The Profurl LC42 on Sweet Destiny has earned its wraps. It’s about fifteen years old, and hasn’t been given much TLC in that time. It knocked about in charter through adolescence, and was then neglected for some years. So it’s a fairly cynical and experienced furler. While the Profurls are reliable, well-proven units, there are some weaknesses to the design that show up over the years. E.g. stainless allen head fasteners that connect the linkplates to the main body of the unit that are notorious for becoming frozen into the aluminum from ye old galvanic corrosion. My rigger had to drill one out, resulting in some damage to the body, and necessitating the replacement of the linkplate. I was taken aback at the number of stainless-in-aluminum fastener issues I noticed when disassembling it. If you’ve got a Profurl, disassemble it soon (if you can), and make sure there’s some Tefgel or Lanocote on any stainless fastener in aluminum. It’ll save you big headaches down the road. My other disappointment is that the “lifetime sealed” bearings are weeping rusty stains. I guess they are sealed for the lifetime of the seals.

Disassembling the foil wasn’t too bad, though I was warned that the set screws holding the sections together can often be frozen. As they are relatively small, I was particularly concerned about stripping out the heads. I ended up heating most of them with a propane torch, which seemed to help loosen them up. Only boogered up one, which I had to drill out. Use blue Loktite for reassembly.

All-in-all, I think the Profurl is pretty good. I’m curious how other brands of furlers have held up over the years.

As we usually learn the hard way, many of the products we see in the chandlery and in our favorite boating magazines just don’t hold up to the rigors of real sailing. If anything, the poor performance of a lot of boat gear could serve to remind us that modern cars are true engineering marvels, many of them running for years with nary a peep. By contrast, boat gear is practically a cottage industry, with uneven engineering and limited product testing. And it’s the internet that gives us the chance to address this sorry state of affairs. That’s why I love websites like this:

Link: http://www.morganscloud.com/stuff.htm

This isn’t something you see everyday at your favorite chandlery, but it may be a necessity if you are upgrading your boats electrical system to 24 volt. Why would you do this? Well, because if you have big current draw devices like electric winches and a windlass, doubling the voltage cuts the amperage in half—meaning you can downsize wiring and/or have longer cable runs without excessive voltage drop. Sounds good, you say? Well once you’ve switched over to a 24 volt battery bank (and inverter, generator, high output alternator, etc.) you are still likely to have some equipment that only cares for 12 volts. This is where a 24 to 12 DC voltage converter comes in handy. It doesn’t have to be super powerful…just enough amps for the legacy equipment on-board. Of course, you’ll want to be extra careful not to mix up those circuits!

Link: http://www.newmarpower.com

I’ve long been a fan of the usability and pleasing industrial design of Raymarine products. Now it’s being brought to the PC via their navigation software and a new USB controller that emulates the buttons and knobs on their chartplotters and radars. Sitting on your nav station, or snapped into a cradle, it provides a way to control the navigation software without getting wet, salty fingers near your keyboard. With this, a rubberized keyboard, and a cheap 15 inch LCD at the nav station (less than $250 these days), you could keep your laptop running in a cubby out of harm’s way. Oh, heck, you can even pick up one of their ultrabright, waterproof monitors to mount at the helm while you’re at it, if you don’t mind shelling out five boat units for the privilege (1 BU = $1k).

Feathering or folding props are de-rigueur for performance sailing, and most are made of big chunks of bronze or stainless, elegantly crafted into a sophisticated, interlocking mechanism. They are consequently another expensive item in the aggregation of expensive bits and pieces that comprise a boat! Kiwiprops has produced a clever and appealing alternative that uses composite prop blades, and a simple, but apparently effective mechanism. For catamarans with twin diesels, the possibility of some cost savings on feathering props really adds up. These are pitch adjustable with a single allen screw (even under water), and the blades can be trimmed to size with woodworking tools (measure once, cut twice, I always say!). The blades are readily replaceable and inexpensive, so carry some spares on your world cruise.

So, sure, LEDs uses less power, makes very little heat, and virtually never burn out—a pity about that eye-punishing blueish-white glow, though. How about an array of red, green, and blue LEDs that mix to make practically any color? That’s Color Kinetics specialty: a company that has pioneered LED light mixing in signage and display design. In addition to many form-factors for the lights themselves, controllers allow programmed color sequences for all kinds of effects. Wow your guests in the salon as the lights fade from sunset reds to moonlight blues… A caveat is the need for 24 volt power, but if you can afford something like this, you ought to be able to spring for a 12 to 24 volt converter, too.

Bill Seifert’s Offshore Sailing, 200 Essential Passagemaking Tips, is a great resource for anyone who appreciates good, practical ideas and solutions won from a lifetime of commissioning and sailing boats. If you are building, buying, or refitting, his description of all the details of an ideal offshore boat is especially worthwhile. You can certainly find this book on Amazon, and even do a full-text search on it’s contents, but I do love a real bookstore that caters to sailors, so if you don’t have one near you, try the Armchair Sailor, in Seattle.

The idea of quiet, non-polluting power is extremely appealing, and this device takes a shot at providing just that. However, the specs reveal that it may not be a solution for everyone, i.e. it requires jugs of methanol of, as yet, unknown cost. And the crucial question for long-range cruisers has to be, “can I get methanol in Papeete?” The unit can operate silently around the clock, putting out 4 amps, or about 100 amp hours per day. As a point of comparison, a couple 100 watt solar panels can put 50-100 amp hours in the bank each day, with no operating costs whatsoever. It seems there’s still awhile to go before high-output fuel-cells with fuel reformers that can process diesel or gasoline into hydrogen will be practical solutions for boat power and propulsion, but this is definitely getting closer.

If you’ve hung out with any three year olds lately, you’ve probably watched Finding Nemo enough times to be able to emulate Dory speaking “whale-ese.” If you want to listen, rather than talk to the fishes, Aquarian makes this clever little hydrophone that runs on a nine volt battery and costs less than a mini ipod. There is something tremendously endearing, in a geeky kind of way, about a company that makes a great little product like this with a manual that includes directions on how to modify their device to make it even more powerful.

Link: Aquarian Hydrophone

Promoting innovative electric motors to propel boats since 1995, Solomon Technologies has raised a few eyebrows over the years. Their “Electric Wheel” motor in particular uses a novel motor-within-a-motor design, coupled by planetary gears that allow for near constant torque across a wide range of speeds. Long shorepower cord jokes aside, the Electric Wheel requires a dedicated bank of 12 batteries to provide 144 volts of highly motivated electrons, in addition to your normal house battery bank(s). Interestingly, while sailing, the motors can generate power from the turning of the prop being dragged through the water, thus recharging the battery bank. If your primary motor usage is to get in and out of a marina, a few hours of sailing might provide all the power needed. For greater range, a diesel hybrid solution with a generator providing the juice is workable. Accommodating a huge battery bank and big fixed blade props for generating power from water flow and may not suit the most performance oriented sailors, but it’s nice to see some real alternatives to the old diesel in the bilge.

Link: Solomon Technologies.