DanD

Good point. If you've done a lot of customizing, it might be worth it to have a survey done on the boat and present that to the insurance company. That would plug any loop holes for them to crawl through and not honour a claim. Dan.

When my daughter was a second year law student; she worked a summer for a law firm, whose clients were mostly insurance companies. Her job while there, was to research the policies and the claim reports; looking for anything that possibly could get the insurance company out of paying the claim. She hated it there; but it was good experience for her. Now that's she is a lawyer, she has chosen to practice personal injury law (which includes financial) and go after the insurance companies; that think they've dodged a bullet. She has never gone into any details of her cases; but she has told us that most insurance companies are pretty quick to settle; so that the media doesn't get wind of a juicy case. Dan.

The sock that I used on my 16' was a 56" that I would tie off at the bow or 1-2' back from the bow depending on how hard the wind was blowing. With the use of the main motor as a rudder, I could usually keep the boat drifting at a right angle to the wind. I also ran the dump line up the center of the sock, so that I could adjust how big the cone was; which would change the speed of the drift. I don't think there are any hardened fast rules on how to use a drift sock; you'll need to experiment with what works for you and your boat. Dan.

You did the right thing, by not trying to make a panic stop; especially on a 400 series hwy. The bus was lucky to get pulled over without incident; you may not have been. It was also a blessing that everyone got off the bus; but the headlines could have read 13 die from bus explosion; you being lucky #13. Dan.

It's not automotive; it's welder's cable. Very fine braid (don't know the #) and thick walled insulation. Solder a copper or brass lug on the end and then shrink tube the shank of the lug and 2 or 3 inches down the cable insulation. Been using it for years in all kinds of weather; welding trailers out in the yard. Last cable is something like 12 or 15 years old and not a sign of corrosion or insulation cracking. If there's still a concern with aberration, rubbing through the insulation; run the cable through a length of 3/4" automotive heater hose and secure it properly. I do agree with you about salt water applications; extra precautions need to be taken. Dan.

Princess Auto has welding cable at a decent price. #4 cable ($2.49 a foot); that would be more than enough to handle the current load for the main motor's starting circuit. I put the battery for my 50 Chevy in the trunk; I ran a #4 cable from the trunk up to the underhood electrical centre; for all the electrical, to start & run this fuel injected, computerized V8 that I installed. Dan.

Yes military personnel are well trained for battle situations; kill or be killed. They are not trained as an individual but as a part of a unit; a unit that follows orders to the tee. So now lets send this one well trained soldier (who hasn't scratched his ass without permission for years) out, in the public with a loaded gun. Their last official order was, protest yourself if you feel threatened; I wonder how that would play out????? Dan.

In parallel using one of these, between the two batteries. That way you can isolate the main engine battery, while using the kicker. If the kicker cannot keep its battery and the electronics' battery charged, with its low rate of charge system; the main engine battery will not be drained. When using the main engine, start it with its battery and then switch the selector to both batteries so the larger charging system can bring both batteries back up to full charge. When storing the boat, switch the selector to off; now all electrical is dead and no forgotten radio or fishfinder to kill your batteries. Dan.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buggery_Act_1533 I couldn't have explained it as politely as that. Dan.

To me that's sounds like a good idea; if you were allowed to build on the property? If you do find a camp, it doesn't mean you have to open the cottages too weekly guests; but seasonal or long term leases. These tenants would have their own hydrometer and be responsible for whatever services that are offered in the area. They look after the landscaping and other shared cost for their cottage; kind of like a condo set up, where everyone kicks in a bit to make it more affordable for all? Dan.

Thanks Wayne! I didn't want to start anything; but if I had gas cans that were venting on their own, while in storage. Well lets just say, I wouldn't be the first one in the shop in the mornings to flip the furnaces on. LOL Not to belittle Mister G; yes you're right, they do have to vent; but only when you're pouring gas out of them. As for expansion, you should never fill a gas can any more than 90%; that 10% space will allow room for the expansion of the fuel. Dan.

Regardless of the can's orientation, it should not leak. If liquid gas can leak from it, then fuel vapours also can. Gasoline vapour is much more volatile than when it's in liquid form. Take the can back and exchange it for one that does not leak; even if it's sitting on its head. Dan.

There are no stupid questions, just dumb answers; but not this time! You are correct Sir. Dan.

Just don't buy a "universal" hitch; get a direct fit and you'll be happy with just about any manufacturer you buy from. If you were closer; we could stick it on here at the shop; or if you feel like a ride to London, we could put it on and have some fun doing it with a few brown pops? Dan.

Does anyone know whether Elk Cabins on Elk Lake is still in business? I've tried calling them but their voicemail is full; I've sent them a couple emails and haven't received a reply? I've even called the variety store and the town hall, (small village everyone knows everyone) in Elk Lake. They said they haven't seen the the owners since early winter? The town hall clerk said that if they have closed for business; they haven't notified them? This would have or hopefully will be our third year going there; place suits the needs of my ill brother, by not going off the grid; like we use too. Dan.

Tried to paste the below from a word doc but it didn't work out??? Wiring Code 7 way Trailer End # Color Gage Circuit Function connector interior 1 white 10 common ground 2 blue 12 electric brake 3 green 14 tail/running lights 4 black 10 battery charge (+) 5 red 14 left turn/stop 6 brown 14 right turn/stop 7 yellow 14 auxiliary/back up NOTE: #7 is the center terminal and currently is most commonly used for backup lights.

I put a 7 pin connector on the trailer and added the 12 volt lead to come out the back of the plug; along with an extra ground wire. Connected those two wires to an insulated two wire connector. On the boat side, I went from the battery terminals (+ & -) with the amount of 12 gage wire that I could reach the two terminal plug on the trailer. On the positive lead I installed a circuit breaker; just incase this two wire harness in the boat ever shorted to ground. It's never good to let the smoke out of any electrical component. LOL After that you plug in the 7 pin plug in and then plug the two wire into the boat. They done this for years on house trailers; that have their own battery. The only difference is that they had an isolator; so that when parked for the night, the trailer could not use the tow vehicle's battery. Dan.

If you wanted to get fancy with the wiring; you could go with a 7 pin round plug. It would give you a constant 12 volts at the plug; that's protected by a 30amp fuse and a relay . It was/is meant for electric trailer brakes; but you could use this 12 volt source from the Xterra to charge the boat's battery(s); while you're towing. All it would take is one short harness between the boat's battery and the trailer. I did that on my last boat (sorry I sold it now) and I never had to worry about a soft battery. Then again it would depend on how far you tow? Dan.

If you're thinking of doing the wiring yourself; you'd best do some research first. The exterior lighting on most newer vehicles are controlled via the BCM (Body Control Module) in other words the body computer. The BCM can only handle so much current flow; adding extra load on the existing tail light circuit, by splicing into the wrong circuit; could possibly burn out the BCM. $$$$$$$ I just looked up the wiring diagram for this Xterra and it has dedicated wiring harness, relays and fuses for trailer lights and accessories. You should find this harness pigtail, breaking out of the main rear wiring harness and the connector should be tucked up behind the left corner of the rear bumper. I would also suggest getting the trailer plug harness from the dealer. There won't be any cutting or splicing; by rights it should be plug & play. If you want a copy of the wiring diagram, give me your Email addy and I'll send it to you. I would have to make too large to post here and be able to read it. Dan.

In a cube van, you can access the cargo area from the passenger compartment. So if they would have had any bottles with the seals cracked or a box of beer opened; they would/could have been charged, with alcohol readily available. I guess the same would go for any type of vehicle, where you don't have a separate cargo area like the trunk of a car? I love driving my 50 Chevy, when coming up on a seat belt check; The car doesn't have seat belts. The younger cops don't know what to say and that's when I hand them a copy of the highway traffic act. It states that if the vehicle was produced by the manufacturer without seat belts, they are not required. They usually question the photo copy and I tell them to go look it up; they usually come back to the car after a few minutes and apologize for making me wait. LOL Another time I was stopped in the 50 for not signaling, when I was making a lane change on the 401. I was in the centre lane, the cop was in the right lane and I went into the left lane. Next thing I see is the cop on my tail with his lights flashing. I signalled and pulled over onto the right shoulder of the road. This poor guy gets out of his cruiser and he looks madder than a wet hen. "Do you know why you were pulled over"?!!!! No sir I don't? You made an illegal lane change by not signaling and you did it again, when you crossed two lanes to pull over to here. I look straight at him and said I did so signal; maybe you didn't see it? He says, not once did I see any signal light flashing. Well sir that's because the car doesn't have signal lights; I used hand signals. He walked away shaking his head. LOL Dan.

I've already built an automatic watering system for the wife's flower baskets; that I'll tap into for the garden. Her 6 hanging baskets are spread over the length of our 30 foot deck. Each basket gets approx 8 ounces of water, over a 4 minute period at 9am every morning. Planning on making a soaker design, rather than a mist type for the garden; that I'll be able to regulate the amount of water it gets. What's Red Green's saying. "If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy." Dan.

With all this talk about gardens, I thought I build a portable mini garden bed, for down at the weekend trailer. The park does not allow you to dig up a portion of your lot for a garden; which is another reason to make it portable. So I collected some material and welded up this wagon frame; last weekend. I still need to make the draw/steering bar and finish welding in the braces; but I ran out of argon for the mig welder, on Sunday. Then I'll need to make a 12" high wooden box to fit the frame, that I plan on filling with about 8" of a topsoil and compost mix. After that it should be ready for these little guys. It surprised the heck out of me, how fast the lettuce, onion sets and beans sprouted and started shooting up; only after one week of being seeded. I may end up transplanting them to the bed, sooner than planned on? I'll just have to make room here in the shop; until it gets warm enough to stick outside. Dan.

It's crazy that pot hasn't been legalized years ago; look at all the tax revenue that has been lost to the dealers. Or the jobs it would create during the growing, processing and marketing of it. Another thing are the people like my sister in law; during her fight with cancer. she wouldn't have had to sneak around to get the stuff that helped her the most with her pain. Dan.

Yea With you mentioning bottled water; reminded me of when I did myself in one early morning; after partying the night before, at the trailer park. I wake up and had the hangover dries real bad and needed something cold. I go to the fridge and spotted an almost full bottle of water. As soon as the first mouth full went down; everything went into reverse gears and I've got my head in the sink. It was a bottle filled with vinegar; that my wife brought down to the trailer that weekend to make salad dressing. Dan.

My daughter got me a few years back. We were having a house party and I asked her if she would mix up a black russian (Kahlua & Vodka) for me. Off she goes with my glass and returns a couple minutes later. I take a big swig of the drink and had to run to the sink and spit it out. Instead of Kahlua she put liquid beef bovril in the drink and it looked just like the normal drink. Talk about a shock to the taste buds; expecting sweet and get a mouth full of bitter & salt instead. She still asks me every once in awhile, if I'd like another one of her "special" black russian; with a big grin on her face. Dan.