Recent content by beermanPDX

Another bridle / chain attachment solution is with the use of dyneema soft shackles. I have two 3-strand nylon lines in to which I spliced a thimble. I run a dyneema soft shackle through each thimble and then through a link in my anchor chain. Each 3-strand nylon line gets secured to my two...

I had a lot of work done on my C-Dory 25 at Schooner Creek. They are very good. Not cheap, but good. My current boat had bottom paint done by Sells Marine. They do a good job and are reasonably priced. However they operate out of a floating shop and don't generally work on trailerable...

Good info Harvey, thanks! This will be very handy. COVID-19 sure changed our plans for the year. I was planning on taking the boat up the coast in late May / early June and leaving her at a friend's dock near Port Ludlow for the summer. We had numerous extended weekend trips planned as well...

Hi Harvey, There is no VTS down around these parts. Just monitor 13 and AIS and you'll be good. If you do want to contact the USCG, try Sector Columbia River in Warrenton, not Portland. While I'm sure Portland would be helpful, it's the MSU (Marine Safety Unit), they are not the ones you...

Another feature that keeps me using Navionics is the Sonar Charts Live feature. It's crowd sourced bathymetry that in my area is much more up to date than NOAA or USACE charts. Anyone that has Navionics tied in to their sonar (I do via Wifi) is contributing to the accuracy of the charts.

I had both the Eartec's and the Senas SPH10s. I prefer the Senas. They use bluetooth so the range isn't quite as good as the Eartec's, but unless you have a 100' yacht, they are crystal clear. I mainly prefer the fact that they go around the back of your head and don't interfere with a hat...

I had a remote control GoLight mounted on the roof of my 25. Roof or bow rail mounted, both have drawbacks. Do you want some glare or do you want the body of the light in your line of sight day and night? As I mentioned I opted for roof mount. Was there glare? Yes. Was it blinding? No...

Of the two, I'd vote for the first one. One litmus test I've always done with boat names is to imagine hearing the name over a very muffled VHF radio with lots of background noise. I just don't see your second option being understood by other boaters.

It's real. But this will do the same thing for a lot less money: Wax Toilet Ring I had to change out a seacock while my boat was in the water. Had a diver friend smear some wax from a softened toilet ring over the thru-hull. No water came in while I changed the seacock (about 15 minutes)...

They said a few have failed to discharge due to the handle either breaking or not working right. At least one leading to a death. I have to say the recall information was confusing. When I filled out the form on the Kidde website, my model numbers were on the list of recalled extinguishers...

The issue with the Mr Buddy and other propane / alcohol heaters is that it adds considerable water vapor to the cabin. It made my window condensation problem worse. The webasto I added to my CD25 was, by far, the best investment I made in that boat. That heater coupled with two overhead...

I was just about to post this exact same solution! We learned about this from some of the tugboat captains. It works!

Of course. It does get bigger, but it doesn't take up the entire screen like Helm used to. There's some kind of application border still around it. On a tablet it wouldn't matter, but for a phone every 1/4" counts. I still have the Helm app so I'll take screen shots of each next time I'm at...

I just updated my Garmin 7612 this weekend. I got it connected to the new ActiveCaptain app. I'm pretty impressed with the integration. I wasn't even aware the 7600 series had bluetooth. But with that connection, I can choose to have some of my phone notifications appear on my chartplotter...

I don't know about that. She may still be making a ton of money off of the $35 bags of dirt she sells that purportedly remove background radiation from vegetables. Sadly, that's not a joke. If you do facebook, you can read about it here (it's her company)...