Pair Travel

Boat cleaning is tough, especially the hull. When inventors help entrepreneurs to find better technologies and robotic systems to clean hulls of vessels the fist thing they ask is: “How big are the Vessels you intend to clean?” Generally boat cleaners are looking for a robotic type unit, which cleans without the use of people or a unit which requires no one to be underwater cleaning and to clean these boats in the water.

There are several ways to do this and this may include robotic underwater UUVs (underwater unmanned vehicles). There are a couple of companies in Florida using some MIT equipment cleaning large ships. Also a former Stanford Student who is getting contracts for cargo ship and cruise ship industry currently in LA.

If you are taking about small vessels, then there are several units and you
will still need a platform to work from and some areas the EPA will be upset
because removing some of that old crud will cause issues with oxygen levels
and thus it also becomes a fish and games issue. Using rollers on a system underwater and bringing the boats to the system is another way to do it.

Many do not use these in-place systems and apparently those Marina’s who do
have problems with sizes and shapes of the various different types of boat
hulls. For instance a sail boat, tri hull, catamaran, etc. This limits your
market base.

Additionally a harbor in CA, WA, OR, MA, VA, MD, FL would never let you put one of these roller systems in, and even if you got permission, it would be shut down by the first environmentalist who came by claiming you are removing oxygen from the water when you take algae and debris off the boat hull. These environmentalists are dogs, they are
completely out of control.

http://www.p2pays.org/ref/04/03708/text/ch14.html

http://www.p2pays.org/ref/04/03708/text/ch21.html

http://www.epa.gov/owow/nps/mmsp/section4.13.pdf

There is a Marine Catalog and Boating Magazine, which has them for sale and you can see pictures of them. Most operators of marinas will not buy one, due to environmental issues. The best roller type units adjust for each size of vessel and scrub like a rollover robotic car wash. Here is a designer of such a system in the UK.

http://www.initialcleaning.co.uk/ws/index.html

Here is some older information for cleaning bigger vessels.

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http://www.parthe.net/_cwg1003/0000001e.htm

http://www.parthe.net/_cwg1003/00000063.htm

Some of this is old information and personal research, but a good place to start when looking for a system to clean ships or boat hulls. Good luck cleaning those boats.

“Lance Winslow” - If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs

Okay, it wasn’t quite a sleeping bag. However, it was only five ounces, and it kept me warm as the temperature dropped to the low forties on the bank of the Manistee River in Michigan. The secret was the fifteen minutes we spent gathering dead, dry bracken ferns to build a two-foot thick mattress. We set the tent on that. Then, with all my clothes on, I was fine.

In fact, I’ve rarely slept as well camping as I did that night. As I said, it wasn’t a sleeping bag, but actually a sleeping bag liner. I bought it from Campmor, but I’ve since sewn a simple one of bargain-bin nylon material ($1/yard) obtained at Walmart. If it’s possible to stay warm with a light sleeping bag liner in autumn, at a few degrees above freezing, this strategy should work well for summer nights in the sixties.

How To Use A Liner As A Sleeping Bag

Be careful, of course, backpacking with just a liner for a sleeping bag. It could be dangerous, or at least uncomfortable enough to ruin your trip. Experiment near home, and know yourself and your enviroment.

Learn a few tricks. If it isn’t too humid you can breath in your bag, and you will be much warmer. Most backpackers will tell you not to do this, because you’ll be damp in the morning, but in a dry enviroment you’ll be fine once you hit the trail. Just dry the liner out during a break.

Another trick is to use a mattress of dried plants. Try dead leaves, palm fronds, grass, cattail leaves, some tree barks, etc. A mattress of this sort insulates you from the ground, which normally takes away much of your body heat. Scatter the leaves in the morning so they won’t smother the plants underneath.

Some other tricks to try: Hot tea before going to sleep… Exercise a bit… Cover yourself with extra clothes… Elevate your feet slightly… Go to sleep earlier or later. Experiment to see what works best for you.

Also, go to bed warm. If you’re warm when you get into your sleeping bag, you’re more likely to stay warm through the night. It’s difficult to warm up, especially in a thin bag, if you start out shivering.

I’m not recommending backpacking with only a sleeping bag liner, but it is an option. I’ve gone out with nothing more than a bivy sack in my jacket pocket, but I’m not recommending that either. This is just to present all the possible options for the ultralight backpacker.

Steve Gillman is a long-time advocate of lightweight backpacking. His tips, photos and stories can be found at The Ultralight Backpacking Site: http://www.The-Ultralight-Site.com

Using a golf exercise dvd is a great alternative to going to a gym or just relying on yourself for motivation and consistency. Golfers are now finally realizing that exercise dvds aren’t just for the ladies anymore.

The dvd craze has caught on with golfers of all ages and abilities. Golf instruction dvds have been very popular, but now golf exercise dvds are coming into their own.

What you should look for in a golf exercise dvd is several things. Simple and easy demonstrations of every golf exercise. This is separate from the workout component of the golf exercise dvd. You want a menu that is user-friendly and easy to move around to the different sections of the golf exercise dvd.

The most important component is the golf exercise workout itself. What I’m referring to is ‘plug-and-play’. You should be able to insert the golf exercise dvd and have the golf fitness trainer take you through the entire workout from start to finish. Just as if he were there with you.

My wife and I have seen hundreds of exercise dvds that do not take you through the entire routine. They are pieced together and leave you trying to figure out what to do with it.

Be wary of a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach. This is not what you want. You want to be lead through a golf exercise routine that is suitable for your current level of fitness, age and abilities.

If your starting point is a little lower, then a golf fitness dvd that is more challenging will only promote you to fail. I’ve seen this time and time again.

On the other hand, if you are an experienced exerciser, you want a golf exercise dvd that is more challenging than a beginner (novice) one. One that will challenge your core stabilization, balance, coordination and muscular endurance.

This may sound like a lot to think about, but making the right choice will dictate the ultimate success of your program. So make sure to thoroughly read over all the information pertaining to that golf exercise dvd.

About The Author: Mike Pedersen is one of the top golf fitness experts in the country, author of the Ultimate Golf Fitness Guide, and founder of several cutting-edge online golf fitness sites. Take a look at his just released golf exercise dvds at his golf exercise site - Perform Better Golf.

Starbucks Coffee Company was founded in 1971 by three businessmen in Seattle, Washington who had a love for coffee and tea. It was important to them that the city of Seattle to have access their coffee.

The Starbucks Coffee Company grew slowly but by 1981 had 4 retail stores and a roasting plant that sold whole bean coffee in Seattle only.

By 1983 the marketing manager had a vision of re-creating the magic and romance behind the Italian coffee bar and wanted to test out the concept of selling espresso by the cup. When Starbucks Coffee opened its 6th store in downtown Seattle, the idea had become a hit. Within 2 months the new store was serving over 700 customers a day and it was selling 3 times more than the whole bean locations.

In 1987, the owners of Starbucks Coffee Company decided to sell their coffee business along with the name to a group of local investors for $3.7 million.

The new investors were told that they would open 125 Starbucks coffee stores in the next five years. Starting from a base of 17 stores in 1987, the company expanded rapidly to Vancouver, Portland and Chicago.

By 1991 Starbucks had expanded into the mail-order catalogue business, licensed airport stores and expanded further into the state of California.

In 1992 the company went public and after the initial public offering, Starbucks continued to grow at a phenomenal pace that no one had ever seen in the coffee world before. By 1997 the number of Starbucks Coffee stores grew tenfold, with locations in the US, Japan and Singapore.

Starbucks initiated several successful product and brand extensions including offering coffee on United Airlines flights. They also began selling premium teas through its Tazo Tea Company and offering people the option to purchase starbucks coffee online to enjoy at home.

They began distributing whole bean and ground coffee to supermarkets through an agreement with Kraft Foods. They also produced premium coffee ice cream with Dreyers. Starbucks even sold CDs in its retail stores.

Starbucks began turning its name into a household word not through advertising but through word of mouth. In fiscal 2004, Starbucks opened a record 1,344 stores worldwide. The once small regional roaster, Starbucks Coffee Company, now has more than 9,000 locations in 34 countries serving over 20 million customers a week.

Copyright © 2005 Perfect Coffees.com. All Rights Reserved.

This article is supplied by http://www.perfectcoffees.com where you can purchase starbucks coffee online, tea, cups, mugs, coffee makers, delicious desserts and sugar free desserts online. For a free monthly coffee newsletter with articles like these go to: http://www.perfectcoffees.com/newsletter.html

A golfer elbow injury has got to be one of the most dreaded injuries on any golf course.

And it is not too difficult to figure out why. To begin with a golfer elbow injury will usually take a long time to heal properly and quite often recurs shortly after a golfer gets back to the course. Golfer elbow injury is very similar to tennis elbow, which tennis players equally dread.

It is the sort of injury where a doctor will prescribe total rest well away from the course. For many a keen golfer, this may be even more punishment than the nagging, and often sharp pain from the golfer elbow injury.

The reason why a golfer elbow injury takes so long to heal and in some cases may never really go away, is because it is the sort of injury that involves a joint. Usually injuries on joints are troublesome. One of the reasons is that it is difficult to rest a joint completely and one ends up using the muscles whenever they make any slight movement.

Therefore any advice or tips to help reduce the risk of golfer elbow is extremely important to any golfer.

Stretch exercises designed for golf specific muscles or muscles that are used while playing golf can help a great deal in strengthening and conditioning the muscles involved. By strengthening golf specific muscles a golfer ends up putting much less pressure on the tendons that join the muscles to the bones around the elbow area. This greatly reduces the risk of this injury in golfers.

Warm up exercises before getting into a round of golf and a warm down as well, at the end of your game, also help tremendously in reducing the risk of golfer elbow injury. Warm ups ensure that the pressures involved in playing the game are not exerted on cold muscles, which usually dramatically increases the chances of all sorts of injury and not just the golf elbow injury.

About The Author: Mike Pedersen is one of the top golf fitness experts in the country, author of the Ultimate Golf Fitness Guide, and founder of several cutting-edge online golf fitness sites. Visit his new target="_new" href="http://www.performbettergolf.com/">golf fitness training site at Perform Better Golf.

Golf video instruction can be a powerful tool in helping any golfer improve their handicap. Yet many golfers do not fully benefit from them.

The reason is that their approach is wrong and they are therefore unable to benefit from the practical advice and tips received through golf video instruction.

Here I carry three tips to help you benefit and reap the full rewards from golf video instruction tapes.

A) Watch the whole golf video instruction tape to the end first and then slowly review it starting from the beginning.
Quite as you enjoy watching the golf video for the very first time, most of the instructions and tips will hardly be remembered.

Exactly the same thing happens when you read a book whose contents you want to retain. This is why it is very important to go through the golf video a second time carefully taking note of the all the instruction and tips. It is not a bade idea to record it all in a note book.

B) Apply only one golf video instruction tip at a time to your game.

Usually you will end up with a huge volume of instruction and tips from the golf video. It is therefore advisable to apply one at a time, rather than try to apply several and when you do not seem to get any result, you simply abandon everything.

This is exactly what most golfers do. Be patient and apply the tips one at a time. You will find that some do not work for you. Do not get discouraged, move to the next one and patiently work your way through your entire list.

C) Combine you application of the golf video instruction with a golf-specific exercise program.

There are many things in golf which will be extremely difficult to apply to your game if you are not physically fit. Or at least golf-fit. Some techniques can even increase the risk of injury if you are not involved in any golf exercise program.

Ensuring that you are golf fit is a very important requirement for reaping maximum benefits from golf video instruction tapes.

About The Author:
Mike Pedersen is one of the top golf fitness experts in the country, author of the Ultimate Golf Fitness Guide, and founder of several cutting-edge online golf fitness sites. Visit his new golf fitness training site at Perform Better Golf.

Fascinatingly enough a bad golfer is consistent enough with his/her consistent mistakes and poor play, that it promotes even more bad golf and frustration.

Actually a bad golfer ignores or is unaware of what has to be the single most important aspect of the golf swing. This is the setup or positioning before the swing.

It does not matter how good your swing is and how much correct technique you have used. If you do not pay attention to your swing, you are a bad golfer and it will clearly show when you have hit the ball.

All great golfers are aware of how important the setup is and you can be sure that many bad golfers are not. If you setup correctly for a shot, chances are extremely high that you will hit a good shot. So important is your setup that even if you swing poorly in a good setup position, you are bound to at least hit a reasonable shot.

A good setup will enable you achieve a good posture and the sort of balance that will help you maintain balance and inevitably control throughout the shot.

The correct setup comes with correct training and even more important; exercising and conditioning of the muscles you use in your entire body for the swing. A bad golfer will more often than not be the sort of person who does not do golf-specific exercises aimed at improving their golf. The result is that they will not even be able to tell the difference between a good setup position and a bad one, simply because they will tend to feel uncomfortable in both.

It is amazing but true that all it takes to move you swiftly to the ranks of a good golfer from amongst the majority of bad golfers is a simple exercise routine, most of which you can even do from your office while you work.

About The Author: Mike Pedersen is one of the top golf fitness experts in the country, author of the Ultimate Golf Fitness Guide, and founder of several cutting-edge online golf fitness sites. Check out his new golf fitness - golf training site at Perform Better Golf.

Cambodia is a land on the mend. From 1977 through 1980, the Khmer Rouge ruled the country, fanatics bent on genocide. Millions were killed and the period was put to film in the movie, “The Killing Fields.” Fortunately, those days are over and the country is becoming a tourist destination.

Cambodia is a land of incredible contrast. Thick forest, mountains and pristine rivers compliment amazing white beaches. When you get down to it, however, travelers know Cambodia for two things, Angkor Wat and the nastiest roads around. But, let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Phnom Penh

Phnom Penh is the capital of Cambodia. The city is a combination of old French beauty and modern condominiums. The city is full of amazing Wats [Buddist monasteries], including Wat Ounalom, Wat Phnom and Wat Moha Montrei. Modern buildings surround these monasteries and it’s difficult to avoid a feeling that the old ways are being lost.

Still, the vibrancy of the city is impressive considering the fact that it was completely abandoned for three years in the last 70s. During this period, the Khmer Rouge tried to return the Cambodian people to their agricultural heritage and evacuated all cities. The only exception, of course, is Tuol Sleng, a high school used to torture and kill “enemies of the state.” Just beyond the city, one will also find the infamous killing fields where thousands upon thousands were put to death.

Sihanoukville

Sihanoukville is a small, sleepy village on the Southwest edge of Cambodia. Fairly undeveloped, the area is an oasis similar to the beaches of Thailand. The difference, however, is the lack of tourists. Depending on the time of year, the beaches can be more or less empty and privacy assured. Rooms run between $5 and $15 a night and come with private bathrooms. If you are looking to lounge professionally, Sihanoukville is a very good place to do it.

Angkor Wat

Stunning. There is no other word for the temples of Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat is a temple surrounded by hundreds of others. Each is unique and worth a look. The most famous are Angkor Wat, Bayon and Ta Phrom. Angkor Wat is in the best shape as well as the most known. The Bayon is impressive, but the constant mob of tourist makes it a pain to visit. Ta Phrom is amazing because it has been left to the jungle, which is to say trees and the structure have become one in many areas. If you have seen Tomb Raider with Angelina Jolie, you have seen Ta Phrom. Personally, I prefer Angkor Wat to the Pyramids in Egypt.

Roads From Hell

Cambodian roads are evil. There is simply no other way to put it. The country is hit by monsoons every year and is still recovering from the Khmer Rouge. This combination has resulted in roads with huge potholes, missing bridges and pretty much the worst elements of Dante’s Hell. Avoid them if at all possible!

Rick Chapo is with http://www.nomadjournals.com - preserve the experience with a written journal. Visit http://www.nomadjournaltrips.com to read more travelogues and articles.

Here’s an ultralight backpacking list, an example of what I typically take on a weekend hike. We’re all different in our needs and skills, though, so please don’t take it as a recomendation. My list, with weights (not including what I wear to start):

*GoLite Breeze Backpack: 12 ounces

*Western Mountaineering Bag: 17 ounces

*Nylon Tarp: 17 ounces

*Frogg Toggs Rain Jacket: 7 ounces

*Groundsheet: 2 ounces

*Sleeping Pad: 4 ounces

*Bathroom Supplies: 3 ounces

*First Aid Kit: 3 ounces

*Knife, Lighter, Etc: 3 ounces

*Hat: 1 ounce

*Gloves: 1 ounce

*Poly Vest: 4 ounces

*Socks, 2 pair: 2 ounces

*T-shirt, long sleeve: 6 ounces

*Camera: 5 ounces

*Light: 1 ounce

*Water: 16 ounces

*Raw Sunflower Seeds: 16 ounces

*Fudge-dipped granola bars (8): 16 ounces

*Tortilla Chips: 16 ounces

TOTAL WEIGHT : 9 pounds, 8 ounces

This is a summer backpacking list, but it’s worth noting that my 17-ounce sleeping bag has kept me warm below freezing. The food adds up more than 6,700 calories, plus I tend to eat a lot of wild berries. I keep iodine pills for purifying water in my first aid kit, and stop often to refill the plastic water bottle.

This isn’t an exercise in deprivation. I have done that too, going out with just a plastic bag to sleep in and a few granola bars. This list is what I need for comfort, warmth and safety. It is actually very enjoyable to easily walk twenty miles through the mountains, with less than ten pounds on my back. With the right skills, equipment and preparation, ultralight backpacking is never about suffering.

Steve Gillman is a long-time backpacker, and advocate of lightweight backpacking. His advice and stories can be found at http://www.TheUltralightBackpackingSite.com

Baseball gloves have been around for years. The first baseball glove was worn on the field by Al Spalding and others in 1876. In 1920 the first Rawlings baseball glove with a natural pocket was worn on the baseball field.

Baseball gloves have evolved a lot since those times. Did you know that Bill Mazeroski dug an outhouse to come up with the money to buy his first baseball glove? Brooks Robinson kept his glove fingers stiff with tongue depressors. There are many stories about players and their baseball gloves.

Baseball gloves are still an important part of the game and it’s crucial that you find the right one for you. Consider the price, you can find baseball gloves for $15 all the way up to $200 or more. If you plan to use the glove for a long time it might be a good idea to pay a little more and get a good quality glove. If you are buying the glove for a younger player who will need to change baseball gloves as they grow you might want to think about a less expensive baseball glove.

When choosing baseball gloves the feel is important. If it doesn’t feel good you will not be able to play at your peak performance.

You can buy baseball gloves in many different sizes for all ages, positions and games. Baseball gloves as measured by their “pattern size”. Youth baseball gloves range from 8″ to about 12″ and adults are usually in the 12″ to 13″ range.

Baseball gloves are available according to positions: Catchers, first base, infield and outfield. There are also different types of webs and backs.

There are many brands and hundreds of models to choose from when buying baseball gloves. Players often have their own personal favorites. You can even have a handcrafted, personalized glove made.

Baseball gloves have a history and are still an important part of the equipment when playing today.

Ken Austin
Baseball Gear and Equipment
Roses and Rose Gardening