ed’s boat tips

I received a comment from one of our readers about the post I did last week talking about “Hose Clamps Done Right”. It’s worth sharing and with a little bit of explaining. First the comment: Ed,In this day and age of easily available non-perforated hose clamps, like those from AWAB, or t-band clamps, it is hard for me to accept “clamps done right”, as a whole, when the clamps used are cheap perforated hose clamps. While the installation & metallurgy is done correctly those clamps scare me. …

First of all I owe my loyal readers an apology…I’ve just been too busy the last several weeks to post here. But, the good news is I have been gathering literally hundreds of photos I can share with you over the next year. My excuse is that I was working as a judge for Cruising World Magazine’s Boat of the Year competition. Not a bad gig in all, as I got to sail 22 brand new boats this year and tear right into their inner souls.  This week I’m at the International Boat Builder’s Exhibition …

Over the weekend we received a query that should be shared with everyone. Here is John’s question: “Hi Ed, Alden Trull put me on to your web site, very helpful fellow.I am re-wiring two boats at present, my own 42ft cruising ketch and a Farr 37 racing boat. Both have split battery systems for motor start and ship and I have a nav station on the other side to the present batteries (VHF, HF, Radar, Chratplotter & GPS)and I am considering a dedicated coms battery near to the stations to reduce …

The question of the week has to do with what I consider to be an emerging problem as the convergence of traditional marine electrics and sophisticated electronic equipment continues. So, the questions is: “Hey Ed, do you know of a way I can protect my electronics equipment from conducted noise and voltage spikes in my boat’s DC electrical system? I’ve always used a surge protector in the power supply to my computers and such, but what about my marine electronics?” Good question, easy answer. …

First my apologies to our loyal readers. I’ve been traveling and under the gun with some deadlines that just could not be put off. So, I’ve been a little lame in the posting area for the last week or so. Well as usually happens, one of our regular readers and a good friend of mine shot me an email last week talking about a boat he had visited recently that illustrated a problem that can have dire consequences if you miss what is a really important maintenance point. The issue has to do with …

One of our visitors approached me recently wanting to offer up some tips for people who are perhaps new to the world of boating, or just looking for some tips on how to save a buck. Vanessa’s ten point on how to save a few dollars follows: Tips for Buying Boat Equipment & Parts Working to obtain your boating license in Ontario, Canada at Boat License Ontario ( www.boatinglicense.ca ) or California, or from wherever you may be located, is only the start of your adventure. Buying and owning a …

Well, we’ve survived the East Coast bash known as hurricane Irene. Lest those of you out there think that just because things got down-graded to category 1 and then later to tropical storm warning level here in New England it was no big deal, let me share several photos I took from my little corner of the storm during and immediately after. All photos were taken in Wickford, RI, my hometown. BTW, I’m still without power and it looks like it will be several more days before we get it. I am …

I try to leave the announcements for things electronic to my colleague Ben Ellison over at the Panbo site, but this one has got me so excited I just couldn’t hold back my feelings. Airmar, and for those of you that don’t know them, they are the actual makers of most all of the transducers used in the recreational boating industry by all the major electronics companies, has just made a major announcement. Its been a while since any really major breakthrough in depth sounder/fish …

One of our readers wrote in over the weekend: Comment author: Marilyn KComment text: How many lives are lost each year due to faulty shore line power? How many boats and Marinas are lost? It would seem logical that if the National Electric code folks could prevent deaths by endorsing this product they would. What logical reason do they give for not endorsing it after this product has proven it is a safer choice? I’m assuming  you are referring to my earlier post touting the Smart Plug as a …

Our friends over at Xantrex have  just made an interesting announcement that could get you into a free inverter for your boat. To enter for a chance to win the inverter, or other prizes you will need to enter some suggestions for topics to their Tech Doctor. So, if you have inverter questions, this could be the best source of information. Check it out at:  http://www.xantrex.com/mail/mobile_images/Xnews-2011/articles/techdoctor_062011.html

Charging large battery banks, such as this dedicated bow thruster set-up, can be problematic One of our readers sent in a query just yesterday regarding a rather large battery bank on a Niad sailboat and the fact that some of the batteries keep going dead. Check this out: Ed,   I have a customer with battery problems. The boat is a Niad 44, maybe 7 yrs old. There are 6 Lifeline Group 31 batteries in 3 banks of 24v. The 3 battery banks are each wired to a common bus bar of pos and neg. The …

I received a query from one of our regular readers several days ago. He’s close to buying an Amesbury 16 like mine. He had several questions for me that I’ll share because there is some relevance to almost anyone that is acquiring a new boat that has never had bottom paint applied. So, the question first: Hi Ed- Hope your summer is going well. As i mentioned i’m looking at either a Holland 14 or a Sturdee. My plan is to drop the boat in the water in the beginning of the season, and then …