|
|
At the Memorial Day Weekend cruise to Maryland Yacht Club (May 2010), BACKYAKKERS enjoyed a “Toys, Tools & Gadgets” show-and-tell. Here are the items presented: - Amazing Fly Gun (John Loving)
- Kills flies instantly
- Amazingflygun.com
- $6.95 incl shipping
- Canvas water bag with weights inside (Peter Holzinger)
- Dip overboard to gather water
- Make it yourself
- Impeller Puller (Richard Sanger)
- Squeeze wrench (Richard Sanger)
- Wire stripper (Richard Sanger)
- Digital multi-meter (Richard Sanger)
- AB Roller (Richard Sanger)
- Defibrillator (Richard Sanger)
- Knife Thru the Head (JJ Sullivan)
- Monkey Butt Powder (Guy Collins)
- Ease the discomfort of sitting too long
- Johnson & Johnson
- Available at drug stores
- Solid Grip Liner Powder (Guy Collins)
- Soda Stream (Maddie Yates)
- Rubber Mallet (John Yates)
- Great for smacking bags of ice, stuck thru hulls, etc.
- Commonly called a “kalapacs”
- Pasta Cooker for Microwave (Pat Edmunds)
- TruPlug Foam Plugs for “Holes in Boats” (John Oberright)
- Knot-a-Bag Continuous Bags (Pam Loving)
- Infrared Temperature Gun (Ted Edmunds)
- Snap Puller (Ted Edmunds)
- Headlight (Ted Edmunds)
- Hands-free light for tight spaces
- Home Depot
- Electric Ratcheting Screwdriver (Ted Edmunds)
- Air-conditioning ‘Blow Out” Hose (Ted Edmunds)
- Connects to the inlet side of A/C to blow out gunk
- Wine bottle protection (Karen Kranzer)
- Use champagne bottle packing to store wine bottles
- Pick up used ones at liquor store
- Wine Aerator (Karen Kranzer)
- “Cadie Perfect” Ice Cube Bag (Karen Kranzer)
- Rubber Stopper for Flag Holder (Bill Kranzer)
- When you remove your American Flag from its holder, does the hold fill up with water?
- Use a rubber sink stopper to cover the hole!
- Refrig Door Hold Opener (Wally Stone)
- Self-made teak ‘stick’ to hold refrig door open when you are not on the boat
- Burgee Cover (Wally Stone)
- Self-made canvas (Sunbrella) cover for powerboat bow burgee
- Battery Operated Pencil (Wally Stone)
- High Tech solution to a low tech problem!
- Kayak Paddle Float (Cheryl Goldberg)
- Bilge Pump/Water Canon (Cheryl Goldberg)
- Boat Trash Compactor (Gail Higginbotham)
- Manually compacts trash
- Available at West Marine
- LED Lights (Gail Higginbotham)
- Multi-use Scraper (Gail Higginbotham)
- Use Formica counter top samples as a scraper
- Also can be used to spread out the load while clamping materials together
- QuickStep Boat Step (Bonnie Hetzel)
- Leatherman Knock-off (Bill Falk)
- Alternative to the expensive Leatherman knife
- $14 at Lowes
- Red Thong (Bill Falk)
- Red thong Crocs (only wear with broken ankle)
- Bread Basket Trivet (Julianna Nedd)
- Quilted cloth trivet with corner ties which then turns it into a basket
- Self-make (or you can go to Africa and buy one!)
|
|
“For thousands of years we have gone to sea. We have crafted vessels to carry us and we have called them by name. These ships will nurture us and care for us through perilous seas, and so we affectionately call them ‘she.’ To them we toast, and ask to celebrate [boat name]. TO THE SAILORS OF OLD . . . TO [boat name]! [First toast].
“The moods of the sea are many, from tranquil to violent. We ask that this ship be given the strength to carry on. The keel is strong and she keeps out the pressures of the sea. TO THE SAILORS OF OLD. . . TO THE SEA! [Second Toast]
“Today we name this lady [boat name] and send her to sea to be cared for, and to care for [boat’s owners]. We ask the sailors of old and the mood of God that is the sea, to accept [boat name] as her name, to help her through her passages, and allow her to return with her crew safely, TO THE SEA . . . TO THE SAILORS BEFORE US . . . TO [boat name]! [Third Toast, with a bit for Neptune as well] |
|
|
John Oberright, Vice Commodore, reminds us to take BCYC burgee everywhere. HEY BACK CREEK! Announcing the new Where In The World is BCYC project!
We go everywhere and the world should know what a fun bunch of folks we are, not just how good looking!
Starting immediately let's everyone take pictures of themselves in fun, unusual places around the world with the BCYC burgee and faces in clear view.
You can send them to either Chuck Gorum, the Photography Chair at
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
or to the Club webmaster and we'll get them online.
This collection could be HUGE!!!
Find also on the website a printable graphic of the Club burgee. Instead of taking your real one, print this out on 8x10? paper, put it in your bag and pull it out for the photo op!
Let's show our colors and those great smiles!
UP THE CREEK!!!
|
|
|
 The BCYC Burgee Did you know that there are many requirements of ettiquett for flying our club's burgee? The United States Power Squadron has a host of information on their site. Please see the following link: http://www.usps.org/f_stuff/etiquett.html#y-c-burgee. - Generally, burgees are triangular in shape and flown from the bow on power boats or from the spreader if on a sailboat.
- The right spreader is the side of highest honor.
- Display one burgee at a time.
- The burgee you fly should be the burgee of the organization under which you are participating - otherwise display the burgee of your club.
- Clubs genearlly have unique requirements for their own burgees.
- An officer's flag should be "worn" instead of an owners flag and flown on a sail boat's masthead or on a powerboat's antenea - preferably on the starboard side.
- The national ensign flown at a flag staff at the stern of your boat should be one inch on the fly for each foot of overall length.
- All other flags such as club burgees, officer flags, and private signals for use on sailboats should be approximately 1/2 inch on the fly for each foot above the waterline of the tallest mast on the boat. (That is, if the tope of the mast is 30 feet above the waterline, these other flags should be 15 inches on the fly.) On powerboats, these flags should be 5/8 inch on the fly for each foot of overall length.
|
|
|
Maintaining your house batteries has always been a challenge for the boating community. Given all the new gadgets we just can't and won't live without anymore, we have an evermore increase in the need for bigger and better batteries. The best batteries I've ever owned for marine purpose have been the the 8D AGMs. Two of these puppies give me a very nice and maintenance free 514 amp hours. But then I have to charge them. I can run the engine but the charging system with two alternators still takes way too much time. And, I can't take advantage of the 85 horse power afforded by the engine. So, the engine must run without sufficient load to work the engine as it was designed. Perhaps there's a better way. Consider a charging system that better pairs your engine's 50-75 hp to an equally powerful generator. Well, you still can't take advantage of the charging system even if you could build it into your boat. Unless-- unless your batteries could handle a massive charge, topping off the batteries in say 5 minutes.  Consider this 5,000 watt generator mated to your diesel engine - http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_9040_9040. Interesting, but the 8D AGMs can't handle that type of heavy charge. Then consider the newest breed of lithium ion batteries. See http://thefraserdomain.typepad.com/energy/2007/04/nissan_and_nec_.html. These batteries utilize nano-technology and carbon-less structures allowing for very large capacity batteries to be massively recharged in minutes without getting hot or risk of explosion. And, the shelf life of these things is decades, not years. I's certain the cost is prohibitive now for marine use. But, as the auto industry begins to adapt to these batteries, the cost will drive down substantially giving the marine industry - especially sailors a chance to upgrade their electrical storage capabilities. Send me your thoughts:
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
. |
|
|
|