Question: What charts do you recommend for cruising Greenland? We have C-Map charts but they have insufficient coverage.
John Harries
Q&A: Newfoundland To Iceland Direct
Question: Is heading from the Strait of Belle Isle towards a point about 200 miles south of Cape Farewell, then heading towards Reykjavik, a practical strategy given your experience with wind, weather and ice?
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Q&A: What Is The Middle Pack?
Question: I am planning a passage from Cartwright, Labrador to Disko Bay in Greenland leaving about July 1st. You wrote that I should watch out for the ‘Middle Pack’, please explain.
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Q&A: Newfoundland Via Greenland To The Azores
Question: We plan to sail from St. John’s, Newfoundland mid-June straight to Sisimiut, Greenland direct, if possible. From there spend July and August sailing slowly to Cape Farewell from where we plan to leave bound for the Azores. Any comments?
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Q&A: North Atlantic Circle Via Iceland
Question: Next May we are taking our new (old) boat on a shakedown to Bermuda and back (our home port is Deltaville, VA, on the southern Chesapeake Bay). After that, we’ve been imagining a summer voyage in the Atlantic, maybe Azores-Ireland-Iceland-Canada-Chesapeake. My question is, is there a good route strategy for this trip?
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Q&A: Time Signals for Sextant
Question: Do you still do sights with a sextant? If so, where do you get the time signal from when underway? I found several shortwave frequencies for time signals on the web but the reception is extremely poor. In fact, I can’t get any useful exact time at all with my SSB receiver (Lowe HF-150 from the UK, built 1995), which otherwise works properly. I am sailing in the Med and I am a beginner with the sextant. Maybe you have some proven frequencies you could share with me?
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Q&A: Magnetic Compass
Question: Do you use a magnetic compass to augment your navigation process?
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Q&A: Custom Log Book
Question: I read your article, “Knowing Where You Are“, in January’s Cruising World magazine and was wondering if I could see a copy of your custom log book page.
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Trident Two-stage Propane Regulator, Problems
The Problem
After two days going to windward on the same tack, returning from Svalbard (Spitsbergen) to Norway, our bilge gas alarm went off. We searched everywhere for the source to no avail until I opened the gas bottle locker to a very strong smell of propane.
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Q&A: Keeping The Boat’s Interior Dry
Question: Is keeping the interior of the boat dry in the midst of prolonged damp, chilly weather, and/or sea spray just a matter of dorade vents, hull insulation and your Espar heater? Do you have success keeping the interior dry or does it inevitably get damp?
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Espar D8 Forced Air Diesel Heater (8KW)
After years of fighting with an unreliable diesel heater, we are very pleased with the Espar heater we installed in 2000. It is one of the bigger ones they make and keeps us toasty in all weather.
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Taming The Wimp Within
Fear, anxiety, call it what you will, most of us have it and going voyaging will trigger those feelings. But fear doesn’t have to spoil your cruise. John shares how he copes with his inner wimp.
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Furuno NX-500 Navtex
Navtex is an invaluable resource for weather and ice information. When our old Furuno combined weather fax and navtex receiver died, we balked at paying the high price (over a thousand dollars) of a new Furuno navtex and so bought another brand.
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EchoPilot Forward Scan Sonar FLSII
We have found that having a forward scan sonar has made exploring in the high latitudes safer and more feasible. Instead of feeling our way along at 2 knots when off the charts, we can now travel confidently at 6 knots, since the forward scan reaches out up to 200 meters ahead. Also, the sounder makes it possible to feel our way into tight anchorages, even when the water is not clear enough to see the bottom.
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