Category Archives: 2010

Note from the Editor – Mainsheet – May 2010

Mainsheet, May 2010

I started the winter with good intentions and a pretty good list of projects for Blue Heron.  Mostly in the “would be nice to do category.”  However, with the exceptional cold and snow we’ve had, plus other commitments, I’ve gotten nothing done.  Zilch.  Nada.  Sometimes that is just how things go.  Then, if spring ever does come, it will be much too tempting to slip the lines and head out for a couple hours of sailing instead of tackling the project list.  So I expect that many projects on the list will be waiting for me next winter!  I hope you did better on your project list than I did and that you will be ready for some good sailing when the weather warms.  I am looking forward to hoisting the new 135% genoa I bought at theAnnapolis boat show last fall.  It should make our

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LED Replacement Bulbs for Cabin Lights

John Szarek, C387 #129, Magical Dreamer, AnnapolisMD

Mainsheet, May 2010

I have always been amazed by LED’s, ever since that star wars LED watch I had as a kid so I thought it would be interesting to experiment with upgrading my lights to LED.  Before I get to the fun part of replacing the bulbs, I want to explain a few semi-technical things about LED’s.   I will be extremely general so all the EE’s out there please forgive over simplification of some parts.  So the first problem I ran into was looking at my 10 watt halogen bulbs and trying to figure out how to match them to LED’s since LED’s are rated in lumens.  One does not relate to the other directly as a watt is a measure of power and lumens are a measure of perceived light.  On average most incandescent bulbs (DC) produce about 10 lumens per

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Note from the Editor – Mainsheet, February 2010

Steve – C380 #194 – Blue Heron

Mainsheet, February 2010

Well, it is that time of the year again.  The adventurers in our group have headed south toFlorida, theBahamasand beyond.  However, most of us in the Northern hemisphere are getting the baby ready for her long winter’s nap.  Not that we aren’t adventurous.  Sailors are adventurers no matter what type of sailing we do.  However, it is the other commitments in life that keep us tied to the dock, or on the hard, during the cold winter months.

The winter does become the opportune time to tackle those projects that we find hard to work on when the warm winds of summer are teasing us to head out on the water.  How many times have I gone out to work on a project and ended up sailing instead?  But now we pay the price as we work on those deferred

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Adding a Second Refrigerator

By Jeff Church, C387 #145, IdleWild

Mainsheet, February 2010

As we provisioned IdleWild, our 2008 C387, for our first summer cruise, it was apparent that we would miss the ample refrigerator capacity that we had on our previous boat, a Catalina 320. I didn’t see any alternative but to put a large cooler in the aft cabin, at the foot of the berth. That cooler turned into a real nuisance. It tended to slide around underway, it was a trip hazard, and it had to be drained and restocked with ice every other day. On that 6-week trip we used the locker next to the galley sink for dry storage, but I started thinking about converting it into a second refrigerator. It was an attractive idea; the locker and lid are already insulated, but it would take considerable effort and expense to install a second compressor. Then, this spring, I

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