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Introduction 
Contribute 
Propeller Size Increase Fuel Tank Leak and Inspection Fuel Tank Capacity Farymann Engine Replacement Engine Removal Technique Haul-out Sling LocationsHow-To's are the Downeaster Owners Maintenance Manual that you always wanted. And we get to write it ourselves! I've had my boat 16 years now and there isn't a square inch of it I haven't dug into at one time or another. One of reasons I keep it is I figure better the devil you know than the one you don't. So I'll show you mine if you'll show me yours. I'm a long way from being finished working on this boat so help me out here. Whenever you have done something - anything , on, with, around, or about your boat that might be of use to someone else, email a How-To report of what you did.
Send me an email and describe what you did. You can (please do) include pictures of any size as attachments. You can make it a story, a checklist, a step 1-2-3 explaination of how you did it, or whatever you want. It can be just plain ASCII text or it can be formated HTML code if you're proficent in such. If you are sending HTML, please stick to the basic tags like <h1> <h2> and <p>.
When you take photos, take lots. It would be nice to have 5-10 pictures for every project submitted. 1200 x 800 or less resolution is enough and I would prefer you not send more just because of size, but send whatever you have and we'll deal with it. Remember that the digital camera can also be a tool. Poke it into places where you can't see or will never see again once the project is finished and take a picture of what's there. This is especially important for those of you who have been into the deep dark places where no owner has gone before.
Pictures of wives, husbands, girlfriends, boyfriends, animals, etc., doing boaty stuff or in boaty poses are ok too. A little something besides nuts and bolts to liven it up. But please read the privacy statement before you get too personal. Posting something on a web site is a bit like getting a tattoo.
Send How-To emails to: |
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Here's a checklist of what to include;
1. Subject: Your title for what you did. i.e. "Holding Tank Replacement". Put this in the subject field of the email please.
2. Boat Model. i.e. 32,38,41,45.
3. Boat Name. It's just nice to know.
4. Zone of work. Use one of the zones from the How-To menu to identify what part of the boat this involved. I have found over the years that categorizing projects by the zone of the boat is helpful because frequently one project overlaps or interferes with another due to location. Seeing all that's going on in an area of the boat helps you forsee these problems before they occur and sometimes it's just easier to tear into one whole area and do all the projects in that zone at once.
5. Date: Month and year is enough. In the future this gives readers a feel for the era of the information and what kinds of tools and resources were available and what's-up with the hair styles and clothes in the pictures.
6. Where: Where the work was done. i.e. in marina, boatyard, backyard, Rhode Island, Florida, etc. Again, in the future this gives readers a feel for what you had to work with in completing the project. A cutlass bearing change in Fort Lauderdale is a whole different project than a cutlass bearing change in Africa. And for that reason, you should not hesitate to send in your own version of a How-To even though you see someone else has already done the same topic. More is better.
7. Author: Your name please, so your grandchildren will know what you did with your life. :-)
8. Description: Go for it! Tell all. Bad parts too. At what point were you about to give up. Did tools fall overboard? How can we avoid your mistakes. Have no shame. The rest of us want to avoid your screw-ups. We'll do the same for you with our How-To's. Short is fine. Long is fine too. You have valuable information and the world of Downeaster owners wants to know. Inquiring minds are waiting to hear from you. Don't take these secrets to your grave. What will your grandchildren think if they can't Google your name and find anything!
This doesn't have to be just about A to Z projects. Maybe you just came across something usefull to know that you want to documment. i.e. Gross weight, a giant x-ray of the keel (wouldn't that be nice), tank capacity, mast height, etc.
If you want your attached pictures to appear or relate to certain parts of the text, refer to them in the text as "Figure 1", "Figure 2" and name your picture files the same. i.e. "figure1.jpg", "figure2.jpg", etc. I'll try and insert them in the text at the proper places when I put your story on the web site.
This is all unpaid volunteer work and I'm just a webmaster, not an editor. Please be your own editor and spell check, error check, fact check and proof your writing before sending it in. I don't have time for oh-I-forgot fixes later. So I probably won't fix your mistakes later unless threatened, preferably by your lawyer. Get it right the first time so your grandchildren won't think of us as a bunch of oafs.
9. Parts and Suppliers: What parts were needed and where did you get them. URL links to the web sites of these vendors would be very useful. Oh! — now your thinking the fun is over and this is getting to be a lot of work. Ok, I understand. It's work enough to just do the project, and now I want you to write a book about it. But hunting and gathering parts is often half the work. If parts came from West Marine then just say so — we all know where that is. Consider this section optional but much appreciated.
10 Attachments: Finally, don't forget to include the pictures as attachments to the email.
Thanks
Gene Allen, Webmaster
