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Going with LFP will dramatically increase your battery capacity and will dramatically shorten your recharge (gen) time. You also don't have to worry about bringing the batts up to 100% SOC regularly like you do with AGM. They last much longer. Seems like a no-brainer for the cost difference...

My advice is get a PLB for coastal (and near coastal) cruising. All the other communications devices (Inreach, Go, sat phone, etc) have their benefits but you should have a simple, on/off emergency device to call the cavalry if needed. You don’t need to be screwing around with texting, pairing...

Quite an accomplishment. Congrats to all.

We have 4 of them and they all sync up with no fuss. There is a number above which you need an additional base unit to use them all at once. I think it may be more than 4 or 5. A sportfisher friend of mine runs 7 or 8 at a time and it works.

We looked hard at lots of different boat and went with the N63. It doesn’t roll and it’s not cramped. The ER and overall layout were much better for our needs than the Fleming. We love the boat and literally wouldn’t trade it for anything we’ve seen at any price.

It gets increasingly difficult for a couple to run a boat over about 70’, and some would say 50’. If you have crew and a big budget, nothing is too big. Not what you asked, but you would be much better off spending the next 9 years with some smaller boat that you can use and learn...

Edwin, do you have boat building experience? I may have missed it somewhere along in the thread, so I apologize if it is a repeat question.

We had a small inflatable in the past and also had trouble getting the numbers to stay on the fabric. Eventually, I put the number and sticker on the hard transom. That worked perfectly for several years and we never had a complaint from law enforcement. An improvised solution is generally more...

You should let the engineers at Deere and Northern Lights know that they have been giving bad advice. Maybe you can help them update their recommendations.

The jet tenders are heavy and not nearly as space efficient as an outboard. Jets in general aren’t very fuel efficient, which matters if you are carrying your own gas on extended trips. They would be fun and maybe easier around sand bars, but not a good combo for our needs in a tender. Our...

Change it at 3 yrs and you won't have another failure to start. Exceptions are defective battery and having a load left on when parked, which is hard to do in a newer car.

For me, multiple electronic backups are the fire extinguishers. Paper charts are like carrying around a bucket of water because you don't trust your fire extinguishers.

Another bonus of the Reverso is that they are hard-mounted in place. You don’t have separate pumps, hoses, etc to find a place to store, clean and put away after use. You use the system, cap the hose end, and forget it until next oil change. I consider it a plus anytime I can reduce the amount...

Nothing runs like a Deere.

I’m switching the house bank to Battleborns later this spring. Our Lifelines are 8 years old and at reduced capacity. The plan is to go with (6) 8D LFPs instead of the current (8) Lifeline 8Ds. My quick and dirty math says that gets me somewhere in the range of 50% more usable amps. We will...

Sounds like a great solution. What RPM are you using at cruise speed?

Hippo, don’t you think that maybe they just have a different definition of getting ahead? It seems that all your examples are doing what is important to them and that is what will make them happy and fulfilled. All generations have a spectrum of people with different strengths and desires. We...

The problem isn’t that young people don’t want a business, they just don’t want a business that is marginally profitable. Its hard to justify working 60 hrs a week for wages. Build a business that is highly profitable and you will find lots of buyers of all ages. Too many family businesses...

Not to go off on a tangent, but your 15% return on a business is on invested capital, and the 4-5% is a cap rate on an all-cash basis. Not apples to apples. Smart RE buys don’t depend on appreciation to achieve a solid return. There is so much money chasing tiny returns in both businesses and...

Citing incorrect use of chartplotters as a reason to keep paper charts makes no sense to me. Use your electronics correctly and all the info is there. Having one or more backups makes perfect sense, but we use multiple devices and chart sources for redundancy. I’m just as likely to use a paper...

Lifelines are more tolerant of minor abuse than most other lead acid batteries. They do require that you follow correct charging protocols in order to get the full life out of them. We are just starting year 8 on our full set of Lifelines. The starts are getting tired and the house bank (eight...

Show it to some wood boat guys or experienced woodworkers and there is a good chance they can ID it. Tough to do from a photo, but with a good look and touch and feel, the right guy will know.

The better quality gens will outlive the owner for most of us. Boats with a 24/7 gen running are the exception, but the starts are less of a factor. Not sure making mods to increase life has much of a payoff.

If you mean the TotalBoat product, then I am somewhat familiar with it. They promote it to firm up rotted wood, which is a project that I’m not likely to undertake. If you mean another brand name, I would expect from the name that it is still a penetrating epoxy. The context here is...

Seems like this is getting over-engineered. KnotYet made a great suggestion to use velcro. The stuff you want is industrial grade or heavy duty stuff. Both sides have the plastic hook stuff, there is no “fuzzy” side. It has serious peel-and-stick adhesive on the back, so you don’t need any...