Seems like a good time to dust off this old post… Not too awful long ago, a reader to this blog wrote and asked my thoughts on such things as hydraulic-driven furling systems and electric winches for sheets and suchlike. My view on such things is that they really do not belong on a cruising …
Have you noticed that it’s almost impossible to find a new manual anchor windlass? Or, if you do it’s more expensive than a powered one? When you do find a good manual windlass the cost is often right at the cost of a brand spanking new electric windlass. Is that nuts or what? The Islander …
Having experienced a dismasting due to a chainplate failure on “So It Goes”, and mixed with the fact that the Islander is fifty years old, chainplate replacement was high on the list of the needful things to do list. Of course, being that the Islander’s chainplate design is a bit different from what passes for …
I’m sitting here looking at a couple of hundred feet or so of Dyneema that should/could be the new rig for the Islander and it’s just a little frustrating as I’m not going to use it and will consign it to the “when the rig needs replacing” locker. Now, as someone who is well aware …
Since I’m currently sorting the re-rig of the Islander 36 I thought it might be a good idea to put up this old post… —————- I noticed the other day that a large “discount” chandler was offering 12-strand splicing at $22 a pop, $15 for a three-strand eye splice, $30 for a rope/chain splice, and …
So, it would seem, that I now have all the bits to finish the exhaust and, hopefully, will be able to take the engine off the to-do list. Truth be told, the last thing I want to do in the coming new year is anything engine related. On the positive front, we will no longer …
One of the biggest hurdles folks come across when taking on an elderly boat project is that it’s hard to get a handle on the big picture when most all of the information available is minutia in what is always a large project. For instance, a detailed how to install a watermaker article seldom, if …
While not a problem/issue I’ll live to see come to fruition I have to admit that a world without ice would create a whole lot of interesting anchorages.
A couple of days ago we jettisoned the hard dodger on the Islander and the boat now looks a lot better. Granted, I will have to do some sort of minimal dodger but that can wait til the Holidaze have passed. The downside of removing the dodger is that the coach roof really does need …
Being that I keep a weather eye out for used self-steering gear it’s hard to ignore that the current pricing for thirty year old wind vanes are just nuts. The other day I was quoted $2,200. for a 45-year old Aries which appeared to be in horrible shape. But, what the hell, boat folks are …
