Last weekend we participated in the Cruising section's annual "treasures of the bilge" - a swap meet for yachties. I had no luck in selling my anchors but we picked up some bargains: a cruising guide to the Pacific for $5, a compass for $10, some useful dishes and wooden towel rails for free.
I paid $50 for a working depth sounder. I did a lot of work to install the transducer in place of that of the old Furuno transducer, but the readings that I got from there or anywhere in the hull were unstable. I tried both vegetable oil and water with some detergent as the immersion agent. The unit worked beautifully when I place the transducer directly into the water. I had hoped to use this cheapie as a backup unit that I could read from the navigation station.
Attached are photos of the compass in its new home in the cabin and one of the two towel rails (after some sanding and varnishing) in the head.
2 comments:
Hello Bob
Sextants...what type is yours? Jim has a practise one from Whitworths but hasn't read the paperwork yet. Having been on the 32 Small Ships network in Vietnam he has always had a fascination with them. He'd like to know where you can get good secondhand ones?
Thanks
I have three sextants: two metal one and one of plastic:
1. "Astra II" metal sextant which at the time was in use by the Chinese navy. I think that China was producing this under license. I purchased it second-had way back in the early '80s when I did my first navigation course under the legendary Eddie Edwards.
2. A Freiberger metal sextant. This was the East German version of Zeiss and I consider it to be top quality. I purchased it second-hand very cheaply in the early '90s from a seaman on leave at Bullsbrook.
3. A plastic sextant that I obtained from the deceased estate of a friend. It is a well-known brand among plastic sextants but unfortunately I cannot recall it and the instrument is presently in Seattle, WA on loan to my brother.
I'm not sure about where to get a second-hand one these days. I got my Freiberger via the Sunday times. Perhaps the Quokka will have something. Also, Yacht Grot in Fremantle has occasional second-hand items such as sextants. I'll check around and let you know if I find something.
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