Phil Keys writes: >SWICHGAGEs have electrical contacts which contact the gauge needle at >an adjustable setting. They are good for alarms. I used these on Island Eagle. I would highly recommend them. They're cheap as well -- about $35 apiece for temperature and pressure. Scott Welch FirstClass Product Manager www.firstclass.com Those who make no mistakes rarely make anything.

"Tom Hofmann" writes: >I got a quote for "made windows" in frames, but that's a last resort >price-wise. For what it's worth: if you are willing to consider some flexibility on the actual size and layout of the windows, I would recommend that you give a call to the larger manufacturers (e.g. Sea Glaze, Bomon, etc.). They often have a stash of returns/misorders/scratch-n-dent, etc. When I was doing the pilothouse on Island Eagle I did this and there were some incredible deals (like 75% off list). I never did end up using them, but it's worth a call. When I called Sea Glaze they sent me a fax of the sizes and shapes they had lying around. Scott Welch FirstClass Product Manager www.firstclass.com Those who make no mistakes rarely make anything.

Mike Maurice writes: >Putting the pump before the racor simply means that the pump is now in >effect, the FILTER. It is only a matter of time before a glob of gunk >brings the whole show to a halt. > >Do it any way you want, but when the engine stops you can't complain >that you weren't warned. What he said. If you really want to be able to prime your filters, then use a tee off your fuel transfer/polishing pump. To prime, simply open the tee and close the supply to the filter. When you are done, close the tee and open the supply. Voila, powered bleeding. For a diagram & more detail, see http://www.islandeagle.net/systems/fuel Scott Welch FirstClass Product Manager www.firstclass.com Those who make no mistakes rarely make anything.

"Brent Hodges" writes: >Tonight we're tied up at the great little downtown >dock in Homa, La. This is not exactly trawlerin', but for those of you who love tugs here's a great story that starts in Houma; be sure to watch the videos. http://www.ghcoates.com/Tugboat.htm Scott Welch FirstClass Product Manager www.firstclass.com Those who make no mistakes rarely make anything.

Mike Maurice writes: >Which brings me to a conclusion. If you have all your paperwork >technically correct, which is not easy to do, you are a lot less liable >to get crosswise to the authorities. Most yachtsmen don't have all their >paperwork technically right, therefore you are more vulnerable to being >hassled. The reason you don't get hassled very often, is simply that the >authorities don't have a lot of incentive. But, just give them some >excuse and "pow, right in the kisser". I think you get my meaning... Mike nails this on the head. I'll tell you a little story. In 2003 I bought Island Eagle in Seattle, but I was planning on berthing her in Nanaimo. This would entail flying to Seattle, whipping her into shape, and then sailing her up to Nanaimo. I had never handled a boat this big (60 feet) and I was not familiar with the west coast, so I hired a professional tug captain to come along. I'll leave out the gory details (the 40 year old engine, the complete lack of electronics, the nonexistent electrical system, and did I mention doing all this in a 7 days). But we (my father, my uncle, my son, and myself) did get it done and departed for Nanaimo about 4:00 AM on the 8th day. We anchored out a Sydney Spit, and then continued on to Nanaimo the next day, arriving about noon. I was pretty hyper about the whole process, especially the whole importation of the boat into Canada. I'd discussed everything with Bettina at the Canada Customs office in Nanaimo, and carefully written everything down in my notebook. Step 1 was pretty simple: when we crossed into Canada, we had to call the Customs Reporting Line and tell them we were in the country, and we had to give the nationality and passport number of everyone on board. I did this, although it was getting late and dark and we were poking around Sydney Spit with no depth sounder so I was a bit distracted. Step 2 was also pretty simple. When we reached Nanaimo we had to report to Customs, with all of our papers, and get cleared (and of course pay taxes). Bettina would be on duty. Now, I travel for business, a lot. I clear Customs at the airport at least 30 or 40 times a year. I'm pretty comfortable with it. I know the drill, go up to the desk and act polite, respectful and professional. So, when we arrived in Nanaimo I went right to my dock, tied the boat up, got in my car, and drove to the Customs office with the paperwork. I walked right up to the desk and asked for Bettina. BIG MISTAKE!!! As I am sure you all know, when you come in by boat, you have to report to Customs WITH THE BOAT! I had sort of missed that subtle concept. I made my apologies and tugged my forelock, and she sent me back to my dock with strict instructions to bring the boat to the Customs dock, with all crew, RIGHT NOW! That's when the real fun began. My uncle had decided to take the dinghy for a ride, so he wasn't on the boat. When we got to the Customs dock, it turned out that I had made a mistake on my verbal declaration and given then the wrong number for my uncles passport. And finally, my son didn't have a letter from his mother indicating he could cross the border. As this all unfolded you could just see Bettina getting more and more steamed, and finally she looked right at me as she got on the radio and said "Hey, how bout you send down those two trainees -- now would be a great time for them to do a practice search". And the worst thing of all was that it was totally my own fault for screwing up. In then end, all was fine, and I even served them coffee. But she spent TWO HOURS instructing the trainees on the fine art of searching a boat, and let me tell you on a 60 footer there are a lot of nooks and crannies. But I've left the best to last. In the midst of all of the screwups, the agent said "Look, I told you clearly that you had to come to the Customs dock". I protested that she never had, but when I opened up my notebook to prove my point, sure enough, in my own handwriting was the note "Go to Customs dock, past Petro Canada". The moral to this story is pretty simple. I had all of the information needed to avoid disaster. I should have waited to do the verbal declaration until we were safely anchored, and that would have solved the wrong passport number. And even though I "knew" what to do when I entered the harbour, I should have throttled back and reviewed my notes before docking. I was also damn lucky that I was NOT trying get get something into the country, because then my woes would have lasted a good deal longer than 2 hours. Scott Welch FirstClass Product Manager www.firstclass.com Those who make no mistakes rarely make anything.

murray writes: >Scott, although you were given a lot of hassle by Canadian customs, I >believe you would have been in even more trouble if you mentioned that >you had anchored at Sidney Spit the night before. That meant you had >"landed" on Canadian soil without checking in. Check the regulations; I >don't think you were allowed to even anchor before presenting to >customs. Actually, I specifically checked this with Customs when I made the reporting call and they told me that I did not have to clear customs until I landed. When we anchored at Sidney Spit we did not go ashore. When I did land in Nanaimo I was careful to tell them we had anchored at Sidney Spit and did not have a problem. I wondered about this myself but the tug captain I was with told me it was common practice to anchor out when arriving late. And in all fairness it's hard to call what Customs did to me "hassle". Perhaps "not so gentle and completely deserved re-education" :-) Scott Welch FirstClass Product Manager www.firstclass.com Those who make no mistakes rarely make anything.

"Butch Dalton" writes: >I need a small (3-4 breakers) AC sub-panel for my inverter installation. Does >anyone know of an inexpensive source, perhaps even salvaged? Better yet, does >anyone have one laying around the boat they'd like to sell? Thanks in >advance! Sorry for the delay. I know it's not "yotty" but have you considered a small Square D panel from Home Depot? That's what I used on Island Eagle, and it's what every fishboat around uses. I used these ones:http://tinyurl.com/6c7vyn Here's a picture: http://www.islandeagle.net/systems/0003D2D0-008583DB.14/P8210378.jpg Scott Welch FirstClass Product Manager www.firstclass.com Those who make no mistakes rarely make anything.

"Arild Jensen" <2elnav@netbistro.com> writes: >Nice workmanship Scott. >However, there is a reason why home depot type products are NOT approved for >marine use. >In the first place the wire terminations are designed for solid wire not >stranded wire. >secondly many of the busbars are plated not solid copper that is tinned. >Plated bus bars and connectors tend to "grow corrosion" which in turn >creates hot spots over time. All of the wiring on Island Eagle is terminated with plated crimp-on connectors. By the way, this comment applies equally to the outlets we use on boats, and everyone uses land-based ones there. > >Land based wiring is usually in less moist environments and thus escape th >eworst ravages of this corosion growth. All I can say is that the panels I replaced were also Square D, and they were 40 years old and working just fine. > >Home Depot breakers are purely thermal and derate drastically with high >ambient temperatures such as you might find in a typical boat. Ambient temperature in my engine room is rarely above 100F. > >I admit a careful and conscientious person can make home depot type hardware >work safely but how expensive can a 4 circuit Blue Sea panel be? Is it >really worth it making a non marine grade installtion for the sake of saving >a few bucks? >There are so many surplus stores and marine flea markets around these days. It's not just a question of expense (you may have noticed that I did in fact use Blue Sea equipment on my entire DC system). The Square D panels are much better for surface-mount wiring. Plus, it's much easier to install strain reliefs. I reiterate my recommendation. For a small AC panel, I would put in a Square D. Scott Welch FirstClass Product Manager www.firstclass.com Those who make no mistakes rarely make anything.

ghechtman@aol.com writes: >Are Rodger and I missing something or is this (and Aqualarm Inc) the piece >ofe ----- I think it is? I was going to spring for their water flow sensors, >obut can't take that risk after this experience >Please someone tell us we are missing somethng! The vendor already has >assign ed us kite flying duties. My two cents: one of the first things I installed on Island Eagle (she's wooden) was a high bilge water alarm with a big, loud red firebell. I used an Aqualarm switch (not a knockoff) because they claimed a lifetime warranty. I mounted the switch about 2 inches higher than the one for the primary bilge pump. About 2 years later, on one of my first trips (it was a long refit) I had to dock the boat on a particularly tough location -- backing down a narrow channel the slipping into the berth. With 60 feet, a single screw and no thruster, this was, ummm, "exciting". I was pretty keyed-up. I had just tied up at the dock when the high water alarm went off with no warning at all. I just about pooped my pants. Of course there were about 20 people standing around around watching. I tore down to the ER and discovered that through a series of unrelated events both the primary and secondary bilge pumps had failed. I got them going within a minute, but the alarm did not go off when the water went down! It seems that the alarm switch had failed in the "on" position. No matter what I did I could not get the alarm to go off. Finally, I pulled the fuse and mercifully it went quiet. I later removed the offending switch and found that nothing I could do would make it turn off. Lessons learned: 1) Do not use the Aqualarm switches. First, they can and will fail. However, the worse problem is that they are sealed and therefor very hard to test. I now use regular float switches, and one of my normal inspection points is to reach down into the bilge and lift each one up and make sure that the pump (or alarm) goes on as expected. I keep a wooden yardstick with a pin on the end so I don't even need to put my arm down in the bilge. 2) Install a bilge pump monitor at the helm. I can now see which pumps run and when, and there is a built-in alarm if the pump runs for more then the specified time. I used this one from BEP: http://tinyurl.com/4rtdmh 3) Install a cut-off switch on all alarms. It's bad enough trying to fix a problem in a rush, having a 100 db alarm bell in your ears does not help your concentration. 4) Install bilge pump counters so you know how often your bilge pumps run. 5) Put manual override switches on all bilge pumps so you can both turn them off if the switch fails "on" and turn them on if the switch fails "off". Scott Welch FirstClass Product Manager www.firstclass.com Those who make no mistakes rarely make anything.

Troy Leek writes: >Recently I purchased a new VHF that has a built in hailer and fog horn. It >hacs >adjustable frequency of 200-850HZ for the fog horn. My question is where can >aI >find the correct frequency for my boat? I have looked in the manual and >onlinte >with no luck. Thanks!! Good question. I looked this up a while ago (I put a train horn on my boat and it's not compliant). See http://www.stormy.ca/marine/colregs/annex3.htm Scott Welch FirstClass Product Manager www.firstclass.com Those who make no mistakes rarely make anything.