Improved Bungee's

Like duct tape, bungee cords have been making life easier for ages, but the time seemed right to improve on the original design.The  company says this...
"With carabiner clips instead of open hooks at each end, it not only attaches to your anchor points, it locks there. Instead of elastic that loses its stretch over time, the KnotBone Bungee has a durable, high quality cord that threads through each end, adjusts from 48" to 10" in the #9 size and from 28" to 6" in the #5 size. Once you have it adjusted to the right length, secure it in place with a simple wrap-and-lock motion. They have even added small self-clipping plastic caps to the cord ends to keep them in place once you've got your load secured. No more pulling, stretching, and re-hooking to get the tension you want - job after individual job, the KnotBone Bungee stays right where you attach it, pulls securely to the exact length you need, and locks there."
 Retail price is $9.99. Nite Ize Inc., Boulder, Colo., (800) 678-6483. www.niteize.com
Any body with experience with with this product, please let us know within the comments. I would love to get some and report on them, but getting this stuff to me while cruising can present some problems.

Desalinator in a Bottle

News Item.
Here's something that may save lives. While not yet  released for purchase, Puri is developing this amazing product that may eventually end up in every ditch bag, or even life raft.
You can read about it here
Simply, put some salt water into the bottle, pump, and the water is pumped into a separate chamber for drinking, leaving the brine water behind to be discarded.
I can't wait to see it available, and the reviews that are sure to come.

WD40 as sticky residue remover.

Our companion way stairs are wooden with a polyurethane coating and some non skid tape on to prevent the "sliding foot".
Last time I replaced the non skid tape, I removed all the tape by sanding and re polyurethane-ing the steps.
This time, I replaced without having to sand the remaining sticky surface off.

I removed the worn out strips of non skid tape and was left a sticky residue on the polyurethane from the tape. I first reached for De-Solv-It which has been good in the past, removing sticky residue from various tapes etc. This time around, it would not budge the sticky residue. So I reached for the WD40 which I have used to remove sticky stuff off my Gelcoat deck. Once again, WD40 removed that sticky residue without any hard rubbing.
So far, I can say it is good for removing sticky residue on both Gelcoat and polyurethane surfaces. No detrimental effects. Give it a try sometime and if you try a new surface, please report back here in comments, to tell us as to it's success.

Tape for steps

The tape for us didn't come in the width we needed so we used an old pair of scissors to cut the tape to the correct width. The grit will damage a good pair of scissors!
We use a clear tape so the urethane shows through. I think it looks nicer than the black tapes sometimes available.

Spectra Watermakers Clark Pump Check Valve Cleaning

 I was having issues with my water maker, and Spectra Watermakers suggested I check and clean the check valves in the clark pump. The thought was that there may be something caught behind one of the check valves. There are four check valves; two on each side under the cylinders where they attach to the center body.
Here's how I did it.
My watermaker membrane housing and clark pump was located under the boards of the aft bed. To remove the clark pump, I closed the sea water intake and removed the two low pressure hoses and the two high pressure hoses. Then removed the four screws holding the mounting plate and then the clark pump can be removed.

To the right is the clark pump removed and ready for disassembly. I first removed the the base mounting plate held by four bolts. That helps with with allen key use of the allen head bolts at each cylinder end where it joins the main body in the center.

Undo the four allen head bolts at one end and carefully rock the cylinder to remove from the center body. There are three O ring seals; two around the check valves and one around the large round locating piece that has the piston rod going through the centre. The piston rode pushes against the white plastic looking piston in the cylinder.

Using a Q tip cleaner, insert to clean the interface of the top check valve against the seat of the valve.

The lower check valve can be removed with a pair of needle nose pliers. It's the one that has a cross piece. There are washers and springs which full apart, but it is easily assembled and placed back. Clean with a Q tip as well before re inserting.
Make sure all O rings are in place before presenting the cylinder up and reapplying the four allen head bolts. Repeat for the other side.

In my case, I found no debris around the check valves, but found instead the piston rod that drives the pistons to be badly corroded. You can see the surface eaten away on the picture to the right. This has seals that runs on the surface of that piston rod, and I suspect that is where my problem lays.  The unit has been returned to Spectra Watermakers in the USA

Installing Port Visors

We have always wanted to have some rain protection over two port holes on our deck/saloon area. One was over the gallery; very important ventilation required while cooking. And one in our shower room; mainly to let the steam out, but not let the rain in.

Product as it arrives.

We ordered our port visors through Seaworthy Goods. Check them out.
We made sure we had the correct size and delivery was quick. The package includes the port visor with a red peel away sticky tape. A small scotch bright. And the instructions.
Installation was easy; about 3 minutes.
Scotch bright the area where visor is going to stick. Clean with alcohol. Pull off the protective red tape and apply. Press hard to ensure good contact.

Ready to start

The visors are made from lexan XL10 with UV resistance. Just wash with fresh water to clean.

Finished installation