Despite Milt's kind appreciation of good support, Naiad stabilizers seem to be the bane of passage makers. Great support does not come anywhere close to making up for dependable operation, IMO. It's disheartening to hear that Bluewater has one fin out of commission so early in their crossing, but after similar problems experienced by the first rally fleet, we're not surprised. Fortunately, Milt had the foresight and good sense to have paravanes fitted as well as fins; certain that if we had both we'd happily flick a switch rather than deploy and retrieve the birds. It would be interesting to hear a comparison of the effectiveness of the two systems in stabilizing Bluewater, but I hope that circumstance isn't necessary. We love our paravane gear, and have modified the original rigging so that we can now retrieve them (300s) safely and easily, single-handed, and without winches, in less than 10 minutes. Like most things born of decades of experience in the Pacific fishery, our particular setup is robust, simple, and requires only no power. Passagemaker owners we've spoken with, some of which have paravanes and some with powered fins, report identical experience with speed loss, i.e. about half a knot with either system in use, and that mirrors our experience. Most importantly, owners of boats with paravanes continue to use and praise them while owners of powered fin systems speak of breakdowns. And these paravane-equipped boats, with a couple of exceptions (both Nordhavn 46s) are not the current generation of "trawlers" but Beebe-type passagemakers such as Mona-Mona, Teka III, and Chartwell, tried and true boats some of which have crossed oceans regularly for decades. Had the paravanes not worked out, these boats would surely have been retrofitted with fins or retired from passage making. We hope that the Trac stabilizers on Milt's consorts will prove better than the Naiads, but large form-factor ship technology, when applied to small boats, is often lacking. Time will tell. Regards, John "Seahorse" > A trip like this is a series of ups and downs. Yesterday was one of the down days. Not only did we lose our port stabilizer, but our speed was down. Whether that's due to the starboard fin working harder, a current on the nose, or something else I cannot tell, but our noon-to-noon run was a depressing 133 NM, and I'm feeling bad about holding up our two buddy boats who have the fuel to make more speed to Horta but who are hanging in with Bluewater. I spoke with Vic Kuzmovich at Naiad Florida minutes ago, and he is making arrangements to ship the vital replacement stabilizer part to us in care of our agent in Horta, Marco Quadros. Marco is the most organized man in Horta, and he has provided detailed instructions on how to ship the part so it will be waiting for us when we arrive. Vic promises to include detailed instructions for installation, and he's confident that it's within my capabilities-"piece of cake, Milt," he says. Braun Jones, who has gone through this particular replacement twice aboard Grey Pearl, also e-mailed me and said, "You can do it." Vic says that if we have problems, he will put a technician on an airplane to Horta to sort it out for us. What terrific support! I noted yesterday that a single fin is reported about 80% as effective as two, and it's time to modify that! In the 3-5 to 4-6 foot quartering seas Bluewater has had since our problem yesterday and our sub-six-knot speed, we've had a good opportunity to observe the difference between two working fins and one. My own take based on this single experience is that we're getting about 2/3 of the stabilization we normally get. It's a LOT better than nothing, but noticeably rollier than with two working fins. ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com.

The only thing I'd add to John's comments is that no news is good news regarding active fins. I do believe there are hundreds, perhaps thousands of boats with active fins that are motoring around just fine. I had Alanui's system checked out by the local TRAC representative last week. He showed me two areas where some chafing of the hydraulic lines was occurring and advised installing a simple sheath to prevent further erosion. I was prompted to have this inspection by Jeff Merrill of Nordhavn, as a prudent thing to do prior to leaving for a two year cruise. The systems review the rep provided was great, a wealth of information. Simply put, the system is in great condition and I'm confident it's as ready for the voyage as any other component in the boat. I was considering adding paravanes, but since I've modified our itinerary to a near coastal route I'm going to forego them, since I should be able to have parts sent to me in the event we experience a failure. In summary, we should realize our sample of experience on the list is very narrow and doesn't reflect a large enough cross section of the industry to reach comprehensive conclusions. It is valuable non the less, as each of these experiences does provide a great learning environment for all the participants. Thanks to all those that share their valued opinions and observations! Scott Bulger, Alanui, N40II, Seattle WA

The discussion of Active Fins and Paravanes got me thinking about Dave Coopers anti roll tanks. I don't recall hearing how they work? All I can envision is a series of baffles that somehow keep the water out of phase with the boat rolling, something like a bunch of kids running around doing exercises during a Romper Room session on TV. I wonder if Dave would be kind enough to elaborate on how the roll tanks work? Thanks, Scott Bulger, Alanui, N40II, Seattle WA