For the first time in a long time I went out to the big building and I can testify that it is almost spring-like today and it will be even warmer tomorrow. By Friday we should be able to start applying polish to the boats we already have compounded. I also have daffodils coming up in my yard much to my wife’s chagrin – they’ll be spent by spring. The reason I went out to the shed was to check on a boat that was being surveyed for a potential boat listing. The surveyor reported water in the bilges and a pretty bad smell. He wasn’t wrong! I felt sorry for Izzy who was stuck down there pumping stagnant water that seemed to be some sort of science experiment gone awry. Unlike wine, bilge water is not improved by age. The engine didn’t look much better. I was going to play “spot the problem” with this photo but decided there were just too many for that sort of game. It didn’t get any better forward of the engine. This is obviously someone who should have been reading the blog the day I had the Deal 111 for the bilge painting! The mast for the 46 was being put together yesterday. Looks like new! If you are doing your mast, be sure to take care of the details like using never-seize on stainless steel screws into the aluminum and using rubber grommets on the holes where wires go through to keep the water out. New Products Another non-testimonal product today. This looks like a pretty good idea and maybe would help owners deal with their impellers if they had a problem or just to do standard inspections. Once again, if the manufacturer wants to send us one, we’ll install it on someone’s boat and then give a review. SpeedSeal Life – claim:

• Extended impeller life for both generators and main engine pumps, with tests showing routine improvements of two to three times normal life.
• Prolonged and repeated run-dry tests gave results of 40 x 5 minutes dry starts (tests stopped) without damage whilst maintaining performance.
• Drive shaft bearings and seals last longer and pump life and performance is increased
• Quick impeller changes
• Increases run dry time

For more information visit the Speedseal website. If you try this product (or have already tried it) feel free to share your review – I’ll post here for others to read. Owner Project I love owner projects – send me yours and I’ll post here (if I truly do love it!). This owner has buffed out his mast light cover, got a new lens and has added an LED light. He should never have to change that light again as long as he owns the boat. This will be set on top of the freshly painted mast (above). He got his bulbs at Defender marine but you may find them cheaper by using my old friend Google but you can expect to pay up to $45 for a LED for this particular lamp.