No, I'm not talking about an old person eating beans, I'm trying to figure out where to get rid of some gasoline/oil mixed for an outboard engine.  It has been in the tank for over a year and I'm afraid it will clog up the engine.  I find this to be an interesting delima, I've asked a lot of people and no one seems to have an answer.  Can I be the only one that has this problem?  Several people said "go dump it in a field".  I don't think that's the right thing to do and I won't do it, but what is the proper solution.  Anyone have an answer?

Thanks,
Ken

An article some months ago in Lattitudes and Attitudes magazine caught my eye.  The author had asked a number of people what the critical books were to have in your libary, and they came up with a number of categories, and within each category listed usually the top 1-3 books that were mentioned by cruisers.  These were the people actually out there doing what a lot of us hope to do some day.

The books were scattered throughout the prose, so I set the magazine aside, vowing to come back to it later and capture them in a table.  Of course,with me, this usually means it will never happen -- but this time it did!  In case anyone else is interested, here is the list they recommended.   (The one that took my breath is 'World Cruising Routes' - available on Amazon.com at $275.)

This Cruise to Nowhere did not really go according to plan.  Three boats participated. Stellar of Course was cruise leader and had a crew of 4.  Cambria had a crew of four also.  Alter Ego had a crew of seven including your author. Marion had to work and was not on the trip.

Now, I understand right away, that a lot of the guys out there are going to tell me I should be reading 'This Old Boat' or something that will teach me how to maintain my boat.

Although I have limited experience, being a relatively new member of TMCA, I do see a pattern:  each boat that participates usually has a couple on board.  Of course, this is because everyone wants to get their boat out of the slip and on the water.

Well, Al and I have begun our very first brightwork job.  Being new boat owners this first boat of ours is giving us the opportunity for many firsts!  We started with a gel stripper... bad idea... after about one hour and moving about 2 feet we figured that it was plan B  time.  And, I have to say that plan B seems to be just great!  We bought a $24 heat gun and scraper and in "relatively" short order we  stripped that baby clean.  Al had two sandings done (one with 150 and one with 220) by the end of the weekend!  She was clean and ready to apply the finish.  

Wayne (Shifty) Mulloy, Physician, Lawyer, and TMCA “Bad Boy”

Website Committee checking out the blogging process. 
Thanks for your understanding!

What is the closest tide reporting station to Oak Island/Double Bayou area? Looks like those coming after the Portofino meeting may arrive at  the Double Bayou channel at LOW TIDE?

Some time ago we made the determination that if we were ever going to really go somewhere we would need reliable transportation from a mooring or anchorage to shore.   A reasonable dinghy is also necessary for some of the more interesting TMCA events.  Something had to be done.

The dinghy part was easy.  A quick trip to TRIAD MARINE and we settled on a 9'2" Achilles with the bow locker.  We're sailors - not power boaters - so speed isn't necessary and weight is important.  While some may have wanted more power we picked a new Yamaha 6hp, 4-stroke outboard to propel our new craft.  The process was simple - pick out what you want and hand over the little plastic card - done.

Now we need a way to haul our new toy.  This part is not so simple.   We have a blow up/roll up dinghy and some goofy, flimsy plastic clips that came with the boat.  The idea was that you place the side tube of the dinghy in the "C" shaped clips mounted on the stern and the fold the inflated dinghy up against the transom.  We tried this since we already had the equipment and found it unsatisfactory.  The dinghy was too low and dragged in the water.  This approach also made it impossible to deploy the swim ladder.  Our deck is too cluttered to find sufficient space to lash the dinghy top side so the solution is - davits!

OK, so as long as we are doing davits perhaps we can incorporate some storage racks for fenders and some mounting points for solar panels and an HF radio antenna. 
I checked with a lot of local folks - the most influential was Chris Mooney.  Some of you may know him.  Visit his site at: http://www.moonsail.com/   Chris and others sent me to JZ Custom Rails in Kemah for a proper solution.  We have been working with Jason Zepeda and I think he is coming up with a design that is exactly what we want.  The davits are a longer process.  Jason has been to the boat twice now.  The most recent time was to make a wooden mock-up that fit our boat and our requirements.  The orange lines placed over the wooden structure give a better idea of the final cross section.  He should be back soon with some stainless tube stock to begin the fabrication process.   So, the process has started.  We were hoping to have all of this in place in time for the Spring Break Cruise but JZ Custom Rails is a busy place.  We should have started sooner.  More photos when we reach the next step in the process.