11 Self-Steering Vane Gear Installation and Usage Tips
Self steering windvanes have a reputation of being hard to use. Reading these tips can fix that and make us love our windvane.
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Test Sail and Review of The Boréal 47.2
Colin sails the newest model from Boréal, builders of ocean-going cruising sailing yachts.
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Colin & Louise are Buying a New Sailboat
We can all learn a huge amount when two of the most experienced sailboat owners anywhere go boat shopping.
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Two New Designs From Boréal
Fifteen years after launching the first 44, Boréal have revealed their Mk2 version of this award winning design together with a 47 foot extended cockpit version. Colin tells us all about the changes and improvements.
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Planning and Budgeting an Engine Rebuild or Replacement
There are few things more depressing in cruising than having to live with an unreliable engine. Colin takes a look at the options for rebuild or repower and what all this is going to cost.
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April Fools?
Colin is using his enforced time ashore to think about the greater cruising community and what the future may hold for us all.
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A Sail Away Offshore Cruising Boat For Less Than US$100,000—Best Hull Material
Colin completes his four-part series on going offshore cruising in a boat for less than US$100,000, with a look at materials other than fibreglass, and then winds up on a positive note.
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A Sail Away Offshore Cruising Boat For Less Than US$100,000—Rudders and Keels
Many secondhand boats out there are being sold as ready to go offshore. But what about the vital underwater appendages the loss of which often results in abandonment or worse? Colin shines the bright light of reality on this vital subject that no one else likes to talk about.
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A Sail Away Offshore Cruising Boat For Less Than US$100,000—Decks, Hulls and SS Fittings
So now that we have decided to focus on boats that have been well taken care of and not butchered by inept amateurs, we still need to be realistic about potential flaws in materials and construction and what it would really take in time and money to fix each. We can have no better guide than Colin as we figure that out.
To that end, Colin turns his attention to seven basic construction areas where problems can turn a refit into a horror show we definitely don’t want to star in.
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A Sail Away Offshore Cruising Boat For Less Than US$100,000—Introduction
Before we even start a refit we must think about our own skills and a place to work. Then it’s time to move on to buying the boat.
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Passage Anchorages
Sure, we all like a snug sheltered anchorage but when we are trying to make the miles in a hurry using a less sheltered passage anchorage can save a bunch of time and distance. Colin shares how to pick a good one and the precautions to take when we decide to anchor out there.
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Coastal Passages, Part 5—On To The Finish
In the final part of Colin’s series on coastal passagemaking, he and his crew cross to Scotland and wend their way through beautiful, but challenging, tidal straits to the finish. Colin then provides us with a succinct summary of the lessons learned, winding up a series that provides all of us the tools to plan and execute even the most difficult passages in a seamanlike manner.
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Costal Passages, Part 4—Keep On Plugging
When last we left Colin and his crew at the end of Part 3, they had just crossed the Celtic Sea and finessed both the tide at Lands End and and their Landfall in Ireland—all good results based on the planning that Colin covered in Part 1 and Part 2. Now, in Part 4 they make some early starts and bring Scotland in sight.
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Coastal Passages, Part 3—Off We Go
In Parts 1 and 2, Colin shared how he plans for a complex coastal passage. Now he puts all of that into practice and in the process shows us that there is no one right way, but rather we must always be flexible and exercise good judgement.
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Coastal Passages, Part 2—Rounding Headlands
In the first chapter in this five part series, Colin shared his overall planning process. He now moves on to a more detailed look at the features that almost always control how we approach and execute a passage: headlands and capes.
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