Engines & Parts Reviews

You can never have enough buckets or knives on a boat.  (More on the buckets in a future post).  The Boye cobalt series features folding knives that are lightweight (2 ounces), fast sharpening and small enough to carry anytime and anywhere (3” blade and 7” overall).  They’ll cut through line, net and that tie down that will never come loose and they won’t rust.  These low profile knives have a strong Zytel handle which is fiberglass filled nylon and can be opened and closed easily with one hand.  A titanium marlinspike with a shackle key is an option for an additional $30 making the knives range from $100-$150 depending on retailer.  They come in blue, black and safety yellow and are super sharp so the job gets down fast. I have about a dozen knives strewn about my nav station and who knows where else.  Knives are important and Boye makes a good one. …Read More

A med kit is essential on a boat and you can get kits from the most basic to fairly advanced from a variety of sources.  Here are two that take a different approach and bring you far beyond Bandaids and gauze.  First Responder Educational Services, a Connecticut company, offers two kits for mariners.  The Traveler is a basic life support kit that is designed to stabilize a patient for about an hour, providing you time to activate some form of emergency response services.  The kit can be used by anyone with minimal training and includes respiratory equipment such as oxygen with a variety of masks, clotting pouches, gauze, dressings, splints, a cervical collar and a shock blanket.   It also includes aHeartSine defibrillator and educational materials.  The kit retails for $2495. For more advanced care, there is the Oceanic kit which includes everything that is in the Traveler kit plus tools such as sutures, catheters and syringes, and a pharmacy of over the counter and prescription medicines including anesthetics, analgesics, antibiotics, and antiallergenics including epinephrine auto injectors.  Due to the variety of controlled substances involved, you cannot purchase the Ocean kit unless you hold either an Advanced Cardiac Life Support certification or higher (physician or nurse) or a USCG captain’s license.  The company does provide for expiration notification via email and can resupply just about anywhere in the world.  This kit retails for $3795. With either kit, you can also purchase a subscription to On Call International, a 24/7 medical and travel assistance network where physicians can talk you through the use of the kits or other medical procedures.  The service is just a few dollars a day and allows for unlimited calls.  First Responder does provide first aid training at boat shows so check out their website at FRES-CPR.com for a schedule. …Read More

  HB Marine and Independence Green Yachts yesterday announced a partnership that will form a joint venture to develop the Independence 60 Luxury Yacht that IGY started a few years ago. The Independence 60 is billed as the “world’s first ‘no compromise’ sustainable yacht.” A combination of solar cells, hydrogen production and storage and fuel cells [...] …Read More

Approximately 400,000 people are impacted by sudden cardiac arrest each year in the US.  Good CPR training has heightened survival rates in most metropolitan areas where emergency medical services can be activated and on the scene within minutes, but chest compression will not restart the heart and what are you going to do on a boat, even a few miles out?  Automatic External Defibrillators (AEDs) have recently appeared everywhere and can be used by absolute lay personnel with no training to assist when the heart enters a chaotic rhythm, typically ventricular fibrillation.  It seems like common sense for a cruising couple to have one onboard. There are a number of AEDs to choose from but HeartSine is marketing one that might make extra sense for boaters.  At only 2 ½ pounds, the Samaritan Pad is compact and lightweight for easy storage.  It has only 1 expiry date (a cartridge shelf life of 3 ½ years) and is water resistant to IP56 standards so it’s submersible.  Unlike many other AEDs, the Samaritan Pad is designed for speed and it doesn’t require anything to be plugged in or removed from a case.  It can analyze the patient, charge up and discharge or shock within 14 seconds.  Given that every minute that passes without defibrillation reduces the survival rate by 7-10%, time is of the essence.  The Samaritan Pad has a cartridge which includes the battery and the pads (with versions designed for either adults or children) and will self test every Sunday at midnight GMT to make sure everything is operational.  Replacement cartridges are available from dealers around the world and when registered, the manufacturer will even contact you via email when it’s time for a cartridge replacement.  Like most AEDs, the unit communicates with the rescuer via verbal prompts but the Samaritan Pad also has an integrated metronome to keep pace when CPR is to be administered.  Events are recorded, with the time, date, ECG trace & duration, shock delivery information and CPR intervals and are downloadable to a PC for later analysis by a physician.  The units are rechargeable, volume adjustable and can be programmed in 5 languages.  They come with a 7 year warranty and retail for $1295 …Read More

Here's an idea that's head-smackingly simple but a terrific alternative to carrying traditional shroud or stay replacement materials on a long passage.  What are you going to do if you lose a a stay or shroud?  To date, that has meant storing a very long length of wire with the appropriate end hardware to make an emergency repair to be able to make it to safe harbor.  Fifty feet of wire is heavy, hard to coil into a manageable package, takes up a lot of room and since it’s usually relegated to the lazarette or bilge area, risks getting rusted and damaged.  Colligo Marine to the rescue with a kit for quick do-it-yourself emergency rigging repair.  The Emergency Shroud Kit includes low stretch 7 mm Dynex Dux UHMWPE (that’s ultra high molecular weight polyethylene) line with a 15,000 lb breaking strength to replace shrouds or stays up 50’ long and ¼ inch thick.  The line is reportedly twice as strong as ¼ wire at a fraction of the weight.  Also included are two Line Terminators one of which is pre-spliced, 20 feet of synthetic lashing line, chafe guard for spreader ends and splicing instructions.  One Line Terminator is spliced and ready to use with a shackle at the mast or chainplate end while the other included Terminator can be spliced to the length needed. You can even connect two together in case 50 feet is not enough although Colligo is debating providing larger kits for bigger boats.   Supposedly, even a marginally skilled sailor can rig this kit in 20 minutes or less with Colligo’s simple instructions.  Here’s the best part though.  The whole thing stores in a bag 12” x 15” and weighs in at around 4 lbs.  The kit is rustproof, comes in a re-sealable plastic bag and is completely reusable – all for about half the price of traditional wire.  In use, the line can last up to 5 years although the kit is designed for temporary repairs only.  If kept dry, the kit can last indefinitely.  The Colligo Marine Emergency Shroud Kit retails for $349 for the 50’ version. …Read More

Pacific Expedition Yachts will offer Cummins Mercruiser Diesel Zeus pod drives on its PE60 Expedition Class Power Catamaran. The first hull with Zeus drives is already under construction at Pacific Expedition’s Astoria, Oregon shipyard, with delivery expected later this year. Here’s how Pacific Expedition describes the decision to offer the Zeus drives: The PE60, equipped with twin [...] …Read More

Feel sick and head to the doctor, and chances are he or she will check for some clues to your condition — stuff like your temperature, blood pressure, heart rate, etc. If your boat or PWC is feeling sick, you can play doctor and check your spark plugs. Their condition says a lot about your engine's health. …Read More

If you’ve spent any time in galleys on big powerboats or in RVs you’ve probably seen large combination microwave convection ovens that seem like they’d be very handy since they do double duty.  The problem is they’re big and therefore not very functional on smaller vessels and on sailboats.  Well, check out the new Contoure CMC11040B Microwave Convection Combination with Grill that’s like three appliances in one and measures only 21”x12”x19”.  This oven not only bakes and browns food but also can grill because the grill emits radiant heat to give food that BBQ  taste. You still have all the convenience of the microwave oven but by using the convection heat, you can cut cooking time and therefore overall power consumption.  The unit comes in black or stainless finish, weighs just under 50 lbs. and includes a glass turntable.  There are ten power levels and 8 touch menus so it’s a one-button push for food like popcorn, potatoes or frozen vegetables.  Other features include a kitchen timer with a 30-seconds-plus option, convection baking, microwave cooking and combo-grill cooking settings, defrost/cook by weight or timed defrost and a child safety lock.   The CMC11040B delivers 1000 watts of cooking power while consuming 1500 watts to run.  This 120 volt, 60Hz unit retails for $399 and may be the answer for vessels with space constrained galleys and good inverters …Read More

  Torqeedo keeps adding new models to its line of electric outboards. The latest is the Travel series with two new units offering power equivalent to 1.5 hp and 3 hp, respectively. The Travel 503 and Travel 1003 not only offer more power than their predecessors but are tougher and are completely waterproof to IP67 standards. According [...] …Read More

Some electronics shine in hot boat-show tents, but given a choice, I'd test this software on a week-long cruise. …Read More