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Ed's Boat Tips

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Ed's Boat Tips by Ed Sherman

February 22, 2012

Eddies Marshall Sanderling, All Electric

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I've been reporting the progress our friend Eddie has been making with his all electric Marshall Catboat as it is being custom built. Well, the day has come and the boat is now complete. Eddie trailered it to Florida and he's been out sailing this past week. I'm jealous. I was at the Miami Boat Show working as an NMMA Innovation award judge. Got to see some really cool new products though, and I'll be reporting on those over the next few weeks. Just sorting through some photos, but stay ...
February 11, 2012

Wire Sizing For Outboard Engines

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I had a query several days ago regarding an article I wrote for Cruising World magazine about batteries and battery banks. The fellow loved the article (Thanks!) but had a good question that I should share with everyone. It has to do with wire sizing, specificall the main cable from his boat battery to in his case a small outboard engine. On his boat the battery is located forward, I think under a berthing area and a rather long cable runs aft to his outboard motor. Keep in mind that in this ...
February 3, 2012

Mid Winter Safety Checks

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Dexter, the service manager here at the Brewer Yard where my office is located, shot this photo my way yesterday illustrating a key point or two about basic boating safety. Good stuff to check this time of year. I mentioned a few weeks back the need to check the expiry dates on items in the first aid kit, checking fire extinguishers, and expiry dates on things like CO monitors are also key items. But let's not forget some of the basics here either. Check this one out: Yup, that's someone's ...
January 30, 2012

Eddie's Sanderling, All Electric

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Back in November I reported that we had received a query from Eddie about possibly turning his new Marshall Sanderling into an electric drive. See here: http://www.edsboattips.com/construction-a-technical/245-electric-conversion-for-a-marshall-sanderling Well, I heard from Eddie over the weekend and he's pulled the trigger on this project. We're talking brandy new boat with a Mastervolt electric drive system. Awesome! Eddie's system will be a little bit different from the Alerion Electric I ...
January 19, 2012

Heat Sensor For Electrical Troubleshooting

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One of the things I always like to remind readers about is that the primary by-product of lousy electrical connections is heat. Enough heat, and things catch on fire. That's pretty easy for just about anybody to understand. What's not so obvious to most people is that there are some relatively easy and inexpensive ways to see if too much heat is being generated. In the photo below I'm checking the quality of the main positive feed cable to the starter motor on a friend's outboard ...
January 12, 2012

XANTREX Offers Online Training

  Don Wilson, the "Tech Doctor" I have had a chance to check out a press release that came in over the wires yesterday regarding our friends at XANTREX. Online training videos with their TECH Doctor, Don Wilson are now available to answer common questions about not just their products, but all things related to their products like types of electricity, battery info and the like. So, head over to: www.xantrex.com and click on the new "Tech Doctor" link. Don is going to walk you through some ...
January 9, 2012

The ELCI Update

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Its hard to believe it but it has been two years since I first introduced a device known as an ELCI to you in a post linked here: http://www.edsboattips.com/maintenance-a-diy/21-introducing-the-elci  Well, it's time for an update on this life saving device, especially since in a couple of weeks I'll be in attendance at the ABYC's annual "Standards Week" an the ELCI will most assuredly will be one of the many topics of conversation during the week. First the bad news. The ABYC technical ...
December 28, 2011

Check Those Expiration Dates!

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Its that time of year when things begin to slow down a bit. The holidays are just about over, the boatyard is filled to the brink with shrink-wrapped splendor and I begin to get into a winter funk as I wait patiently for Memorial Day weekend. Until then, there are some things we need to do to make sure we are good to go when the boating season returns. One area that gets overlooked way too frequently is safety related and an easy fix, if you remember. Your flare kit and some of the ...
December 21, 2011

Boat of The Year, What Do I Look For?

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As some of you know one of my favorite jobs over recent years is to act as one of the judges for the Cruising World Magazine Boat of The Year contest. Contrary to what some have accused us of over the years, the Cruising World program and the judges get deep into the weeds as they say. We bring in experts in all areas related to sailing, cruising/living aboard, construction and systems all get covered both on land and on the water. My role is as the systems guy. I actually take things apart ...
December 12, 2011

Stylin Shore Power.....NOT!

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Every now and then either I or one of my buddies comes up with a real work of electrical art that we need to share in our hopes that readers here will get the idea that we're watching you and if you mess up, sooner or later one of us is going to expose you. This week's little nugget comes from my friend Dexter who was working on a customer's boat here at the boatyard and discovered a real gem of a double pole circuit breaker installation. This goes well beyond the Tupper Wear plastic box ...
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