Cruisers Forum
 


Reply
  This discussion is proudly sponsored by:
Please support our sponsors and let them know you heard about their products on Cruisers Forums. Advertise Here
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Rate Thread Display Modes
Old 10-12-2006, 06:55   #1
Registered User

Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 6
Need some Recommendations

Hi Group,

Long, Long time lurker wisher dreamer have gotten my feet wet (not
literally) and bought my first cruiser, a 1983 S2 9.2. Looking for a
few recommendations. Some items were missing from the boat.

1) Need a VHF. I saw the NAVMAN 7200 that has the barametric
graphing included to see pressure trends. Anyone know if this is a
nice feature or should I go for the 7100 and save $50. We'll have a
handheld as a backup. But I was hoping to be able to get an
extension for the mike and use it from the cockpit if necessary (the
home for the vhf is about 3 feet from the cabin entry). Is this
possible? Is another brand/model better performance/value?

2) Need a GPS. Recommendations?

3) Recommendations on mounted BBQ, charcoal or propane. Want a small
one.

4) Got 12 cheapo $5 PFDs on board came with the boat but I'd like an
inflatable/harness combo. Recommendations? How many PFDs should I
carry? There is a lifesling.

5) Was given Sailorman New & Used Marine: The World's Largest and Most Unique New & Used Marine Emporium as about the best online all around
value outfitter. Agree? Recommendations?

6) It is in N. Myrtle now and we'll be taking it down the ICW to Key West leaving around Dec 31. About where (and I know there are a lot
of variables and dependings) south of there might we expect to be in
tolerable weather for that time of year? And since cold weather
sailing won't be a mainstay are there any recommendations for
temporary heat? (Also, I have two experienced crew assisting me on
this ICW to Key West, if one of them were to drop out would anyone be
interested in coming on that trip?)

7) Any other S2 owners out there. Anything I should keep an eye on
etc. It's got the 2GM Yanmar. Is there an S2 association, is it
active?

There are always other things but for now I need the above.

Thanks for any and all recommendations and I sure am glad to be done
searching, at least for now and actually doing.

Tom
tafelice is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-12-2006, 09:36   #2
Registered User
 
Sunspot Baby's Avatar

Join Date: May 2003
Location: New Bern, NC
Boat: Prout Manta 38' Catamaran - Sunspot Baby
Posts: 1,521
Images: 14
There are VHF's with remote mike/speaker/channel selector. Make sure it is DCS capable. Barometer is not the first thing I would look for.

Sailorman does have some good prices. Stop in Ft. Lauderdale on your way south and visit the store. Big West Marine and other good stores within a couple of blocks. Not within walking distance of marinas, unless you REALLY like to hike.

East coast, even in Florida, can be cold in the winter. Still the further south you go, the more frequent is good weather.

I am happy with SOSpenders combo inflatable jacket/harness. What ever you buy get something you will wear, the goal is not USCG approval, it is comfort and safety. I am not suggesting you buy unapproved jackets but there are some truly terrible approved units that are virtually unwearable.

Assume you are looking at GPS chart plotter rather than a hand held unit. I like the Raymarine units. I also carry a hand held and a "puck" type that operates with the USB cable on my computer. If you are not going with built in chart plotter, there are good software packages for your laptop for navigating. I use CAPN Voyager, but there are other good ones. There is a thread on this forum with lots of discussion of nave software and who uses what.

BBQ - Propane if you can swing it. I have charcoal and it is a PITA.

I would love to go with you but think I better work getting my boat ready for similar journey.

George
__________________
She took my address and my name
Put my credit to shame
Sunspot Baby, sure had a real good time
Bob Seger
Sunspot Baby is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-12-2006, 09:39   #3
Registered User
 
SkiprJohn's Avatar

Join Date: May 2006
Location: Nicholasville, Kentucky
Boat: 15 foot Canoe
Posts: 14,191
Aloha Tom,
Welcome aboard!! I have no recommendations for any of what you are asking about but want to make a point about PFDs. You should have one for each person you take with you plus yourself. I use the type III that you see water skiers in when I wear one. Many folks are going with the ones that look like fanny packs (West Marine catalog) because they are easy to wear and don't get in your way so much which encourages you to wear them more frequently. Always remember that the only time a PFD will do you any good is if you are wearing it. If it is stored in a locker somewhere it is worthless.
Kind Regards,
JohnL
SkiprJohn is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-12-2006, 13:56   #4
Registered User
 
cat man do's Avatar

Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Brisbane Australia [until the boats launched]
Boat: 50ft powercat, light,long and low powered
Posts: 4,409
Images: 36
Like Sunspot said those charcoal Magma's can be a pita, but saying that, as well as the big gas BBQ on the new one, we will also have a Magma charcoal as backup.

Once you get them sorted, it is an art and the quantity of beads is crucial, they really do work a treat. Great for baking and roasting, not for cooking steak, and LPG is hard to get in some places, and heat beads/charcoal doesn't blow up.

Those cheap life jackets make a fair fender, but thats about it.

Dave
__________________
"Money can't buy you happiness but it can buy you a yacht large enough to pull up right alongside it"...............David Lee Roth
Long Distance Motorboat Cruising – It Is Possible on a Small Budget
cat man do is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-12-2006, 14:23   #5
cruiser

Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 4,525
Tom,

Some of the answers depend on where you plan to cruise. Are you heading somewhere, or sticking around the US coast?

BTW: Try grilling with propane and then grilling the same food over hardwood charcoal. No contest. I'd lug charcoal for 100 miles just to taste that flavor over propane/lpg.
ssullivan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-12-2006, 15:22   #6
Registered User

Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 6
thank you everyone. One question no one has answered... for the 10 or so days until we get into tolerable weather what is the best temporary heat. Mind you I don't plan another winter trip unless it is in warm weather so this is a one shot deal. Don't want to put too much into one weeks+ worth of heat.
tafelice is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-12-2006, 15:29   #7
Registered User

Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Seattle area (Bremerton)
Boat: C&C Landfall 39 center cockpit "Anahita"
Posts: 1,077
Images: 6
Sean has a good point...

For example, if you are going offshore then you might want to have a good EPIRB, in which case DSC capability (and the attendant extra cost) is not needed for any VHF (which has limited range, of course, and may be useless if you loose your mast).

If you succumb to the "fear factor" in thinking that DSC will save you in an emergency get an EPIRB instead and you will have a much better REAL chance of being saved.
Rick is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-12-2006, 15:37   #8
Moderator Emeritus
 
Pblais's Avatar

Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Hayes, VA
Boat: Gozzard 36
Posts: 8,700
Images: 15
Send a message via Skype™ to Pblais
Quote:
One question no one has answered... for the 10 or so days until we get into tolerable weather what is the best temporary heat.
Long underware for as long as it takes. Good foul weather gear is a must have for this type of weather. It keeps you dry enough to stay warm. When you get wet you can't ever be warm. My wife and I found the Gil Key West line to be great when it's blowing hard and cold outside..

Unless you have something built in you cant really use anything on a temporary basis aboard to make heat except a shore powered electric heater. Anything unvented and burning some fuel will make as much moisture as it does heat and maybe deplete all the oxygen. Deisel heaters are pretty nice but they need a chimney for sure.

Use caution with electric heaters as they are the number one leading cause of boat fires and it's not the heat that starts the fire it's the crappy wiring that will be your undoing.
__________________
Paul Blais
s/v Bright Eyes Gozzard 36
37 15.7 N 76 28.9 W
Pblais is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-12-2006, 15:42   #9
Kai Nui
Guest

Posts: n/a
Temp heat, the Mr Heater propane haeaters have been discussed elsewhere on this forum, do a search. That might get you by. As for PFD's, I would make sure you have good ones (I also like the SOSpenders) for al of your regular crew, and enough cheapos for the maximum number of guests you plan to take sailing. You will find that most sailors will bring their own, but your non sailing guests will not even think of it. Regs say one for each person on board.
BBQ, this is a subject that Sean and I agree on but we are amongst the minority. I hate the propane BBQ's. The bottles are a PITA to store, and usually rust before you can use them. They also always seem to run out right about halfway through a beautiful steak. Charcoal is cheap, and easy to store, and you can burn drift wood if you are desperate. The taste is better, ans we usually, as we are in a cold climate, hang out by the BBQ to eat, enjoying the heat from the Charcoal as it burns out. Magma is the only brand I have owned, but it works great.
  Reply With Quote
Old 10-12-2006, 16:30   #10
cruiser

Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 4,525
A little thread drift, but I thought you might all get a laugh at my moronic conversion. I had a Force 10 propane grill with those little cans that DO run out half way through a steak. I took the regulator and propane burner out, put in some wire meshing, etc... and converted it over for use with hardwood charcoal. Ruined a prefectly good Force 10, but my food tastes so good it doesn't matter.
ssullivan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-12-2006, 16:58   #11
֍֎֍֎֍֎֍֎֍֎

Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 15,136
Tom, Sailorman are good folks but when it comes to a "refit" it never hurts to figure out what you will need, and then be up front and say "I just bought a boat and am fitting out. What can you do for me on list?" and ask them for a bid on the whole shebang.

Crewfit took top place in Practical Sailor's Type5 PFD reviews, but they're hard to find in the US. See http://www.mustangsurvival.com/resou...cal_Sailor.pdf
and http://www.tnyc.nfld.net/ps_0604.htm

Whichever one you get, remember that they *must* be inspected and maintained carefully if you are going to rely on them.

On the VHF...with the cost of remote mics and all, I'd rather have a complete second VHF installed at the helm, or an h/t, and have the redundancy instead of more eggs in onre basket. (Although an intercom to shout to below would be nice, there are other ways to do that.<G>)
hellosailor is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-12-2006, 18:07   #12
Kai Nui
Guest

Posts: n/a
Sean, you didn't convert it, you fixed it
I agree with a hand held VHF at the helm. We leave the VHF on in the nav station, and keep the HT at the helm, but turned off. If we need to respond to something we hear on the main set, we just turn on the HT and talk. Works great, cheap, and saves batteries.
  Reply With Quote
Old 10-12-2006, 20:42   #13
Registered User
 
delmarrey's Avatar

Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Philippines in the winters
Boat: It’s in French Polynesia now
Posts: 11,368
Images: 122
Cockpit Mic's

I have the old Standard Horizon Intrepid+ with the RAM mic at the cockpit helm. I use the RAM more the the main station in the solon. Icon makes one too but I liked the quality of the speaker better on the RAM.


http://www.standardhorizon.com/index...ID=68,Features
delmarrey is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-12-2006, 04:28   #14
Registered User

Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 6
Thanks all, this is great. Big help.
tafelice is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-12-2006, 05:22   #15
Registered User
 
Sunspot Baby's Avatar

Join Date: May 2003
Location: New Bern, NC
Boat: Prout Manta 38' Catamaran - Sunspot Baby
Posts: 1,521
Images: 14
Temp heat:

A small catalytic propane heater or a small unvented kerosene will work, but be alert to carbonmonixide problems. We bought battery powered CO monitors at Lowes and put one in the main saloon near the heater and one in our cabin below pillow level. We did not have a problem.

The kerosene raised our cabin temp about 10 deg F. That’s a big difference in comfort between say 32 and 42.

Zip together sleeping bags are cozy.

Dress in layers.

Last year, leaving Myrtle Beach in December, we had ice on deck that didn’t melt off the shaded side of the boat until about 10:30 am.

George
__________________
She took my address and my name
Put my credit to shame
Sunspot Baby, sure had a real good time
Bob Seger
Sunspot Baby is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Would you shoot ... Gisle Health, Safety & Related Gear 36 11-11-2006 07:34
WIFI Adapter Recommendations tomj Marine Electronics 9 06-11-2006 04:48
Genset Recommendations Sunspot Baby Electrical: Batteries, Generators & Solar 43 03-09-2006 19:27
recommendations??? TraCove Monohull Sailboats 13 28-07-2006 17:13
Any recommendations ... Gisle Cooking and Provisioning: Food & Drink 7 20-05-2003 01:35

Advertise Here


All times are GMT -7. The time now is 07:03.


Google+
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Social Knowledge Networks
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.

ShowCase vBulletin Plugins by Drive Thru Online, Inc.