At full speed which I estimated to be about 30 - 35 knots the pounding and rattle as we alternately crossed open water and then hit and skimmed over solid ice floes was pretty unnerving to a boater more used to boating is soft water only.

Using this constant, power requirements (and fuel consumption) can then be estimated for that same hull for a range of speeds and displacements. You can generalize to other boats of the same general type with correspondingly less accurate results.

. | | THE ESTIMATED MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE IS 1007 MB...29.74 INCHES. | | THE DEPRESSION IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE TOTAL RAIN ACCUMULATIONS OF 5 | TO 8 INCHES OVER THE WINDWARD ISLANDS... AND 3 TO 5 INCHES OVER THE | LEEWARD ISLANDS... PUERTO RICO... AND THE VIRGIN ISLANDS.

I estimate the injuries out number the discoveries. I am inclined to tailor these checks to the difficulty of doing, versus the perceived hazard of the particular boat involved and the conditions prevailing at the time.

Pat had estimated 4 nts. per month , average, in a marina and that is what we have done. I hasten to add that we did not know that we were on target until today. We have NOT limited marina stays based on allotted time as we use them when we want. We have used marinas more this month due to the oppressive heat and that is what ran up the percentage.

A conservative way to estimate frontal area is to multiply the beam by the height of the superstructure. An even simpler way is to multiply the beam by 3/4 of the beam. By this calculation, my Willard has about 100 sq. ft. of area. A Nordhavn 40 has 160 sq. ft. of area. A Nordhavn 47 has about 195 sq. ft. of area. A Nordhavn 72 has 330 sq. ft. of area.

So you can perhaps see why coming up with an accurate advance estimate of ownership costs can be so difficult. It's easy enough to track your own costs once you have the boat and are spending money on it. But using someone else's figures may not have much relevance to what you'll end up spending on your own boat. ______________________________ C.

If the bottom of the tank is not wasted such that it likely to drop off I think opening a hole and doing what we did is a good method of getting more time out of the tanks for little money (I estimate we have less than a BU in the whole repair and most of that was for the access cover, shipping to Venezuela and customs duty (27%!).

The accuracy is very good in my estimation. I'm told almost every time I talk about it, that Lehman's return so little fuel that they only have one sensor to measure flow from the tank. The recommended FloScan for my engine, vintage 1980, has a supply and return sensor.

Husky Portable Containment in Skiatook, OK. 800-260-9950, 918-217-3481. www.huskyportable.com jay@huskyportable.com For a custom made 80 gallon bladder tank for diesel fuel, having D-rings installed in the top of the bladder to prevent collapse upon fuel withdrawal, one fill fitting, one vent fitting and three withdrawal or return fittings, the cost was estimated