E25 had mast steps but my ancient C30 doesn't... and I need to go to work on the lights up there "at the top of the stick". I saw the ATN fellow at Strictly Sail St Pete in '06 and again...

Strictly Sail, 2006, St Pete CaptRon said: "Ran into a few old friends, picked up a few odds and ends but all in all it was a waste of time." Well, in some ways, yeah, I can see that, but, at the same time, unless you shell out huge $$$$s to a yacht club, it's a useful socializing...