Recent content by Sailor John

Good evening all, Hope you can help. I am having a hard time renewing my boat insurance this year. Many brokers will not look at her because she is an older Hatters ('72). I was wondering what everyone else does. I am in southern Ontario, the boat is a 38' DCFB with new survey and no claims...

Hello, I have a vintage 'Rayline 1-Mile' spotlight on Mad Hatter. It's beautiful, and it works. Or, it did. The other day, after smelling electrical burning, I noticed the wires that feed into the back of the Rayline joystick (via a 9 wire plug) had started to over heat. I quickly turned the...

Good evening all, I posted a question a few years ago, asking if anyone had found a replacement LED bulb, for the 'heritage' Rayline spot lights. At the time of my original posting, no one had found a LED replacement. So I wondered if anyone had found a replacement since that post several years...

Hello, I have been contemplating installing an AIS transponder. I wondered first though, if anyone had one and thought it was worth the modest investment? It certainly seems to me to have a few benefits. However, given that it's installation is optional, isn't radar a more effective way of...

Good evening all, I was looking to replace the frames on 3 portlights that have become damaged over the years. Imagine my surprise when I noticed the name on the inside trim of the portlights as 'The Fuller Brush Company'. These are for my '72 38DCFB. Any ideas or cross reference to a...

Hello all, My friend at the club has an '86 Albin 43. Nice boat. Had if for about 3 years now and doing some good work on it. This morning he phoned and said he had found gravel in the aft bilge. He figures about 3" deep. I was surprised and wondered if it was to counter the weight of an all...

Good evening all, Mad Hatter (A 38' DCFB that wants to grow up to be a 48' LRC) has 3 sets of removable stairs throughout the boat. In each case, the staircases are fastened to the wall by a simple metal clip arrangement at the top of the stairs. This arrangement is generally good, but it has...

Hello all, Yesterday, after spring launch, the port 427 engine impeller disintegrated. That means no cooling water of course, so I shut down the engine. A friend helped me remove the old impeller and installed a new one. On restart, there was still no water. No surprize, somewhere in that...

Good evening all! I have a Raymarine Pathfiner 2 kw Radar coupled to R70 and RC530 Plus displays. These units work very well and have for many years, except for a new motor required and installed in the enclosed radome last year. It worked great after that. My Problem is this: the scanner is...

Hello all, Some conversation around the club this morning re the painting of our boats rudders. I always antifoul mine. This led to this question: What's your rudder made of? Aluminum? Stainless? Other? And, what paint do you use on it? Any ideas? Thoughts are appreciated. Sailor John

Hello all, We are looking to replace the salon carpet on Mad Hatter, (38 dcfb) and were wondering if there were thoughts on carpet vs laminate. While laminate is in many new boats and easier to clean, carpet is warmer and provides some sound insulation. Your thoughts are appreciated. Carpet...

Good day all, I have been trying to diagnose the non-functioning heat side of my Crusiair 16K AC. (The cold side works well). This is the AC unit that serves the main salon. It is not going into heat mode when the thermostat is turned to heat. No click, no whoosh, nothing. After some beneficial...

Good morning! I had my 16K Cruiseair AC system in the salon recharged over the weekend. It blows very cold now, but is icing up. We had high humidity the last few days, but the 12K aft/v-birth cabins system is and always has run quite well, with no icing. The AC tech says all is well with the...

Hello all, Last season, my port engine, bridge tach went 'inoperative'. All connections were checked by a mechanic, but nothing was found amiss. At launch this year, it came oddly back to life. Strange, but I am grateful to someone. (Perhaps a higher power). Last week, my starboard bridge...

Good evening all, Just a quick question re Lumaline bulbs. Lumaline bulbs were used in many Hatteras main cabins. They look like short fluorescent bulbs, but are in fact incandescent and out of production many years ago. I was wondering if anyone had tried putting a dimmer switch on these...