Fleetwood

Where's the fun in that?

DON'T SCRUB A TIMBER DECK WITH A STIFF BRUSH! Especially parallel to the grain, unless you want to sand the deck regularly for the rest of it's (reduced) life.

Never use a stiff brush on timber decks; they selectively remove the soft wood, leaving an open, porous structure ideal to trap dirt and for mould to form. Nylon scrubbers are best.

If it were me I'd try it on a test piece or at least on an inconspicuous section to see how well it lasts. It may be a real pain to remove..... (Frequent salt water flushes are a good mould preventative.)

This. A quick and dirty approximation is to put them on charge for a long time (at least overnight) . Leave them to rest several hours (also best o/n) and if the no-load voltage is >~12.8V (for AGMs) they are probably OK.

Noakes is on the harbourfront in the middle of the city, lots of NIMBYs around! Noakes has been there long before most neighbours and is one of the last bits of true waterfront industry in Sydney, so hopefully sanity will prevail. (I won't hold my breath.....)

Same. I have used the Compass Marine butyl for all deck fittings but used a cheaper (local) version for the toerail. In the process of cleaning it up for a second time - the gift that keeps on giving.....

This side of the dateline we already have....

What else are you going to do with the gunk left over in the bottom of the beer keg?

It can be done (I've done it with an older Furuno unit) if you are comfortable with both DC and RF wiring and connectors but you need to identify all the wires to know which ones are power, signal, RF, need shielding, etc and treat them appropriately.

I have a can of it which is several years old, use some on the keel each time the boat is slippied for antifouling. So far it hasn't turned to sludge and seems to keep working fine. I've used it as a primer above the waterline for 1-pack paints only.

I use 'wax and grease remover', which is a mixture of light aliphatic hydrocarbons; works well. Clean up any residue with acetone, etc.

Largely built by students - they were the ones paying.....

+1 I've recently gone from a 44' cruiser to a 30' daysailer for similar reasons. Old boat had a roller furling (boom) mainsail which worked fine but had to be set up just right. New boat has a fully battened main with new track and slides, and lazyjacks - so far very easy. 110% jib, traveller is aft of the cockpit, small tiller autopilot, all lines to cockpit. Docking singlehanded is no problem as the boat is small and light enough with low freeboard that I can just step off with a line fastened amidships which I cleat on the dock as I step off. That stops the boat alongside the dock. (Not possible with the old boat - 13 tons....) No electric winches, no need so far. As with most things sailing, it's important to think ahead and plan manoeuvres through beforehand, if possible!

Is the photo deceptive or would it not be possible to work two adjacent winches without the handles fouling each other? Seems like a serious waste of winches.