Bug screens fror your boat

Down here in Florida mosquitoes are a major problem if you want to be n your boat.  Many anchorages and marina's are near salt water swamp ares and the mosquitoes are more than bad.  I made screens for the overhead hatch and cabin entry and the ports.  They are framed screens I custom fit for each opening.  They work great BUT they are a BIG problem to store. They just take up a lot of room and they do take a little time to put on each opening.

I was on a friends boat and when we anchored he got out a small bag that had screens rolled up in it.  Each screen had a edge that had 1/2 of a Velcro stitched to it.  The other matting 1/2 of the Velcro he had attached around the openings in the boat.  To put the screens in you just unrolled them and stuck them in there respective openings.  For the hatches and ports, you just undid a side of the screen if u needed to close it.  They were fast, easy and the stored in almost no space.  I wish I had come up with the idea.

I just put this one in quick fr the picture and did not position it neatly.

This worked so well that I am going to make some for my bat and for a few windows at my house that need to be screened.

Boat DC Wiring Tips

I bought my boat uses and it is a British boat as well and the wiring that was and is in the boat is unique.  8-)   What I figured out was the original British wiring was done with brown and black wires.  What was added after that was done with any color wire the person that put it in had on hand.

What I have done over the last few years is try to color code the wiring to ABYC electrical standard colors.

Green or green with yellow stripes  ....  DC grounding conductors
Black or yellow                                ....  DC negative conductors
Red                                                   ....  DC positive conductors

If I had to replace a wire I use the correct color wire.   If the wire is still good I use fingernail paint to color the end of the wire insulation to the correct color.  I got rid of all wire nut connections and replaced them with crimp connections and used connection strips. (Wire nuts are not allowed on a boat).   The original British wire connectors were still good so I kept those.   They are neat. 8-) The wire ends slide in to a bake-alight housing that clamps together with a screw.  I tinned all the wire ends that went in to these to keep corrosion down.

                                          The British connector is the one on the right.
Finding yellow and green fingernail paint was the hard part.

Hand-Bearing Compass for your smart phone

A hand-bearing compass is a great instrument when you are traveling.  Davis makes a nice one, and it is less than $50.00.

An App that you can get for your smart phone is Spyglass and you can get it at the I-tunes App Store for less than $10.00.  It is a compass, a rangefinder, GPS position and more. IT is neat and cheap. 8-) Check it out at happymagenta.com.

The only downer I have found is in the cell phone brightness in full sunlight, and that is not a problem with the app.

Mending a sail

Repairing a seam on a Dacron sail can be very hard to stitch.  Dacron is both stiff and slippery and a bit hard to stitch.   Double stick tape is the best way to keep the Dacron in place so it can be stitched either by hand or with a machine.   For areas that need to be reinforced you can double stick tape a patch of Dacron to the area then it can be stitched down.  Grommets can easily be put in and if the grommet is going to have a lot of stress on the grommet edges can be stitched to re enforce them.

Doing a small sail fix is not hard. Use a good nylon thread and have a fun. 

Wenches...Service your winches

Wenches need to be serviced to keep them working right.  The manufacture's say they should be serviced one a year but I have found every 2 or 3 years is all that is needed.  Most wenches are very simple inside and not hard to work on.  They come apart easily and are easily cleaned and lubricated.

When you take them apart you need to note which way the ratchet tabs face so you can put them back facing the same way.  The wenches on my little sailboat can be re-assembled so they can be made to ratchet in either direction.

I serviced my wenches and I made one wind one way and the one on the other side of the boat turn the other way.  That way I would always wrap the line around the wench from the water side of the boat.   That was till my wife gave me the what for and made me change one so both were the same.  8-)

Doing a service on your wenches to keep them working is quick and easy.  It is a easy DIY job.

Glass bottom bucket...handy and fun

A glass bottom bucket is a great tool and is both handy and fun.  You can check the bottom before you anchor to see what is under you, see marine life more clearly, see the rope that is around your prop and a lot more.  It is like a dive mask. If you need your glasses to see with it is great. You can see and stay dry.

I made my own from an old bucket I cut the bottom out of.  I left about an inch lip around the bottom and then used marine sealant to glue a piece of clear plastic that was about 1/8 " thick in the bottom on to the lip of the bucket.  It is not to attractive but it works great.  You can buy one already made if you like.

My look bucket can still be used as a real bucket also but the plastic can get scratched.  Mine gets used as both a bucket and a look bucket but it cost me almost nothing to make.

Free Cell Phone app from Boat US

Boat US App version 3.0
View weather and tide tables, locate towboat ports and more.
From App store and Googly Play, or visit www.boatus.com/app