Mailport & PS Advisor

In the December 2007 Practical Sailor Advisor, you requested feedback on Ultimate Sole, a product for coating cabin soles. Two years ago, I added a -inch teak-holly veneer plywood covering to my sole and used Ultimate Sole as the finish. I first put on a sealer and then two coats of Ultimate Sole. It went on very easily and performed better than I expected. It is a hard, glossy finish that truly does offer nonskid properties. You look at the finish and think you will slide all over the place, but you don't! It is a wonderful product, and I wouldnt use anything else.

As with all wood-finishing techniques, there are a million different "best" coatings for a cabin sole-the answer just depends on who you ask. Advice runs the gamut-from using the same urethane clear-coat recommended for basketball courts and bowling alleys to leaving it natural. According to Interlux (www.yachtpaint.com), its Cetol products can be used on cabin soles, but we do not recommend using them. Cetol Marine, Cetol Marine Light, and Cetol Marine Natural are relatively soft coatings and will not last long or wear well with the amount of traffic a cabin sole sees. The Cetol gloss overcoat is not as hard of a finish as most urethanes, so it would offer less protection but just as much slipperiness as a hard varnish.

Regarding safety, the choice to design Glacier Bays system around a 240-volt DC buss was made for reasons of both safety and practicality. Increasing voltage reduces current and, with it, the risk of fire from overheated electrical connections. As for shock hazard, AC voltages above 50 and DC voltages above 80 are potentially dangerous. Unfortunately, the article leaves the impression that DC voltage is more dangerous than AC voltage. In fact, the U.S. Navy has found that DC voltage is five to six times less likely to cause fatality than the same AC voltage. Our system is based on the best practices of numerous standards for DC systems in other industries. We have been at the forefront in attempting to develop American Boat and Yacht Council (ABYC) guidelines for installations in yachts. Regarding fuel efficiency, the similar fuel burns seen by the Maine Cat 41 with diesel-electric propulsion and the Maine Cat 45 with a 160-horsepower conventional diesel propulsion are exactly what would be expected. It is only under rougher sea conditions that the diesel-electric system will be more efficient than the conventional diesel system. (See our website, www.ossapowerlite.com, for more on this.) What was not clear in the article is that Maine Cat significantly modified the hull of the boat to improve performance between testing the Glacier Bay system and the Volvo diesels. We believe that the efficiency improvement with the Volvos is a result of the hull changes, not the engines.

There are two schools of thought when it comes to applying antifouling to Hypalon. Were of the "don't do it" camp for a few reasons. First, once bottom paint is applied to Hypalon, it can be very difficult to remove without risking damage to the material. Second, if you ever store the dinghy on deck or deflate it for longer storage, you can be sure that paint is going to rub off on things youd rather it not foul-for instance, tacking headsails or the deck, if the dinghy is stored there. Even if you leave the dinghy in the water for long periods of time without use, cleaning the bottom regularly should be sufficient. The folks at Mercury agree with us on this point. Mercury Marine Sales Manager Larry Piechocki told Practical Sailor, "Once this paint is on the tubes, it will never come off. Im not a big fan of painting inflatables, but that is up to the customer."

Thanks to everyone who responded to our call for suggested DIY boatyards for an upcoming article. There is still time to participate: Send your picks to the editors e-mail at [email protected]. If you didnt hear from us on this topic, its probably because youre not getting the editors e-newsletter, which represents his very best efforts at 3 a.m. the night before deadline. To sign up, go to: www.practical-sailor.com/customer_service/ and select "Change My E-mail Address."

Ive created a 24-volt system by connecting two 200-amp-hour 12-volt batteries in series to drive an electric outboard as auxiliary power for our 25-foot sailboat. The 24-volt bank will be charged using a 24-volt charger on shore power and by a 24-volt series of solar panels when mooring. I would like to eliminate the 12-volt batteries. I bought a 24- to 12-volt converter to stand in place of the 12-volt batteries, but I learned that the converter is not compatible with driving any kind of motor due to the back-voltage created by the collapsing field when the motor stops. I have a freshwater pump and a motorized outboard-motor bracket, so this particular converter is out of the question. Do you have any suggestions? Must I maintain a 12-volt battery for all the 12-volt equipment or is there a step-down technique?

Your recent assessment of the locator service SPOT (Practical Sailor September 2008) was spot on. We recently took it along on a Pacific Coast, offshore delivery of a 50-foot sailboat. We hit bad weather and had several mechanical failures. Our families ashore were able to follow our progress on the SPOT website throughout our trip. The problem came when a panicked crew, unknown to me, hit the "911" button. I was able to cancel the 911 call a few hours later. Our families were simply alerted that we had a serious problem but did not know anything more for a couple days. The SPOT command central repeatedly called my cell phone, which was with me, 250 miles offshore and obviously out of range. They claimed they could not determine our position despite several days of track records.

I was wondering if you folks have ever evaluated the various kinds of plywood for use in marine environments. Needing to replace a bulkhead, I went plywood shopping with a friend. Its his belief that theres little difference between regular plywood and marine plywood, other than the price. He says its all the same glue, and that different glue wouldnt matter because wood is wood and it all delaminates the same when exposed to water. What are your thoughts?

In your June 2008 article "Comparing the Latest Inflatable PFDs," you mention at the beginning of the article that Personal Flotation Devices (PFDs) should be cleaned and stored as directed by manufacturers and that inflation mechanisms should be routinely inspected. In the case of inflatable PFDs that meet Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) standards, such as the Viking products you reviewed, it is a SOLAS requirement that they be inspected and tested in the premises of an approved service station every 12 months. In all other cases, this is highly recommended for an item of lifesaving equipment. Your article goes on to say that re-arming and re-packing a PFD generally is easily carried out. I suggest that this information is dangerously misleading. A manufacturers manual for a PFD can run into more than 100 pages covering the unpacking, cleaning, inspection, testing, repair, and assembly. Hopefully, you will be able to enlighten your readers to the risks they take by not having a PFD professionally inspected once it has been used.

My wife and I have owned our boat since 1985. We now keep it in the British Virgin Islands, where the Caribbean sun is tough on finished wood and fiberglass. The reason I am writing you is to get your true feeling about novices handpainting our decks. We want to keep the nonskid and the white border design we currently have. The decks were Awlgripped by the factory in 1992, but this has turned chalky and shows tremendous wear. Is it feasible to try such a project? Or should I just pony up the money to have it done? We have time and plenty of elbow grease and a willingness to try.