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Thanks, but at last I no longer need it. Last winter I finally replaced drums with UFP discs. Wow do they work better! The trailer (triple axle, 12,000 lb loaded) was 15 years old, and had some 70K miles of towing on it. Even with careful rinsing after each dunk in the salt, I spent a number...

FWIW, our heavy 26-footer has a Simpson-Lawrence (it was SL before Lewmar bought SL) 600GD horizontal windlass. The GD model has a drum as well as a gypsy. If the 550 is similar to the 600, I imagine it would be a good choice. Our 600 has done many hundreds of anchorings (and pulled a bunch of...

FYI, here's some info that might be helpful: I'd be happy to email copies of our anchorage lists to anyone who would like them. We've stayed in most, but not all, of these anchorages, and all the towns/marinas mentioned. Page numbers are from the Douglass Exploring series cruising guides...

I like this plan too. We've done SE AK for 2-3 months starting from Prince Rupert 11 times, BC Coast for 1-3 months 6-7 times, and the whole deal from Everett to Glacier Bay and back once, taking 3.5 months. If I had only two months, I'd do BC or SE AK, but not both. My preference most days...

If it were me, I'd fill and fair the gouges, make sure the bottom was well cleaned, remove any remaining wax with Interprotect 202 solvent, apply 2 coats Pettit sandless primer (following directions carefully), and then 2-3 coats Pettit Hydrocoat bottom paint (a not-so-nasty water-based...

Or Flaming Gorge, Sent fom Ketchikan

Found ourselves today tied up next to John of Gypsy River, in the harbor at Craig, in SE Alaska.

Yes, the Bounty 257. She weighs almost 11,000 lb loaded up with diesel engine, fuel, water, cruising and fishing gear, and two of us.

On our very heavily-built 26-footer, I replaced the original 9x18 Bennett tabs with 12x20 tabs that also have a section that points downward at each end. They were the biggest I could squeeze in with appropriate clearance from props transducers etc. The actuators are a bit off center on the...

I like magnetic, and course up - the chart image doesn't keep shifting around as much as with heading up. If I'm not following a course, my chartplotter defaults to heading up (track up, actually - based the direction I have been going, not where the boat is actually pointing). Don't have an...

I've also used Star Brite's RainView. Can't say if it works better, but it does work well. I apply in the spring, and it helps very considerably through a summer's cruise. Cleaning thoroughly first, and applying carefully per directions, with lots of elbow grease, are essential. A little...

When faced with really large waves in our CD-22, we would head straight at the wave, power fairly slowly (8-10 knots) up, then pull back on the power somewhat as we approached the top, so as to mush through the top. The idea being to keep up enough speed to maintain steerage and forward motion...

FWIW, Our 1991 CD22 Cruiser originally had a 70hp 2-stroke Yamaha. Light, but after we loaded her up with 58 gal of fuel and a bunch of stuff for a summer in SE Alaska, the 70 could not get her up onto a clean plane until we had burned off a good bit of fuel. We replaced the 70 with a...

Wholeheartedly agree - practice is absolutely key to anchoring success. Once you've learned by doing a number of times, and survived a few windy nights, you'll be comfortable.

Rode is a term for the entire connection between boat and anchor. If only rope, then the rode is rope. If rope and chain, then the rode is the combination of the two of them.

Here's an excerpt from my book: Anchoring In the cruising guides you’ll find detailed descriptions of a great many anchorages along the way. Rather than discuss the anchorages themselves, we’ll discuss anchoring issues and technique (much of which you may already know), with emphasis on the...

New Moon will be launching in PR about 6/11, and returning in late August or early September. Planning to spend a good bit of the summer on the west coast of Prince of Wales, near Craig. Maybe we'll see you up there. We're 26', green hull with white house.

Inside Passage – Distance between fuel stops 2/15/2010 You can get to most places you'd want to go in a small boat if you can COMFORTABLY (with a good reserve to handle weather changes etc) go 140 nautical miles on a tank. If you have 200-300 NM range you have a lot more flexibility in your...

For your gee whiz, though rather off topic: New Moon's Volvo 44 diesel sterndrive setup includes electronic engine controls and shifting. There's a brief delay in shifting, maybe 1/2 second, which takes some getting used to, but I don't really notice it any more. Electronic engine control is...

Peanut, the new boat dog