You might want to connect with Ixneigh on this forum. He lives/sails the keys. He knows them like the back of his hand. I keep the ballast in all the time. The cost is a bit of speed and it wont get up on full plane, but the boat will motor fast enough with ballast in. It just feels safer with the b...

I’d like to add an extension to stretch out forward to cover the sliding hatch to further increase the shaded area while cruising. Not anything complicated but just a flat extension to our existing Bimini at the same height. We have the BWY bimini and dodger and bought this connector to join the tw...

In our setup we have a Suzuki DF60AV 2022 engine that we start through a 60Amp resettable circuit breaker and marine grade #4 AWG stranded wire (it can easily handle up to 75 amps) run through flex conduit, from either or both of our onboard batteries. The circuit breaker has never tripped. That's ...

That’s why my preferred solution is to go with a resettable circuit breaker. Just push and reset! Done! The safety and convenience of a reset circuit breaker is more than well worth the cost. I agree. I think Roger used an inline glass fuse for the main power to the panel. Trying to locate/inspect/...

Oh and the outboard still needs 12v right? So how do you deliver that?

You have given this much thought. That can be dangerous. I wonder how many TRUE 12v devices we have on our boats. You are probably right about LEDs being tolerant of dual voltage. I guess all this relies heavily on dual 12v batteries in a series. If one fails, the whole system might suffer. Or not i...

Maybe you could use a mount like this

https://www.amazon.com/Universal-Rotati ... B0C1K3FS7Q

OverEasy wrote: ↑Sat Jul 12, 2025 2:08 pm Just another perfect SC beach day!

Looks so inviting...not.

I would get out of there.

It's nice we live in an age of smartphones where we can check on weather often. I sure do.

This site is on constant attack from nefarious countries. This causes "resources exhausted" messages often.

We've tried to block the IPs from these countries to alleviate the issue. Please be patient.

FittsFly wrote: ↑Sat Jul 12, 2025 4:32 am Question , has anyone ever measured their 26x ‘s depth difference between ballast being full vs empty?

I have a 26M and when ballast is full, the boat is about 2-3" lower, especially in the bow.

Retirement can be tiring with all the projects.

I think understood about 10% of the terms you used in this post.

All I can say is Harbor Frieght is a great one time use tool supplier. I have several that I saved a bundle for only needing one time.

Ixneigh wrote: ↑Thu Jul 10, 2025 6:13 pm Also: although my steering helm and cables have never given me any issues, and I’ve kept them lubed, should they replaced? They look fine.

Ix

Mine are original and I'm thinking of replacing the steering cables with BWY heavy duty cables.

Wow, that must feel so much better to have it cleaned up. All because you wanted to check the lines at low tide. 8) You got some serious cables going into your bus bar and fuse bar. FYI, you can crank from the deep cycle just fine. I only have 2 deep cycle batteries and crank from either. I agree wi...

Sounds like you have made a decision that works best for you.

Flushing:
I used to flush my 34' diesel engine at the end of weekends. Well, flush the heat exchanger. I had a T valve that I could switch to a bucket with fresh water. I doubt I would do that anymore.

BOAT had those aluminum tanks and said he really liked them. He's posted about them on here before. Sadly he's no longer a Mac owner and hasn't been on here for a while. Here's a link to the ones I bought. They've gone up $20 since I bought mine: https://amzn.to/3Gr4bTS BOAT doesn't own his Mac any...