There is not a lot of point in writing about maintenance without addressing the 800-pound gorilla in the room: what it really costs to maintain a cruising boat. Get this wrong and your cruise will be miserable and short. In this chapter we give you a simple, but surprisingly accurate, tool to estimate what maintenance is going to cost.
Morgan’s Cloud still has the same Jabsco 36600 bilge pump that was installed when she was launched in 1986. John explains how he keeps that pump in good running order.
What hardware should we buy for receiving weather information and other communications? In this chapter I take a look at the two main options, HF SSB and satellite phone, and make some recommendations.
This post is going to get me in all kinds of hot water, but I just can’t stand it any more. I tried to ignore it, I really did, but it’s no good, I have to say something. What’s making me crazy is the current fashion for recreational mariners, particularly on VHF radio, to call each other […]
One of the best pieces of gear we can fit on a cruising boat.
John presents Lunenburg in a good light—both in words and pictures.
Thoughts on the tragic loss of Cheeki Rafiki. One of the most difficult posts I (John) have ever written.
Analysis of the abandonment of the French yacht Tao. The disaster started with a capsize, as yacht losses so often do. And while researching the weather at the time, I discovered something interesting…
Writing our High Latitude Voyaging course materials reminded me of four great quotes that really apply to cruising, and then I added one. Also a quick report on our activities at Boreal.
I’m constantly amazed by the number of accepted “facts” about offshore sailing that, when subjected to rigorous analysis, turn out to be wrong. Here are 20 such myths.
Do you need a diesel generator to go cruising? It’s a surprisingly simple decision governed by only two criteria.
Designing an offshore cruising boat is an iterative process with many steps.
An easy to use spreadsheet that makes deciding if a diesel-electric, or all electric, drive is a good option for your boat.
Buying a poorly designed boat is one of the most costly and heart breaking mistakes anyone can make. But maybe if we understand how bad designs come to be, we can avoid that.
The publishing team here at AAC world headquarters is ready for spring. We have some other news too.
It’s funny…people we meet often assume that Phyllis and I are great travelers. And it’s easy to see how they might come to that conclusion. After all we have spent most of the last 20 years moving from place to place around the Atlantic rim. But actually nothing could be further from the truth.
If you are serious about telling the story of your travels and voyage in images, this post, about the best camera I have every used, is for you. And, for those not interested in the ultimate travel photographer’s camera, with the price to match, I have some thoughts about alternatives.
We start this Online Book with a list of important seamanship rules.
Analysis of the loss of two very different yachts in the North Atlantic. One fully crewed and one single handed.
You can have the best anchors and associated gear available, but if you don’t use that gear properly you won’t get anchored and stay anchored. In this post we carry on from Part 1 with some tips for techniques to help make you a happy anchorer.
This morning I have a musing about one of the more obscure, but none the less, wonderful benefits of offshore voyaging.
As promised just before Christmas, we have now published our annual slideshow…but with a couple of differences from past years.
I suspect that this post is not going to make me popular, but I’m seething about what’s happening with these rallies and offshore voyaging in general, so here goes—brace yourselves. What the heck is going on here? As I understand it, 116 boats were registered in the Salty Dawg Rally and at least five of […]