Raritan Engineering Company

Your Thru Hull Fittings Professionals Share Why LED Mastlights Make Your Boating Experiences Better  Raritan Engineering  your thru hull fittings specialists would like to share with you this week some great information regarding the benefits of using an LED mastlight. Your thru hull fittings distributors talk about how if you have your mast down this season or are contemplating an annual inspection aloft, it is a good time to consider a switch to an LED tri-color mastlight, which can cut the mastlight's energy consumption by 90 percent.  In the past, the most popular means of meeting the U.S. Coast Guard’s navigation light requirements for boats under 65 feet (see “Nav Light Requirements,” below) was to use an Aqua Signal Series 40 tri-color lamp housing with its long-filament incandescent bulb. Its 25-watt energy appetite not only puts a significant load on the house battery bank, but it requires a heavier-gauge wire be run up the spar in order to avoid an ene...

Your Marine Sanitation Device Suppliers Share Tips On How to Select a Sailmaker   Raritan Engineering  your marine sanitation device manufacturers would like to share with you this week some great information regarding how to choose a sailmaker. Historically, fall has been the best time to order new sails. Boat show specials abound and you have plenty of wiggle room on delivery date—at least if you are snowed in for most of the winter. But our wants and needs seem to rarely dovetail with the perfect season.  The following article from our print archives is aimed primarily at the first-time sail-buyer. For more specific guidance on sail buying, be sure to check out our recent articles on choosing a cruising main, which includes a link to  PS  readers’ favorite sailmakers and list of recommended sailmakers, and “State of the Main,” a look at how the industry has dramatically changed over the past two decades. For a one-stop comprehensive look at ...

Your Marine Sanitation Device Specialists Share Ideas On How to Best Repair Your Canvas Fasteners Raritan Engineering  your marine sanitation device suppliers would like to share with you this week some great information regarding how to fix canvas fasteners. Sooner or later, chafe, UV rays, and sharp edges take their toll on our boat’s canvas. A misplaced screw or simple friction will eat holes in a dodger. A seam gives up, a line rubs through the fabric, and a few snaps come loose.  Older fabric may be too sun-rotted to allow the weak spot another row of stitches will create, and the stitching may leak.  In the upcoming September 2017 issue of Practical Sailor, tester Drew Frye, who also blogs at his website Sail Delmarva, compares a variety of tapes, glues, and adhesives for making these types of repairs.  Snaps are the first failure point on many covers and dodgers. Often the stress cause by repeated shrinking and stretching during wet/dry...

Your Marine Sanitation Device Suppliers Share Further Need-to-Know Tips for You and Your Crew Raritan Engineering  your marine sanitation device distributors would like to share with you this week some great information regarding potentially life saving tactics for getting through tough summer squalls. Summer is here and the time is right . . .  for testing your squall-busting tactics. The comparison of jibe-taming devices in the July 2017 issue of Practical Sailor is an appropriate topic for the summer when afternoon squalls so frequently add a little excitement during the leg back to the marina, or the approach to the next anchorage.  The ideal sail plan for dealing with squalls will vary by boat, visibility, sea conditions, and intensity of the squalls. Ideally, the helm is still relatively well-balanced and responsive for whatever point of sail you choose. Our gaff-rigged ketch reefed down with a double- or triple-reefed main and staysail could handle ab...

Your Marine Sanitation Device Experts Help You Remember the Risks That Come With Colder Waters   Raritan Engineering  would like to share with you this week these important suggestions on how to survive cold water incidents. After living in Florida for so many years, it is easy to forget the risks associated with colder waters, vividly demonstrated in a video on cold-water survival that I have included in this week’s blog post.  Former U.S. Coast Guard rescue swimmer Mario Vittone has an excellent blog article that explores some of reasons why cold water changes everything in a drowning situation.   The first phase of immersion in cold water is called the cold shock response. It is an involuntary physiological response to cold water. This response can last from less than a half-minute to a couple minutes.  The second stage is cold incapacitation, which is just like it sounds. The water temperature prevents you from being able to swim, wave for help...