We tested the RV and Boat product lines from Meguiars. What we like about Meguiar’s RV and Boats detailing products line is that they have made a step by step guide for different levels of oxidation, surfaces and paints. Their Flagship soap Number 65 is excellent as well as their Gel Wash (Number 54) made for all gel coat surfaces. We felt that for a professional Boat Cleaning Business that these products were somewhat over priced and admit they work well but too costly for a small 16-ounce bottle. Unless you buy it online you will find the price outrageous at the local Marinas and Boat Stores such as the Marine West chain.

We did enjoy the sheeting action on the surfaces after use of the product. Using inline injection from a bucket of soapy water did not work very well. The product did appear very benign so we do not feel that a little soap getting into the water around the Marina would be any issue. On their cleaners and polishes for the Marine Industry we found ourselves okay with these products, but felt we had once again paid to much for them. Although the competition “Star Brite” is also heavy handed on the price points. I guess assuming that boat owners will be willing to pay more since it is for a boat. We did not see all that much difference between these products from the marine industries to that of the auto industry Meguiar’s product line. Perhaps a few small ingredient changes for UV gel coat protection and fancy repackaging, but you will have to be the judge on that.

Meguiar’s Color Restorer seems to be okay for what it is being able to remove small marks and scuffs, but we also found that a polymer solvent wax did the same for instance Auto Magic’s Sealer Wax or the Diamond Shine Products. We did not see the reason to purchase this product for professional use other than to keep the brands you use consistent. Also we found that these other waxes with solvent did not damage anything and actually worked better than the Color Restorer (Number 44) and the next up product Oxidation Remover (Number 49). The One Step Compound by Meguiar’s (Number 67) is not too impressive, but we are not fond of compounds anyway and the product is hard to use, thick and under whelming, although the results were decent, it did most of what you would expect it too. It did seem to have one other property that most products that we use in the industry did not have and that is that it seemed to put some properties back into the fiberglass. Someone had come up to me today and asked what was the best wax to use on an RV and fiberglass area. A lot has to do with the decals, surface, paint and level of oxidation. This same premise goes for boats, personal watercraft and yachts. The Waxes in the Meguiar’s line we were somewhat impressed with and we are relatively hard to please. So this is a thumbs-up for them. Their premium flagship wax it seemed to be adequate, on ease of use we give it a 5 on a scale of 1-10. It is said to last a long time, but on a salt-water boat we question what that means. Meguiar’s Pure Boat Wax (Number 56) seemed to work good yet we found it had in it Silicone, polymer blend with Brazilian Carnauba and the problem with this blend although the shine was excellent is that on Polyurethane there are issues with some silicones and with Imron there are issues with carnauba waxes. So if you take this special boat wax and apply it to the RV’s with custom paints we have to wonder if we may cause issues. So this may not be the best for our team to use on the trucks but certainly good enough for the average citizen with a boat. When the average person washes their RV there are definite issues, read this article

Now for a good touch up product for a Boat Show account we did like the Quick Wax Marine Number 59, with a trigger spray and also the same product in an aerosol can. We also thought

that it was smart of Meguiar’s to custom label all the car care products for their boat line. Similar to the way that Zep Chemicals often changes their product labels to conveniently be ready for another cleaning use. MSDS

http://www.msdssearch.com/

of course exactly the same for they have the same contents and ingredients and the directions the same as well. Now then the specialty cleaners for Meguiars Marine did also have non-skid deck and hull cleaner which worked well and the Hard Water Spot remover was good enough for government work and is of value for other uses as well. The Meguiars Gold Teak Oil seemed above average in quality and the test spot we did made us want to complete the entire boat deck, so we are very bullish on that product.

The All metal polish for bright work, was also very good and seemed better than the Never Dull Product for shine and better than the Mother’s Aluminum Polish for ease of use. When we tried the Bilge Cleaner by Meguiars we laughed because it seems a little over doing it to make a specific product for that need. It did dissolve the grease but so does Simple Green for a lot less money. Here is a page on the Meguiar’s website where you can order the most popular of their Marine Products.

http://www.meguiars.com/store_meguiars/search_results.cfm

Also if you are a private boat owner you can go to the Meguiar’s web site and they can give you a custom guide to which products to buy from them to help you clean your boat properly and wax it.

http://www.meguiars.com/marinerx.cfm

Which is a nifty value added service for the retail B2C online part of their business strategy, but to me it seems if they are going to peddle their wares art Wal-Mart why pay $30.00 for the Boat kit, $12.00 for the soap, all those cleaners and then shipping? We are always interested to see what types of marketing stuff or vendors and suppliers do and what type of strategies they employ. It is interesting to see them try new things and then change them later. Interactivity in web strategy is important and Meguiar’s seems to understand this very well and has obviously put some serious dollars into their website. At 2004 SEMA Show this year we noticed they had the same truck on display as our Blitz Mobile sitting on the corner of Convention Center Drive. Their unit was gloss black with the Meguiar’s Paint Scheme and during the show they had beautiful displays as always with information on their New Wipe Products as well as a re-introduction to their Marine Line.

All in all the Meguiar’s Marine Line is definitely complete and a player in the market, and they seem to be attacking it well, over time to hold any market share they attain, they will need to improve on a few of their products. However with their brand name recognition in the auto care industry, which has significant competition they should be able to carry this strong image into the future with the Marine Industry. StarBrite Products sell quite well and tend to out sell the Meguiar’s by only a little bit now, originally they were just about the only game in town. But we are seeing the Meguiar’s line fight for market share. What we found is that you cannot always find a complete line of StarBrite products at your local Marina, as most companies are not carrying the full line and neither are they willing to carry the Meguiar’s full line. So there are issues already. Wal-Mart does carry the RV Wash and Boat Waxes from Meguiar’s and other automotive products in the Meguiar’s Line. We feel that the better products for efficiency and ease of use definitely come from the professional detail products companies such as Auto Magic, Pro , Beauty Shine, Stoner, etc. And we do not discount Meguiar’s mainstay products such as the Meguiar’s Mirror Glaze or their excellent buffing compounds. But then again in the buffing compound arena we also prefer much of what 3M has to offer:

http://www.3m.com.br/us/auto_marine_aero/

and they too have a Marine Line of great products. But as of yet we are not overly excited about the rest of Megiuar’s retail line. The new wipes are cool enough and it appears have entered the market along with the other brands such as Lexol for their leather cleaner wipes. All in all we totally applaud the Meguiar’s line of Marine Products and feel comfortable with about six of the products, which our tea will most likely be using. These are the products, which we felt did favorably in our tests. We are hard on all our suppliers. And to the credit of Meguiar’s they are a tireless company with regards to upgrading and listening to their customers. And we all know good things come with age.

“Lance Winslow” – Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

‘It’s a whizzy whatchamacallit,’ replied my father-in-law, spinning a chunky bit of metal around in his hand. ‘From the mast. It’s broken.’

We have a lot of whatchamacallits on our boat, whizzy or otherwise. Take the cockpit for example. Fourteen different ropes, with fourteen different names, snake their way from various parts of the boat into the cockpit, and that’s only on the right – sorry, the starboard – side.

The whole thing is repeated on the port side, giving us twenty-eight bits of string, of clashing colours and patterns, to decorate the middle of the boat. There seems to be a rope for every conceivable purpose, so whether it be kicker or cunningham, runner or halyard, you can be sure that we have a sheet for it.

It all gets a bit messy at times, especially when I pull the wrong one!

And the sails! I can at least tell a spinnaker from a mainsail, but what is the difference between a genoa, a number one jib, a working jib and a storm jib? And what about a staysail and a trysail? I have to say that I have no idea.

But sails are the least of my worries. Sailing conversations, on board, in the pub or over the dinner table, sometimes seem as if

they are in a foreign language. Discussions of jackstays, goosenecks and sliplines all sound a little fascist to me, and as for warp protection… well, is it any wonder that I get confused?

In the interests of sanity, I opened a sailing book the other day, just to see if I could work out what it all means. It was heavy going, but I struggled on until I reached the bit about jiffy reefing and leech cringles.

So, I’ve made a decision: if you want me to pull a rope on board a boat, keep it simple. Don’t tell me to pull the spinnaker halyard sheet, just ask me to heave on the green rope. And as for all the other essential sailing items, well, from now on, they’re all watchamacallits to me.

Which brings me back to the whizzy one – the broken whatchamacallit from the mast.

You’ll be glad to hear that this turned out to be a vang bracket, of a type that they don’t make any more.

But I’d better not tell you whatcha my father-in-law said about that!For all the Reluctant Sailor articles go to The Reluctant Sailor.

Helen MacKenzie is a freelance writer. She contributes to the web site at http://www.sea-dreamer.com The Sea Dreamer web site has articles, guides and news on sailing and cruising on the West Coast of Scotland.

What does that mean to you as a traveler? It means that as you search the airlines for tickets you can be very selective as to when you go and who you fly with.

Airlines offer discounts on the internet.

Here’s another tip that many people don’t

know about. If you called an airlines reservation desk and asked for cheap airfares information to a given city, you would be quoted a rate that may not be the lowest you could find. Many times you’ll find that the cheap airfares are only offered on the internet, because when booking your ticket online your not taking up staff time telephone expense.

If you’ve never done it before, explore the exciting options available to you when booking your next trip by doing your research on the internet.

About The Author

Mike Yeager

Publisher

http://www.a1-travel-4u.com/productpage/cheaptickets.html

In large areas of the country the leading cause of death for small children is drowning, and the majority of these terrible accidents occur in residential backyard swimming pools. As a pool owner or parent, you need to very closely supervise children or appoint a responsible person as the designated kid-watcher to prevent accidents. Be sure to talk with baby-sitters, and anyone who might use your pool when you are not home, about pool safety and drowning prevention. When the pool is not in use make sure you close and lock the pool gate or the gate to your yard.

The majority of drowning or diving accidents among adults are drug and alcohol related, or result from diving in the shallow end of the pool. Don’t allow people who are under the influence of alcohol to use your pool. People take risks and do unpredictable things when under the influence of alcohol. Designate your swimming pool an Alcohol-Free Zone to avoid tragic accidents.

Diving should not be

allowed in any above-ground or on-ground swimming pool. A diving board will simply encourage diving, and should never be installed on an above-ground or on-ground pool. Warning decals and signs should be posted at your above-ground or on-ground pool to warm swimmers of the danger. “DANGER NO DIVING” decals are packaged inside the carton with any new above ground swimming pool or replacement above ground swimming pool liner. All commercial swimming pools are required to clearly mark the depth of a swimming pool at several points on the deck directly next to the pool. It is strongly suggested that in ground pool owners also very clearly mark the depth, or at least mark the shallow end of the pool, to warn swimmers entering the pool.

Entrapment by the suction of main drains and other suction fittings may be another potential drowning hazard. In recent years there have been several advances in main drain cover design, and pool builders have the ability to install more than one main drain. This should completely eliminate the hazard of entrapment accidents, but unfortunately swimmers are still being killed and injured every year by outdated equipment. As these new technologies become available pool owners need to quickly retrofit their pool if at all possible. An inexpensive and easy to install replacement main drain cover may save you or the life of a swimmer in your pool.

Please visit In The Swim Discount Pool Supplies for a complete selection of pool safety equipment and quality pool supplies.

Alcohol Abuse information, tips, recovery and treatment.

Now, it’s true that hotels have some advantages over other types of accommodations. They are usually close to plenty of area attractions and entertainment. They typically have restuarants on-site, so there’s no need to go far to find a meal. And of course, there’s daily maid service. However, when you consider the cost of the room, and the cost of eating out 3 meals a day, in addition to travel and other expenses, you may decide it’s time to consider a different form of accommodation for your next vacation.

Vacation Homes Advantages

Vacation homes have been gaining in popularity over the past 5 years or so, especially in the Orlando – Disney area. The reason for this surge in popularity among vacationers is simple – for the same cost as a moderately priced hotel room you can now book an entire home for your family, complete with up to 6 bedrooms and a private pool! These homes offer guests much more space and privacy than a hotel room. Each family member can have his or her own bedroom, and often their own bath as well. These homes usually come very well equipped with everything guests need to feel right at home. Linens and towels, hair dryers, irons, washers and dryers are all provided. Best of all, guests can save a lot of money by using the fully equipped kitchen to prepare some or all of their meals in their home rather than eating every meal at a restuarant.

Many vacation homes also comes with game rooms, large screen TVs, DVD players, and even an Xbox or PlayStation to keep the kids ( and adults ) entertained.

How to Book a Vacation Home

Don’t know where to go to book a vacation home? The most common way guests find a home to book is online. There are many, many management compaines have websites dedicated to Orlando vacation homes . Or you can visit your local travel agent. Many travel agents are contracting with management companies to book home from them for their clients. Or, you can simply contact the owners directly and cut out the “middle man”. Like management companies, many owners have their own websites dedicated to promoting their vacation properties.

Whatever you choose, once you’ve stayed in an Why stay in an Orlando Vacation Home?

Think back to your last Florida vacation with the family. If you stayed in a hotel, you most likely had a room

with 2 queen sized beds, and perhaps a small kitchentte. The hotel probably had a restaurant and a swimming pool, but not much else. If you have small children, you may have found it difficult to get them to sleep while the adults were still awake, perhaps watching television and talking in the same room. You most likely found any excuse to get out of the hotel room, even if you would rather stay put, simply because you couldn’t stand being “cooped up” any longer.

Now, it’s true that hotels have some advantages over other types of accommodations. They are usually close to plenty of area attractions and entertainment. They typically have restuarants on-site, so there’s no need to go far to find a meal. And of course, there’s daily maid service. However, when you consider the cost of the room, and the cost of eating out 3 meals a day, in addition to travel and other expenses, you may decide it’s time to consider a different form of accommodation for your next vacation.

Vacation Homes Advantages

Vacation homes have been gaining in popularity over the past 5 years or so, especially in the Orlando – Disney area. The reason for this surge in popularity among vacationers is simple – for the same cost as a moderately priced hotel room you can now book an entire home for your family, complete with up to 6 bedrooms and a private pool! These homes offer guests much more space and privacy than a hotel room. Each family member can have his or her own bedroom, and often their own bath as well. These homes usually come very well equipped with everything guests need to feel right at home. Linens and towels, hair dryers, irons, washers and dryers are all provided. Best of all, guests can save a lot of money by using the fully equipped kitchen to prepare some or all of their meals in their home rather than eating every meal at a restuarant.

Many vacation homes also comes with game rooms, large screen TVs, DVD players, and even an Xbox or PlayStation to keep the kids ( and adults ) entertained.

How to Book a Vacation Home

Don’t know where to go to book a vacation home? The most common way guests find a home to book is online. There are many, many management compaines have websites dedicated to vacation home accommodations. Or you can visit your local travel agent. Many travel agents are contracting with management companies to book home from them for their clients. Or, you can simply contact the owners directly and cut out the “middle man”. Like management companies, many owners have their own websites dedicated to promoting their vacation properties.

Whatever you choose, once you’ve stayed in a vacation home, you will probably never want to go back to staying in hotels again.

Karyn Kudrna has been working in the Orlando area travel industry for the past 5 years and is the owner of several websites offering information on Orlando vacation homes by owner and Orlando vacation homes

Imagine a place with 650 species of birds, 260 species of fish (such as the catfish, weighing up to 260 pounds), an unknown number of species of butterflies, and caimans, anacondas, capybaras (the largest rodent in the world), agoutis (other rodent), tapirs, peccaries, jaguars, pumas, giant anteaters, ocelots, giant otters, armadillos, several species of monkeys, including the capuchins, and dozens of other unusual species of animals.

This world is not fiction. It exists, it shelters the hugest concentration of animal life in America. It is called the Pantanal, and is located in Brazil, 1,000 miles from Sao Paulo.

By its own right, Pantanal ranks very highly in the adventure tourism business. The concentration of animal life – especially big birds: macaws, parrots, toucans, egrets, crakes, eagles, owls, oropendulas… – is unique in the world.

But… you should also understand the nature of Pantanal, and the reason why it is

largely unknown…

Pantanal doesn’t have any shopping malls or air conditioning. It’s a place of mud, most of the year. It’s not necessary to face a high discomfort to visit it, but some discomfort is unavoidable.

The Pantanal is a place with too much water and mud, and plenty of mosquitoes (insect repellent – lots of it – is indispensable) where trips may be difficult, and may have to be made on horseback, or special trucks and jeeps, or by boat.

Pantanal is a place for those who love nature and are ready to make some sacrifices to see it at its best. If you are a bird and nature lover, and if you like adventure travel, you will love the Pantanal.

Avoid the rainy season (from December to March). It’s not the ideal period to travel, unless you just want to have only a very partial view of Pantanal. It’s much better to visit the Pantanal in the dry season (July to September).

Eduardo Reisinho publishes Brazil-Travel-Guide.com

( Brazil Travel Guide), a website where you can look for more information about the Pantanal, and other themes and travel information involving Brazil.

I propose we have a set of tiny mirrors in front the leading edges of the wings of the aircraft redirecting the high-energy laser beam to areas above the wings and perhaps also onto other airfoils such as stabilizers and canards. This would blast the air and/or create vortex’s, which would enhance lift which would allow for mini-tornado sucking of air over the wing in critical high angle of attack situations. I propose to use this technique to enhance lift by

creating miniature eddies or vortexes directly above the boundary layers above the surfaces of the airfoils.

It would makes sense to prove concept to use the A-6 Intruder or the S-3 Viking since they are high-wing aircraft to start. The F-15 might be another good candidate if it works as well as the math shows. I further propose that this system would synchronize with the amount of air needed to maintain airflow needed in the intakes for air, wing lift and the thrust vectoring jets for stability. When not in use for evasive maneuvering the pole would retract into the nose of the aircraft.

We need an off-shoot of this technology which is being tested by General Atomics and Lockheed to prove my concept will work. We can use redirected or reflected laser cannon beams to increase stability in transitional flight situations to prevent departure of the aircraft from flight, by changing the air around the airfoils and control surfaces, Think about it.

“Lance Winslow” – Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

The word “echo” means that the sound that was produced by either a living being or an object actually comes back to its source. The further away the object is, the lower the frequency of the echo. The closer the object is, the higher is the frequency. Dolphins usually can emit sound ranging in frequency from 1.5 up to 11.0 kHz. Most of the time, echolocation has sounds of frequency ranging between 2.0 and 4.0 kHz but certain dolphins can emit sounds such as whistling at a frequency as high as 15.0 kHz. The echo is then producing an acoustic image of the located object or living being is then analyzed and identified.

What is the use of dolphins echolocation? It has quite a few purposes: identifying and locating objects, predators, food, a lost calf or a sick member of their pod. In fact, they can even detect a woman’s pregnancy even before she find out about it and as a result, will behave in a protective manner.

How dolphins echolocation does physically works? Sounds are emitted by the “nasal sac” which is located behind the “melon” (rounded part of the dolphin’s forehead). Then, as the sounds echoes back, the melon is in charge of focusing on sounds and

defining them as to enable the dolphin’s brain to analyze and identify their source.

What type of information does echolocation provide to the dolphin? A lot more than you think, for example, it allows the dolphin not only to locate and identify the source but also to discover the size, direction, distance, speed and even the internal structure of any object or living being in the water.

Is the dolphin the only mammal to use echolocation? No, other species such as bats use echolocation as both a safety and survival skill. In fact, the sonar used by the Marine, fishermen, the airport, and other human facilities and services have and are still studying dolphins echolocation to create, years ago, and perfect the technology behind it.

Is dolphins echolocation their language or not? In fact, echolocation can be used as part of their language but is not a language. You see, a dolphin’s language is made of a variety of sounds. Some of them are used in echolocation to warn or locate a member of their pod like a lost calf or a sick or injured member of their group or even a dangerous situation or predator in which cases; echolocation becomes part of their language. In other times, a variety of sounds will be used to communicate a variety of information such as anger, joy, a desire to play, etc.

If you wish to learn more information about echolocation or any other topic or article related to dolphins, I invite you to go to http://dolphins-and-more.com

Most people get their first taste of private jet flying by chartering a flight. Businesses, celebrities, and private individuals and families all peruse this service. You can too and the following list features some of the companies willing and able to provide this type of service for you:

Clay Lacy Aviation

Jet Aviation

Key Air

Million Air

Regal Aviation

TAG Aviation

The Air Group

This list is by no means exhaustive. For additional detailed information, please visit www.corporateflyer.net/PJCO.htm for all the top names.

There are also companies that will sell you fractional ownership in a private jet. What

this means is that you can “co-own” part of an aircraft and fly it or a similar jet as needed. For details about how this works, visit the following companies’ web sites for information:

CitationShares

Flexjet

Flight Options

Netjets

Finally, there are several companies whose expressed business is to help you broker a flight. The better companies maintain extensive databases containing information about all the available jets that can be chartered. Some of the top companies include:

Air Royale

Bluestarjets

L&L International

Marquis Jets

Sentient

Your first flight is nearer than you think. Charter a jet today and take off to the destination of your choice!

Copyright 2005 — Matthew Keegan is the owner of a successful article writing, web design, and marketing business based in North Carolina, USA. He manages several sites including the Corporate Flight Attendant Community and the Aviation Employment Board. Please visit The Article Writer to review selections from his portfolio.

If you board a cruiser and it has just a five or six-member crew, you can fulfill your heart’s desires—whether it means lolling on the deck or biting into a gelato or grilled fish or relaxing in a spa. All this holiday means for you is rest. And lots and lots of relaxation.

But that’s not all. Between all your rest and relaxation, you’re sure to do some sightseeing too—your captain will make sure you see Port Douglas, the Whitsunday Islands, Cairns, Lizard Island and Michaelmas Cay.

In summer in Sydney, you could go on a voyage through the Coral Sea with breathtaking sights for stopovers in New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji, Torres Strait, the Solomon Islands and the Islands of Eastern New Guine and then return through the outer Great Barrier Reef from Cape York to Hamilton Island.

However, if you wake up early, you could savor a breakfast buffet and the five-star amenities of your state room and then go on to enjoy freshly baked pastries and more over a large brunch. Then, after fighting off much laziness, you’ll perhaps sit down on a deck chair with a pair of sun glasses and sunscreen and you’ll look far into the ocean length and enjoy

the blueness of the waters.

But if you are sporty, you could go in for some windsurfing, snorkeling or scuba diving and enter the marine world. You could fish too and eat your catch for dinner. Or just go swimming—what could be better than that?

For lunch and dinner, enter the bar and dining rooms and while you watch the view of the water from there while you tuck into delicious Japanese, Moroccan and Indonesian cuisines—all under a star filled sky.

You’d be extra fortunate to board a cruiser around New Year’s Eve because of the fantastic fireworks display which begins at midnight for the

New year’s Eve Sydney Harbour. This usually begins at 9 p.m. and is followed by the Harbour Light parade. East and West of the Harbour Bridge you’ll find a fleet of vessels beautifully decorated with dazzling lights, sailing on a 15 km circuit, from Clarke Island to Cockatoo Island. This is undoubtedly the most sought-after sight here with people milling around to get a glimpse of the action. Once this parade is over, the fleet of vessels goes back to a viewing area from where they can see the fireworks.

And lastly, the piece de resistance—the 12 minutes of color and sound that transform the Harbour with light and sound. Millions of people—natives and tourists—throng to catch the sound and light show that will perhaps stay in their minds all through the year, until the next year rolls along.

So much for your few days on a Sydney Harbour cruise. Will you come aboard again? Who knows—perhaps yes.