Recent content by Oly

No, they will not charge any money to change the HIN on the title so not all perceptions are real. My beef is with the hassle and that it is an error to require changing the HIN (for legal reasons that have been pointed out) and errors should be fixed, regardless of the source. I did suggest...

There were a series of posts in 2012 about "13 character HIN" and I thought about replying to it but since this is not really about 13 characters but a new problem that has bubbled to the surface, I am starting a new subject. An issue has come up that I think is important to many boat owners...

My O2 sensor also died but fortunately while still under warranty. It appears they made crappy sensors for a few years and they know it. I recommend writing (snail mail) a letter, ideally certified since it may get their attention better, to the company (look in your manual or on-line) and...

I liked what I got, and the price, from the below site. You can order exactly the length and gauge you need. They have a table and a calculator to figure out the right gauge. I have absolutely no connection to the business. http://shop.genuinedealz.com/ Steve in Olympia

My impression, based on what the radar "sees" and what I see with my own eyes is that any boat with an outboard shows up pretty good. An outboard is a chunk of metal sitting off the waterline. However, most inboards don't show anything like it, unless they also have an outboard or reflector on...

This may give you a clue: I did it on a 225 Honda while the boat was in the water and I'm no spring chicken, more a 65 year old rooster. I wasn't even standing in the water--I was in my 9 foot Zodiac in my marina slip. I tied the Zodiac to the stern so I wouldn't float away as I pushed and...

My boat lives in Puget Sound all the time; I don't even have a trailer so fighting off the slime and barnacles is a constant chore. My biggest hassle has been the trim tabs, they seem to be magnets for marine growth. I haven't found a solution for them but after my transducer, and the paddle...

Another example of synthetic: You know of those marine aquariums in places far from the sea such as in St. Louis, MO or Chicago, IL? How do they get all that sea water? Truck it in? Nope. It is synthetic sea water, just like synthetic oil. They take the basic components of real sea water...

Re "synthetic" kerosene: I will try to answer this although I need to state I have no connection to the product Klean Heat or the petroleum industry so I am surmising. I do have experience as a chemist in the environmental side of petroleum products. What is meant by "synthetic" oil? I...

As a chemist, let me clarify something: Alcohol results in "less mileage" not for some nefarious conspiracy plot but simply because of chemistry. What counts in a fuel is the number of carbon atoms per volume or weight of measure. For every two carbons in ethanol there is an oxygen atom and...

Les: It would help I think if we knew which boats (if any) we might be familiar with that definitely DO and those that definitely DON'T use it. Do you know of any in either case? I've never heard of the product but maybe I've seen it many times. Or not.

Re HEET Fuel Additive: It is mostly methanol (one carbon, ethanol has two carbons). It intended to be a “winter additive” because bubbles of water in your gas can freeze in the gas line and block the fuel flow. Alcohol can cause the “absorption” of water into the gasoline where it can be...

I tried to clarify the carbon monoxide issue a year or so ago and I knew the mythology was so ingrained it was pointless. But the issue of carbon monoxide poisoning is so important, I will make one more stab at it. Here is the message: "Venting" is NOT to remove carbon monoxide from the...

I'm in the "don't panic, at least yet" group. It sounds like the EPA didn't really want to do this but bowed to corn state congressional pressure, and from Big Oil (see below) which is nothing new. I can't believe the ethanol lobby is thrilled with the restrictions and they will now work hard...

I had to Google this to be sure, but it is not as unfair as it might seem. Private marinas pay property tax but publicly owned ones do not--we don't tax government to pay government. So, in 1976 our representative government decided that since people who rent or lease publicly owned property...