My holding tank has a small split 1/2" in the top, it is white plastic
(polyethylene?) 27 gallon seems fairly heavy. What is the best way to repair
this?
-Allen

url http://weather.noaa.gov/fax/gulf.shtml

I’m looking for advice how to clean dirty fenders.
Are there any good products for cleaning fenders or any house remedies that
anyone knows of?

Thanks,

-bob

I have a houseboat and I want to redo the surface of the upper deck with a
vinyl membrane like product. It requires a fresh clean wood surface to glue
it to.
My question – can I nail/screw down plywood on top of the existing surface
which is fiberglass over plywood? With the glass underneath and the vinyl
over it, will the plywood survive this or will it rot out quickly?

Thanks.

Is anyone else having problems contacting Sailnet?   I have been trying
to reach them via email, phone, web etc… and have had no responses
for three weeks.  Now when I call their phone line all of the mailboxes
are full and no one answer’s the phone.

In most cases I would just go somewhere else to order goods for my
sailboat but in my case they have my standing rigging and I need it
back……

Does anyone know how to contact someone at Sailnet directly?

Thanks,

Scott

73 Ericson 25 CB

On a sailing craft which purchase would be a priority an AutoPilot or
a furling (head sail)?  And why?

Most used boats that come with furling rigs dont include an AP that I
have seen.  Probably because it is eaiser to sell the AP than remove
the furling and replace with a head stay.  But there arent that many
tiller AP for sale either….

If economically I had a choice between a furling or an AP, I would
choose an AP.  Considering the useage to be daysails and 2-3 or 4 day
excursions.  Its alot more energy and time to steer
 than to change sails.

BTW I dont consider a tiller tamer an AP.

can anyone bring us upto date on anchoring in miami. the city was to
vote on banning anchoring and the installation of mooring balls. would
appreciate it if someone could up date the cruising community. cheers
colin.

I don’t know whether the posting below from a user I don’t know to
the Sailnet Lists (www.sailnet.com and
www.sailnet.com/resources/index.cfm) is correct – but, if it is or
becomes so, it may be of interest to readers/posters here in light of
how informative/helpful many users of those Lists find them to be:

                                      =================

Subject: SailNet RIP [?]

Just a heads up to listers. There are many posts all over the email
lists and various sailing websites indicating that Sailnet is very
close to shutting down. It seems like far more than speculation, as
many posts tell of problems with orders, and the lack of response to
those problems. The answering machine is full, and emails go
unanswered. I had a problem with their online ordering a few days ago,
and finally got a salesman on the phone, after major efforts trying to
contact customer service with no success. When I told him that
Customer Service was ignoring me, he said it was because there was no
one there! They are running a 30% off fire sale on all inventory with
a no returns/no refunds policy. Many reports today indicate that the
remaining stock is pretty well picked through. There are lots of
complaints of wrong merchandise, or no merchandise arriving, and no
response from Sailnet to rectify anything. Not good.

The deposed founders of sailnet, The Boyles, now have a new website at

        http://www.sailjazz.com

They have a complete roster of email groups just like Sailnet, that up
until now have been fairly idle. They have a Long Island group, just
like Sailnet. They also have virtually all the same lists as Sailnet.

My apologies, as I know it’s been discussed in this space before,
but…

Today, the feared happened: we broke the gearcase trying to remove same
gearcase from the shaft on the ancient Lewmar 1000 vertical
gypsy/capstan windlass from Flying Pig, despite having soaked it with
penetrants for more than a month.

So, two questions for those who have been here.

First, for those who had to cut them out, what did you have to do to
get it out when you took the sawzall to it?  Did it involve cutting out
the deck, or just the parts of the windlass?  In either event, I’d be
grateful for a detailed explanation sent off-list.  If you had them,
pictures would be even greater.

Second, for those who have recently replaced theirs with vertical
windlasses.  We want to go with something which will be capable of the
next class of anchor, 66#, in case we decide to do that (currently have
45# anchors up front).  I think I recall some discussion of Lofrans
windlasses at attractive prices, but I’m not particular, unless there’s
some very strong recommendations from some who have used one or the
other as either very affordable (we’ve broken the bank and have taken
an equity line) or particularly robust for the price.

Thanks, y’all

L8R

Skip, refitting as fast as I can

PS As of now, I have some spare parts for a Lewmar 1000 windlass.  One
each top and bottom friction ring, capstan, drive motor (gearbox has a
hole in it as described), all topside parts, two sizes of gypsy and
probably the double relay (up and down switching relay), as I assume a
replacement would come with one of those.  As none of these are
available any more, and all the other parts which have been taken off
this boat have gone to members of this list, I’ll make these available
– perhaps at pickup prices (come gettum).  I’ll be off the boat for
many months for surgery and rehab in two weeks…

Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig
http://tinyurl.com/384p2 – The vessel as Tehamana, as we bought her

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you
didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail
away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore.
Dream. Discover."   – Mark Twain

Announcing a blog system for anyone interested in crusing, racing and
all things sailing-related. It’s called SailBlogs and is at
http://www.sailblogs.com.

There are currently over 150 members creating sailing-related blogs,
with more joining every day. many are world cruisers, circumnavigators
or racers.

If you’ve considered starting a blog, or looking for a blog host that
is more in tune with sailing, than we’d like to invite you over for a
look. The blogs are free and getting started is very easy.

Advanced features include posting via email/sailmail/satphone, map
tracking, photo galleries, RSS feeds and more.

SailBlogs is an outgrowth of the X-Journal system that is used by
expeditions. When we became interested in sailing, we realized that
sailors and cruisers share many of the same issues as expeditions –
slow or no internet connections, remote locations, sometimes harsh
conditions – as well as an interest to share thier adventures. We took
some of the best features of XJournal and made SailBlogs.

Thanks a lot, and we hope you enjoy SailBlogs!

http://www.sailblogs.com