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Buying a Boat—Never Say Never
31 CommentsReading Time: 4 minutesMembers
Read more: Buying a Boat—Never Say NeverHang around with cruisers, and sooner or later someone will say, “Never buy a boat with…” Should we listen? John shares how to decide, and examines the choice between encapsulated and bolt on keels.
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Jackline and Tether Availability – Good News
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Read more: Jackline and Tether Availability – Good NewsA new-old source for pre-made Dacron jacklines as well as the webbing to make them DIY.
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What We Need to Know About Moisture Meters and Wet Fibreglass Laminate
10 CommentsReading Time: 7 minutesMembers
Read more: What We Need to Know About Moisture Meters and Wet Fibreglass LaminateThere is endless debate about the effectiveness of moisture meters. Here are the facts from Steve D’ Antonio, who has used one for decades, together with some thoughts from John.
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Buying a Fibreglass Boat—Hiring a Surveyor and Managing the Survey
39 CommentsReading Time: 10 minutesMembers
Read more: Buying a Fibreglass Boat—Hiring a Surveyor and Managing the SurveyWhenever the subject of buying a boat comes up, the horror stories about surveys that failed to find serious, or even catastrophic, structural problems are sure to follow. John interviews industry expert Steve D’Antonio to learn how to avoid having our very own survey horror story.
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A Useful, But Potentially Deadly, Feature of Navigation Apps and Plotters
56 CommentsReading Time: 4 minutesMembers
Read more: A Useful, But Potentially Deadly, Feature of Navigation Apps and PlottersSure, electronic navigation is great, but blindly relying on it, and on those who develop plotter software, could put us on the rocks.
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Buying a Cruising Boat—Five Tips for The Half-Assed Option
43 CommentsReading Time: 7 minutesMembers
Read more: Buying a Cruising Boat—Five Tips for The Half-Assed OptionWhen researching buying a cruising boat, we are deluged with information on all the gear she must have and how perfect she must be before we can go cruising. But is that really true? How about buying an old and tired boat and just getting out there? John tells his story of going cruising in a half-assed boat…and having one of the best times in his life. Will this work for you? He shares tips on how…
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Some Thoughts On Smaller Older Cruising Boats
41 CommentsReading Time: 7 minutesFree
Read more: Some Thoughts On Smaller Older Cruising BoatsSo is it possible to get a real offshore cruising boat for around US$100,000, ready to go? John suggests a possibility for those willing to go smaller and older.
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12 Electronic Navigation Tips From a Cruise on Someone Else’s Boat
70 CommentsReading Time: 6 minutesMembers
Read more: 12 Electronic Navigation Tips From a Cruise on Someone Else’s BoatJohn has decades of navigation experience, much of it in fog, but there is always more to learn, particularly when single-handing an unfamiliar boat.
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Don’t Alter Course to Port
24 CommentsReading Time: 2 minutesFree
Read more: Don’t Alter Course to PortJohn, inspired by a near miss, shares vital tips to avoid a collision in fog.
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You May Need a Bigger Boat Than You Think
31 CommentsReading Time: 8 minutesMembers
Read more: You May Need a Bigger Boat Than You ThinkSo what boat size is optimal for offshore voyaging? There is no one number. Rather, we must understand our own expectations before we can zero in on that. John tells the story of a smart guy that saved him from getting this wrong.
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John on Andy Schell’s On The Wind Podcast
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Read more: John on Andy Schell’s On The Wind PodcastJohn appeared on Andy and Mia’s popular podcast On The Wind for the third time. Here are the details.
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Six Things We Need to Check Before Survey
70 CommentsReading Time: 7 minutesMembers
Read more: Six Things We Need to Check Before SurveySurveys are expensive so here are six things we should check ourselves first.
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Series Drogues: Learning From Randall Reeves
97 CommentsReading Time: 9 minutesMembers
Read more: Series Drogues: Learning From Randall ReevesWe strongly believe that the series drogue designed by Don Jordan is the best storm survival option. A belief based on good science and interviewing some of the best offshore sailors of our time about their experiences. John continues that learning and data gathering process in this article.
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Why Are Saildrives Even A Thing?
80 CommentsReading Time: 3 minutesMembers
Read more: Why Are Saildrives Even A Thing?Saildrives are becoming ever more common on cruising boats. But are they a good idea, or just yet another way to make the builder’s life easier while making the owner’s harder? John has some thoughts.
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Six Things We Can Learn From A Night Approach That Ended on a Lee Shore
20 CommentsReading Time: 6 minutesMembers
Read more: Six Things We Can Learn From A Night Approach That Ended on a Lee ShoreThere are always lessons to be learned from a disaster, and this one can teach us many things, as well as remind us all of some fundamentals of good seamanship.
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Six Warnings About Buying Fibreglass Boats
71 CommentsReading Time: 7 minutesMembers
Read more: Six Warnings About Buying Fibreglass BoatsThere are a huge number of second-hand fibreglass cruising boats for sale, but very few good ones. Here is how to weed out some of the junk.
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A Chat With Randall Reeves
45 CommentsReading Time: < 1 minuteFree
Read more: A Chat With Randall ReevesRandall Reeves and John spent a couple of hours discussing storm tactics in general and the series drogue designed by Don Jordan in particular. Here’s an excerpt.
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Rocna Resetting Failures and Evaluation of Vulcan and Mantus
316 CommentsReading Time: 6 minutesMembers
Read more: Rocna Resetting Failures and Evaluation of Vulcan and MantusWhen an anchor that thousands of sailors rely on has a dangerous flaw, we need to write about that. Also, some thoughts on the the Vulcan and the Mantus anchors.
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Wow, Buying an Offshore Sailboat is Really Hard
199 CommentsReading Time: 3 minutesFree
Read more: Wow, Buying an Offshore Sailboat is Really HardJohn and Phyllis want to buy a 40-foot sailboat. There are thousands of second-hand boats for sale, but most of them are not fit to go offshore. So how do we weed through all the junk to find a decent and safe boat at a fair price? And what about refitting an older boat? This is the first of a series of articles to answer those two questions.
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Learn From The Designers
16 CommentsReading Time: 5 minutesMembers
Read more: Learn From The DesignersOne of the saddest things that can happen to a cruiser is buying a fundamentally bad boat, and there are plenty of those out there to tempt the uninformed. Here’s how to make sure that the boat you buy is well designed.
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Refitting an Old Boat Can Work…For Some
83 CommentsReading Time: 3 minutesMembers
Read more: Refitting an Old Boat Can Work…For SomeWhen the subject comes up of buying an old and tired boat and refitting it as a way to get out there ocean voyaging inexpensively, John tends to start throwing around a lot of cold reality, and generally being a spoil sport. But sometimes this approach can work.
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Specifying Primary Anchor Size
193 CommentsReading Time: 7 minutesMembers
Read more: Specifying Primary Anchor SizeHow to select the size and material (galvanized steel, stainless steel or aluminium), for the primary anchor on a cruising boat.
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Susie Goodall’s Series Drogue Failure
98 CommentsReading Time: 7 minutesFree
Read more: Susie Goodall’s Series Drogue FailureSusie Goodall was one of the few competitors in Golden Globe Race 2018 with a series drogue to Don Jordan’s design. But it failed her, and her boat pitchpoled What went wrong and does Susies’ terrible experience indicate a fundamental problem with the series drogue and/or Don Jorgan’s science and engineering? John digs in to find out.
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SPADE, SARCA Excel, or Some Other Anchor?
40 CommentsReading Time: 6 minutesMembers
Read more: SPADE, SARCA Excel, or Some Other Anchor?In the last two chapters we have reviewed the SPADE and SARCA Excel anchors. So which of the two is best, and are there other anchors as good or better? We also cover four anchors we should never use.
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Golden Globe Race 2018—It Didn’t Have to Be That Way, and How to Fix It
114 CommentsReading Time: 6 minutesFree
Read more: Golden Globe Race 2018—It Didn’t Have to Be That Way, and How to Fix ItNow that the Golden Globe 2018 is nearly over, it’s time to figure out why it turned into a demolition derby, and how to fix it so that there will be future editions.
