I consider the average cruiser to be more knowledgeable than the average boater in general, and yet, an estimated 90% of them had no idea what a DSC emergency signal was. Don't count on DSC for anything but easily contacting your buddy for quite a while. Jim Jim McCorison Starfish Marine (619) 337-5370 http://www.starfishmarine.com

One day to do the work in a few weeks, when everything is in place, and 1 BU is the estimate. If your rudder tables are plain old steel and in places like mine, it is hard to take good care of them when the rudder packings tend to leak, as mine USED to. Still and all, I guess 33 years of function in that environment down there is not a bad track record.

I called Texas, where Nissan (a division of Tohatsu, evidently) and spoke w/ Garland Lewis head of "Service" Total indifference to not only my initial quality control problems, but also to this design flaw (in my estimation) He totoally agreed that w/ their design, the engine will flop down.

This is far greater than the error currently estimated for GPS. Why the discrepancy? Do Google satellite images and GPS refer to different datums? I don't intend to navigate using satellite images but I'll bet mapmakers use these images in drawing charts. Inquiring minds want to know. Larry Z

To make it even sweeter, the cost was only slightly more than the estimates that we got in Asia, including shipping! The usual disclaimers apply; we are simply happy customers.

As to figuring how high a rat can jump, having been around rats at the old tuna canneries in Honolulu, I would suggest after you estimate how high a rat can possibly jump, double the figure....:-) As to putting screen over vents, I figured people would realize rodents would make sure work of the typical window screen material.

To fully respond to your question with facts, numbers and supporting documentation will require several days to a week in my estimation. Anything less would, as you put it, simply be a "theoretical costs" guestimate.

He estimates that when running seven knots on the 200 horsepower engine, the yacht's 3,030 gallons of fuel could take it as far as 8,200 miles..." Dan Streech, PAE's President, says, "We envision 20 years from now it [hybrid power] could be so common that even 40 foot boats might have it."

The value can be A=autonomous, D=differential, E=Estimated, N=not valid, S=Simulator. Sometimes there can be a null value as well. Only the A and D values will correspond to an Active and reliable Sentence. This mode character has been added to the RMC, RMB, VTG, and GLL, sentences and optionally some others including the BWC and XTE sentences.

I personally think the cost in fuel burn/speed penalty is a lot more than the "estimates" we see from the manufactures when you really need them in a contrary sea state. The systems that were spec'd for Swan Song all had hydraulic pumps in the 15 to 20 HP range with double belts.