BARNACLE BUSTER: A BETTER SOLUTION?
I read Steve D'Antonio's write-up on TRAC Ecological products in the July/August "News & Notes." I recently bought some Barnacle Buster and ran it through the raw-water side of the a/c units on my 41 Hatteras and was impressed with how it worked. I looked at the literature and really like the idea of temporarily plumbing in a 5-, 10-, or even 40-gallon bucket and pump and recirculating diluted Barnacle Buster through my 425hp 3208TA Cat engines and my 9kW Onan generator.
My Cats have three coolers (a heat exchanger, aftercooler, and transmission cooler), and it is time consuming and complex to remove and clean them. Do you see anything wrong with temporarily plumbing into the raw-water intake and outlet and recirculating Barnacle Buster for a few hours once a year? It sure would save a ton of time and money. TRAC says the solution will not damage rubber, gaskets, or other soft parts, with the exception of zincs.
Mark A. Wilson
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
I've used Barnacle Buster in the raw-water side of the cooling systems of many propulsion engines and generators, with positive results. It's specifically designed for this application, and I've never observed any ill effects; the process works reliably and very well. Of course, you should follow the manufacturer's instructions to the letter. As mentioned, Barnacle Buster will erode anodes, so these should be removed before the solution is circulated through the engine's raw-water cooling system.-Steve D'Antonio
SEEKING INSIDE PASSAGE CHARTER INFO
Can you recommend a charter operator for traveling the Inside Passage along British Columbia's coastline? I am looking for boats that do regular runs up the strait and can carry four to 10 passengers, with three to four staterooms.
Robert MacKay
Courtenay, British Columbia
Most of the charter boats that carry that number of passengers go up the coast in late spring/early summer and return in the fall, and they focus on cruising in Alaska.
With that said, charter outfits you may want to look into include NW Explorations (www.nwexplorations.com), which offers bareboat charters and guided flotillas; Arctic Traveller (www.arctictraveller.com), featured in "News & Notes" in PMM's April '08 issue; and Ursa Major (www.myursamajor.com), which we've written about many times and whose motto is "Friends don't let friends see Alaska from a cruise ship."
NW Explorations continues its guided "Mother Goose" program on Grand Banks yachts ranging up to 52 feet. I was with that flotilla for a while in late May.
If you're not averse to traveling on a cruise ship but would like to avoid the really big ones, there are several making the run that carry approximately 100 passengers.-Bob Lane
