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Read more: Treasures From The SeaEver since John took up photography, our hikes have turned into strolls interspersed with numerous long hiatuses while he records our surroundings for posterity. This initially caused a certain amount of friction, until I developed my own obsession—sea glass.
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Read more: New Engine, The Proof is in The VoyageSo how did the new engine work out over time? What worked well and what did not? It’s all here, together with solid recommendations for transmissions, exhaust systems, and drive line.
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Read more: The Adaptable Polar BearJohn and I just returned from a challenging Arctic cruise, one of many we’ve undertaken over the last 20 years. On all our previous voyages, we’ve only ever seen the back end of one bear running away from us…we were on the boat, steaming out of an anchorage in Northern Spitsbergen.
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Read more: The Ideal Cruiser Camera, What Really MattersIf you want to take a step up from premium point and shoots, what features really matter? John cuts through the fog of specifications and conflicting claims to answer that.
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Read more: It Feels So Good When You (Finally) Stop!A thank you to all those who helped make our 10,000-mile voyage (Charleston to Charleston) a success.
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Read more: Windvane Or Autopilot?These days every cruiser seems to fit an autopilot, but what’s the case for a vane gear? Or maybe both.
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Read more: Provisioning For Remote Voyaging, Part IIProvisioning tips for long voyages on an offshore cruising boat
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Read more: Provisioning For Remote Voyaging, Part IA big part of preparing for an extensive northern trip such as the one we undertook this summer is provisioning. In this case, I had to provision for six months. Yikes! A number of people have asked me how I go about doing this, so here goes.
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Read more: Why Go North? For The AdventureThough Amundsen said that adventure is the result of poor planning, when we say we go north for the adventure, we mean the chance to explore “off the charts”.
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Read more: Earplugs For CruisingWearing earplugs can reduce anxiety while cruising.
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Read more: Tips For Receiving GRIBsIn this chapter I’m going to get into the details of how we request and use GRIBs to get the maximum amount of information for the minimum data size and cost, when at sea or in remote areas with no internet.
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Read more: Trans-Atlantic Single-Handed Sanity CheckWhat experience do you need to cross the Atlantic safely while single handed on a sailboat?
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Read more: Watch Out For Whales, Part IICollisions with whales and dolphins are becoming an increasing concern for offshore cruisers, as I outlined in a previous post. But up until recently there has been no serious attempt made to quantify the level of actual collision events, or to plot their geographical distribution. Obviously, having some idea of where and when collisions might […]
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Read more: Contrasts in CruisingQuestion: What do these two photographs have in common?
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Read more: Choosing an AnchorageDeciding where to seek shelter with a storm on the way, particularly when far from home and in unfamiliar waters, can be one of the most stressful calls we voyagers are called upon to make. John shares his decision making process when choosing an anchorage to ride out a fall storm.
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Read more: We Can Cope With ThisColin and Louise really enjoyed Morocco, and found it hard to leave, but the anticipation of a new landfall in the Canaries made the break less painful.
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Read more: Tips For Receiving Weather FaxStarting with this chapter I’m going to focus on weather reception tools that we use when we are offshore or in remote places where the internet is not available. Let’s start with weatherfax and why it’s still important.
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Read more: Don’t Pass The Bucket, Please!Colin discusses two new seasickness remedies with the potential to help the truly recalcitrant.
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Read more: The Best Camera Is The One You’ve GotFor most casual photographers a small point and shoot is the best option, not least because you are more likely to be carrying it when you come across a great shot. But how do you choose among the scores of offerings? John takes you through the features that matter and recommends a specific camera.
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Read more: Your Boat Should Forgive YouMany of you will be aware of the sinking of the sail training vessel Concordia off the Brazilian Coast last year. The Canadian Transportation Safety Board (TSB) have now completed their report. I see lessons in it for all of us that go to sea, albeit rather different ones than those trumpeted in the media.
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Read more: Q&A: Mixing Battery Sizes In One BankQuestion: Due to space considerations I want to use two 105 amp hour and two 150 amp hour batteries as a house battery bank. Would this arrangement be detrimental to the smaller batteries?
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Read more: Arctic Voyage Milestones“Morgan’s Cloud” returns to her mooring in Nova Scotia, 4 months, 7000 miles, and 60 degrees of latitude later.
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Read more: It’s A Forecast, Not A ProphecyIn the last chapter I wrote about the importance of understanding the weather systems in a wide area around you rather than just looking at a GRIB or forecast for your immediate area. I believe this is so important that I’m going to write about another storm to drive the point home.
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Read more: Internal Volume—Too Much In The Wrong Place?As Colin writes, if the huge internal volume in a lot of modern sailboats was used to increase storage capacity, it might be somewhat justified. But if all of it is taken up with berths and shower units, then where does all the ‘stuff’ go?
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Read more: Cruising, The Unexpected Fun ExperiencesWe were tied up alongside a fishery wharf in northern Newfoundland when the roar of powerful engines brought us tumbling up from below to see two seine boats attached stern to stern by a thick line and both at full throttle.
