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Read more: Q&A: Port BezelsQuestion: Could you post detailed photos to your website of the wooden bezels you fitted to your ports to accept Plexiglas covers? Did you do the same for your hatches? We are losing the battle against condensation in Florida’s current cold snap. Thanks!
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Read more: Mooring Failure, The Loss Of “Kantele”On 28th December last year a beautiful Saga 40—an English design not to be confused with this boat—was lost when she went ashore at Sint Eustatius in the eastern Caribbean when a mooring provided for yachts by the local marine park, STENAPA, failed in what looks from the photograph to be benign conditions.
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Read more: Bohlken Westerland BarographIn these days of readily available weather forecasts and satellite- or HF radio-delivered GRIB files, it could perhaps be argued that the barometer has been supplanted as a weather forecasting device. However, in our opinion, that supposition would be a serious mistake.
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Read more: Finding Crew, Finding A Boat
Two of the more frequent requests we have been receiving lately are how to find crew or find a boat to crew on. So we decided to post what we know about this topic and then open it up for you to add to it.
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Read more: Restoring A 30-Year Old Boat: What It TakesIf you want to know what it takes to restore a 30-year old sailboat and some tips on how to get going, we have a link for you. It will either convert you to the older-boat-restoration option or scare you witless (maybe both!).
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Read more: Glenarm, IrelandI’ve only ever seen one sailing magazine article by the great writer and sailor Jonathan Raban, but the first sentence of that article may explain why: “Marina is a word like rubella—it sounds far nicer than the thing it describes.” And for many marinas, maybe that’s the truth. Practical, convenient, yes, but it would be […]
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Read more: It Was A Very Good YearWhen you cast your mind back at the end of a season, what do you remember from it? Memory being selective as time passes, the bad stuff tends to get filed under futile, and the good just keeps coming into focus.
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Read more: Q&A: Atlantic Crossing, East To West, Via The ArcticQuestion: We are toying with the idea of sailing the northern route [to North America from Scotland] with stops in Iceland, Greenland and Newfoundland. Is that nuts? I know you have done it at least once if not more times. Our boats are sound, an Alden 48 and a Shannon 43, and we want to […]
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Read more: Q&A: Have You Ever Looked Into Diesel Outboards?
Question: Have you ever looked into diesel outboards?
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Read more: Boréal Sailboats–An IntroductionAn introduction to French lifting keel boats and how Boréal have refined that proven concept.
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Read more: Of Cockpits, Wheelhouses And Engine RoomsContinuing the theme of making the right decisions when selecting a voyaging boat, this chapter tackles the thorny question of engine space, cockpit space, and a covered area to operate the boat from. Can you have it all? Read on to find out.
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Read more: Running Away With HomePhyllis and I recently prepared for and executed a two-month trip that included 11 flights and a month on a sailboat wintering over in Greenland. Since we were traveling on some small aircraft, all of our combined checked baggage had to total less than 40kg, together with two small 8kg carry-on bags. Included in this […]
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Read more: Safety By Reason, Not RoteWe spent a month taking care of Polaris, a sailboat wintering over on the west coast of Greenland. Before he left for home, Michael (owner of Polaris), Phyllis and I talked about managing risk, particularly as it related to falling overboard into the sub-freezing sea water there.
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Read more: Watch Out For Whales, Part IAnother race, another whale collision, yet again ending in the loss of a boat and injury to a whale. Thankfully no loss of life, although one day that may not be the case. What is happening out on the oceans? Pirates everywhere, climate change driven hurricanes, and now homicidal whales?
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Read more: Kerosene (Paraffin) CookerBack in the day, many offshore voyaging pioneers like the Pyes, Smeatons, and Hiscocks cooked on Primus stoves: Peculiar machines that relied on hand pumped air pressure to force kerosene (paraffin) into a burner that was preheated with metholated spirit (industrial alcohol). Tales abounded of flare-ups, singed eyebrows and sea-cooks totally traumatized by the unpredictable […]
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Read more: Diesel Fuel Day TankPolaris, the sailboat we looked after for a month in Greenland, is fitted with a diesel day tank that’s installed so the bottom of the tank is higher than the intake on the main engine and Refleks heater. (The Webasto heaters require a combined metering and lift pump, so their position, relative to the tank, […]
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Read more: An Analysis Of Boat Heating SystemsWe have long heard the praises of the Danish Refleks diesel drip heater sung by the many expedition sailboat owners that have them, but since we simply don’t have a good place for one, or its chimney, on Morgan’s Cloud, we had never had the chance to use one before the month we spent on […]
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Read more: Q&A: Which Heater Is More Efficient?
Question: Could you please address the fuel consumption of forced-air bus heaters vs. the Refleks?
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Read more: France: The Source For Aluminum SailboatsThe summer of 2009 was a good one in Scotland, at least compared with the rest of the UK and Ireland. But as is generally the case, once the weather breaks, that’s it, the summer is over, and it’s time to make tracks.
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Read more: S/V “Polaris”, Built For The ArcticThose of you who have read some accounts of boats wintering over in the polar regions may have visions of dented hull plates, narrow escapes and three inches of frost on the INSIDE of the boat. That is not the Polaris way.
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Read more: Q&A: Limited Production Run Of Aluminum Expedition Sailboats
Question: I have this notion of building a modern expedition (aluminum) fast cruiser that would include many of your ideas/opinions, not necessarily because they are your opinions but because you and I have reached many of the same conclusions. In considering a project, the thought has become, not to build ONE, but to build a […]
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Read more: How We Buy SailsWhy do we give so much thought to our sails? Well, first, as we talked about in this post, good sails equal good speed and good speed equals more fun. Speed also contributes to safety because you are vulnerable to bad weather for less time. Finally, if your sails are slow in normal weather, they […]
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Read more: Laying-Up, A Break From VigilencePhyllis and I just finished laying-up Morgan’s Cloud for the winter at Billings Diesel and Marine in Maine, where we will be replacing the engine. As always, we are sad to move off the boat, which, over the last 18 years, has become more our home than any place else.
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Read more: Force10 Stove (Cooker) ReviewOur Force 10 stove just had serious defects, but now we have those fixed, here’s a review.
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Read more: Force10 Stove (Cooker), Problems, Take TwoDuring our recent refit we replaced Morgan’s Cloud ’s old cooker with a three burner model from Force10. Getting the new stove working properly and safely has not been easy.
