Q&A: Time Signals for Sextant

Reading Time: 2 minutes

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?

Trident Two-stage Propane Regulator, Problems

Reading Time: 2 minutes

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.

Q&A: Keeping The Boat’s Interior Dry

Reading Time: 3 minutes

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?

Taming The Wimp Within

Reading Time: 6 minutes

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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Members

EchoPilot Forward Scan Sonar FLSII

Reading Time: < 1 minute

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.

Disassembly And Refit Plans

Reading Time: 2 minutes

It all started with six weeks of intense work last June stripping the deck for painting.  Every cleat, every track, every fitting and every hatch came off and slowly a 10’x20’ storage unit filled with boat bits.

Q&A: Circumnavigating Greenland

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Question: I am wondering if you know whether anyone has circumnavigated Greenland in a sailboat. Do you think it’s possible? My guess is that global warming has changed things up there and it may now be possible.