Some marine diesel engines are fitted with a glow plug in the pre-combustion chamber of each cylinder or a heater plug in the inlet manifold. These can provide additional heat to the combustion air during the starting process.

Diesel marine engines are slower revving and heavier than gasoline engines but they are also more reliable because they do not have to count on external carburetion or that electrical spark for ignition.

Newer engines use an electronic fuel injection system whereby air and fuel are mixed thoroughly in the pre-combustion chamber before entering the cylinder. This system maximizes power and fuel economy and is a less polluting option.

All boaters should have an understanding about how their engine works so let’s start by looking at the mechanical cycles.

Most reciprocating piston internal combustion engines work on one of two mechanical cyclesóeither the four-stroke cycle or the two-stroke cycle. These cycles designate, in correct sequence, the mechanical actions by which the fuel and air gain access to the engine cylinder, the gas pressure – due to combustion – is converted to power and, finally, the burnt gas is expelled from the engine cylinder.

The Basic Four-Stroke Diesel Engine

From its name, you should understand that there are four strokes in one complete engine cycle. A stroke is the movement of the piston through the full length of the cylinder and, since one such movement causes the crankshaft to rotate half a turn, it follows that there are two crankshaft revolutions in one complete engine cycle.

The four strokes in the order they occur are:

1. Inlet stroke. With the inlet valve open and the exhaust valve closed, the piston moves from top dead center (TDC) to bottom dead center (BDC), creating a low-pressure area in the cylinder. Clean, filtered air rushes through the open inlet valve to relieve this low-pressure area, and the cylinder fills with air.

2. Compression stroke. With both valves closed, the piston moves from BDC to TDC, compressing the air. During the course of this stroke the air becomes heated to a temperature high enough to ignite the fuel.

3. Power stroke. At around TDC, the fuel is injected, or sprayed, into the hot, compressed air, where it ignites, burns and expands. Both valves remain closed, and the pressure on the piston crown forces it down the cylinder from TDC to BDC.

4. Exhaust stroke. At approximately BDC the exhaust valve will open and the piston starts to move from BDC to TDC, driving the burnt gas out of the cylinder through the open exhaust valve.

The Two-Stroke Diesel Engine

The two-stroke engine uses two piston strokes to complete one power stroke and, therefore, it fires twice as often as a four-stroke engine. A two-stroke engine is smaller and simpler with fewer moving parts. A two-stroke engine has the potential to produce twice as much power as a four-stroke engine of the same size, however, because of the extra fitting required in a two-stroke diesel engine, for example blowers and governors, they become more expensive to produce. Recently there has been a move towards four stroke diesel engines which have become more efficient and smaller.

Protect Your Marine Diesel Engine

Avoid idling your marine engine for longer than ten minutes in a no-load state. The engine is often idled to charge the batteries or cool  the refrigeration but if done repeatedly it will glaze the bores of the engine and cause premature engine failure. When the vessel is in a berth the engine can be put in gear to create load at idle.

Every boat owner should have some knowledge of basic marine diesel engine maintenance to keep themselves and their families safe while boating.

Swing Fix 1: Buying New Equipment

At one time or another, most golfers have thought the buying new clubs was going to instantly change their game. Now, I don’t want to totally discount this fix because buying new clubs can improve your golf game if you’re playing the wrong clubs, or your clubs are not properly fitted to you and your swing. What you should do, is find an experienced clubfitter and have your clubs fitted and your swing checked.

Buying new clubs gives you a quick fix in another way. New club give you a different feeling from your old clubs. This means that when you hit shots with them, you’re thinking so much about how the new club feels that you aren’t thinking of how you’re swinging. This totally clears your mind but it’s only temporary.A couple of weeks after using your new clubs, they don’t feel all that different so you start thinking about your swing again. My advice here is to quit trying new clubs.

As I mentioned earlier, try to find a professional clubfitter and get fitted.Once you do that, you really should focus on your swing.

Swing Fix 2: Trying Different Swing Tips

We’ve all picked up the latest golf magazine and tried the latest free golf tips hoping they will magically get our game back on track.The thing is, most golfers are not experienced enough to determine if these tips would benefit their swing. If you don’t know your swing well enough, and you try these tips, you may actually be making your swing worse. Plus, a tip is just a tip.It’s not certain that it’s going to help develop the proper fundamentals.

An example would be to try a stronger grip. Although this tip may cause the face to square better through impact, it isn’t the correct grip.You should be very careful the next time you go to work on the latest tip you find in a magazine, or from your buddy. A good idea would be to discuss the tip with your head pro or teaching pro first to see if it would be a good fit for your game.Only then should you try it.It it works, that’s fantastic!

Swing Fix 3: No Focus

So many people are looking for the instant answer that they fall into the trap of trying way too many things all at once.This approach will never work. Unfortunately, this is only going to lead to confusion.Plus, you may end up trying so many different things that you forget what actually worked.It may have been luck even if you did find something that worked.The way you can truly know if this approach is working is if your game improves well into the future.

Swing Fix 4: Working on One Thing at a Time

The best thing you can do to fix your golf swing is to work on one thing until you have it mastered. In doing so, you stay focused only on that thing which means you aren’t going to experiment and try 5 different things at once.If you’re going to work on your swing this way, then you are going to need a swing coach or a method to follow. By focusing on your swing like this, you’ll reinforce the changes because you won’t be getting sidetracked.I know, most golfers think this is going to take a long time. When compared to the other fixes I mentioned, this really will be the fastest.

That’s because the other tips only give you a temporary fix whereas, working on each piece of your swing, develops proper fundamentals that you can take with you long into the future.

But this post is not about how to get started with boating but more about one of the many ways to protect your investment if you decide to purchase your own boat and more specifically a Rinker. In order to protect your vessel and realize it’s full potential you should purchase a Rinker boat cover to protect it in all weather conditions.

You can expect to spend in the vicinity of $240 for this type of cover (this price has been discounted by 36% – its true value is much higher) and for this you can expect to get a 6.5 square yard Sundura cover that is the Rinker best seller due to its high quality. Nobody said that boating is cheap so don’t expect to get things for free. Owning your own boat doesn’t mean that you have to live in a trailer but it will cost you several thousand dollars every year to keep and maintain your vessel.

When you purchase a Rinker boat cover, you are automatically paying for quality and upon the sale, the cover has a 5 year warranty along with the 100% satisfaction guarantee. If you are unhappy with the product then you can get your money back with no questions asked.

So, what the heck kind of material are these boat covers made from? These covers are made from Sundura, a 100% polyester material, and is the most popular cover available. Blue or grey are the only colour choices.

All Rinker boat covers are extremely durable and are resistant to water and stains but they are not automatically protected against UV rays and mildew. An additional protection process is available through Rinker to provide additional protection against fierce weather.

Any special requests for your new Rinker boat cover will be taken into account and company will assist you with any requirements based on your individual needs. Rinker will be pleased to help in any way possible but it is important to remember that if a special order is placed then the product cannot be returned because the company has an as-is policy.

It is unlikely that you will need to place a special order as the Rinker cover range is extensive, however, should you require something different then get in touch with the company first to see if what you want is available and what it would cost.

At the end of the day, if you purchase your own boat, you are bound to become obsessed with protecting from the elements and people. I can’t tell you how many people I had to ban from my boat because they kept trying to come onboard wearing shoes that left marks on my nice and clean deck. Hey, we sailors like to protect our boats and so if you can’t play by the rules, we are going to keep you off them. This holds true for you nature as well.

No matter where you live, there is a ski club near you. This is true even if you live in a place that does not ever get snowfall! These clubs regularly get together for trips to various mountains, ski areas, and ski resorts. Some are local clubs, meaning that the slopes that they ski on are within driving distance, while others are more national or global, which means that they not only ski locally, if possible, but they also plan ski trips.

When planning your ski vacation contact the group sales department at a ski resort to find out exactly what sort of deals they offer to ski clubs. Typically, a resort will give one lift ticket free for every 15 paying members. Usage of the ski clubs easily accessible slalom courses.

The primary purpose of a ski clubs are to promote the sport of snow skiing, snow boarding, other recreational sports for each season, and to organize lots of regular monthly social activities, for our hundreds of members who enjoy active lifestyles. Primarily a ski club, with more than 20 ski trips a season. Day trips, weekend, and week-long trips. If you are interested in joining ski club and are in our high school during the season, passes are about $400. As we near the holiday season, especially Thanksgiving, our instinct as Americans is to give thanks for all we’ve been given in the previous year. This year has been a challenging and interesting one for the Tampa Bay Snow Skiers and Boarders, and there are so many things for us to be thankful for.

While skiing is what brings these groups together in the first place, it is not necessarily what keeps them together. Their love of a common sport, and their common interests and feeling of community is what keeps them together – and it keeps them skiing together for years and years. If you are a skier, you should definitely consider joining a club. It doesn’t matter – in most cases – what level you are at. Beginners are usually welcomed, and this is a great way for beginners to quickly improve their skills and techniques out on the slopes.

Why is it that only about 5% of all the golfers in the World can break 70? Do those golfers have something that we do not? According to golf manufacturers and their advertising claims, we need the same expensive golf equipment that the pros use to play to their level.

That obviously is marketing hype, as you can now pick up the same driver that a PGA star used last year for under $200. So, many of us do have technologically advanced clubs and golf balls that the pros use; why are we still unable to break 70 or even 80?

30 years ago 25% of golfers broke 90 and today that number has only risen to 28%. Billions have been spent on developing new technologically advanced golf clubs and balls. Billions have also been spent by advertisers trying to push these products to the struggling golfers.

There are clubs today that are easier to play, have over-sized heads, are more forgiving to miss-hits, plus golf balls that can fly straighter and further. Yet the vast majority of golfers are still struggling to break 90! It appears that the perfect golf game can not be bought; not even with the dozens of new golf training aids, modern instruction methods, or the many golf swing guides.

What is the thing that the top 5% of golfers know that we don’t. It appears that that “thing” that they possess is mastery of the Mental Game of Golf. That is the missing ingredient that can promote the quickest and most lasting change in any golfer’s game. This is the only area of golf that doesn’t cost a penny to use, so it is interesting that barely anyone uses it.

The mental golf game: Using your mind in a calculated, methodical and focused way is the surest method of improving your game and lowering your scores. Mastering the Inner Game of Golf can do wonders for your game. But you have to understand how to implement the methods.

When you do, you will have have clear focus and mental toughness, be able to control your attention, cure your golf nerves and anxiety, eliminate anger from your game, and have confidence in yourself and your game – amongst other factors.

Familiarity of the inner game of golf is what separates the top 5% of golfers from the rest of us weekend warriors. You can see it in action on the PGA Tour because all those guys have access to the same equipment, golf swing gurus, and putting instructors. The difference between them comes down to how well they master their mental game of golf during each tournament.

Obviously, at their level and with all the pressure and media coverage, it is difficult for them to maintain high levels of concentration and focus week after week, year after year. That is why even the likes of Tiger Woods can not win every major in a year or even dominate the majority of events in a season, every season.

But for weekend golfers like us, understanding and using mental golf techniques can have an immediate and long lasting positive affect on our playing level. It is the fastest way to take your game to the next level and lower your golf scores.

He went on to talk for more than an hour about Nightforce rifle scopes. Apparently, his ability to take the lives of animals would be so much more improved with on of these on his rifle. He is crazy as far as I am concerned but just in case I went to check out the cost for one of these. A good rifle scope will set you back more than $1000! In this tough economic times? Dream on! I just bought him a book on hunting. I don’t think he liked it.

I am talking about giving out trophies not only for excellence in the particular sport but also for participation and good behavior. Let’s face it. Not all kids are going to be good in sports but that doesn’t mean that they should give up on sports entirely. Chances are that none of the kids will turn into Ronaldinho, play in Europe, and earn tens of millions of dollars in the process but the benefits of exercise will stay with them for the rest of their lives. Give trophies at the end of the year for more than the number of goals scored but also for showing up to practice and treating teammates well. At the end of the day, team sports are about more than the game itself. Team sports can help teach children proper behavior in a group environment, a skill that they will definitely need when they become adults.

Junior Agogo, the star striker from Ghana was offered just that, Agogo, scored the deciding goal in a 2-1 victory over Nigeria allowing Ghana to move into the semi-finals against Cameroon. 24hrs later an 82 year-old fan of Agogo was at Agogo’s hotel stating “I came here last night with my very beautiful granddaughter to introduce her to you.”She is not here with me now because she wanted to pick something from town. Son, when she comes, she is all yours.”

I don’t think soccer players need the help, nor do grandfather’s need to be pimping out there granddaughters, but that’s just me. Agogo later asked if her granddaughter had a sister—-just kidding, about the sister part.
oh boy.