Navigation Systems for Cruisers
After a lightning strike, we had to replace all of our electronics-it was an eye opening task (published January/February 2018) A couple of years ago we were struck by lightning just as we were leaving West End, the Bahamas on our way north to our home port in Newport, RI.
Stay in Touch
"Stay in Touch!" It's a common enough term, but one that takes on many places and is important to many people (published November/December 2017) As I write this, two days ago Hurricane Irma roared through Florida. Yesterday, September 11th, marked the anniversary of the attack on the World Trade
Solar Survival
Bright ideas to keep you going in any situation (published Nov/Dec 2017) Watching the drama unfold as hurricane after hurricane battered the Caribbean and Atlantic this season was horrifying. Broken boats, broken homes and broken dreams were the only thing that seemed to make the news for weeks. As sailors
Essential Upgrades to an Offshore Cruising Boat
Preparation is the key to happy, safe cruising in a well fitted out cruising boat (published October 2017) When you are getting a boat ready for sailing offshore and passagemaking, there are a host of upgrades to any boat that need to be checked off the to do list. If
Ten Years After
What Worked, What Didn't (published October 2017) After 10 years of cruising, we aren’t going home any time soon. We are on our way across the Indian Ocean to South Africa; then, Tierra Del Fuego has an enticing tone. Along the way we are still finding some things that work
What’s In Your Ditch Bag?
(published October 2017) Imagine that your worst nightmare has come true; a catastrophic equipment failure, irreparable damage due to a collision at sea or human error puts your vessel in peril. You find yourself getting ready to abandon ship, but how prepared are you? Last year in western Canada there
Top Ten Items to Have Onboard
Not necessarily the "big ticket" items but items that have over the years the author has come to rely on (published September 2017) I’ve delivered countless cruising boats within and across virtually every ocean. Some of the vessels had the things I liked. Others may have missed a few things.
Learn Your Life Raft
(published April 2017) With sea boots and foul weather gear full of water, I stepped onto the bottom rung of the life raft’s boarding ladder and tried to stand up. Nothing. Groping at the inside of the raft’s door, I urgently searched for a handle that I knew was there
Anchors for Cruisers
There are lots of choices but some pretty obvious answers, too (published April 2017) For cruising sailors who like to explore off the beaten path, anchors are their most important safety gear and insurance policy. If you are going to sleep well at night when anchored, you have to be
Performance Propellers
(published April 2017) What does an extra knot of boat speed mean under sail? On a day run of 30 miles, it will cut almost an hour off the time under way. On a coastal passage of 250 miles you will save seven hours. And, on a 1,500 mile passage