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Archive for September, 2007
Wednesday, September 26th, 2007
Caribbean Cruise
A Caribbean Cruise is the best way to enjoy your Caribbean vacation experience. Island hopping by boat is one of the joys of the Caribbean destination. With all its sense of freedom, cruising enables you to see a variety of islands at your own pace as you travel, enjoying the tropical wind and seas and exploring coves and beaches that ships and landlubbers cannot reach. The islands, often within sight of one another, look wonderful as you approach them through sailing, rising from the horizon until they tower above you. Then you disembark onto a rickety wooden jetty among the palms or pull into an isolated cove and swim ashore.
There are a variety of cruises that could suit each budget and taste, ranging from bare boats, skippered yachts, motor yachts, crewed charters, stay-sails and sailing cruises. If you wish to charter a yacht in the Caribbean and are experienced enough and want to take command of your own cruise, then bare boats are plentiful around. If you would prefer to be looked after by a crewed yacht–there is a vast choice that ranges from boats to a motor yachts. If you’re after personal service and an intimate experience, take the smaller cruise ships. Some are sleek, with stylish cabins, but there also barefoot cruises on tall-ships with a full rig of masts and sails. Any of these types of sailing holidays can be combined with a stay on land. Some hotels and a other villas have their own yachts for stay-sail holidays.
There is an amazing variety in the islands to keep you interested while doing the Carribean Cruise. And there are a lot of accommodations at bay. Whether you prefer an elegant shore side hotel, a personal and private villa, a little quiet resort or a hideaway inn with easy-going atmosphere, there are a lot of options to choose from. Hotels, inns, villas, villa resorts, cottages, apartments and guest houses are all over the Caribbean Islands–many of which have specialties: some places to stay in the Caribbean nowadays have good spas, and most are geared up for weddings and honeymoons, and some for children and for golf.
The Caribbean Cruise is not just sun, sea and sand. Beyond the beach-based screen of coconut oil and palm trees many islands have a strong local culture, of music and dance, of magnificent gardens and exotic flora and birds, sometimes a visible history, and recently, in some islands, good food. One good reason for cruising is that you will be able to see the entire archipelago and enjoy what Caribbean Islands has to offer. You will learn from your cruising that there are also a lot of things to do, with spas, carnivals, gardens an golf courses around. There are also some yoga and holistic activities, nature tripping and scuba diving to fit the active soul.
Posted in Cruising Boat | No Comments »
Wednesday, September 26th, 2007
If you own a boat, you know that typical yearly maintenance on the watercraft can be expensive, even without any kind of repairs to various parts and pieces. When there are things that need to be repaired or replaced, the cost can skyrocket, mostly based on the intensive labor that repairmen claim on the item. If you know for yourself how to repair boat parts and pieces that are standard to the vessel and need to be replaced yearly, you can save a lot of cash in your wallet.
For example, every year, the water pump is one item you’ll have to replace or repair. Boat water pumps are not that difficult to replace yourself, and you can save a lot of money by comparison to paying someone else to do the job for you. Start by draining the gearcase; then, place the gearshift in “forward” and leave it. Remove the trim tab on the lower unit, and remove the bolt from the hole where the trim tab was. Next, remove the two head nuts that are a few inches forward and move to the top of the L/U, where you’ll find another lock nut - remove it, then replace it, turning it only 4-5 turns. There are two more nuts to remove, one on either side of the gearcase. When all of these are removed, wiggle the gearcase down until the top nut is the only thing holding it on. Now, hold the L/U and remove this last nut, which lets the unit slide down.
The next step to repair boat water pumps is to locate the seal that looks like a rubber washer which seals the oil passage between the upper and lower units. Remove the o-ring that is on top of the drive shaft and then slide off the thick rubber seal that is further down on top of the plastic pump housing. There will be four nuts holding the pump housing in place - all of these should be loosened and removed.
To repair boat impeller parts, you must first remove the pieces in a certain order. Start with the upper housing, then the impeller, followed by the pump key, the top gasket, the stainless wear plate, and finally the lower gasket. Keep in mind that the key may fall out while the impeller remains in the housing. Don’t lose the key - it’s quite small and necessary to repair boat impellers. Now, you’ll slide the lower gasket, wear plate, and top gasket back onto the shaft in reverse order. Hold the key in place and engage the impeller with the key, then slide the upper plastic housing down, and as you turn the drive shaft clockwise, push the housing down over the impeller.
Finally, replace the nuts and bolts as removed, and refill the gearcase. Once you’ve tested the drive shaft, this simple repair boat process is complete.
Posted in Repair / Maintenance | No Comments »
Wednesday, September 26th, 2007
Very fast, monohull single-hander
The MX-Ray sailboat is one of those sailboats that lots of dinghy sailors want to know about, but evidently not enough wanted to buy, as it is no longer made. With a top speed of 20 knots, the ability to plane in winds as low as 6 knots, this tiny sailboat or sailing dinghy is truly amazing.
How come it is so fast? Well, it is similar in concept to the Moth sailboats, which have been used in international sailboat racing for years. Like the Moth, the e MX-Ray sailboat has a very narrow hull, giving a small wetted area, but widens out above the waterline so the crew can sit out to counterbalance the force on the sail.
In the Moth, which was normally wooden, a trampoline was mounted on the hull, but the MX-Ray sailboat is plastic, so it is molded to provide the space for the sailor to sit out. This is how it gets the name - well the Ray part. Looked on from above, the MX-Ray sailboat looks like a stingray.
Unlike most single-handers, the e MX-Ray sailboat has a lot of sail. Like many modern high-speed sailboats, it has a bowsprit so that a large foresail can be carried despite the short length of the hull.
Not only is there a mainsail with a deep roach, but also a jib, genoa, with stowing tube and a spinnaker. With this much sail, it is no surprise that the e MX-Ray sailboat is very fast, and can leave Lasers well behind.
The MX-Ray sailboat is made from advanced materials, with a carbon fiber mast and bowsprit and daggerboard. This is fine with a new boat, but now that you cannot buy a new one, getting a replacement for a broken mast could be a problem these days. Of course, these carbon fiber parts are expensive.
The basic specification of the MX-Ray sailboat is: LOA: 12 feet 11 inches Beam: 8 feet, 2 feet 6 inches at the waterline Draft: 2 feet 8 inches Weight: 175 lb.
The MX-Ray sailboat was a remarkable design, able to give plenty of excitement to those that want to go really fast but have a small budget.
Posted in Sailboat | No Comments »
Wednesday, September 26th, 2007
A motor boat is generally a ship other than a sailing boat or a personal watercraft, propelled by an internal combustion engine leading one to travel out of jet or an engine. However, the international payments to prevent collisions at sea define it as an any ship propelled by machines. An outboard motor boat is a small motor boat designed to move quickly, used in the races, to draw from the skiers of water, like high-speed motorboats, and bus the fast ships armed with attack by the soldiers.
Even the inflatable boats with an engine attached which can be portion like high-speed motorboat at high speed or while a pedestrian boat of painful walk providing transport to and of a mooring buoy are technically classified as motor boats.
There are three popular variations of the power stations: on board, external, and external board/. If the engine is installed in the boat, it called a power station; if it is a dismountable module fixed at the boat, one generally knows it like external engine. An external engine is installed on the back of a boat and contains the internal combustion engine, the reduction speed (transmission), and the engine.
An external interior/un contains a hybrid of a power station and of an outboard motor boat, where the internal combustion engine is contained on board and the reduction and the engine speed are outside. A purely interior boat contains all except an axis and an engine inside the ship. There are two configurations of an interior, v-conduit and direct order.
A direct order with the power station assembled close to the medium of the boat with the axis of engine directly outside the back, where v-to lead to the power station assembled in the back of the coatings of boat making backwards go the axis forwards boat that by making a “V” backwards. The motor boats change considerably in the face and the configuration, of the 4 meters, the type open of Boston Whaler to the mega-yachts of luxury able to cross an ocean.
Posted in Power Boat | No Comments »
Wednesday, September 26th, 2007
Introduction:
Mercruiser is an advanced marine propulsion system and is available in recreational and commercial vehicles ranging from 1.5-liter displacement to 14.0-liter displacements. These are generally two stroke diesel engine vehicles and are termed as inboards or stern drives depending on the vehicle design.
Mercruiser parts:
This water vehicle contains the following major parts.
Mercruiser Engine: These are the heart of any vehicle and are available in 4, 6 or 8 cylinders capacities, especially for stern drives. The engine rating and displacement or fuel system are also important for a specific purpose motorboat. These are the important Mercruiser parts and every engine contains a tag specifying details of the engine.
Carburetor: Carburetor is attached to the fuel delivery system and filters and regulates the supply of fuel to the engine. The carburetor can be identified by its design (filtering and regulating fuel) or matching its design from the catalogue or manual provided with the boat.
Exhaust Manual:
These Mercruiser parts are used for removing combustion gases from engine through exhaust manifold. These are attached to the exhaust system.
Water and Fuel Pumps:
Raw water pumps or circulating water pumps are used for cooling outboard engines by continuously circulating water. These pumps are supplied with full instructions and can be replaced easily. Fuel pumps are small nozzles through which fuel, which is generally diesel, is injected to the engine.
Marine Mufflers:
These are the silencers made from fiberglass and are designed for backpressure compensation and resistant from corrosion. These are in cylindrical shape from varying diameter of 1.5″ to 12″ inlet and outlet. These are suitable for below waterline installation and can easily be replaced.
Fresh water System:
These are the complete pump and pipe system for circulating fresh water used for cooling 2 stroke outboard engines. These systems are available with complete instructions and can easily be replaced.
Oil Coolers:
These are the cylindrical coolers used for cooling oil and these are available in varying sizes from 5″ * 1″ to 12″ * 1.25″ and sometimes two cylinders attached together are provided as dual coolers.
Motor and Gear Lube:
Service manual provides the complete instruction to change engine and gear oil at particular interval and the oil should be changed as per the direction given in manual.
Some other important mercruiser parts include electrical system; power steering, couplers and stern drive parts.
Identifying the mercruiser parts:
A tag is attached to identify engine model, serial number of engine, transcom assembly serial number and drive serial number. Similarly for inboard transmission, model and serial numbers are provided on a tag on the top or side of transmission. You should verify the tag details to the manual provided to you by the manufacturer and both the details should match.
Once you have located the correct model number with specified transmission details, you should see the parts details as figure of each part has been provided. You should identify the figure from catalogue or manual provided to you or you should visit the web site of the manufacturer. Once the parts corresponding to the figure has been identified, you should note down the serial number supplied in the catalogue or web site. Once you are able to locate the exact part number and corresponding serial number, it is easy for you to purchase these parts directly from manufacturer or resellers.
Posted in Marine Gear | No Comments »
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