Captain's Blog

  Well after 22 years, the Acrylic windscreen on the flybridge broke. Of course dropping the Bimini top on it didn't help! Smooth move. I read on the Camano Facebook Group where others had them replaced and at a cost of $800, although a fair price for custom work, I felt I could get the same results for less. Being an old "Shop Teacher" from the 80's, we used Acrylic frequently and always fabricated it by hand. The techniques are a little different but most of the same tools are used.  Materials. I secured a sheet of 1/4" Acrylic. 1/4" Acrylic is really .220 thick. I couldn't get Smoke colored but did get a Gray color #XA-2064 from RS Supply in Port Richie, Florida.  A tool I didn't have was the special Acrylic Point Drill Bits. You cannot use a standard wood twist bit, as they tend to "grab" the material as the bit passes through and most of the time will crack the Acrylic.  Step 1: I labeled each piece with "BOW OUT" and "...

 Pau Hana came with a very robust windlass, Royal by Lofrans. It is a manual windlass, uses no power, works flawlessly & has a warping drum. It is a very nice unit and pretty pricey. Here's the problem...It's a lot of dang work to pull the anchor even a short distance! To add to that, it is slow to retrieve, which can be a problem when you are boating single handed or need to get the "hook" up in a hurry. It is however, mostly a problem for my deckhand (wife) as she is the one usually doing the anchor dropping/retrieving. I just couldn't let her suffer anymore. I bit the bullet & purchased a Lewmar Pro-Series 1000  from West Marine as I have a Port Supply account which usually gives me a pretty good discount. In anticipation of receiving the windlass, I downloaded the manual & ran the power wires. I planned to use the Negative terminal at the Bow Thruster (located under the forward berth) since it has a wire run from the engine room using 2/0 AWG wire...

       I needed some custom canvas work, so e arlier last year I purchased  Sailrite  Ultra-Feed LSZ-1 heavy duty sewing machine  for my Mom. 1. because she always wanted a good "walking foot" machine that could handle heavy fabric, and 2. because I needed some canvas work for Pau Hana. My Mom is a great seamstress and very accomplished with sewing large quilts so this was a pretty easy learning curve for her. Of course I was being a good son but I also had other motives 😁. Sailrite Ultra-Feed LSZ      T he front windshield had a canvas cover which was great for storage but was getting a little "ratty" and I didn't like the fact that although it gave us some privacy and kept the heat down in the summer, we couldn't get any light or a view from the front at anchor. I wanted something that could provide some privacy and knock down the heat that can tax the AC in the summer.  The port & starboard window side covers that came with ...