Scott, Salt water is almost certainly the cause for a short circuit between the pumps electrical supply and the case and hence the bonding system. The other, less likely, possibility is accumulation o

And a pvc conduit for wiring from fore to aft in the cockpit locker... And the air intake to the engine room. And... ? Bill Kinney SM160, Harmonie Mayaguana, Bahamas

Thomas, PVC is one good choice, another is fiberglass. There is FRP tubing available, and some supplies will sell short pieces cut to length. The advantage of it over PVC is that it can be glassed in

Wolfgang, We can not give you useful information about Cuba, or the Dominican Republic, but we have spent a lot of time in the Bahamas over the last three years and greatly enjoyed it. People will tal

For those of you who installed Yanmar engines, were they able to modify their standard engine to use an isolated ground return? Bill Kinney SM160, Harmonie Underway from Georgetown to Acklins Is., Bah

The 24 volt alternator absolutely needs to be an isolated ground unit. If it is not, you end up with connections between the 24 v system, the 12 v system AND the bonding system. Very bad things will h

Ian, Hello from the other side of the anchorage :) Harmonie came to us complete with a jug of oil that was labeled with the CatPump brand, as "high pressure pump oil." Since that is now gone, I have b

Ian and Judy, Volvo is right, the engine does not need isolation. BUT, the engine ground system is not isolated to protect the engine. The C-drive needs to be connected to the Amel bonding system for

Brent, I hereby nominate you to write the next generation of manuals for Navico (B&G/Simrad/Lawerence) Your explanation of the settings and adjustment on an autopilot is about 3 orders of magnitude be

Paul, At this point our boat is ALMOST fully switched over to NMEA2000. But like you, our backup autopilot is an older model that only speaks NMEA0183. We use an Actisense NGW-1 to convert the data on

Miles, I will only cast a vote against putting them on the rail. I KNOW it is popular, and lots of people do it, and lots of people have not had an issue with it. I did it that way on my old boat. The

James, If the south coast of PR works for you, we had good experiences in Ponce at Club Nautico where we left Harmonie tied up in a slip for a trip back to the mainland. The staff was great and the fa

Kent, NO to Liquid Plumber or any other "drain cleaners"! They are concentrated Sodium hydroxide (caustic soda or lye) and very bad for many for the various bits and pieces in your downstream piping.

Kent, NO to Liquid Plumber or any other "drain cleaners"! They are concentrated Sodium hydroxide (caustic soda or lye) and very bad for many for the various bits and pieces in your downstream piping.

Paul, You might find some useful information about balancing batteries and why it is especially important for AGM's and GEL's here: Battery Connections and Balancing 4 years is a good life span for fl

Paul, You might find some useful information about balancing batteries and why it is especially important for AGM's and GEL's here: Battery Connections and Balancing 4 years is a good life span for fl

I agree with Alan, a difference in voltage of 0.4 indicates a serious imbalance on the batteries pairs. Normal AGM batteries are especially sensitive to chronic undercharging, and the batteries that a

Paul, I won't comment on the West Marine brand specifically, but MOST AGM batteries can not be safely equalized. But... you are likely being mislead by your instruments. Your battery meter measures th

Alan, The Genoa cars on our SM were made by Antel. I assume when you talk about “parts missing underneath”, you are referring to the plastic slide bearings that separate the metal parts of the car fro

We got them from Amel a few months ago. US$20. Bill Kinney, SM160, Harmonie Black Point Settlement, Bahamas