Recent content by Truesdell

I use a Rocna in the Salish Sea. It has a problem if there is thick kelp on the bottom but otherwise in mud and sand it's a dream. I keep it on an E-Z Anchor Puller spool and it is a match made in heaven. I initially balked at the price but, compared to just about every other boating expense...

You want a "Buddy" by Mr. Heater. These are available from Cabela's, Walmart, Costco, Amazon. etc. for under $75. They take the standard green Coleman 16 oz propane canisters, also available everywhere. My counter-top stove, stern-mounted BBQ, and Buddy all take the same fuel canister. I have...

Change 'em all to 316 SS. There seriously is zero reason not to. The only reason the factory put plastic in there is to save a few pennies across hundreds of boats. When I picked up my used 2005, it had been cooking in the So. Florida sun, all but abandoned. Everything rubber or plastic was...

Why spectra??? You want the rope component of your rode to have stretch. In other words, get the cheapest nylon you can get.

Could you take another run at explaining what you did so I can try to figure out what you're talking about?

Hole Saw. They fit almost flush with the surface.

Those break if you stare at them too hard! I've had them on a YC mark-set boat and (a) they are not very secure and (b) they are weak plastic.

Another shout-out for the E-Z Anchor Puller. You know when you spend money on new stuff for your boat and you have buyer's remorse or you think the upgrade was of marginal benefit. Well this purchase was the exact opposite of that. I can't think of a single item I've bought for my boat that...

I also recommend the E-Z Anchor Puller. I anchor from 1 - 4 or more times every time I go out. I haven't sent a crew to the bow since I installed it. Sealed up the holes going into the chain locker -- no more wet rode coming into the boat. I give it a 20-second squirt with the hose when I...

Over the winter I replaced my 2530's Powerwinch Sport Fish 400 with an E-Z Anchor Puller "Patriot EZ-3". What an amazing improvement in the entire anchoring process! The Powerwinch would never let the anchor (Rocna 10) self launch and it would constantly jam on retrieval. There always had to be...

My 2530 lived for several years in Florida where it sat unused for more than a decade. A guy trailered it to Washington State where I found it on Craig's List after looking for over a year. The Yamaha F150 engines had less than 400 hours and that was a big part of what drew me to the boat...

My experience is never use 5200 when 4200 will do the job. I’ve been a professional boat builder (many decades ago!) We used elephant snot (5200) to bed deck hardware such as sail handling winches. The hardware positions were determined by a collection of very experienced sailors including...

For incidental staining, I use Barkeeper’s Friend. Hose down the area, sprinkle on some Barkeeper’s Friend, scrub it with a brush, rinse well. Rinse again. Barkeeper’s Friend will also remove the color from your clothes so either wash your boat while naked or wear clothes that you don’t care if...

I would not build in the stove. Keep the countertop next to the sink and use a camping stove brought out when you need it. $35 at Walmart, Cabela’s, Home Depot, etc. includes a carrying/storage case that can fit between the helm seat and the galley unit. I got one that uses the same 1-lb green...

Sort of off-topic, but for long distance comms I’d go with satellite as opposed to HF-SSB. HF-SSB has some advantages but for ease of operation, reliability, installation, and maintenance, sat-phone wins all day, every day.