bleeding diesels

our friend Laura www.novascotiansailor.blogspot.com describes the difficulty of getting air out of the fuel lines, especially if its rough. She doesn't mention crawling over a hot engine, but this is also a consideration on any of the size boats I sail. I have found something that helps. I read it somewhere, so its not my idea. Coming back from the bahamas, 1000 miles from home, my fuel tank sprang a leak, and I had to improvise with a plastic outboard tank. This came with the bulb and the line, and when I got home and installed a real tank, I kept it. Now, if  I need to bleed the system, I just crank open the top bleed thing on the fuel filter, and squeeze the bulb until clean fuel comes out. The little lift pump on the engine isn't up to much,and using it takes forever. I can reach the bulb from the engine, so now bleeding the lines is 2 minutes max and I don't need help. Not sure how the gasoline designed bulb and fuel line will last using diesel, but it put there in spring 2009 and still looks all right. things only cost $15 or so, so wouldn't be a major expense to replace it

how to get book

The CD of the book is now available. Unfortunately, the sites I had distributing it , with the exception of the Shelburne Harbour Yacht Club, did not work out so it is now available only at the club ( in person) and by mail.
To order a book, send me an E-mail at peter.loveridge@ns.sympatico.ca. You can also use snail mail to Peter Loveridge RR#1 Glenwood, Nova Scotia, B0W 1W0 Canada
Cost is now $65 which includes all the mailing and packaging, please send to the above address, assuming our currencies are within 10% of each other, Us and Canadian are at par
As it is produced in small quantities, I try to update it regularly, though my day job sometimes gets in the way.
If you have any information which I have missed, please send me an E-mail. Any contributions will be gratefully acknowledged.

Cape Negro Island

I did get ashore on Cape Negro Island this summer, and thanks to Rhoda, whose grandmother lived there, I did get too see the graveyard. its a little difficult to find the path , and because of the number of blown down trees, a chainsaw would help. Its a bit sobering, there are a huge number of young deaths and I could only find one 90 year old. ( In the Bahamas bucolic Green Turtle Cay graveyard , there are lots of 90 year olds and very few premature deaths, during the same historical period) . The gap in the bar is bigger, and you should probably not raft up unless its a very quiet night. My frog pond may be gone, as movement of the beach has obliterated it. I also found out why the island was abandoned in the late 1950's. It ran out of trees and so no firewood. They've been growing ever since, and as the usual spruce trees have a 50 year lifespan, every big blow flattens some more of them

Canada Post

since the strike we have had huge mail delays and some don't arrive at all. This is not helpful for any small business. If you have sent a cheque and haven't heard anything, send me an email and I will send you a CD, hoping that the money will eventually arrive

Shelburne Harbour Yacht Club

the DVD edition of my book is now available at the club. It may not be on display, so ask at the office for it.
 Shelburne  Harbour Yacht Club contact information
phone 902 875 4757
www.shycandmarina.ca
yachtclub@ns.aliantzinc.ca

canada post strike

the posties have conspired to make life difficult for small operations like this. They are now theoretically back to normal working. Normal working, to them means taking twice as long to deliver mail as in Queen Vistoria's time, though then there was just one transcontinental railway, the roads were dirt tracks, and there were no aircraft. However, if you wish to send anything by mail, it should now be all right to do so.

Printed version of the book

Some people have asked why no printed version. The short answer is cost. I have had a few printed, but locally this costs about $75. The ones I have made were ground out on my home printer, it takes hours. The resultant book is about 9"x11" and weighs about 2 pounds. This is a huge cost to send overseas through the mail and it also gets the attention of the revenue men and homeland security. Attempts to get a Canadian publisher interested, though the original sells on average at 5 times its original price, were absolutely futile. These guys will not do anything without a government grant. The CD can go through the mail at a minimum cost, and anywhere in the US, can be printed by an office supplies joint like Staples, for less than $40. Being somewhat of a  a Luddite, I prefer a real book, and I have no objection to anyone who buys the CD printing it out for their own use. There may be hope of a US publisher soon