If by "older" they mean that boat in the foreground, I'd say it has more to do with obvious lack of maintenance than age.

Have you been able to inspect the entire timing belt? Nothing frayed; no teeth missing? Any chance the noise is coming from the tensioner? Does it have play or wobble if you try to move it (when the engine is off!)? There are a limited number of things that move or are close to things that move on t...

Welcome aboard! On average, I'd estimate that with a 200W panel where you live you have between 50Ah and 70Ah of charging capacity in the solar cells. It's going to come down to what is turned on and for how long. I've seen older laptops that could easily use 70Ah to stay charged and newer ones that...

Did you find what was making the noise?

That's not the flywheel.

Yes, the timing belt is the big one with teeth that goes under the flywheel and around the cam sprocket at the rear of the engine. An interference engine means that the piston and the valves can "interfere" with one another if they are not timed properly. The timing belt is turned by the c...

Before you do anything, look at the timing belt. Make sure it's not starting to fray and slap something under the flywheel. I don't think that Honda has a specified replacement interval but they do recommend regular inspection. Remember: this is an interference engine. If the belt breaks the valves ...

I've left the boat unplugged from shorepower for three days now, with the fridge running and the solar panel up but shaded by the mast. I suppose there are a couple of little loads, like the bilge pump lights and USB lights and the electronics monitoring things, but they can't add up to much. After...

That makes sense now. Thanks!

I did notice that the B&W backstay had a single chainplate to connect to the right rear. My backstay has two ends, one connects to a pully (to adjust the backstay tension) and one allows me to secure the boom when not in use. Anyone know where to buy that? 8) I've not seen that type of backstay...

I learned the "rag" trick from my uncle Buck (no resemblance to John Candy :wink: ). He and his father were crane operators and inspecting wire rope (and cables) regularly was something they were very familiar with. You are right about the construction of our cables. The larger ones (techn...

Did your new elbows have room for two clamps on each connection?

What is that behind the sink? My boat only has a bulkhead there.

Not only do you not see rudders, you don't see rudder hardware. Except for the first picture you don't see a mast. This is a Mac trawler; no rudders needed.

An interesting coincidence... When I've caught up on the current postings and have some extra time I read through older posts. I'm currently in early 2015 and came across this one today. A member had his mast snap at the spreaders when one of the shackles at the top of his stay cracked due to corros...