David Mellor writes: >Diesel price today at Van Isle Marina, Sidney, BC, (PNW) is approx. >US$5.50/USgal. Just an FYI: If you need to fill up in the Victoria area, by far the best deal is at Jones Marine Services in Chemainus, BC. Phone is 604-669-3900. When I filled my tanks last fall (roughly 5000 litres) they were 15% less expensive than the closest competitor. It's where most of the tugs and commercial vessels fill up. In fact, I only discovered this place from a friend who is a commercial captain, it's tucked away where you would never find it. By the way, they also sell bulk Rotella straight 40 weight lube oil, useful if you have an old Detroit Diesel like my 6-110. No connection, etc. Scott Welch FirstClass Product Manager www.firstclass.com Those who make no mistakes rarely make anything.

Robert STRAGHAN writes: >I have a Northern Lights genset and want it to auto start/stop when the >batteries reach a pre-determined level of discharge. I recall reading that >Dave on Swan Song has such a system, but NL cannot supply. > >Any recommendations on what to use and where to buy? This is usually controlled by the inverter. Dave has the same ones I do, Trace SW4024. These have an output that can be used for automatic generator control. Scott Welch FirstClass Product Manager www.firstclass.com Those who make no mistakes rarely make anything.

>Bottom line: despite the CPR-givers statement early on that there was foam >from the mouth and blood from the nose and no vital signs, it took ONE HOUR >for the helo to arrive. We were incredulous that it could take so long. You know, further to my previous post about the North West Passage... I hate to be heretical, but one hour seems pretty fast to me. In fact, that they came at all seems pretty fabulous. When you are out on the water, you really have to be prepared to deal with the situation on your own. It might sound harsh, but death by misadventure is a harsh thing. We don't have the resources to save every single person who does something stupid. Yes, it would be fabulous if we had somebody there to help us every time we ****ed up, but we can't always have that. Perhaps there is another way we could approach this, and that's to ask "What's the moral of this story"? I hate to sound like Mike, always harping about this, but the best lessons you are going to learn are by observing someone else's mistakes. Here are a few observations, right off the top of my head: 1) First dive after certification? Let's do it off the dock instead of from a boat. And even if it's not at the dock, should we really be 38 (!!!) miles out? 2) Five guys in the water? Odd numbers are bad. Let's take it two at a time, and have a buddy right beside the newbie. Also, 5 guys in the water meant that the boat operator could not pick the newbie up because he was afraid of hitting the other guys. 3) Adult male taken Vital Signs Absent and not breathing from warm water? With foam from the mouth and blood from the nose? Probably already gone. A copter's not going to help. So what are the lessons? 1) Do a thorough risk analysis of the situation before you set off. If you might need help, stay close to where the help is. 2) If you have a new diver, only let the new diver and his buddy into the water (and make sure the buddy is experienced). 3) Keep a line on the newbie's wrist for the first few dives, so he can get back to the boat easily. In my time up north, we did over 1000 under-ice dives without a single incident, and that's partially because on every single one of those dives the diver was tethered and there was a human tending the line. 4) Make sure that every diver reads "Shadow Divers" by Robert Kurson. Especially the part where the divers die. Just because you can get certified in a few hours doesn't mean that it's not dangerous. Just my two cents. And by the way, don't you find it interesting that you never hear people proposing higher taxes to pay for increased Coast Guard coverage? Scott Welch FirstClass Product Manager www.firstclass.com Those who make no mistakes rarely make anything.

Mike Maurice writes: >3. When asked by US Customs personnel, don't lie or even fudge about the >circumstances of the entry or clearance. Further to this, here are some facts you might want to consider. I'm not a lawyer, but I am a non-US citizen who crosses the US border between 25 and 50 times a year. Fact 1: US Customs has the right to refuse anybody at the border, at any time, for any reason they see fit. Fact 2: Lying to a US Customs officer is a federal offence. Fact 3: One of the question often asked is "Have you ever been refused entry to the US". If you answer "yes" to that question, be prepared for unpleasantness. And if you answer "no" but have in fact been refused in the past, they *will* find out. There is no way to "erase" an entry refusal, and there is no appeal. And don't forget Fact 2. The long and short of this is that before you get up to any monkey business with US Customs, you want to ask yourself "Do I really want to be hassled every time I cross the border, for the rest of my life?". And for those of you who do find yourself in a pickle, do *everything possible* to beat a hasty retreat without being "refused" entry. I have twice found myself in the situation where the vehicle I was driving was turned back, once because a passenger (unknown to me) had a criminal record and the other because my girlfriend at the time was Australian and had forgotten her passport. In both cases we were able to simply turn around without being officially "refused". Scott Welch FirstClass Product Manager www.firstclass.com Those who make no mistakes rarely make anything.

"Jim Healy" writes: >An interesting theoretical observation is that with >only 115V loads distributed equally (balanced) across both sides of the >center tap, you may actually have no current flowing in the neutral at all. >The Neutral provides the circuit's reference voltage, but all of the current >flows only in L1 and L2. The more unbalanced the loads, the more current >flows in the neutral. Ag Jim, An excellent post. I have a few other notes that may be of interest: 1) The non-theoretical corollary is that if you have a high-resistance neutral and an unbalanced load, the practical effect will be to raise the voltage on the low-load leg and lower the voltage on the high-load leg. In plain english, if you notice that when a heavy load (e.g. a fridge) starts up some of your lights get *brighter* not dimmer, then you should get to work right away looking for a loose/dirty/missing neutral connection. 2) While three phase power is unusual on most boats, it does exist. When I bought my boat, it had a three-phase 20 KW generator, which fed a three-phase panel. The shore power cable was 50A, 120 volt, single phase. The shore power switch fed 120 V into each of the three-phase legs. The genset was the first thing I took out of the boat, followed by the panel. I now have a nice, normal 6KW generator and a nice, normal 30A 120V cable. 3) For those of you heading north to British Columbia and Alaska, talk of higher amperages is mostly theoretical. At most docks you are lucky to get 30 Amp 120 Volt, and at many docks you get 20 Amp. I've been at several with 15 Amp. Make sure you carry adapters, and make sure you can set your input loads. Scott Welch FirstClass Product Manager www.firstclass.com Those who make no mistakes rarely make anything.

"Tom Manning" writes: >I remember a company that had a design your own panel on the internet, >I thought it was Paneltronics, but their website does not show that. That would be Front Panel Express (http://www.frontpanelexpress.com/) No connection except as a satisfied customer. Scott Welch FirstClass Product Manager www.firstclass.com Those who make no mistakes rarely make anything.

So listees, We're off cruising Island Eagle this summer, and as opposed to the past few years this year we are doing things in a more leisurely fashion. Cruise a few hours... anchor a few days... repeat. So it's all very nice, but I realize that my charging system needs a bit of beefing up. In the past, the 150 amp Ample Power alternator on the main had no problem keeping the batteries (800 Ah of AGM @ 24 volts) topped up when we were spending 6 to 8 hours underway. However, using the genset to charge the batteries I am relying on the Xantrex SW4024 charger, which has a max output of 150 amps. This translates to about 4 hours per day of genset run time, which I'd like to lower. I have about 3000 additional watts of genset capacity at my disposal, so I'm thinking of adding a big (say 100 A) 24 volt charger. However, they seem to be pretty thin on the ground, in fact I can find any. So my other thought is a pair of 50 A 12 volt chargers, one for each half of the 24 volt bank. I was looking at a pair of Xantrex XC5012 (http://www.xantrex.com/web/id/180/p/1/pt/24/product.asp). I also have experience with Analytic Systems (http://www.analyticsystems.com/products/bca1000.htm) so that's a possibility. So, I'll throw the door open: any suggestions? Scott Welch FirstClass Product Manager www.firstclass.com Those who make no mistakes rarely make anything.

Your best bet is to find a chandlery which supplies commercial fishing boats. I used to have 32 volts on the boat and had good luck at Fisheries Supply (Seattle) and the Nanaimo Marine Centre (250-753-1244, ask for Keven or Joyce). Scott Welch FirstClass Product Manager www.firstclass.com Those who make no mistakes rarely make anything.

Robert STRAGHAN writes: >Any suggestions for the best deck anti-skid product. Is this for a steel deck? Scott Welch FirstClass Product Manager www.firstclass.com Those who make no mistakes rarely make anything.