Captain's Blog

Pete’s Pier  The trip south to all our “fun” spots is a good day (8 hours).  We put out a request on some different forums for anyone looking to rent out their slip for awhile. We made contact with a boat owner in Tampa who was leaving for 6 months to head north. We emailed back & forth and decided, “let’s go for it!”. The slip is in Old Tampa Bay at the Westshore Yacht Club . It looked really cool. We spent the next month and a half getting Pau Hana ready for the new location. Westshore Yacht Club The predicted tide at our departure time was very low so we left the day before & spent the night on the hook in King’s Bay, that way we didn’t have to worry about hitting bottom. Little did I know. We had an awesome night & we were greeted by a fantastic sunrise.  We made some coffee & a quick breakfast, did our checks & motored out. Remnants from a Canaveral launch? I had a lot of confidence in a new route allowing me to cut in a little closer & shave ...

  .....and it's all right!  The rear deck on Pau Hana has a fantastic aluminum & fiberglass cover over it. The skin is a thin fiberglass panel that the previous owner used to store his Port-A-Bote. I had another idea. Since the day I saw the area I thought "Solar Panels".       A WORD OF WARNING : This is the first time I have dealt with any solar panels or installation, that said I may not have done part or any (for that matter) of this project correctly. This is just how I did it, you should do your own research to decide how to properly install any item on your boat, especially if it is electrical in nature.     There are so many choices of panels. I did find from my research that they are not all created equal and like anything else, some are better than others as they may use a better quality materials. There are basically 3 types of panels. Monocrystalline, Polycrystalline and Thin Film. Monocrystalline is the best and most efficient typ...

     When we purchased Pau Hana (formerly The Spirit of Whitby) it came with a 3.5 HP Tohatsu 4 stroke and a Porta Bote folding boat.   1st "Splash" Placida, FL     I had no interest in the folding boat as it was a pain to set up, so we sold it and saved the money toward a RIB.  The only issue with the Tohatsu was, the carburetor was off & in pieces and there were a few parts missing. With some research I learned that these motors are notorious for carburetor issues so no surprise that the previous owner had issues with it as well.      In looking through the motor, I had a cracked fuel tank as well.  I was able to locate a new carburetor kit as well as the tank and some new "ethanol" tolerant hoses. There is a carburetor kit that brings the HP of the Tohatsu up to 5 HP & it comes with an aluminum prop. I figured what the heck & ordered it.  I saw some discussions on line that suggested upgrading to the higher ...

AIS Displayed on SIMRAD GO9 & Radar Overlay After reading quite a bit of information, especially on the AGLCA forum, I became pretty convinced of the importance of AIS.  The Automatic Identification System (AIS) uses transceivers mounted on the boat to supply and/or read information about ships/boats in your vicinity (VHF range) such as ship name, size, identification, position, course and speed.  The information can be viewed by boats having the system installed and provides a way for the operator to communicate with other ships without having to "guess" who they are attempting to communicate with.  The system is very handy when operating in or near areas of large ship and barge activity.  Especially on rivers where you can't see around the bend. Imagine coming around the bend in a river only to be met by a tug pushing a bunch of loaded barges. With the AIS the captain of either boat can hail the other and provide information about what they may need to pass saf...

      Alot of Fresh Water          Living here in Crystal River Florida, the water is pretty kind to our engines.  We run out to the gulf and always get a good freshwater flushing from the spring fed river when coming back to the dock.       While at rest the water inside the raw water cooling portion contains very little saltwater, a good thing for marine engines and certainly something that will extend it's life.     We plan to move the boat to Tampa for 6 months & it will be in a much harsher saltwater environment than we have here.  Pau Hana's intake strainer has a Groco Safety Seacock. It is a nifty device that can serve as an emergency bilge pump inlet or better yet, a freshwater flushing system.     The problem I had was that I didn't have the inlet for the Groco.  Not sure if the previous owner ever had it or not. It wasn't cheap, about $75, but much cheaper & easier than insta...