I see that S / V  FutherMoor has a 6 HP bow thruster. Pete or Chris, could you tell us about your experience with the BT? In your opinion is it worth the money? Which brand is your BT and are you happy with its performance? Any recommendation or pearls of wisdom that you could share with us, will be of great help in making our decision  to move ahead with this project.

Thank you

Isi and LaMae

S / V  Windseeker II

New Jersey

What success is there with bimini-top mounted  solar panels?  Needs are around 300 watts p/day. Manufactures of panels and mounting systems? And what you do it again?  Thanks

Mike Goodnough
Summer Place, 387#18

Your unit of measure for your needs is confusing to me.  Don’t you really want to ask for a certain amount of energy (W-hours) to be delivered on a daily basis?  I suppose you could come up with a simple model and derate the peak wattage generated by the panels less any conversion losses (to generated ~12V for charging the batteries) and multiply it by the number of hours you expect on average to have decent sun.

mikemea@centurylink.net

I’ve not looked at this myself but perusing the web just now and I see most panels are rated in either/both amps and watts for their maximum output.  Their outputs are unregulated and peak voltages can be much higher

I was looking at an 18 RH 12 three blade feathering propeller considering a Gori since it reports to have a motor sailing feature.

Wondering if anyone has any experience or opinions.

Dennis and Cindy Sikkema – Holland MI
SV Genesis
1999 C380 hull #143

I had a Gori 3-blade on my 387 #53 and had it taken off. It vibrated the entire aft section of the boat. I replaced it with fixed 3-blade. To be technically correct though, Gori is not a feathering prop, it is a folding prop. Our current local dealer recommended a Maxi 3-blade should I decide to get another folding/feathering prop. Others on this list have Flex-o-Fold and love them. I had one on my 320. It was a great prop.

Wes Giles
C387 #53
Spring Fever
Marina Del Rey, CA

No experience with the Gori but I have a Flexofold 17 x 11

Air Conditioning for 380s

I have a Catalina 380, Hull #380.  After 10 years of cruising the Great Lakes, I have decided to install air conditioning on my boat.  I am considering a 16,500 BTU unit in the salon area and maybe vent to the V-berth.  Anyone have a factory schematic of AC in their owners manual that you could scan and email to me?

Thanks,
Ross Grippi

There is no factory installation or diagrams for A/C. It was a dealer installed item and every one is different. I did a Mainsheet article several issues back that outlines the ducting required for a nice installation where the unit is installed under the settee just forward of the galley sink and ducts to the upper fwd bulkhead with a main outlet for the saloon and a small outlet (close able) to the vberth. Where are you in the Great Lakes?

Tim

Here’s an email I got from my friend that installed a tankless water heater in his new 445. Needless to say, they love it.

Wes
C387#53
Spring Fever
Marina Del Rey, CA

Guys – I finished installing a tankless water heater in About Time.  We tried it out at the Isthmus a few weeks ago and it works great – hot water whenever you want it without having to run the engine or generator.

I installed the new water heater in the aft starboard locker and ran the exhaust hose to the port transom to avoid interference with the rear locker covers.  I routed the hot water output of the original heater to the cold input of the new heater so the original heater’s output can still be used until it cools off.  The output of the new heater now feeds the hot water lines on the boat.   I inserted

The following posts were responses to requests for advice on boat polishes and waxes:

You might want to read the post below from Rodd Collins. He is known online as MainSail, he’s a former multiple Catalina owner, and he really knows his stuff. I have bought and used the equipment he suggested for the past three years, and the results have been spectacular. When I bought Juniper she had been neglected for a couple of years, and the hull showed it. She now sparkles, and the shine lasts all year.

http://www.sailnet.com/forums/gear-maintenance/52772-tips-compound-polish-wax.html

Tom Soko
Juniper C400 #307
Noank, CT

We simply use Star Brite (correct spelling I believe) marine polish on our hull.  When I got my first boat in the 1980’s it showed early signs of needing TLC and it was the recommended solution.  In the old days I would put it on with a folded high quality paper

The following are responses to the question “What are the best charts and cruising guides to the ICW?”

In my view, the best ICW cruising guide is Managing the Waterway published by Mike and Diana Doyle. The  minimum essential library of most useful documents I found on our ICW adventures were: that guide, the spiral bound  flip chart navcharts published by Kettlewell (which serves as a backup to electronic charts as well as an extremely handy  repository for hand added notes at critical points enroute), two Skipper Bob pubs specifically “Anchorages”  and “Marinas”. These four books I used daily. Ocasional use included Waterway guides (Midatlantic and Southern versions) and A Cruising Guide to the ICW by Moeller. Actually, the latter was sort of superceded in our use by the Doyle publication which has a more useful format.

All of this is being currently field re-tested by Assn members Doug and