| |
|
|
|
Avoid water in your fuel tanks
|
Duncan Sweet, owner of Mid-Atlantic Yacht Services, is the man who fixes problems among the 1100 cruising yachts that call at Horta each season. When we asked him for any simple solutions that could keep people from needing his help he had this to say - "This year about 120 boats had engine problems that I traced right back to salt water in their fuel tanks. Skipper of a big charter boat had a simple solution. He buys a few dozen o-rings for pennies each. Every time he refuels, he throws away the old o-ring from under his fuel deck plate, puts in a new one and seats it in silicon before screwing the plate back in. Never leaks. I found most of the boats with fuel problems had defective o-rings." Thanks Duncan.
|
Egg Carriers for Cruising |
|
| Lin and her Egg Carrier in Action |
Once you leave the US, you will find the farm fresh eggs you need for ocean voyaging are often sold loose. So, it pays to keep any good Styrofoam cartons you can for storage when you re-provision. I also have this plastic egg carrier which I use. You can find one easily once you get to your first non-US port of call. We still find that buying farm fresh eggs that have never been refrigerated, then turning the eggs over every second day keeps them fresh for up to two months. But, if you are leaving from a port where water temperatures are less than 60 degrees the eggs will, in effect, have been refrigerator and will go bad within a week once the temperature in the boat goes above 75 degrees. (More on this in our book, Care and Feeding of Sailing Crew.)
|
Warning for those headed toward the European Union Countries |
As of July 1st, 200l voyagers on foreign yachts can no longer import spares or gear duty free by labelling them as for a "yacht in transit." The duty free status only applies if the vessel is registered as a commercial enterprise. Therefore be sure to carry all the spares you think you may need. The duty can be very high. On engine parts duty runs 35% then you must pay VAT (user tax) of l2 to l7% on the total cost of parts, freight and duty.
|
|
|
 |
|
|
| Get
email notice of all future updates |
|
|
