Frugal and Environmentally Friendly Eating

Lionfish is an is an invasive species in the Atlantic. Spearfishing them and eating them is therefore generally acknowledged to be a cheap and responsible source of protein. Monday Never's VLOG is an entertaining introduction to the topic. Many websites offer advice on the topic. Do your own research and come to you own conclusions!

The NOAA website states:

Since lionfish are not native to Atlantic waters, they have very few predators. They are carnivores that feed on small crustaceans and fish, including the young of important commercial fish species such as snapper and grouper.

Unfortunately, NOAA researchers have concluded that invasive lionfish populations will continue to grow and cannot be eliminated using conventional methods. Marine invaders are nearly impossible to eradicate once established.

A NOAA fact sheet states that young lionfish have been found as far north as the states of New York and Rhode Island.

The Guardian reports that they are now found in the Med.

Great advice on Saving Money

These kids (Sailingsaltymermaid) are savvy when it comes to saving money on boat work. Their VLOG Q&A advice is to do the work yourself, buy second-hand parts and if you are struggling seek advice. And, as a last resort pay for a specialist to diagnose problems and provide advice to allow you to do the work. All in all they say that they have saved saving thousands of dollars.

Sailingsaltymermaid

They also point out that doing the work yourself allows you yo learn about your boat and you'll know that the work is done right -- not something you always get when you hire others to do the work.

The Froo Gal crew is looking forward to their upcoming VLOG post on how they make money, whilst living and working afloat.  They seek like great entrepreneurs.

TREATING THE KEEL (PART 3)

Doing a proper job this time (Autumn 2016)

Well, the moment of truth; the hurried repair from last year did not seem to have made the corrosion on the keel any worse.  And if anything the anodes had done their job, slowing the corrosion to next to nothing (although we lost the Saildrive anode altogether, but without any damage to the Saildrive or prop).

There were a couple of large blisters on the port hand side of the keel, where the incompatibility of the single-part red oxide primer with the two-part epoxy primer really showed.

The growth on the bottom 15 centimeters of the keel is a bit of a mystery, but the pressure washer took it off pretty cleanly.  

After a season in the water.Copyright(c) 2016.
Froo Gal. All Rights Reserved.

 The starboard side was different. There was damp solvent between the part layers, which caused about half of the anti-foul to peel off (easily) in large sheets.  

Of course, the other half clung to the keel and would not budged with less than an aggressive grinding disc and wire brush on an angle grinder.

Two coats. Copyright (c) 2016.
Froo Gal. All Rights Reserved.

This time, we took the starboard side of the keel back to bare metal, sanded then de-greased it with thinner, filled and fared the corrosion pits with West System 407 filler epoxy mix and covered it with four coats of Hempel two-part light primer. Great.

Four coats. Copyright (c) 2016.
Froo Gal. All Rights Reserved.

"Saving Time." Copyright (c) 2016.
Froo Gal. All Rights Reserved.

As a bit of an experiment (and to save time) we just patched the areas that had bubbled on the port side. With just a day of anti-fouling to go (after a week of curing), and adding new anodes we will have finished the job in three weekends, weather permitting.

Re-Founded UK Maritime Mobile Net

Skipper Froo has been busy sailing during the summer of 2016. Among other developments in the UK good and bad -- a great Olympics performance by Team GB and Team GB sailors and Brexit -- the UK Maritime Mobile Ham Net has been re-founded on 14.303 MHz (alt 14.306): https://ukmaritimemobilenet.wordpress.com/

  

“This is G4FRN for the UK Maritime Mobile Net”

This was once a call familiar to long distance, ‘blue water’ sailors.  For many years the UK Maritime Mobile net operated on the 20m amateur radio band at 08:00 and 18:00 UTC every day.  Bill, G4FRN, Bruce, G4YZH and Tony G0IAN were regular net controllers.  It was a place to exchange position reports, weather information and generally chat to like minded people.  On occasion, the net also took on the important role of receiving distress or safety traffic and passing it to the authorities.
Although the net has been silent for a few years, we think that there is enough interest on behalf of radio amateurs both afloat and ashore to re-start the net.  If you would be interested in getting involved, as a net controller or in any other way, then please let us know via the contact page.
We would be particularly interested to hear from anyone afloat who is a licensed radio amateur who might be interested in the net and would be willing to make test contacts with us on or around the old net frequency 14,303 Khz or the alternative frequency, 14,306 Khz.

Although Ham and Marine single side band radios (SSB) are not as popular as they once were amongst long distance sailors, as the more reliable satellite systems are priced comparably, a budget or second hand Ham radio marine mobile station, for the Full amateur radio licence holder could be the frugal option. The cost-conscious, long-distance, blue water or live-aboard sailor on a budget, living away from cellphone and wifi convenience, might choose this option. It could be fun to combine these hobbies (and be a little more ready for the zombie apocalypse).