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Read more: Is It An Expedition Or A Cruise?Last week a friend gave us a catalogue of “expedition” cruises offered by National Geographic and Lindblad Expeditions. The glossy photograph-filled magazine touts cruises that you can take to some of the world’s most remote places. The sales pitch runs along the lines of: Buy a ticket, fly to Chile, board a luxury small cruise […]
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Read more: About Fig Leaves And Installing SeacocksInstalling a seacock properly is not a trivial project and that is especially true on an aluminum boat. John takes you through the process of installing a new seacock on Morgan’s Cloud.
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Read more: A Boat Designed For The High LatitudesAn in-depth look at the hull form and construction of the Boréal 44.
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Read more: We Can’t Do It AllPart of the engine installation project on Morgan’s Cloud was the fitting of new engine mounts—which meant welding, which meant sparks flew, which meant the paint in the engine room got speckled. (Morgan’s Cloud’s builder did a wonderful job of most things, but painting the bilge in the engine room was not one of his […]
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Read more: Q&A: Grounding The Engine On An Aluminum BoatQuestion: I was wondering if you think the engine should be grounded to the hull or not [on an aluminum boat].
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Read more: Q&A: A Late West To East Atlantic CrossingQuestion: I am a fairly experienced Swedish sailor; however, I have never “crossed the pond”. We have decided to buy a MacGregor 65. There are several for sale at good prices in the US, but very few in Europe. We will miss the most appropriate season [to cross the Atlantic]. Hence, I want to ask […]
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Read more: New Engine For “Morgan’s Cloud”—What We ChoseAll engines have tradeoffs, but by really thinking about the theory we have learned in the first chapters as we select a new engine, we can make a big difference to efficiency and reliability. Here’s an example.
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Read more: Peace At Last?Readers of my previous post on the subject will be aware that we try to generate as much power as possible via renewable resources – wind and solar. This is driven by a desire to keep the boat as simple as possible, and to avoid the need to run our engine at rest for charging […]
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Read more: A Tale Of Two Water HeatersLast year our venerable and functional 9 gallon Allcraft water heater (on the right) finally bit the big one after 15 years of faithful service. And, wouldn’t you know it, Allcraft had gone out of business.
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Selection Criteria For The New Engine For “Morgan’s Cloud”
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Read more: Selection Criteria For The New Engine For “Morgan’s Cloud”Up to now in this online book we have looked at the theory behind designing an efficient engine and drivetrain for a displacement cruising boat. Now we will dive into a real world example as John shares the story of the last repower of Morgan’s Cloud.
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Read more: Medical Kit For The Long HaulTotally confused about which medical kit to take onboard with you? Colin discusses some of the issues involved in choosing which kit is right for you.
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Read more: Visiting The Gizmo GuruLast weekend we had a pleasant break from our re-power project while visiting some good friends in Camden, Maine and giving a slide-show to some members of the Ocean Cruising Club. While there, our friends suggested that we visit Ben Ellison, author of Panbo, the popular blog on marine electronics, on his aptly named motor […]
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Read more: Cummins Engine—Rebuild Or Replace?Initially we were firmly in the rebuild camp, as were most of the experts we consulted. After all, at 6000 hours our engine is, in the words of David in his comment, “[a] baby and has many hours running [still] available”. Rebuilding would also save all the expense and aggravation of changing all kinds of […]
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Read more: A Marine Voyager’s Dilemma in Northern LabradorWe have sailed the coast of Labrador many times and appreciate its rugged scenery, beautiful light, and isolation. So when the government of Canada decided to make the northern part a federal park, we were thrilled. But now that we can’t visit the Torngat Mountains National Park, we aren’t so thrilled anymore.
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Read more: Save Our LighthousesI can’t imagine that there are many sailors out there who don’t share John’s and my fascination with lighthouses—walking around them, climbing them, photographing them, reading about what it was like to take care of them—we don’t seem to tire of it. However, in Canada, the USA and the UK, and I’m sure in other […]
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Read more: Cummins Marine Diesel Engine, ProblemsEarly failure of a Cummins M92B engine installed in a expedition sailboat.
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Read more: Quality Custom LinensI don’t know about the rest of you, but figuring out how to get bedding to fit the odd size and shape of boat bunks has been an ongoing battle for me.
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Read more: An Engineless Junk Rigged Dory—Another Way To Get Out ThereIn the last couple of weeks we have written about some ways to get out voyaging without spending a huge amount of money, at least relatively speaking, and in turn got several great comments from our readers. In the same vein, last week we had dinner with an interesting couple who built their own boat […]
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Read more: Three Navigation Mistakes That Can Wreck YouAlthough we are not Luddites bemoaning the take over of electronics and warning of the dire consequence of over reliance on them, we are aware of several dangers in their exclusive use:
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Read more: Knowing Where It’s AtWe start this book by looking at the most important aspect of good and safe navigation. More important than fancy electronics. More important than paper charts. More important than radar. Situation awareness—knowing where you are at all times.
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Read more: Another Reason We Have An Aluminum BoatWe were out walking on the foreshore here in Nova Scotia a few days ago and came across this remnant of what I’m guessing was a commercial wharf. Clearly it had been in the water for quite a while before it fetched up here in a winter blow.
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Read more: Fire BlanketsFire blankets are a great idea, particularly to smother a grease flare-up in the galley without the mess of a dry powder extinguisher, and we have long carried one on Morgan’s Cloud; however, it was bulky and ugly and so was relegated to a locker up forward, much reducing its effectiveness in a fire where […]
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Q&A: A Novel, But Probably Smart, Way To Cross The Atlantic, East To West
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Read more: Q&A: A Novel, But Probably Smart, Way To Cross The Atlantic, East To WestQuestion: I’m thinking about sailing to Greenland from my home in Germany. My boat is a very sound 33-foot steel sloop, which I have singlehanded often. The natural way to go to Greenland from the German coast seems to be to use the stepping stones: Norway and/or Scotland/Shetlands, thence to Faroe and Iceland and on […]
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Read more: It Ain’t Necessarily SoIn these days of hyper-accurate GPS navigation and deck mounted plotters, it can sometimes seem like navigation has been reduced to no more than a video game.
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Read more: Q&A: Warm Feet, PleaseQuestion: Four of us sailed my 36-ft Moody Halberdier from Buffalo, New York to Rimouski, Quebec in Oct./Nov. last year. The biggest problem was cold feet. Sailing boots with extra socks did not do the trick in -5°C weather. Rubber boots with liners were OK. I’m planning a trip to Northern Labrador next summer. Any […]
