I was tempted to respond to something that was posted the other day, but Ben's comments prompt me to do so now. Someone wrote to the effect that Jim Leishman had engineered or othewise discovered the usefulness of the day tank in tracking fuel consumption. This idea, of course, is almost 100 years old. Now, we have yet another situation where someone solved the ventilation problem with the boxes we now refer to as Dorades, as they were first used on that small boat. As well-thought-out and equipped as my boat is, the Vetus vents with "Dorades" are a joke when any green water comes aboard, and will soon be replaced with the real thing. The drains on these boxes will be about one square inch in size, and plentiful (12 on a 20 x 10" x 10" box, constructed from 5/4 teak). The Dorades on my Westsail 43 are made this way, and they allow water mist-free ventilation in all conditions short of a storm. Ben may yet have an opportunity to fit similar boxes. The ones I see on boats today have drains which are *much* too small, and too few. Style has overcome practicality, and it seems that the trawler world still has has much to learn from that of sail. Regards, John "Seahorse" Ben Gray wrote: In a small ship like ours, facing a head sea, it is hard to keep a breeze coming through without shipping sea spray. It gets on everything like dust on the prairie. We have ruined 3 computers to date and mine now is showing strange things on the screen that won't go away so not good.

> Someone wrote that Jim Leishman had > engineered or othewise > discovered the usefulness of the day tank in > tracking fuel consumption. This > idea, of course, is almost 100 years old. T'was I who wrote that! (response to a question on how fuel consumption on the N40 ATW was monitored). I didn't ascribe anything magical to a day tank (in fact, didn't even call it a day tank), just that Leishman had calibrated a very small tank in half-ounce increments, all plumbed with Aero Equippe (sp?) hoses and stainless steel valves, a bullet proof solution for crossing a ~2500 nm stretch of ocean with ~900 gallons of diesel. The idea may be a hundred years old, but I have not seen it deployed so elegantly in a small production boat. (as a matter of fact, I don't recall seeing a similar setup on any other boat in the N40 class). This is now available on new Nordhavns. > The Dorades on my Westsail 43 allow > mist-free ventilation in all > conditions short of a storm. Style > has overcome practicality, and it > seems that the trawler world still > has has much to learn from that > of sail. Given Idlewild's schedule and arduous route, my guess is they need ventilation in storm conditions too. These guys seem pretty hardy and awfully resourceful, chances are they are well ahead of the development curve - sail or otherwise. I'd be hard pressed to call Idlewild's design a nod to "style over practicality." Peter www.SeaSkills.com