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Laziness Never Goes Unpunished
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Read more: Laziness Never Goes UnpunishedLaziness is the single biggest enemy of good seamanship. Here’s an example of when I was lazy…and paid the price. But really, I got off light, it could have been a lot worse.
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Gear Test—Autopilot
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Read more: Gear Test—AutopilotA reliable autopilot comes right after radar as the most important piece of electronic gear We report on how our autopilot handled our 10,000-mile voyage.
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Superstitious…Me?
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Read more: Superstitious…Me?I’m an electronics technician by trade and a believer in logic and scientific method. When I ran my businesses I was an analytical manager delving into the numbers as a foundation for my decisions. And when voyaging, I’m a compulsive list keeper, boat preparer and weather analyzer. Yes, I’m the hard cold facts guy. Well…except […]
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Arctic Gear Test—Radar
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Read more: Arctic Gear Test—RadarA reliable radar is the most important piece of electronic gear on a boat sailing in northern waters. In this chapter we discuss how our Furuno 1832 radar performed during our 10,000-mile Arctic voyage.
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Pitfalls to Avoid When Buying a New Voyaging Boat
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Read more: Pitfalls to Avoid When Buying a New Voyaging BoatWhat about buying a brand new boat? That should be great if you have the money, right? Yes, but with caveats. And if you think that buying a brand new boat will enable you to just jump aboard and go voyaging, this sobering story will show another far more likely scenario and highlight the traps to avoid in buying a new boat.
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The Three Most Dangerous Words In Boat Maintenance
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Read more: The Three Most Dangerous Words In Boat MaintenanceWe joined our friends Dave and Shelly, who live and voyage on their beautiful, and beautifully maintained, Able Apogee 50, Cadence, for dinner the other night.
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The Case For Roller-Furling Headsails
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Read more: The Case For Roller-Furling HeadsailsRoller furling headsails are ubiquitous, but they are not without their drawbacks. John looks at ways to deal with that and make roller furling work well at sea.
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Three Easy Steps to Better Travel Photographs
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Read more: Three Easy Steps to Better Travel PhotographsThe best camera in the world will not make great photographs if you don’t use the right technique. In this article we start the process of teaching you to take better photographs with three simple tips that anyone can master in a few minutes.
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Are Refits Worth It?
113 CommentsReading Time: 6 minutesMembers
Read more: Are Refits Worth It?It seems like a logical way to own a good offshore sailboat. Buy an older and a bit rundown but fundamentally decent boat and refit it. But does it really work? To explore that important question, I have a true story to tell you.
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The Case For Hank On Headsails
81 CommentsReading Time: 5 minutesMembers
Read more: The Case For Hank On HeadsailsIt’s rare these days to see a cruising boat with hank-on headsails. But are such sails only for the traditionalists stuck in the stone age of offshore sailing? Maybe not. Here is a convincing case for hank-on sails, at least on smaller boats.
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Arctic Gear Test—Electronic Navigation
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Read more: Arctic Gear Test—Electronic NavigationThis was our first Arctic voyage since installing electronic navigation on “Morgan’s Cloud”. In this chapter we report on how it went.
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A Model T Offshore Voyaging Boat
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Read more: A Model T Offshore Voyaging BoatThis is the article that started it all. Much has changed since I wrote it, but the core concept remains the same: a strong seaworthy offshore voyaging boat at a reasonable price.
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Tips For Receiving Weather Forecasts
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Read more: Tips For Receiving Weather ForecastsIn this chapter I’m going to write about how we receive voice (well, not really voice, per se) and text forecasts while at sea and in remote places.
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Margin Accounts Dangerous For Voyagers
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Read more: Margin Accounts Dangerous For VoyagersIn reading the headline of this post, you could be forgiven for thinking that I have completely lost my mind and decided to leave the nautical arena to become an investment blogger. Not so. Almost everyone out there voyaging is relying on their savings, to at least some extent, and most of you who are […]
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New Engine, The Proof is in The Voyage
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Read more: New Engine, The Proof is in The VoyageSo how did the new engine work out over time? What worked well and what did not? It’s all here, together with solid recommendations for transmissions, exhaust systems, and drive line.
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The Adaptable Polar Bear
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Read more: The Adaptable Polar BearJohn and I just returned from a challenging Arctic cruise, one of many we’ve undertaken over the last 20 years. On all our previous voyages, we’ve only ever seen the back end of one bear running away from us…we were on the boat, steaming out of an anchorage in Northern Spitsbergen.
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The Ideal Cruiser Camera, What Really Matters
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Read more: The Ideal Cruiser Camera, What Really MattersIf you want to take a step up from premium point and shoots, what features really matter? John cuts through the fog of specifications and conflicting claims to answer that.
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It Feels So Good When You (Finally) Stop!
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Read more: It Feels So Good When You (Finally) Stop!A thank you to all those who helped make our 10,000-mile voyage (Charleston to Charleston) a success.
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Tips For Receiving GRIBs
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Read more: Tips For Receiving GRIBsIn this chapter I’m going to get into the details of how we request and use GRIBs to get the maximum amount of information for the minimum data size and cost, when at sea or in remote areas with no internet.
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Trans-Atlantic Single-Handed Sanity Check
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Read more: Trans-Atlantic Single-Handed Sanity CheckWhat experience do you need to cross the Atlantic safely while single handed on a sailboat?
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Contrasts in Cruising
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Read more: Contrasts in CruisingQuestion: What do these two photographs have in common?
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Choosing an Anchorage
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Read more: Choosing an AnchorageDeciding where to seek shelter with a storm on the way, particularly when far from home and in unfamiliar waters, can be one of the most stressful calls we voyagers are called upon to make. John shares his decision making process when choosing an anchorage to ride out a fall storm.
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Tips For Receiving Weather Fax
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Read more: Tips For Receiving Weather FaxStarting with this chapter I’m going to focus on weather reception tools that we use when we are offshore or in remote places where the internet is not available. Let’s start with weatherfax and why it’s still important.
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The Best Camera Is The One You’ve Got
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Read more: The Best Camera Is The One You’ve GotFor most casual photographers a small point and shoot is the best option, not least because you are more likely to be carrying it when you come across a great shot. But how do you choose among the scores of offerings? John takes you through the features that matter and recommends a specific camera.
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Your Boat Should Forgive You
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Read more: Your Boat Should Forgive YouMany of you will be aware of the sinking of the sail training vessel Concordia off the Brazilian Coast last year. The Canadian Transportation Safety Board (TSB) have now completed their report. I see lessons in it for all of us that go to sea, albeit rather different ones than those trumpeted in the media.
