Even if you’re comfortable refilling disposable propane cylinders, eventually the valves will fail, or they’ll get so rusty they have to be retired. So what do you do with them?

Coleman has launched a new recycling program for disposable 16-oz. propane cylinders.

“Green Key: Your Key To Being Green”.

Whuh-huh?

It’s a tool that “durably marks the propane cylinder as empty for steel recyclers.”

Again, whuh-huh?

Here’s Coleman’s video demonstration, and here’s my own attempt to explain how it works:

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It isn’t often that Navagear gets an opportunity to get the jump on Captain Richard Rodriguez’s BitterEnd Blog, particularly when it comes to his own Vessel Assist activities.

But this time, he brought a boat right in where Two Lucky Fish is moored for the night, and we got pictures.

Steve Roberts is the original overgadgeted boating geek. I’ve written about him before. In that post, I said “Navagear wishes to express our heartfelt gratitude for Steve Roberts’ many contributions to the world of geeky transportation.”

Well, I finally met him in person, yesterday in Cornet Bay, with his friend Sky (climbing out of the boat). He rowed over especially to say hello, which was nice of him.

Here’s a not-particularly-good photo of his current project, Nomadness. You can read all about it at Nomadness.com.

I wrote about many of the odd-looking next-generation anchors some time ago, and there’s another new anchor on the scene:
 

It’s the Ancora Latina “Raya”, and it appears to be yet another concave spade-type design. The manufacturer claims that it has been designed for use in the “extreme” mooring conditions of the Antarctic, the Patagonia Channels, and Tierra del Fuego.

I’ve never cruised there, so I’m not sure what the specific anchoring challenges are. Anybody who does know, please add a comment to enlighten the rest of us.

Ancora Latina also produces a collapsible version of the Raya called the Tempest. What caught my eye is the simple connection between the fluke and the shank. No fasteners, no tools, and, according to the manufacturer, no chance of separation while in use:

Of course, I’ll be very interested in seeing the results of another comprehensive anchor test.

While tied up in Reid Harbor on Stuart Island, we met a fellow named James Life; he works over at CSR Marine, one of the big boatyards in these parts. He spotted my AIS antenna right off the bat, which was noteworthy in and of itself.

Anyway, his family had some crab, which they were willing to share. Even better, they had enough Zyliss Seafood Crackers to go around.

This is a VERY handy tool for cracking crab, friendlier on the fingers than any other crab cracking tool I know.

Of course, a pair of rusty pliers from the tool box will do in a pinch, but the Zyliss Seafood Crackers are less than $7 each. Anybody who catches crab or lobster regularly should have at least a couple on hand.

By the way, James & family: Thanks for the crab!

Apparently, I’m the last one on my block to learn about the terrific Tervis Tumbler. They’ve even got some with maritime-inspired designs, or you could have them personalized with a name or initials, or those of a boat.

It’s an insulated tumbler, so it keeps your drink cold. It’s plastic (sorry, “polycarbonate”), so it’ll stand up to the mishandling typical aboard most boats. It’s dishwasher safe.

And the “no sweating” thing might seem like a minor feature, except that as I type this, I’m also playing Go Fish with my younger daughter aboard the boat, and cards keep ending up in the condensation coming off our drink glasses. I could REALLY use a set of Tervis Tumblers, obviously!

I learned about them from a fellow cruiser one lazy evening last week on Stuart Island in the San Juans…a favorite destination from my childhood, and still a wonderful place to visit.

JackRabbit Marine’s website seems to be down, and their blog, Ask Jack Rabbit, is just…gone!

Anybody know what’s up? I’ve sent an email to Peter James of Ask Jack Rabbit. Until I hear something authoritative, though, I’m stumped.

This is as close as I want to get to having Two Lucky Fish appear astern Vessel Assist Remedy in a photograph on the internet. Know what I mean?

But see, I keep hearing Captain Richard Rodriguez’s words ringing in my ear. This morning, in Anacortes, while he enjoyed the breakfast Bagel Eggel I’d just prepared for him, he asked, again, if I were a Boat U.S. Vessel Assist member.

I was obliged to admit that I am not. It’s a great program, and I’m all for it, but I’ve got the optional towing rider on my vessel insurance, see. “How much will that cover?” Um, I’m not sure.

That’s when his Words, like some Evil Omen, pierced my soul to its very core…

“You Will Be Mine”

I learned about RejeX at the Seattle Boat Show last winter, and figured I’d give it a try as a window coating. It’s made by the same folks who produce CorrosionX, another magical concoction I’ve been using around the boat.

You know, sometimes these amazingly unbelievable coatings actually work as advertised. That appears to be the case with RejeX.

Here’s what I did yesterday morning while tied up in Prevost Harbor. I rinsed all the saltwater off, washed the windows with Windex, and then applied the Rejex as directed, to the port-side cabin window only. The starboard window only received the cleaning.

Here’s what I was NOT able to do as directed: I didn’t let it cure for 12 hours. We went out and put it to use immediately. After a bumpy crossing with lots of saltwater spray on both windows, you can see the difference:

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The cap plate I fabricated to cover the hole left from my old bit-the-dust Sprint 400 anchor windlass worked out great. To recap, I was reluctant to go cruising with blue duct tape all over the foredeck:

So with a little help from a member of the crew, I got all the tape removed, and replaced it with my temporary cap plate. I think it looks about 1000% better than duct tape!
 

But then, once I got the anchor mounted, without the windlass taking up the slack, I realized that the inboard end of the anchor is going to bang, bang, bang against the foredeck each time I go over a wave. That is not acceptable.

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