Some useful information to keep your mechanical steering working properly.
Taking Care of Your Hydraulic Steering
Monday Minute - Air Separation in Diesel Fuel
Surveying An Engine Room
The value of an engine survey can't be overstressed when looking for your ideal cruising boat. A separate effort from a general boat survey, an experienced mechanic's skill at judging the overall health of a boat's engine(s) and generator gives you the ability to decide if the boat is right for you, or if you should keep looking. More so than any other element of a cruising motorboat or trawler, the engine room is the most important space on the boat.
Create a Speed/Fuel Burn Curve for Your Boat
Rather than guess what speed you should run your boat, it is important to develop real-world numbers of the speed and burn consumption your boat reaches at various engine speeds in open water. Depending on how your boat is equipped and loaded, and the propeller(s) you have, it is a straightforward process to develop a speed/fuel burn performance curve that will identify the sweet spot for running your boat at cruising speed.
Along the way of determining this ideal speed envelope, you will also get an sixth sense of when the hull and engine is in harmony as she glides through the water with maximum efficiency and reasonable fuel burn. This is a satisfying project every boat owner should create for his or her boat.
Monday Minute - How Hard to Run Your Diesel
Monday Minute - Exhaust Systems, The Achilles Heel of Boating
Making a Good Boat Better - Part 3 - Both Power & Sail
Making a Good Boat Better - Part 2 - Power
We continue our look at how to prepare your boat for going offshore in a powerboat or trawler, and what you should address to make sure things go as planned. The stresses of offshore travel are different from running in protected waters and preventative effort can help ensure a trouble-free passage, which is what we all aim for.
The Dawn of Hybrid and Zero-Fuel Cruising
Designing a Modern Fuel Delivery System
Putting together a fuel delivery system is best done by taking a high level view and making it as simple, as accessible, and as futureproof as possible. Eliminate unnecessary fittings, use fire rated, CG-approved fuel hoses and high pressure fittings, and your system should be reliable and trouble free for the life of the boat.
The End of Paper Charts...and More
When His Get Home Saved The Day
Brian Calvert shares his experience of losing his Cummins diesel engine at a critical place and time. After trouble free operation taking him halfway around the world, its loss put him in peril. Thankfully, he installed a Wesmar auxiliary propulsion unit before leaving Seattle. This get home system saved him from serious consequences off the coast of Borneo.
It’s been a long time coming but we now see tangible progress emerging to reduce our dependence on fossil fuel. If the U.S. Navy can prove that it works, isn’t it about time the concept of the modern cruising boat includes hybrid forms of propulsion?