Hiya...

"slide" wrote in message
...
Well, I have to admire your narratives. One thing which always strikes me
is that you have more systems working aboard than I have ashore. I was
utterly unable to keep even a simpler and slightly smaller yacht's systems
working. In fact, I never got all systems working at the same time. One
was always down or weak.

Heh. We MOSTLY have all our systems working at once, but one or more of
them need attention fairly frequently...


I am curious about two things. First you say your PV panels were pumping
25 amps. That implies 300 watt capacity or more. Is that right? If so,
that strikes me as a lot of panel.

370 watts, and, when we go to a hardtop, I'll add more. It's 3 120s, except
that when, before our wreck, in the storm that put us on the rock, the KISS
took off, and landed on the center one on the way to Davey Jones. Same size
now has 130w, so it's 370.

I wasn't thinking outside the box, unfortunately, when I designed it; I
could easily have had longer ones. I was constrained on the length, in a
box shape, by the whip antenna at the front, which I secured to the frame,
and by my antenna mounts on the ends of my davits, on the stern. I could
easily have hung over the center rear, and out the front sides; wish I
had...


Second, how do you 'polish' a sea bean? That'd be like polishing green
beans or asparagus. What next - putting a shine on an artichoke?

A sea bean is a very hard nut-like shell, smooth-ish. Do a google for sea
beans, and you'll have the picture. After months, or sometimes, probably,
years, in the ocean, and more on the beach, they get weathered and checked.

Hearts are neat for fan pulls, drawer pulls, or big necklaces. Hamburger
and purse beans are nice for earrings, small drawer pulls, and necklaces.
Mary beans, very rare, are nice for Christians, as there's a cross on the
front imprinted by the way they're formed in the pod.

We use a flap wheel sander in the drill, then a buffing wheel on the bench
grinder, with, first, tripoli rouge, then a wax-and-compound designed for
boats, finished with a boat wax. Takes a really grungy bean and makes it
glow.

L8R

Skip, still in Georgetown


--
Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig KI4MPC
See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery !
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The Society for the Preservation of Tithesis commends your ebriated
and scrutible use of delible and defatigable, which are gainly, sipid
and couth. We are gruntled and consolate that you have the ertia and
eptitude to choose such putably pensible tithesis, which we parage.

Stamp out Sesquipedalianism