tbw@comcast.net writes: >Can anyone comment on a 24 volt pump they have had good luck with? Most folks seem to go with small engine-type fuel pumps (e.g. Walbro). With two 1000 gallon (4000 litre) tanks, that was not going to cut it for me. I went with a centrifugal pump, a Groco CP-20. This is rated at about 10 GPM, in practice I find it does almost exactly 10 litres a minute through parallel Racor 1000 filters. It's controlled by an 30 minute Intermatic timer switch, allowing me to transfer and/or polish up to 300 litres at a time. The centrifugal pump must be lower than the tank, but I've had excellent results so far. For more details see http://www.islandeagle.net/systems/fuel Scott Welch

DandMYachts@aol.com writes: >some time back someone advised there were 2 very good books on marine >wiring??? anyone remeber which 2 they were ?? My two favorite are Nigel Calder's "Boatowner's Mechanical and Electrical Manual" and Charlie Wing's "Boatowner's Illustrated Handbook of Wiring". Scott Welch Product Manager, Open Text Collaboration Solutions Group www.firstclass.com "Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out." - John Wooden

sea_trek_2000@yahoo.com writes: >Thanks for that, but is there something I can do to correct this? Chuck Yes, probably. For reasons lost in the sands of antiquity (well, OK, a Teletype machine) the end of a line was not denoted by a single "end of line" character, but by two characters: "carriage return" (known as CR) and "line feed" (LF). Since early computers used teletype-style terminals for input and output, this somewhat strange tradition was carried on: the end of a line was/is terminated with both a CR and an LF. Later and more modern computers have played fast and loose with this, however. First, some operating systems will allow you to use either a CR or and LF, and they will be treated as a CR/LF pair. On the other hand, some didn't. That's why terminals (remember those) had a weird cryptic setting that allowed you to control this. When it was set wrong, you would always get double-spaced lines. In the modern world, text display systems (e.g. MS Word, a web browser) simply flow text on the fly. There is no end of line, only the end of a paragraph. The lines are reflowed depending on the width of the window. When that text is sent out via certain email application, each paragraph becomes a "line" since it has no CR/LF. I would guess that Chuck's problem is that he is either (a) composing the messages in an editor that does not use CR/LF, maybe MS Word, and then pasting it into his email client, or (b) he is using an email client with a similar wonky editor. Or he's composing his messages on a circa-1985 terminal with the CR/LF set wrong :-) Scott Welch Product Manager, Open Text Collaboration Solutions Group www.firstclass.com "Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out." - John Wooden

baypelican@earthlink.net writes: >The comment was made about using a Verizon Air Card in Canada. While this >is unlimited service or 5 gigs in the US, the same subscription is changed >to per megabyte in Canadian territory, something like one or two dollars a >megabyte. Be cautious and check this out before you get your first bill. You should definitely investigate this beforehand. In my particular case I have a Telus Air Card, it's $40/month for unlimited. I can add unlimited US roaming for an additional $15/month. It's worth spending some time on the web site of your service provider. Scott Welch Product Manager, Open Text Collaboration Solutions Group www.firstclass.com "Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out." - John Wooden

<2elnav@netbistro.com> writes: >Not having a functional and working pump out would be bad for business >because boats needing a pump-out will go to the next marina for a pump >out; plus buy their fuel etc. from them. Although I come from Ontario on >the Canadian side of the border I found the US regulations for border water >states to be as tough or tougher than Ontario. One further note in this. When I was boating in Ontario, I found that in most cases the pump-out was right beside the diesel pump, so you could fuel up and pump out at the same time. Scott Welch Product Manager, Open Text Collaboration Solutions Group www.firstclass.com "Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out." - John Wooden

David H Sorenson writes: >On a related note, the topography of Duluth is of high hills rising above >Lake Superior. According, it is an everyday occurence to see substantial >stretches of the lake from an altitude of about 800 feet. The REAL >pollution of Lake Superior locally comes after a heavy rain when the >Nemadgi River in Wisconsin dumps bazillions of gallons of literally brown >water into the lake. From the heights, it is very visible. Whereas the >main lake is blue, the waters on the Wisconsin side are brown, carrying >who knows what in its runoff. For what it's worth, this is typically suspended silt, not pollution. While suspended silt is harmful in certain fish populations, it's not necessarily harmful to humans. Unlike the E Coli we carry in our gut, which most definitely is harmful to humans. Scott Welch Product Manager, Open Text Collaboration Solutions Group www.firstclass.com "Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out." - John Wooden

Garrett Lambert writes: >AIS targets quickly clutter the display, and could easily overwhelm >it. Moreover, many vessels broadcast even when tied up. The fun of >seeing far-off vessels quickly dissipates in favor of information on >the movements of ships in a limited region, and the software in most >navigation programs lets you define the area for which AIS icons are >displayed. Just a quick FYI on this. Using Nobeltec you can also filter the AIS targets, so (for example) you might choose to ignore targets that have a Closest Point of Approach greater than 2 miles. I do this and find it helps a great deal. Scott Welch Product Manager, Open Text Collaboration Solutions Group www.firstclass.com "Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out." - John Wooden

Truelove39@aol.com writes: >I tooB always look for savings when it comes to boat gear, and although this >solenoid is about half the price ofB aB watertight, continuous dutyB marine >unit, I could not justify it for the following reasons: The solenoid is installed belowdecks in a completely dry location. > >ItB is an automotive solenoid - it is not watertight andB is only >ratedB 100A for 6 minutes with a 20% duty cycle -B windlass duty is always >100%. True. However, my windlass is 24 volts and draws about 50 amps. Lifting my entire 400 feet of chain only takes about 4 minutes. It's very unlikely this will cause a problem. >Also, theB 6mmB terminal studs are too small for anything larger than 1/0 >wire terminals.B Correct. I run #2. >The specs state that it is forB permanent magnet motors, but many windlass >motors are shunt-wound with brushes, and need larger contacts due to inrush >current when starting.B Also correct. The Ideal uses a reversing-field motor. Inrush current is always a problem. It's possible this contactor might have problems, I'll see. However, for me the big advantage is that this is a single unit, as opposed to 4 individual solenoids, each with multiple exposed contacts. Scott Welch Product Manager, Open Text Collaboration Solutions Group www.firstclass.com "Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out." - John Wooden

"Ken MTBDEMON" writes: >So, where do people obtain most of the marine supplies if not West Marine? I >have found certain things on sale for a decent price, but I'm curious where >people get their marine supplies. I'm in Portland Oregon so it certainly >isn't >a metropolis of boating like Seattle, San Diego or anywhere in Florida. This is a good question. Here's my two cents, for what it's worth. First, remember that West (for the most part) resells stuff made by many manufacturers. Those manufactures sell through many wholesalers, who in turn sell through local marine stores. Those local marine stores have catalogs from wholesalers that have everything that West has, and more. When you want something, the local dealer orders it from the wholesalers, and in the modern "just in time" world those orders come in a day or two. Plus, it's worth remembering that the markup in the marine industry is massive - 30 to 50 percent. When I started to renovate Island Eagle, I knew I would be buying a lot of stuff, and I was lucky enough to be in a town (Nanaimo, BC) with two good marine stores plus a West. I went to the closest marine store (Nanaimo Marine Centre) and told him I'd be spending somewhere north of $50,000 on various stuff. I further told him that all things being equal, I'd prefer to deal with a single supplier. He though about for a bit and offered me the following arrangement: 1) I would do all of my buying through him. 2) If I found a lower price anywhere, I'd give him the opportunity to match it. 3) Every in-stock item would be an automatic 15% off sticker price (which still left him with a healthy profit). 4) If something was not in stock, he would order it from his wholesaler, it would be list price (no extra shipping charges), and if I ordered before 3:00 PM have it on the loading dock the next morning before 10:00 AM. 5) He'd set up a monthly account so my crew could sign and purchase stuff, without needing petty cash. I'd pay at the end of the month with a credit card on file. 6) For large ticket items (e.g. electronics, heater, etc.) he'd offer me a package deal if I brough the full shopping list to him. In practice, this worked out very, very well. Since they knew I was a long-term customer, I always received excellent customer service. When I have had problems, they have always gone to bat for me. When I did need to order something from another supplier (especially a non-marine supplier) they were more than happy to have the delivery come to their address, which is way easier then trying to get UPS to deliver to a boat. Best of all, even though I am now only spending a few hundred a month, they are still sticking with the arrangement. One other interesting side effect of this is that I tend to do my research on the internet. Often the factory sells direct but they will not reduce their prices, so they don't compete with their own dealers. Since my dealer will offer me a discount off list, it's often *cheaper* through the dealer than direct. For example, I needed a particular size tank to replace an aging blackwater tank. I found the exact replacement, it was something like $400 direct from the factory. It took a few days, but my guy was able to call the factory, become a reseller, and sell the exact same tank to me for $350. Hard to beat that. Your mileage may vary, but it's worth asking. Scott Welch Product Manager, Open Text Collaboration Solutions Group www.firstclass.com 905 762 6101 "Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out." - John Wooden

I would highly recommend the use of standard computer fans on the boat. The good ones are built for continuous duty and have negligible current draw. I use a number of them on Island Eagle, including two that I leave on 24/7/365. If you want hi/lo speeds, it's trivial to wire up an inline resistor, and if you really want to go all-out you can use a wire-wound potentiometer and get variable speed. I've also mounted smaller (3") fans in standard ventilators, so that they blow air out of the boat. They move about 50 times more air than the wimpy fans that are normally in there. I have had very good luck with both Papst and Panaflo fans, as well as the non-name ones you can find at electronics stores. In any event, you are going to notice that there is a direct tradeoff between airflow (in CFM), current draw (in mA) and sound levels (in dB). You will need to decide what works for you. If you expect to run the fan anywhere near a sleeping area, get the lowest-noise one you can. Mouser Electronics (www.mouser.com) is a good source of Papst fans and offers cheap shipping. Scott Welch Product Manager, Open Text Collaboration Solutions Group www.opentext.com 905 762 6101 "Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out." - John Wooden