Albin43Tr@aol.com writes: ><< Question: How can you tell when a sailboat is level? >> > >When the mast is vertical and the toping lift or other line can >touch both >rails when tight, proving that the mast is perpendicular to the hull. >To this George muses: Hmm, I just look at my inclinometer. ;-) Happy Festive Season - Scaramouche1 P.s: The Admiral painted red lines on my inclinometer at plus and minus ten degrees. Wonder why she did that?

becker@presse.de writes: >... I mean, even if you said something innocuous to a friend, like, >">What >gets me are posters that, knowing they can't spell too good, don't >bother >with spell checkers.<", and they broke down in tears, saying that >>they are >non-native-speakers<, I'd apologize, right? ... > >Doug, >I am very happy if I phrased sucessfully, what I wanted to phrase - >in your >language. Sorry, but correct spelling (in english) is >high-end-requirement >for me ;-) Burkhard: I don't know which earlier post you are referring to. Perhaps I missed that one? Nevertheless, I agree and for me a spell checker is mandatory both as a courtesy to the recipient and also not to make myself, the sender, look too uneducated. (Especially since most spelling errors are really just transpositions like 'teh' instead of 'the' or 'aer' instead of 'are'; errors which are easily detected by even the most primitive spell checker). I too am not a native English speaker and agree with your sentiment. I only wished there would be a checker for grammar and syntax built into e-mail applications - don't you? George of Scaramouche1, wintering in Lake Ontario, Canada If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much space. Frohes Fest und Gutes Neues Jahr!

Albin43Tr@aol.com writes: >But George, how did you get your inclinometer mounted correctly? That was easy. Just waited until I was in the middle between two big waves.... George of Scaramouche1, Lake Ontario, Canada If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much space.

Campanella@mbc.com writes: >Are there any tricks I >am not aware of which could isolate the defective plug or connection. Marty: If you can get your hands on a signal tracer, you can follow the wire until you come to the break. Failing a signal tracer, with an ohm-meter connected to the pins in question, you can vigorously flex the cord at one or the other plug and sometimes the broken ends inside the cable will temporarily touch giving an indication on the ohm-meter and you have nailed the culprit. Works sometimes. George of Scaramouche1, wintering Lake Ontario, Canada If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much space.

Zeke: If you get any off-list answers, please copy me (or the list). I am very interested because I have two fireplaces in the house, and a fireplace/stove in the boat. Cost of a chimney sweep is $80 compared to $20 for one of those logs. I tried one last year in the house fireplace but have no idea whether it did any good or not. A fellow boater who used to be a part-time sweep doesn't think much of the logs but that's not surprising since he belongs to the 'guild of sweeps'. A bit like asking a medical doctor about cures using herbs and food supplements. One thing I learned from the ex-sweep is that what ever comes down the chimney tends to get trapped behind the damper-flapper and must be removed with a vacuum or risk a fire. Bit of a dirty job and apparently not always done by your average door-to-door sweep..... This would apply whether it's brushed down soot, creosote or mineral flakes from those logs or material from burning zinc. > George of Scaramouche1, wintering Lake Ontario, Canada >If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much space.

becker@presse.de writes: >Does a kite as gethome really work? Any experience or trustable >sources? >Burkhard Don't know about a kite, but a Brunhilde-like first mate with an overlong paddle will do.... George

capnrich@cnw.com writes: >The difference? The other boat used biocides, I don't. My boat is also 21 years old. I got it about five years ago after it sat on the hard for two years. Diesel in tank was as clean as what comes out of the pump. Two years ago I listened to some people on the list and added Biobor. Last spring my Racor housing was full of black slimy sludge, but only on the intake side nothing got past the two micron filter. No problem with engine. Wonder what my tank looks like inside? No access plate and no sediment drain. Would have to cut into the boat liner to remove tank. Wished I never heard of additives!!! George of Scaramouche1, Lake Ontario, Canada

Bottrell@ns.sympatico.ca writes: >For Canadian TWL'ees, I purchased a BatteryMINDer (12112) from >Edmonds >Batteries Ltd., Burnaby, BC over the phone (604.525.8144) last >October. >There may be other sources in Canada I think Arild has some more contacts for Canada. Perhaps he could jump in here? Arild, Arild where are you? George in Toronto, where there seems to be no knowledge of BatteryMinders ( I get a blank stare from the merchants I asked - if they want to be polite....)

elnav@uniserve.com writes: >So much for the >invinciblity of diesel engines in a wet hostile environment. >These new >engines sound as if they will be almost as suceptible to >electrical >problems as a gasoline engine. On a water not so far away and not so long ago I owned a 34ft motor-sailer with a Norwegian SABB Diesel for a power-source. It had no generator/alternator, no starter, no belt/pulley, and not a single piece of electrical wire, none nix, nada. (An electrical starter and a generator could be ordered as optional equipment for lazy sailors.) It had a mechanical tachometer and to start it one used a handcrank through a clever set of gears and chains. To preheat it on very cold days, one opened a plug and inserted a cigarette butt into the first cylinder. Lloyds of London approved it as a lifeboat engine because of its ruggedness and its ability to run under water, provided one could get air into it. Now that was a marine engine; and in spite of my opening line, this is not a fairy tale!!! Cheers - George

rbryett@mail.com writes: >The boat I'm cruising on at the moment has a hand started Sabb >installed. In >other words we do regularly what the post I quoted above claims is >impossible. As I have stated elsewhere, I used to own a motorsailor yawl with a SABB and now have a sloop with a Farymann. Both engines are hand-startable and can run without any electricity whatsoever. I make it a point of practising this handstarting several times a season - especially when I have novices on board.... :-)