Just a note of thanks to Gerry D and Catalina yachts re hull

[russp]

My C350, Avalon is hull number 150 built in 2003. While I was pressure washing her today to remove 2 lbs of guano (I have the luxury of having her on a jetty with power and water) I started thinking about what a brilliant job Catalina do in building robust hulls. As the deck came clean inch by inch it returned - as it does each time I wash her - to virtually ex-factory condition - after 20+ years in direct sunshine. There is only one area of crazing on the whole deck at a rear stanchion, no wear-through on the antiskid, and only one chip in the gelcoat where I dropped a spanner.

My friends with "other" yachts, misguided as they are, cannot say that their hulls are in ex-factory condition after 20 years so my grateful thanks to the Catalina team for building such excellent yachts.

[nybor]

Mr. Peel is definitely a fantastic resource and I agree with his statement about Catalina boats quality my (2006, #411). I love mine...

dave

ps HOWEVER, be very careful when taking his advice.... I know that the Aussies are addicted to Vegemite spread. I think it eventually causes the eater to making dubious claims. Why?

pps. I am confident about the above statement. When I was a teenager in Argentina (my dad was sent there from Texas), my best friend was Australian. I never heard of Vegemite and he said to try it. Well, it looked kinda like peanut butter so I put a 1 cm thick layer on a piece of toast, folded it over (fyi, now almost 1 inch thick layer) and took a huge bite.....

ppps. If anyone wants to visit me, I am in the Venice Florida Sanitarium. They let me out once a week for an hour to visit my boat. (as Russ says, even my leg chains don't scratch the deck!

[russp]

I would like to defend Vegemite, but difficult, you have to be borne with it in your blood. A swede sharing a lab with me in Toronto a long time ago asked if he could share a bit of my lunch so I gave him 1/2 a vegemite sandwich. He took a bite then went pale and raced to the bathroom to vomit! He was never quite the same after that. Now back to cleaning off more guano, how come nobody has worked out how to make money out of collecting it? Boatees have heaps!

[nybor]

Coincidence? My last name is Bloomquist (should be Blomqvist) but my Swedish granddad "Americanized it" So, now you know that we Swede descendants have discriminating palates (ie, avoid "xxxxmites" at all costs").

[nybor]

oops, I forgot about the quano . I also lived in Puerto Rico where i was in High School and taught flying at the airport. There is a small island between PR and the Dominican Republic named Mona Island. I used to fly my boss (he owned the Flying School) who was a spear-fisher guy, land on the deserted island, (had to make a low pass to scare the iguanas off the dirt strip) and drop him off. If you Google it it is a strange shape. Round with steep vertical walls and composed of cavernous limestone caves (i.e., bats).

Anyway, during WW1, the Germans constructed a very short rail on the tiny beach to transport the mined bat quano. It is potassium nitrate....

"Guano consists largely of saltpeter (potassium nitrate) making it an ideal component for gunpowder. In fact, it's been used by the United States as early as the War of 1812 for making gunpowder.

So, collect it, dry it and sell it to the local gunsmith....

dave

ps, I want at least a 80% cut in the profits. (looking at a Catalina 425...)