LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
yourself. Any shaft brake must
embody two important attributes
—
strength and ease of use—and the
user must exercise caution when
designing and installing this gear
himself or herself. In an emergency,
you should be able to disengage the
brake quickly and easily. Additionally,
it is desirable for the brake either to
automatically unlock when the
engine is shifted into gear or to
include an ignition “lock out” so
that the engine cannot be started
until the brake is disengaged.
The company mentioned earlier,
Shaft Lok ( www.shaftlok.com),
offers a compact locking mechanism
that automatically disengages.
You may want to consider such
an installation. Additionally, savvy
fabricators often can manufacture
a compact shoe that engages the
coupling. Relying on anything to
clamp or grab the shaft is simply
asking for trouble.—Steve D’Antonio
INTO THE KOSMOS
I read with great interest Sally Bee
Brown’s article “Into the Kosmos”
(PMM March ’09). I am curious as
to approximately where Eric and
Christi Grab are now aboard Kosmos.
(I was in the Caribbean recently on
my boat, Osprey, and thought they
might be at the next island.) I
assume they are near the Panama
Canal, if not already through it and
on their way up the Pacific Coast.
I think follow-up articles on the
Grabs would be of interest, perhaps
on such topics as their preparations
(including their equipment), any
problems they encountered with red
tape or equipment malfunctions,
how they chose their route, and
what they did to avoid pirates at
the mouth of the Red Sea.
Alan Gallaway
Fair Oaks, California
I’m so glad you enjoyed the article,
Alan. The Grabs transited the Panama
Canal aboard their Nordhavn 43 in
early March, so they’ve been back in
the Pacific for a while. As I wrote
this, they were steaming toward their
home port of San Diego and were
scheduled to wrap up their round-the-world journey in mid-May.
If you visit the young couple’s
extensive, well-written, and well-indexed blog at www.kosmos.liveflux.
net/blog, you’ll find answers to most
of your questions. The only answer
you might not find is what their
exact plans were in the event of
encountering pirates. Christi and Eric
say they did have a plan, but they
won’t reveal what it is. Perhaps
they’ll tell after their voyage is
finished.—Sally Bee Brown
