Posted by Steve Dashew (January 17, 2007) | Comments (0)
A Flat Screen Monitor Which Really Dims
In the past we’ve opted for the standard monitors, and dealt with the excessive brightness at night with a plastic “lens” over the screen to help protect our night vision.
Now we’ve found something better. Last week we tested a 17″ Samsung model 740 BX to display our SONAR and radar data. We expected the wide viewing angles and sharp images. But what surprised us the most was the excellent dimming capability.
And all of this for $200.
(Wind Horse’s compliment of binoculars. Fujinon 7x50s on the right, Cannon 15×50 image-stabilized glasses in the center, and Bausch & Lomb night vision glasses on the left.)
To do laundry in the Banks Islands, just south of the Solomons, all you need are some rocks, a source of water, and plenty of time.
I have to admit that I’m a laundry junky. I find it very satisfying to wash, dry and iron. It’s one task that has a beginning, middle and finished product in a relatively short period of time.
What a difference 30 years makes! Looking back to cruising on Intermezzo in 1976, we didn’t even consider what it was going to be like cruising with two small children without any laundry facilities. We had enough on our plate converting a racing boat to a cruising boat for a family of four. We took out the second head and made a pantry, took the forepeak bunks and made an athwartship double bunk for the master stateroom, but didn’t think much about how we would handle laundry. When we went cruising, I paid to store our relatively new home washing machine and dryer for seven years – which was silly, as it would have been much smarter to sell them and buy new ones later on.
When anchored or moored so the boat can swing head to wind, the foredeck hatch is usually best opened facing aft, so air can exhaust through it. Adding a foredeck awning will enable the hatch to be left open during rain squalls.
Above: Bad safety hook.
Heads up, safety harness wearers. If your harness tether is clipped into a padeye, you may be in for an unscheduled swim due to the possibility of the carabiner or snap hook on the end of the tether unhooking itself from the padeye.
Spectra Lashing
In the olden days, before turnbuckles and shackles, all sailing vessels were rigged with line. Now, with high-modulus fibers, we’re making our way back to the old approach. Today, many racing boats use multiple wraps of spectra or vectran line to make the same connection that used to be made with a stainless steel shackle.
