Archive for the ‘Boating’ Category

Inflatable boats first appeared in the early part of the nineteenth century when animal skins were inflated with air and used to make pontoons. However, they didn’t become truly popular until the end of the Second World War when the US military began selling surplus inflatable boats to civilian boaters. Boating enthusiasts soon embraced this inexpensive alternative means of water travel.

Inflatable boats have become extremely popular and readily available. One of the most well-known brand of inflatable boat is the respected Zodiac brand. Although the Zodiac Group makes products for the aerospace and communications industry, they are known principally to consumers for their inflatable boats, also known as RIBs or rigid inflatable boats.

Inflatable boats are strong but they are not indestructible. They can experience the same issues as any other type of craft which means they require ongoing maintenance. Without adequate care, an inflatable boat won’t have a long life. It will start to lose air and it will become unusable, possibly to the point where repairing it can become as expensive as buying a new one.

So, with this in mind, one of the most basic parts of any maintenance program is an inflatable boat cover. Exposure to adverse weather, salt water, birds or insects can cause deterioration to the structure of your inflatable boat and can affect its expected life span. To avoid that situation, start looking for an inflatable boat cover.

Where Can I Buy An Inflatable Boat Cover?

One of the first places to search for an inflatable boat cover is the Internet. There are several companies that provide these products. Search for them through your favorite web browser and navigate to their sites. Once you have found three or four sites for comparison, send them an email.

The quality of the response will help in evaluating the company. Trained staff should provide you with all the information on the type of inflatable boat cover you should buy. When you’ve chosen your preferred store, a phone call and a credit card are all you will need to complete your purchase. Your package will be dispatched to your home or office.

If you’d like to inspect the inflatable boat cover prior making a purchase, you can also search for a boating accessory store near you. Grab the yellow pages and find the boat covers section. You should find at least one store or marina that can sell you a pre-made or custom inflatable boat cover.

You’ll find more information at all boat covers and inflatable boat cover.

Boating is one of the most wide spread activities the worldl over, and for good reason. Should you decide that you would like to get on the boating bandwagon, then you will want to purchase a boat, and there are a few steps that you are going to need to follow if you want to be sure that you choose just the right boat.

New or Used

One of the initial things that you want to think about if you are going to purchase a boat is whether you want to buy a new boat or an old boat. It doesn’t really matter which one you choose, but regardless you will initially have to decide on the type of boat that is going to {suit best fit} your needs. Once you have done this , next up is whether to buy it used or new.

Keep in mind that this will depend a lot on the type of financing that you have to work with for your boating dreams. Anyway, I’m sure you know that a new one will cost a lot more than a used one, so you will need to figure out how much money you have to work with, and from here determine which is going to be a better decision for you.

If you do decide that you want to get a new one, one of the top places you can go is a boat show. These are wonderful shopping grounds where you can find not just a large selection of boats, but great deals too. Just be sure that you put consideration into the dealer that you are buying from. You should consider for example, if they are offering a special price but you have to drive far to pick up the boat, it may not end up being a savings at all by the time you pay for the gas to get there to pick it up.

If you are buying a boat used to satisfy your boating desires then, you really need to be even more careful. Your searching can be done anywhere from newspapers and magazines to online websites, and a large number of dealerships also offer used boats that have been taken as trade-ins.

Just make sure that you ask a lot of questions about it before signing on the dotted line, and if you can, try to see it in person. You want to be absolutely sure that it is in good enough condition to really have the value that you are willing to , and also ensure that there is a proper return or refund policy.

In a conventional marine diesel engine the power is produced by hot compressed air igniting fuel sprayed under very high pressure into the cylinder head. A marine diesel engine does not use a carburetor to mix fuel and air or spark plugs to ignite the mixture. Instead it uses the pistons to compress the air to 3000 kPa which causes it to become very hot and the fuel is ignited as soon as it is injected into the cylinder.

Some marine diesel engines are fitted with a heater plug in the inlet manifold or a glow plug in the pre-combustion chamber of each cylinder to provide additional heat to the combustion air during starting.

Diesel engines are heavier and slower revving than petrol engines but they are also more reliable because they do not rely on external carburetion or an electrical spark for ignition.

Many newer engines employ an electronic fuel injection system where fuel and air are mixed more thoroughly in the pre-combustion chamber before entering the cylinder. This system maximizes power and fuel economy and is a less polluting option.

All boating enthusiast should have some understanding about the workings of their engine so let’s start with the mechanical cycles of the engine.

Most reciprocating piston internal combustion engines work on one of two mechanical cyclesóeither the four-stroke cycle or the two-stroke cycle. These cycles designate, in correct sequence, the mechanical actions by which the fuel and air gain access to the engine cylinder, the gas pressure – due to combustion – is converted to power and, finally, the burnt gas is expelled from the engine cylinder.

The Basic Four-Stroke Diesel Engine

As the name suggests it is obvious there are four strokes in one complete engine cycle. A stroke is the movement of the piston through the full length of the cylinder and, since one such movement causes the crankshaft to rotate half a turn, it follows that there are two crankshaft revolutions in one complete engine cycle.

The four strokes in the order they occur are:

1. Inlet stroke. With the inlet valve open and the exhaust valve closed, the piston moves from top dead center (TDC) to bottom dead center (BDC), creating a low-pressure area in the cylinder. Clean, filtered air rushes through the opened inlet valve to relieve this low-pressure area, and the cylinder is filled with air.

2. Compression stroke. With both valves closed, the piston moves from BDC to TDC, compressing the air. During this stroke the air becomes heated to a temperature sufficiently high to ignite the fuel.

3. Power stroke. At approximately TDC, the fuel is injected, or sprayed, into the hot, compressed air, where it ignites, burns and expands. Both valves remain closed, and the pressure on the piston crown forces it down the cylinder from TDC to BDC.

4. Exhaust stroke. At approximately BDC the exhaust valve opens and the piston starts to move from BDC to TDC, driving the burnt gas out of the cylinder through the open exhaust valve.

The Two-Stroke Diesel Engine

The two-stroke engine uses two piston strokes to complete one power stroke and, therefore, it fires twice as often as a four-stroke engine. A two-stroke engine is smaller and simpler with fewer moving parts. A two-stroke engine has the potential to produce twice as much power as a four-stroke engine of the same size, however, because of the extra fitting required in a two-stroke diesel engine, for example blowers and governors, they become more expensive to produce. Recently there has been a move towards four stroke diesel engines which have become more efficient and smaller.

Protect Your Marine Diesel Engine

Protect your engine by avoiding long periods (more than 10 minutes) of idling in a ìno-loadî situation. This is often done to charge batteries or cool refrigeration but if done repeatedly it will glaze the bores of the engine and cause premature engine failure. If the vessel is in a berth the engine can be put in gear to create load at idle.

All boat owners should have an understanding of basic marine diesel engine maintenance to keep themselves and their families safe on the water.