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Thread: Preparations for the LongPac

  1. #41
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    San Francisco Bay Area
    Posts
    2,095

    Default

    I wore my old...almost ten year old WM auto inflate about a year and a half ago while sailing the skerry. The boat went over while I was hoisting the main and the inflatable...inflated. Boy, did it keep my head up. That thing FLOATED...

    but it was ~impossible~ to get over the side of the tiny little bulwarks of the skerry and back into the boat.

    I think inflatable lifejackets are great if you're sailing in a crew with 4+ people and you are depending on them to get you back on the boat. I'm entirely not convinced that they are so great if you're on your own, but I would sure like to see more head support than most of the foam lifejackets provide.
    1968 Selmer Series 9 B-flat and A clarinets
    1962 Buesher "Aristocrat" tenor saxophone
    Piper One Design 24, Hull #35; "Alpha"

  2. #42
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Montara, CA
    Posts
    803

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    A charter company I worked for required all their captains/crew to check their PFDs (if they were the inflatable kind) before each voyage. Seems like a good thing for everyone. I was sailing with a friend the other day and asked her about her PFD. She looked and her cartridge gauge was also in the red. There are "replace by" dates on these cartridges. When they expire, that's a good time to jump in and see what happens. It is eye-opening (or grin-inducing, depending on how tight those crotch straps are). Which reminds me, I've offered to be BAMA's MOB dummy....errr, MOB victim.....errr, let's just say, their real person in the water for BAMA folks to practice their drills on. I have it in my calendar, but don't remember the date. It might be fun to get out on a boat and watch the chaos ensue. Errr....maybe not.

    Anyway, check your tethers, too. You all know that manufacturers recommend 5-year replacement intervals, right? Have you read the literature on your tether. What does it say? How "weathered" is yours? Does the stitching all look good? You know how many people just "trust" their life saving equipment and have never actually inspected it?

  3. #43
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    Arnold, CA
    Posts
    586

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    I have WM offshore inflatable and a Spinlock deckvest.
    Both get serviced annually along with my tether.
    The Deckvest has better crotch straps. Less binding.

    I used the WM vest during my SAS pool session.
    Yes , the pressure around my neck was surprising. Also, those few seconds it takes to inflate are really long!
    Swimming backstroke worked best, and boarding a raft proved difficult at best.
    It helped immensely to use the manual inflation tube to let a bit of pressure out of the bladder allowing better movement of my head and arms.

    I trust my equipment because I service it!

  4. #44
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Posts
    3,485

    Default about that bilge pump

    Tom Patterson offered advice at a distance, he won't let me try that old trick again. Reminded me to follow the wires. What did they look like when I cut them? Maybe something was stuck inside which would cause the fuse to blow. So I did. Took it apart,

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    checked the little plastic impeller, cleaned it up and re-wired it. Blew another fuse.

    Cooper, the whaler boss at RYC, bumped up against my stern in a RIB with a HUGE engine. He needs an adult along in order to take it out of the harbor. Did I want to come out for a ride? Hmmmm. Boat ride or bilge filth? Jumped on the boat, raced around Potrero Reach, over by KKMI, saw the Sugar Shack, went real fast, returned real fast.

    Reconsidered the issues before me, drove to West Marine and bought a new automatic bilge pump for $85. I don't remember my previous bilge pump costing that much in .... let's see, 2013.

    Brought it back to Dura Mater, wired it up and whoopeee!

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    Twas the fresh air and a ride with a fifteen year old that offered me the ability to think clearly.

  5. #45
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Posts
    284

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Philpott View Post
    Tom Patterson offered advice at a distance, he won't let me try that old trick again. Reminded me to follow the wires. What did they look like when I cut them? Maybe something was stuck inside which would cause the fuse to blow. So I did. Took it apart,

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Views: 573
Size:  350.3 KB

    checked the little plastic impeller, cleaned it up and re-wired it. Blew another fuse.

    Cooper, the whaler boss at RYC, bumped up against my stern in a RIB with a HUGE engine. He needs an adult along in order to take it out of the harbor. Did I want to come out for a ride? Hmmmm. Boat ride or bilge filth? Jumped on the boat, raced around Potrero Reach, over by KKMI, saw the Sugar Shack, went real fast, returned real fast.

    Reconsidered the issues before me, drove to West Marine and bought a new automatic bilge pump for $85. I don't remember my previous bilge pump costing that much in .... let's see, 2013.

    Brought it back to Dura Mater, wired it up and whoopeee!

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Views: 706
Size:  371.0 KB

    Twas the fresh air and a ride with a fifteen year old that offered me the ability to think clearly.
    What was the amp rating of the fuse that kept blowing?

  6. #46
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Posts
    3,485

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    Quote Originally Posted by WBChristie View Post
    What was the amp rating of the fuse that kept blowing?
    2.5

  7. #47
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Montara, CA
    Posts
    803

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    Probably a bad motor especially at that age. Those things just don't last long. I think I'm on my second in 6 years. You got your money's worth....about $12 per year amortized, right?

  8. #48
    Join Date
    May 2019
    Location
    Corte Madera
    Posts
    23

    Default Coffee anyone?

    Quote Originally Posted by Gamayun View Post
    Probably a bad motor especially at that age. Those things just don't last long. I think I'm on my second in 6 years. You got your money's worth....about $12 per year amortized, right?
    This thread has been great, as I've been following along getting all kinds of great info from all y'all! This seems to be in-lieu of the seminar we never had . Question:

    What do folks do for cooking or making coffee on board? Being a newbie, I'm very reticent to use the propane stove with an open flame.. have been looking at options for a simple rice cooker or hot plate to boil water for coffee and noodles, etc.. Any experience with such things that might plug into the 12V system with impacting the capacity too brutally? I've wired a 1000 amp inverter directly to the batter, and have the usual 12V lighter plug on the panel.. Have installed 2 group 27 91 amp Northstar batteries.. Also saw a slick Coleman 1 burner butane camping single stovetop thingy which looks pretty safe... uses small butane cartridges for fuel.. found a mini rice cooker (400 amps) on amazon that might be ok? .. Advice??
    Michael
    Mulan
    Bene 10R

  9. #49
    Join Date
    Jul 2016
    Location
    Bodfish, CA
    Posts
    436

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    Hi Michael,

    An energy audit is needed to understand how much energy you plan to use and how much storage and recharging there is available to meet the demand. The insights are revealing.

    I have no experience with electric based cooking. However, I have used the camping (one use) propane cylinders. My big caution with that type of unit is they have no shutoff valve. I had problems with marine environment adversely impacting shutoff valve so the valve leaked when disconnected from burner.

    My preference would be to have independent systems so there is no concern that cooking will impact the ability to navigate, operate running lights, autopilot, etc that would get you sailing safely.

    Ants

  10. #50
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Posts
    907

    Default

    JetBoil...

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