Recent content by Jerry VB

I don't like this one: It has almost no surface area to spread the load compared to the original bail. I would be very concerned that it would pull out, badly damaging the boom.

The ladders look like standard swim platform ladders (example). It looks like he cut the black "toe rail" to make a flat mounting surface (hard to tell from the picture). Using teak handrails to make a bulwark / toe rail on the foredeck is clever too.

Pure speculation but the only thing that makes sense to me is that the raw water intake was properly plumbed into the cooling system. Some time later the PSS was installed and the vent was (improperly) plumbed by "T"ing it into the cooling system thus "taking advantage of" the existing thruhull...

You might consider two part epoxy foam (example: Total Boat) for the "mish-mash" filler. See also Mads' rudder rebuild video.

The throttle lever is a rotating arm that rotates from mostly down (idle) to mostly up (full). Inside the pedestal, there should be a stop that prevents the throttle lever from rotating past the stop. My guess is that her "adrenaline push" pushed the throttle lever past the stop at which point...

If you connect a known good battery to the charger, the charger should raise the battery voltage to 14.1-14.8v (typically closer to 14.2v for marine multistage chargers). Use a multimeter to measure the voltage at the battery for an accurate measurement. The charge current will be relative to...

It probably isn't your problem, but the floating fuse connector has exposed "hot" wires. You should replace the disconnects with fully insulated ones (e.g. HomeDepot).

Free advice from a random person on the internet. Discount it as appropriate. There will be a temperature sensor screwed into/on the engine block somewhere. That is where you want to measure to see if your temperature gauge is reading accurately. (Typically there is an oil pressure sensor and a...

French press and pour-over (done right) are very good and only require boiling water. We compromise slightly and use the pour-over plastic cones with paper filters (not quite "right") because the grounds disposal is so much more convenient than French press.

I bought a (3/4" IIRC) plastic plumbing plug at Home Depot. While I would not rely on it to keep the water out (that is what the valve is for), it does provide a secondary backup to the valve for when I am stupid an open the wrong valve.

Update on the check-balls: recently we were sailing in more wind and waves. In those conditions the waves actively pushed water into the cockpit so I popped the new balls into the cockpit drains. This prevented waves from causing water to surge into the cockpit and threatening to inundate the...

If you search this site for zerk, you will find several threads on tight steering. One thread mentions the needle bearings in a Edson pedestal. The rest discuss the two grease zerks on the rudder shaft that tend to be ignored for years. My steering was OK but noticeably better after I greased...

Is the transmission stuck in reverse or is the cable bound up? If you disconnect the shifter cable from the lever on the transmission, can you shift the transmission manually? Odds are pretty good the problem is the cable or possibly the shifter lever in the pedestal. Cables are pretty easy to...

Typo: 1HP = 746W The diesel engine efficiency is immaterial for this discussion because the diesel is rated for shaft HP (SHP), i.e. how much power the engine produces after it burns the diesel. The amount of energy produced by the diesel used vs. SHP output will be ~40%, with ~60% becoming...