Compressors

I just got Makita 2.5 hp compressor (MAC2400). It keeps up with my volume spray painting and is quiet. Odd thing is I bought its evil twin a few years ago. A Master Power MPAC521, which looks almost the same. It was frighteningly loud, could not really keep up, and filled the garage with smoke. After only about 30 hours of work over the last 3 years, it finally could only produce about 20 psi.
What a relief it is to have the Makita.

Where in the World are Henk and Joke?

Henk and Joke have been sailing their kHSD 45 all over the Atlantic doing fabulous tours for years. See http://www.zeevonk.nl/eng_index.htm
and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ye9MUXAXG0g&feature=player_embedded
I have not been able to contact them previously. A seadog moored next to them finally put us in touch. I’m going to try to set up something here to track where they are when. Hence the title.  They are in Curacao now. There are other world sailors also that I will highlight soon.

the crew ready for a trip
the crew ready for a trip

Insulation and Foam/glass Construction

I knew that the PVC and SEN foam cores we use to build boats had some thermal insulation value but I didn’t think it was as good as house construction insulation foam. At the Fiberlay design conference I learned that it is almost as good as the insulation foams. For example 90 kg Airex is 0.24 BTU.in/sqft.hr.F which comes to R 4.2 per inch. Craig Riley tells me that the PET foam gets wildly even better results when in a vacuum.
Nice.