On Board with Mark Corke

Tree Frog pad

No matter how well you may be organized aboard there is always some small bits and pieces that you need to find a home for. At the helm I like to have my cell phone, a couple of pens and other such detritus close at hand. The trouble is that you often put them in what you think is a pretty secure place only to have them vibrate across the console and crash to the floor. Placing them a cup holder works of sorts but you can't see the screen on the phone and with everything jumbled up together damge is possible. The Tree Frog Pad really seems to be the answer to my prayers. Resembling what I can best describe as a small cutting mat the pad is super sticky and clings to almost any surface. No more than an eighth of an inch in thickness the pad stays in place even on vertical surfaces if you wish although don't expect it to hold a cell phone in place at this angle. But at a 45 degree angle it works perfectly for holding whatever I place on it in. 

The pad has a rather unusual feel and does feel sticky to the touch although this is the nature of the material which does not in fact have any adhesive attached to it. The pad does pick up bits of dirt, and what my wife refers to as belly button fluff but this is easily washed off under a warm faucet without effecting the stickiness of the pad whatsoever.

The best part about the pad is that you can use it any where and you do not have to screw into the boat. Not as robust as perhaps the SeaSucker mount that I blogged about here and here but then again it is meant for a different purpose. A 7 by 9 inch pad costs $12 which is worth the price if only for all those times that I do not have to bend and pick my phone off the cabin sole.

Go faster sailing - a free upgrade

    Every sail boater knows that the propeller, unless it is one of the those expensive folding or feathering types presents a lot of drag and can slow the boat down a fair bit. One way to reduce the amount of drag that the propeller exerts on the boat is to align the prop up and down so that it is as far as possible in line with the keel. Aligning the prop up and down is easily done when the boat is hauled out of the water otherwise you may want to don the mask and snorkel and swim under the boat while anchored and rotate the prop until it is facing up and down. Then on the inside of the boat put a mark on the shaft with a permanent sharpie pen as I have done here. Then next time after shutting down the engine you can rotate the shaft by hand before putting the engine in reverse to lock the shaft. With the prop hiding behind the keel you will gain a bit more boat speed.

I should add that this technique only works with two bladed props as for obvious reasons it is is impossible to get a three bladed prop to line up with a keel.