Rob & PJ’s
trawler “C” Y A
At Pete’s Pub in Little Harbour, Bahamas we met Rob and PJ
over sundowners. They were cruising and
fishing - mainly fishing the Bahamas. Looking
at Motivator, Rob said I bet you have
a few RACOR fuel filters on that boat. I
responded yes, six to be exact. He told
me he invented FilterGuage®, a product that would tell me when to change the fuel
filters.
I said I had gauges on the RACORs for the main engines. He responded that the ones I have are notoriously
inaccurate even when you read them correctly, and that he would give me one of
his to try. After a little research, I determined
that I indeed was reading them incorrectly.
After starting the engines, I would do an engine room check that
included a glance at the RACOR gauges.
To tell you anything, the gauges must be read underway with a full load
on the engines, not at idle.
The next evening, Rob gave me a FilterGauge®. The big advantage of Rob’s gauge is that you
can read it with the engine off. It
registers the highest filter contamination level until reset. It is reset simply by pressing the button on
the top.
When the yellow indicator inside FilterGauge® is at the
bottom of the green area, change your diesel filter and push the reset
button. Do not wait for the indicator to
be in the red! Rob was able to
demonstrate this to me at the bar by sucking on the bottom of the T-handle.
.JPG)
I gave the FilterGauge® a test run on Motivator’s small generator.
Removal and visual inspection of the filter when it reached the red
(above) confirmed its accuracy. Damn, he
only gave me one. Now I have to order
more from Defender Marine.
Abby & Steve on Who Cares
Another inventor cruiser we have met is Steve Skulnick on
E-dock here in New Bern, NC. Several
years back, Steve invented the Freedom Fender after watching regular fenders slip
off when used against pilings.
The Freedom Fender
eliminates the need for fender boards
The Freedom Fender is concave on one side so that it stays
centered on the piling. In 2004, Steve
licensed his patent on the Freedom Fender line to Taylor Made Products so he could go
cruising. The Taylor Made Freedom
Fenders are available at most chandleries.
Motivator’s crew was wishing
we had a couple when we were sliding off the piling during Hurricane Arthur.
Soon after purchasing Motivator,
I cable tied a yardstick to the fuel tank sight tubes. On the upper three quarters of the tank they
give a fairly accurate reading of the fuel status. With the yardstick cut off at the 35” mark,
one inch equals 10 gallons on our 350 gallon tanks. I wonder if I can get a patent on this?
