Tag Archives: Douglas Heckrotte

the fan with awning retracted

An Outdoor Ceiling Fan Support Crane

By Douglas Heckrotte

I first saw outdoor ceiling fans while vacationing on Isla Mujeres, Mexico, just north of Cancun. These fans are ubiquitous and evidently inexpensive. Used both indoors and outdoors, theyre mounted on 3″x 3″ concrete beams. Some of those beams also support sun shades but usually, the fans are completely open to the weather. Continue reading

The Flying Dutchman SURCEASE restored to its former glory.

Flying Dutchman Restoration

By Douglas Heckrotte

Surcease is a late ’50s International Flying Dutchman Class sailboat. The Mahogany hull was cold-molded in Holland and imported by Paul Rimoldi of Miami Florida. Mr Rimoldi made everything else, including many pieces of hardware. He raced the boat on Biscayne Bay into the ’60s and sailed it for many years. He rebuilt the boat in the late ’80s but died before he finished. We bought the boat in August 1992 from his widow and sailed it for almost a season before we discovered that the hull was in very poor condition; the Urea-resin glue between the veneers had begun to turn to dust. We stored the boat and bought another Flying Dutchman.  Continue reading