-
How Batteries Charge (Multiple Charging Sources Too)
96 CommentsReading Time: 6 minutesMembers
Read more: How Batteries Charge (Multiple Charging Sources Too)The details of how batteries charge and how voltage regulators work together…or not. Practical information that will help make sure you have electricity when you need it.
-
One Simple Law That Makes Electrical Systems Easy to Understand
53 CommentsReading Time: 6 minutesMembers
Read more: One Simple Law That Makes Electrical Systems Easy to UnderstandElectricity, batteries and how to charge them are the source of more confusion in the cruising world than just about anything I can think of. But suppose you could really understand electricity? Now you can, and it’s not hard. Read on.
-
Offshore Motorboats and an Ideal Geezer Boat
57 CommentsReading Time: 4 minutesFree
Read more: Offshore Motorboats and an Ideal Geezer BoatJohn has long been a critic of the current state of motorboat design but now he’s seeing some exciting new designs that bode well for the future.
-
The Marine Electronics Industry Has Really Lost The Plot Now
43 CommentsReading Time: 3 minutesFree
Read more: The Marine Electronics Industry Has Really Lost The Plot NowJohn’s in rant mode. This time it’s marine electronic and electrical technician training that has attracted his ire. But he’s not just throwing rocks, he makes suggestions for improvement too.
-
How To Select The Best Power and Propeller Settings For Your Engine
84 CommentsReading Time: 8 minutesMembers
Read more: How To Select The Best Power and Propeller Settings For Your EngineIn the last chapter in this Online Book, John wrote about how chronic underloading of your engine can wreck it, as well as waste fuel and produce unnecessary carbon. In this chapter we get to the good stuff: how to solve the problem for both new and existing engines.
-
How To Stop Killing Your Engine With Kindness
88 CommentsReading Time: 8 minutesMembers
Read more: How To Stop Killing Your Engine With KindnessRunning your engine at low power settings can slowly kill it. Here’s what to do about that. This could save you a bunch of money and aggravation.
-
Lin and Larry Pardey Biography, A Great Read
5 CommentsReading Time: 3 minutesFree
Read more: Lin and Larry Pardey Biography, A Great ReadI just read Herb McCormick’s biography of Lin and Larry Pardey, As Long as It’s Fun. Actually, it would be more accurate to say that I devoured the book, or maybe to be more accurate still, the book consumed me for several hours. Here’s a short review.
-
The Ultimate Guide to Using Iridium Handsets and GO!
114 CommentsReading Time: 11 minutesMembers
Read more: The Ultimate Guide to Using Iridium Handsets and GO!The whole process of buying, installing and working with a satellite phone can be downright intimidating and very frustrating. John explains how to make the whole process easy. The results of 15 years of experience with Iridium devices.
-
Going Cruising—Being Realistic About You, 4 Tips
41 CommentsReading Time: 7 minutesMembers
Read more: Going Cruising—Being Realistic About You, 4 TipsSo much of writing on getting out cruising focuses on boats and gear. But, in fact, there is something even more important to think about…you.
-
Iridium GO! Review—6 Myths Busted and a Purchase Recommendation
73 CommentsReading Time: 5 minutesMembers
Read more: Iridium GO! Review—6 Myths Busted and a Purchase RecommendationFew pieces of new gear have created more buzz in the offshore cruising community than the Iridium GO!. And there have also been few pieces of gear that have been surrounded with as many myths and as much confusion as the GO!. John busts the myths and analyzes the benefits of buying an Iridium GO!.
-
Cruising With Less
25 CommentsReading Time: 2 minutesFree
Read more: Cruising With LessThere’s a whole genre of books and articles on how to buy a boat and go cruising on very little money. But really, how often do you meet people who have actually made it work for any length of time?
-
4 Great Tips From a Professional Meteorologist
53 CommentsReading Time: 4 minutesMembers
Read more: 4 Great Tips From a Professional MeteorologistWe got our hands on a real live professional meteorologist, who is also an offshore sailor, and wrung 4 great tips out of him that will make your voyages both safer and more comfortable.
-
Mooring Your Dinghy While Ashore, Made Easy
42 CommentsReading Time: 9 minutesMembers
Read more: Mooring Your Dinghy While Ashore, Made EasySome of the most fun we can have while cruising is while exploring ashore, but what if there is no dinghy dock? How do you make sure your dinghy is safe while you’re gone? Here’s an easy-to-deploy mooring you can build that solves the problem…and it will save your back too.
-
Keeping Safe From Chart Inaccuracies
30 CommentsReading Time: 3 minutesMembers
Read more: Keeping Safe From Chart InaccuraciesHere’s one simple tip that can save you a huge amount of grief…and possibly your boat:
-
Five Tips For Choosing Weather Information to Believe…And Pay For
56 CommentsReading Time: 6 minutesMembers
Read more: Five Tips For Choosing Weather Information to Believe…And Pay ForThere’s a lot of great weather information out there these days…and a lot of hype too. Here are some tips that will help you tell the difference and decide what’s worth spending your money on.
-
Marine Electronics Recommendations—Communications
60 CommentsReading Time: 5 minutesMembers
Read more: Marine Electronics Recommendations—CommunicationsRecommended, VHF radios, satellite phones, AIS, Navtex and Weather Fax equipment for cruising boats
-
Marine Electronics System Recommendations
45 CommentsReading Time: 4 minutesMembers
Read more: Marine Electronics System RecommendationsUp to this point in this Online Book we have been writing about good navigation practices. Now let’s turn our eyes to the cool electronic toys we all love. And since I’m an electronics technician by trade and have spent most of my working life in high tech fields this is going to be leading edge stuff and way cool!
-
Two Tips to Make Your First Ocean Passage as Skipper Safe and Fun
29 CommentsReading Time: 5 minutesMembers
Read more: Two Tips to Make Your First Ocean Passage as Skipper Safe and FunThe skills required to become a competent skipper of an ocean crossing yacht are not that difficult to learn, but there are a couple of things we must do to attain that goal.
-
Q&A: Should I Get a Watermaker?
74 CommentsReading Time: 2 minutesFree
Read more: Q&A: Should I Get a Watermaker?John answers an interesting question on the relative benefits of installing a watermaker…or not.
-
How Not To Buy a Cruising Boat
68 CommentsReading Time: 3 minutesFree
Read more: How Not To Buy a Cruising BoatIf you are looking to buy a new or used boat, you need to read this book, because it will save you a lot of heart ache.
-
Let’s Make It Easier, Not Harder, For New Cruisers
95 CommentsReading Time: 3 minutesFree
Read more: Let’s Make It Easier, Not Harder, For New CruisersThere are so many skills required to be a competent seaman. The trick to getting out there cruising is prioritizing the ones that really matter.
-
A Cool Thing I Just Learned
33 CommentsReading Time: 2 minutesFree
Read more: A Cool Thing I Just LearnedNo matter how long you have been around boats, there’s always something new to learn.
-
Anchor Tests—The Good, The Bad, and The Downright Silly
44 CommentsReading Time: 6 minutesMembers
Read more: Anchor Tests—The Good, The Bad, and The Downright SillyWe sailors love to talk about anchor tests, and yes, they are useful, but never forget that they are all fundamentally flawed.
-
Cutter Rig—Optimizing and/or Converting
118 CommentsReading Time: 9 minutesMembers
Read more: Cutter Rig—Optimizing and/or ConvertingNow we get to the nitty gritty: How to convert your boat to a cutter rig and how to make existing cutters better.
-
Cutter Rig—Should You Buy or Convert?
40 CommentsReading Time: 3 minutesMembers
Read more: Cutter Rig—Should You Buy or Convert?When does the cutter rig make sense, both when buying a new boat and considering a conversion? We have a simple decision-tree to make things simple.
