For a long time I have been wanting to install a propeller that had better performance when I wasn't using the engine. Yes, my 2 blade fixed propeller was a big source of drag when sailing (in the order of half a knot). I looked at both folding props (the blades fold away when sailing)…
One of the biggest issues with Stops and taking it cruising was the capacity of the house battery. All it had was these two batteries one for the engine and other for the house..A total of 55Ah! This obviously was not going to cut it, Stops had been setup for day sailing but cruising would…
For ocean sailing I needed a windvane to self steer the boat. A windvane operates by using the power of the wind and moving water to steer the boat. In addition to working best when needed most (heavy weather) this system uses no electrical power! I bought the monitor windvane second hand from an owner…
Found a 2005 used Monitor windvane, just refurbished by Scanmar for $2,000. Just in time for my birthday. Looking forward to wind self steering! Now comes the installation fun…..
This project was almost 5 months in the making, well it took 3 months for Lewmar to send the windlass over from England! The boat had an old Goiot manual windlass that was ok, but wouldn't really work for any extended cruising. So looked all the different options, and actually liked the Lofrans (italian made)…
You know what they say, the secret to a long lasting engine is clean fuel.. My engine a volvo penta 2003T has only some 800 hours on it, but it had a really old Lucas CAV fuel separator which didn't even have a filter (see pic below).. scary stuff. So the only filter was the…
Following the vendee globe and reading books from the likes of Bernard Moitessior has developed my interest in single handed sailing over the years. The total freedom to sail whenever I want is appealing. The only snag was I needed some sort of self steering to do any substantial single handed sailing e.g simply putting…
Decided to rebuild my 6 old Lewmar two-speed self tailing winches on Stops. The starboard winch on the coachroof used to pull up the main halyard was also making some grinding noises.. not good.. Having done this a few times now, here are some tips to make this easier: Dismantle one winch a time so…
Almost as exciting as the Italian Job: the bottom paint job on Stops! It involved a stealthy delivery to Alameda under thick fog, life threatening situations (using toxic paints) and a female character who get's saved..(Stops and her bottom). No Mini cars, Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie but apart from that it was exactly the…
When I bought Stops it hardly had any electronics.. not surprising since the boat was hardly used. The GPS had been removed and the radar, a 15yr old CRT system was not working. Since my other instruments were Raymarine I decide go down this path for a replacement Chartplotter/GPS/Radar. I actually bought all these items…