Yachting Monthly - November 2015

28 http://www.yachtingmonthly.com NOVEMBER 2015

ANY QUESTIONS

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Please send us your questions in less than 200 words

A BOTTLE OF TALISKER

The question of the month wins

a bottle of Talisker 10-year-old

single malt Scotch whisky (UK residents only).

Talisker is an official supporter of the RNLI and

the only single malt made by the sea on the

shores of the Isle of Skye. http://www.malts.com

WIN

A

Kieran Flatt replies: We tested a

group of infl atable dinghies three

years ago (YM, December 2012). The

toughest and best quality was the Lodestar,

though it wasn’t the cheapest or lightest.

Some new dinghies came on the market a few

months ago and they’re much lighter (around

15kg) than any we reviewed in that test.

I bought an O2 Lite dinghy in May and I’m

quite impressed with it. One reason it’s lighter

is that the tubes are smaller in diameter than

a standard infl atable, but we don’t seem to

Satellite or AIS personal

locator beacon?

Q

I read with great interest Duncan

Kent’s article about AIS beacons

(YM, September 2015). I regularly

sail my Southerly 115 Navassa alone. On

my lifejacket I carry a small Ocean Signal

satellite EPIRB (emergency radio position

indicating radio beacon) but in the very busy

get any wetter than in previous dinghies.

It’s just over half the weight of a regular

infl atable, which makes a huge difference.

It has Avon-style rowlocks, so you can use

a proper pair of oars rather than the fl imsy

little pair it comes with. A 2.5hp outboard

can just about get it to plane.

It’s expensive (£570), but I haven’t

regretted spending the extra £300... yet. Its

durability remains to be seen, but I’ll report

in due course. We’re planning a group

test of lightweight dinghies next year.

Which

lightweight

dinghy?

QUESTION OF THE MONTH

Q

I have a Bavaria 30 cruiser and

an ageing back, restricting heavy

lifting. I am keen to buy a new

lightweight dinghy as most infl atables

are too heavy for one person to manage.

The three possibilities seem to be the 3D

infl atable, the O2 Lite and the Highfi eld

lightweight, all made with modern

materials. Can you advise whether these

are durable and are there any downsides

to buying these new dinghies?

John Winter

PHOTO: COLIN WORK/PIXSTEL.COM

The 02 Lite dinghy is

one of a number of new

lightweight infl atables

on the market

Dutch waters where I am, an AIS beacon

also appeals. Do you know whether anyone

is developing a combined satellite and AIS

emergency beacon?

Hendrik Van Kets

A

Duncan Kent replies: I assume when

you say EPIRB you actually mean a

PLB (personal locator beacon), yours

being an Ocean Signal PLB1, rather than one of

the much larger and heavier EPIRBs?

I too would love to have a single device

containing GPS, AIS, PLB and high-power

LED strobe or fl are, but the manufacturers

are having diffi culties licensing such a device.

Technically, it’s not a problem to build,

although it would be bigger and heavier than

the current range of PLBs, but the question of

how each is activated is what’s holding it up.

AIS beacons can be (and commonly are)

designed to activate automatically when

packed correctly into a lifejacket, whereas

a PLB can only be armed automatically, not

activated. Leaving fi nal activation to be done

manually by the user is intended to avoid too

many false distress calls overwhelming the

rescue centres.

If they manage to fi nd a way to jump these

hurdles, we’ll be the fi rst to let our readers

know, and I will be among the fi rst to buy one.

As things stand,

you have to choose

between an AIS or

a satellite PLB

How do I get rust

off with acid?

Q

I am trying to remove

rust stains from a

dinghy jib and have

referred to your article How to

get rust stains off sails (YM,

April 2015). I have a bottle of

36% hydrochloric acid. How

many grams of acid should

I add to the 100 grams of

water? As your test said 2%

acid I added 2 grams of acid

to 100 grams of water, but with no results.

Am I getting the formula totally wrong?

Michael Pritt

A

Chris Beeson replies: Thanks for

getting in touch. In the article I

concluded that ‘I wouldn’t bother

with hydrochloric acid,’ as I felt it was a bit too

industrial and other, more readily available

solutions worked as well. However, as that’s

what you have, my appropriately rusty maths

suggests that you would need to dilute a 36%

acid solution 18 times to get to a 2% solution,

so mix 1 part acid to 18 parts water. If you have

100g of water, you would need 5.5g of acid.

PHOTO: COLIN WORK/PIXSTEL.COM

Hydrochloric

acid gets rust

off sails, but it’s

a harsh chemical

PHOTO: GRACE RITCHIE