Cruising tips for small yachts
 

Hi guys.

As we get closer to the Whale Watching Adventure Cruise I thought I would
share a couple of tips that I have found handy in the past.

These are simple tips that most of you probably already know, but I thought
I would share them with you just in case. Perhaps if others have some good
tips you can share them as well.


FOOD SUPPLIES:
Fresh Meat: What we normally do is go to our butcher and buy the meat that
we want to take and ask him to cry-o-vac it. When meat is cry-o-vaced it
does not need freezing and can keep for up to 6 months provided it is kept
refrigerated. This is what we do. We get the meat cry-o-vaced into meal size
portions. We then freeze it in the deep freeze for a couple of days. (I know
I just said you don't have to do this but there is a reason which will
become clear soon, so please read on before you interrupt again!!)
After a couple of days in the deep freeze, the meat is frozen solid. This
then helps to keep the temperature of your fridge down and it uses less
power to stay cool, thus conserving your battery power.
If you are using an esky then it will also double as ice. I have stuck our
meat around cans in an esky and the cans have frozen! It is a very effective
way to conserve power and room.
As the week goes on and the ice starts to disappear and the meat starts to
defrost it is still going to keep fresh because it is cry-o-vaced. If you
have a fridge and your power supply runs down then the meat will also stay
fresh provided the esky / fridge stays cool.
I stress though that for this to work the meat must be professionally
cry-o-vaced by your butcher and not simply put into a plastic bag or on one
of those foam trays.

Milk: We go to Big W and purchase a carton of long life milk. They sell
cartons of 12 for just under $12. This does not need to be refrigerated
until you open it which means you can store as much as you like on the boat
without fear of it going off.

POWER CONSUMPTION:
We have found that by replacing our 12v anchor light with a solar light, you
can conserve a lot of battery power. The ones we use were purchased from
K-Mart for $20 and they are perfect. They will run all night without any
problems. They automatically recharge themselves during the day. They also
switch themselves on at dusk and off at daybreak without you having to do
anything. Basically you set them up and forget about them.

I hope these tips help and please if anyone has any other tips they would
like to share I am sure it would be very much appreciated.

Best regards

Garry Beattie
Ocean Spirit Trailer Sailer &
Small Yacht Cruising Emagazine
www.ocean-spirit.com

Cruising tips for small yachts
 

Garry is that one of those garden lights you are talking about? I have been
wondering about those for some time. What is the output of the bulb?

Cheers

DP
"Garry Beattie" wrote in message
...
Hi guys.

As we get closer to the Whale Watching Adventure Cruise I thought I would
share a couple of tips that I have found handy in the past.

These are simple tips that most of you probably already know, but I
thought
I would share them with you just in case. Perhaps if others have some good
tips you can share them as well.


FOOD SUPPLIES:
Fresh Meat: What we normally do is go to our butcher and buy the meat that
we want to take and ask him to cry-o-vac it. When meat is cry-o-vaced it
does not need freezing and can keep for up to 6 months provided it is kept
refrigerated. This is what we do. We get the meat cry-o-vaced into meal
size
portions. We then freeze it in the deep freeze for a couple of days. (I
know
I just said you don't have to do this but there is a reason which will
become clear soon, so please read on before you interrupt again!!)
After a couple of days in the deep freeze, the meat is frozen solid. This
then helps to keep the temperature of your fridge down and it uses less
power to stay cool, thus conserving your battery power.
If you are using an esky then it will also double as ice. I have stuck our
meat around cans in an esky and the cans have frozen! It is a very
effective
way to conserve power and room.
As the week goes on and the ice starts to disappear and the meat starts to
defrost it is still going to keep fresh because it is cry-o-vaced. If you
have a fridge and your power supply runs down then the meat will also stay
fresh provided the esky / fridge stays cool.
I stress though that for this to work the meat must be professionally
cry-o-vaced by your butcher and not simply put into a plastic bag or on
one
of those foam trays.

Milk: We go to Big W and purchase a carton of long life milk. They sell
cartons of 12 for just under $12. This does not need to be refrigerated
until you open it which means you can store as much as you like on the
boat
without fear of it going off.

POWER CONSUMPTION:
We have found that by replacing our 12v anchor light with a solar light,
you
can conserve a lot of battery power. The ones we use were purchased from
K-Mart for $20 and they are perfect. They will run all night without any
problems. They automatically recharge themselves during the day. They also
switch themselves on at dusk and off at daybreak without you having to do
anything. Basically you set them up and forget about them.

I hope these tips help and please if anyone has any other tips they would
like to share I am sure it would be very much appreciated.

Best regards

Garry Beattie
Ocean Spirit Trailer Sailer &
Small Yacht Cruising Emagazine
www.ocean-spirit.com

Cruising tips for small yachts
 

"d parker" wrote in message
. au...
Garry is that one of those garden lights you are talking about? I have
been
wondering about those for some time. What is the output of the bulb?


That is a good idea. How do you mount it? Saw the ground stake off and add
an eyebolt? It would have to be left out all day.

Cruising tips for small yachts
 

"d parker" wrote in message
. au...
Garry is that one of those garden lights you are talking about? I have
been
wondering about those for some time. What is the output of the bulb?

Cheers

Yes that's the ones Dave.

I am not sure what their actual light output is, and in a city environment
it doesn't look to be very much. But when you get out on the ocean, away
from lights, then they seem to be a lot brighter and are easily spotted.

Just one thing though. Most of them come in 3 various colours. White, yellow
and blue. Make sure you get the white light. (which is actually a pale blue
anyway.)

The actual bulb itself is not all that bright, but it then goes through a
reflective diffuser and then another diffuser to make it appear much
brighter.

It saves a lot of headaches over battery power. Almost everyone in our
cruising club now uses them.

Best regards

Garry Beattie
Ocean Spirit Trailer Sailer &
Small Yacht Cruising Emagazine
www.ocean-spirit.com

Cruising tips for small yachts
 

That is a good idea. How do you mount it? Saw the ground stake off and
add
an eyebolt? It would have to be left out all day.


I tried a couple of different ways to mount them including cable ties and
screws. These were OK but not overly successful and a bit messy.

I even hoisted one to the top of the mast using a spare spinnaker rope, but
when we were caught in a swell once I watched as it swang wildly from side
to side before launching itself off the spinnaker rope and into the water.

Now I have them mounted on my solar panel bracket at the rear of the boat. I
actually have 2, one on either side. I just welded a short section of
stainless steel pipe, the same diameter as the plastic pipe that came with
the light, upright from the top of the solar panel mount. The light then
slips over this pipe and is a very tight fit.

They have been mounted there now for over 6 months without any problems at
all. They turn on every night by themselves and turn off at sun up and
charge during the day. Basically for me I mounted them 6 months ago and have
not had to touch them since. They work perfect!

If you want to see some photo's I can email them to you.

best regards

Garry Beattie
Ocean Spirit Trailer Sailer &
Small Yacht Cruising Emagazine
www.ocean-spirit.com

Cruising tips for small yachts
 

"Garry Beattie" wrote in message ...
"d parker" wrote in message
. au...
Garry is that one of those garden lights you are talking about? I have
been
wondering about those for some time. What is the output of the bulb?

Cheers

Yes that's the ones Dave.

I am not sure what their actual light output is, and in a city environment
it doesn't look to be very much. But when you get out on the ocean, away
from lights, then they seem to be a lot brighter and are easily spotted.

Just one thing though. Most of them come in 3 various colours. White, yellow
and blue. Make sure you get the white light. (which is actually a pale blue
anyway.)

The actual bulb itself is not all that bright, but it then goes through a
reflective diffuser and then another diffuser to make it appear much
brighter.

It saves a lot of headaches over battery power. Almost everyone in our
cruising club now uses them.

Best regards

Garry Beattie
Ocean Spirit Trailer Sailer &
Small Yacht Cruising Emagazine
www.ocean-spirit.com


This is the first time I have EVER seen anything useful about sailing
on this NG. I'll have to try this.

Cruising tips for small yachts
 

Dear Garry,

Please e-mail me some photo's of the solar lights.
I am in South Africa and we don't have K-Mart here so I am hoping to
identify these lights at another outlet.

Regards,
Errol Lishman
Johannesburg
================

"Garry Beattie" wrote in message
...

They have been mounted there now for over 6 months without any problems at
all. They turn on every night by themselves and turn off at sun up and
charge during the day. Basically for me I mounted them 6 months ago and
have
not had to touch them since. They work perfect!

If you want to see some photo's I can email them to you.

best regards

Garry Beattie
Ocean Spirit Trailer Sailer &
Small Yacht Cruising Emagazine
www.ocean-spirit.com

Cruising tips for small yachts
 

"Garry Beattie" wrote in message
...
"d parker" wrote in message
. au...
Garry is that one of those garden lights you are talking about? I have
been
wondering about those for some time. What is the output of the bulb?

Cheers

Yes that's the ones Dave.

I am not sure what their actual light output is, and in a city environment
it doesn't look to be very much. But when you get out on the ocean, away
from lights, then they seem to be a lot brighter and are easily spotted.

Just one thing though. Most of them come in 3 various colours. White,
yellow
and blue. Make sure you get the white light. (which is actually a pale
blue
anyway.)

The actual bulb itself is not all that bright, but it then goes through a
reflective diffuser and then another diffuser to make it appear much
brighter.

It saves a lot of headaches over battery power. Almost everyone in our
cruising club now uses them.

Best regards

Garry Beattie
Ocean Spirit Trailer Sailer &
Small Yacht Cruising Emagazine
www.ocean-spirit.com

Ta. great idea.

DP

Cruising tips for small yachts
 

"Parallax" wrote in message

This is the first time I have EVER seen anything useful about sailing
on this NG. I'll have to try this.

I am glad to be of help. A lot of larger cruising boats who see our set up
often come over to ask what they are and where they can get them from.

It certainly saves a lot of battery power.

Best regards
--
Garry Beattie
Ocean Spirit Trailer Sailer &
Small Yacht Cruising Emagazine
www.ocean-spirit.com

Cruising tips for small yachts
 

"Errol" wrote in message
...

Dear Garry,

Please e-mail me some photo's of the solar lights.
I am in South Africa and we don't have K-Mart here so I am hoping to
identify these lights at another outlet.

Regards,
Errol Lishman
Johannesburg

I'll dig out the photo's of the rear of my boat and email them to you Errol.

I am not sure if I have any real close ups of the lights themselves, but I
will look for you.

Anyone else want some photo's?
--
Garry Beattie
Ocean Spirit Trailer Sailer &
Small Yacht Cruising Emagazine
www.ocean-spirit.com