Luxury Yacht & Speed Boat

Tagged ‘Maintenance’

Similar to ACR’s ResQFix PLB, McMurdo has introduced a GEPIRB (GPS-equipped Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon) that’s smaller yet supposedly performs better.

The 1.5-pound SmartFind Plus ac­complishes this largely by using LEDs for its strobe, which along with automatic seawater activation, built-in flotation, and longer trans­mission life are what distinguish EPIRBs from PLBs (plus the fact that some models come with an automatic float-free mount).

Note that Simrad has also introduced a compact GEPIRB in the same price range and that both companies also offer GPS-less models, but those will typically take longer to de­liver less-accurate position information to the SAR authorities.

Heavy ground tackle makes for sound sleeping, but when it’s time to weigh anchor, it can be a pain unless you have a windlass to do the heavy lifting. Fortunately for our lower backs, there are windlasses sized to fit any boat and no reason not to have one aboard as an unpaid hand.

When properly installed, a windlass requires minimal maintenance.Here’s what you need to know.

First, rinse the windlass thoroughly after every voyage to wash off the salt, let it dry, and cover it. (Many anchor lockers are now equipped with the quick-connect-type freshwater connections for rinsing.) Read the rest of this entry »

The big consumer electronics company Cobra has gotten serious a­bout marine VHF, introducing both this feature-packed handheld and a Class D DSC fixed radio. For instance, the $170 HH425 and the $190 F80 are each sub­mersible and backed by three-year warranties.

Both also offer a “rewind, play again” feature that space shots like me will find handy—a built-in memory chip records the last 20 seconds of whatever breaks squelch on the channel (s) you’re monitoring, giving you a second chance to catch a call.

The 425 also includes a full 5-watt GMRS (a.k.a. “family radio”) transceiver, along with goodies like privacy codes, individual caller rings, and VOX (hands-free) operation. That means that with a couple of inexpensive GIVIRS handsets, perhaps from market leader Cobra, you’ll have a sophisticated communications network for use around a ma­rina and beyond (unlike VHF, GMRS is land legal).

You can even set up the 425 to scan both selected VHF and GMRS channels simultaneously, though a little man­ual investigation is required. In fact, most of the 425′s features do entail some oper­ational complexity, plus I found its ergonomics clunkier than more conventional handhelds, like the Icom M34.

Perhaps you’ve noticed, as I have, that one of the features particularly intrig­uing to many electronics shoppers these days are those slick virtual engine-gauge screens you can pull up on many a multifunction display (MFD). Never mind for a moment that most of those MFDs can’t yet connect to many engine models; instead, imagine how those screens would look if you ran a company that makes umpteen real ma­rine engine gauges every year.

Many of its current gauges—there are some 10,000 models if you count all the available colors and the various brand names they’re sold un­der—feature a little data LCD in addi­tion to a traditional pin and dial. Moreover, the company’s MG2000 sys­tem includes a powerful microprocessor that’s built into a gauge: like casing and able to talk with all sorts of engine con­trol modules (ECMs), then mix the data with other inputs to do calculations like fuel flow, and finally rebroadcast every­thing to a network of less-intelligent gauges. Read the rest of this entry »

A portable oil-changer is basically a five- gallon plastic bucket with a pump mounted on top; the pump sucks up old lube oil through a cocktail-straw-size tube via the dipstick hole and dumps it into the pail.

I used one of these for a couple of years on my GM-powered Hatteras, and it worked fine, albeit slowly—very slowly. If you’re talking twin engines plus gears, plus a genset, pack a lunch when you change your oil, because you’re going to be there a while.

A better solution is to invest in a built-in oil-change system, comprising a reversible electric pump and a manifold of valves plumbed to your engine crankcases, trans­missions, and genset. You pump the used oil into a container, and then move the exhaust hose into a five-gallon pail of fresh oil (where it now becomes the supply hose), re­verse the pump, and refill. The oil is quickly pumped out and in via the oil pan drain, rather than through the dipstick tube. You’ll also have to find a place to dispose of the old oil properly—ask your marina manager or even your dockmates for their advice.

Reverse, X-Change-R, and Jabsco sell oil- change systems to suit multi-engine setups. Installation is straightforward, but drains each engine before pulling the oil-pan plug, or you’ll have an EPA-size cleanup job. I’d bite the bullet and pay the yard—its mechanics are skinnier.