Saving Money

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Brent

Cheap deck paint

I saw this on another message board I follow and thought it seemed fitting to the original purpose of this posting... A friend of mine did his decks with ANVIL roof paint (water based) and it lasted 4 years. Not even a path worn in the non-skid at the gangplank. It also has a mildew inhibitor in it and you can also add a little liquid latex to it if you have a peeling problem. Great paint, wears good, holds the gloss well and it is pretty cheap. It doesn't change colors either. Anyone else tried this? I'd be curious as I'm looking to repaint my deck. The non-skid has been redone, but the rest could use some re-doing. Thanks, Brent 1970 Columbia 26mkII
 
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Alan

Bowlines 2

Nothing wrong with a bowline, but they do in fact get hung on the shrouds and when racing and you want to change headsails on a pitching rolling deck, J locks are faster.
 
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Ed Allen

bowlines

suttle trick- the bowline if looked at carfully has a wrap on one side not the other. this wrap is usually what gets caught it the rig. try tying the knots directionally one in one way and one the other. this will reduce the problem of catching on the wire. if you get a bowman hit in the head a couple times with a shackle youll see why we dont use them on out boat. another trick is to use a continuos sheet. find the middle slip it thru the tack eye and pull the line thru the loop on the other side. this works great. just leave the sheets on the sail. when we change sails we change sheets too.
 
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Scott Wilson

Check out this tread for great innovation

In the "symetrical w/o pole" thread, see the link in the initial post to the $100 product and then see Rick's response in "A close up" Scott
 
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Alan

That would sure work..

..when you’re cruising, but not racing. Having to run a new set of sheets each time we change sails would be too time consuming, I'll stick with my ‘J’locks, thanks. A good thought about the smooth and bumpy side of a bowline!!
 
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joe

J Locks are pretty nice....

....but it's difficult to jusify the cost unless you are racing seriously. The lowest price I could find was around $90.00 per shackle! It's way, way down on my priority list for now... but maybe someday. Anyway, I thought this thread was about saving money. heh,heh
 
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Tim

Batteries

I don't know if anyone else has mentioned this or not. I got tired of reading all the criticisms. I agree with Dan that a lot of things can be had for less then at a marine store. I also agree that you must be very carefull when trying to save money. One of the best things I did was replace my $120 west Marine house battery with 2 Trojan T105 6v batteries. Same cost with lots more amp hours. The only downside is weight. I can live with that. My friends replaced their alcohol stove with a butane model. Many times less the cost for the stove and the bottles from West Marine. Tim
 
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Bob

Speaking of shackles

vs. bowlines, has anyone had an experience with unintended Tylaska shackle releasing? It seems like a much more positive latching system to me, and I've had good luck with mine so far. Not a money saver, though.
 
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Dan McGuire

Swinging Compass using GPS

I swung my compass using the GPS. I went out on a day when the winds were light and left the sails down. The compass variation is about minus three degrees in this area. Using the outboard, I headed 357 degrees true at about five knots using the GPS, or 360 degrees magnetic. I adjusted the compass to 360 degrees. I headed 177 degrees true and checked the reading on the compass. I reduced the deviation (error) by one half. I did the same east and west, 087 degrees and 267 degrees respectively. I went back and repeated the process so that the northern deviation was the same as the southern deviation and the eastern deviation was the same as the western deviation. I sailed the cardinal directions and created a compass card. You don’t have to be precise on the headings. Just make an appropriate adjustment when setting the compass. As best I can tell, I am accurate within 2 degrees, which is as accurate as I need. I realize that these directions may be a little sketchy for some of you. If you need more detailed instructions, just respond and I will work something out.
 
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tom

I noticed that my GPS and Compass didn't agree

but was sailing at the time. I've noticed that the Pearson 323 slips some and was thinking that the difference might be due to the slipping. Since the GPS is registering the the track and not the heading motoring makes sense but again any current would cause problems. When flying a plane with a GPS I would use the GPS more than the compass because winds aloft sometimes made my heading off my by 15-20 degrees. With the GPS I just turned until the bearing matched the track. In planes without a GPS or VOR system I just used the compass for a general heading and looked for landmarks. Basically that is what I do when sailing. My binoculars have a built in compass so I look to where a dayboard or buoy should be and once I see the expected landmark steer using the landmark as a reference. My wife doesn't trust my method and uses the loran or GPS and chart to keep track of our location. It's gratifying that when our locations don't agree that I'm usually right. She was adamant once that I was wrong. Fortunately there was a numbered buoy right beside us at the time that confirmed my position!!! But I was actually guessing our position by taking a bearing on a light house and our depth!!! The buoy was just after the fact gravy!!!! She had just misread the latitude on the chart.
 
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Dan McGuire

Makes Sense

I had to give up flying before GPS. In fact one of my airplanes, an old Cessna 140 (tail dragger, which only real men could fly) did not have a VOR. It would be fun to crank in the lat/long of the center of a runway and be able to fly to it. I assume you are not quarreling with my procedure for swinging the compass. Doing it in light winds and with sails down, is to insure there is no leaway.
 
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tom

almost bought a C140

it had just been restored and looked great. Sailing and flying have a lot in common. Most of my flying has been without GPS only a compass and VOR. Then I bought a share in a club with a IFR C-172. It was great being able to push one button and get a list of the closest airports. It kinda took the sport out of finding your way!!!! With the GPS,RDF and VOR with DME it was impossible to get lost. Bigger airports are easy to find but finding a grass strip on top of a mountain in west virgina with only a VOR was a challenge!!!! One guy told me fly around this one mountain and once I saw a chicken house take such and such heading. It was a big chicken house but I didn't find the airport that day. The problem was that trees hid most of the planes from sight when approaching from the west and a grass landing strip looks a whole lot like a cow pasture!!!!
 
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Alan

Tom

I think you lost your way again!! This is a sailing website overwise know as 'verticle flying'
 
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Don

To Sail IS to Save Money

Miles driven a year - 75,000 Nights in Motels - 110 + Shrink Bill - $120/hr 1 Day Sailing with the family - Priceless To sail is to save money!!
 
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