The Offshore Voyaging Reference Site
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Emergency Tillers—Easier Said Than Done
17 CommentsReading Time: 3 minutesFree
Read more: Emergency Tillers—Easier Said Than DoneAt the beginning of each working season we used to take our old boat out on a really breezy day and push the boat hard to check that everything was in good working order. Whilst we had run through our winter maintenance schedule with great care, winter always seemed to find a chink in our […]
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Friday 13th and The Importance of Testing Engines
19 CommentsReading Time: 3 minutesFree
Read more: Friday 13th and The Importance of Testing EnginesSailors can be a superstitious lot, and the idea of setting sail on Friday 13th has always alarmed mariners. But as the latest one came around we weren’t worried. As we were simply minding our own business alongside a pontoon, and planning on going nowhere we were in a risk-free place – or so we […]
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Nobody’s Perfect
18 CommentsReading Time: 4 minutesFree
Read more: Nobody’s PerfectOne of the strangest exchanges I have ever had occurred in my days as a sailing instructor. My manager sidled up to me one day and asked, “Do you demonstrate all of the manoeuvres to your students in advance, before asking them to do it?”. Thinking this might be some kind of trick question, I […]
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The Bug Is Taking Over
39 CommentsReading Time: 4 minutesFree
Read more: The Bug Is Taking OverFollowing our arrival in the Canary Islands last autumn we watched an endless stream of yachts line up at the pontoon alongside the boatyard, all of them with fuel contamination problems. In my experience, it’s usual to find that in cases like this the outbreak can be isolated to one or two suppliers who have […]
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Thinking About a Steel Boat?
54 CommentsReading Time: 15 minutesMembers
Read more: Thinking About a Steel Boat?Considering buying a steel boat? If so, you owe it to yourself to read Colin’s chapters that examines a beautifully built steel boat and shares what it really takes to do steel right.
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Wildlife Photography—Technique
1 CommentReading Time: 7 minutesFree
Read more: Wildlife Photography—TechniqueOnce again, if you want to photograph wildlife, Colin is your man. In this article he gives you some solid tips that will improve your chances of making a real keeper photograph.
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Wildlife Photography—The Gear
0 CommentsReading Time: 4 minutesFree
Read more: Wildlife Photography—The GearJohn has written about cameras for general travel photography, but what if your interest is wildlife? Well, then, Colin is your man and in this article he zeroes in on the gear you need to make great images of wildlife from a boat.
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Windvane Or Autopilot?
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Read more: Windvane Or Autopilot?These days every cruiser seems to fit an autopilot, but what’s the case for a vane gear? Or maybe both.
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Watch Out For Whales, Part II
13 CommentsReading Time: 3 minutesFree
Read more: Watch Out For Whales, Part IICollisions with whales and dolphins are becoming an increasing concern for offshore cruisers, as I outlined in a previous post. But up until recently there has been no serious attempt made to quantify the level of actual collision events, or to plot their geographical distribution. Obviously, having some idea of where and when collisions might […]
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We Can Cope With This
10 CommentsReading Time: 4 minutesFree
Read more: We Can Cope With ThisColin and Louise really enjoyed Morocco, and found it hard to leave, but the anticipation of a new landfall in the Canaries made the break less painful.
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Don’t Pass The Bucket, Please!
42 CommentsReading Time: 3 minutesFree
Read more: Don’t Pass The Bucket, Please!Colin discusses two new seasickness remedies with the potential to help the truly recalcitrant.
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Internal Volume—Too Much In The Wrong Place?
14 CommentsReading Time: 4 minutesFree
Read more: Internal Volume—Too Much In The Wrong Place?As Colin writes, if the huge internal volume in a lot of modern sailboats was used to increase storage capacity, it might be somewhat justified. But if all of it is taken up with berths and shower units, then where does all the ‘stuff’ go?
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Internal Volume—Ready For Sea?
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Read more: Internal Volume—Ready For Sea?Colin talks about the importance of designing boats for safety and comfort while at sea, not just when in harbour.
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Volume—And Its Effects
22 CommentsReading Time: 4 minutesFree
Read more: Volume—And Its EffectsColin discusses the implications for sailing performance and general boat handling of high freeboard, a wide coachroof, and beam carried well aft.
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Parallel Or Swept-Back Spreaders?
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Read more: Parallel Or Swept-Back Spreaders?Colin charters a sailboat with swept back spreaders and laments this boat design feature.
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Modern Yacht Design—What Do We Need?
26 CommentsReading Time: 3 minutesFree
Read more: Modern Yacht Design—What Do We Need?Colin charters a sailboat and finds out what has gone wrong with production sailboat design.
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A Change Of Latitude
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Read more: A Change Of LatitudeWe’ve just returned from two weeks in the western isles of Scotland, carrying out a short basking shark survey, our first in the area since 2006. Fortunately for us, the weather came good, and we had two weeks of light to moderate winds, with just the odd bit of wind and rain to remind us […]
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Africa At Last!
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Read more: Africa At Last!Colin and Louise start their voyage with a passage from Spain to Morocco.
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AIS Revisited
15 CommentsReading Time: 3 minutesFree
Read more: AIS RevisitedI’ve written before on the potential benefits of AIS for small craft, and having used it far more since then, it’s time for an update. After being initially impressed with it, and the capabilities it offers beyond radar, has it lived up to that first impression? A good test was when we recently crossed to […]
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The Best Of The Old World
5 CommentsReading Time: 3 minutesFree
Read more: The Best Of The Old WorldIt has been so good to be underway again, after a long, forced spell ashore. Not that it wasn’t without its positive side, but there are only so many weeks in a boatyard you can endure, even when it’s in a country as warm and friendly as Portugal. And it was even more enjoyable, knowing […]
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We Need Our Sleep
13 CommentsReading Time: 4 minutesFree
Read more: We Need Our SleepIt’s a funny thing, sleep, isn’t it—too much of it can make us sluggish, not enough and we can come close to collapse. Preparing for a passage, it’s vital to get enough rest in advance, but we find that’s one of the most difficult things to achieve. Resting well in the days before departure should […]
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Going Without Insurance For Offshore Cruising?
41 CommentsReading Time: 3 minutesFree
Read more: Going Without Insurance For Offshore Cruising?Colin looks at the options of going without any insurance at all, or only liability.
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Experts Worth Their Weight In Gold
7 CommentsReading Time: 3 minutesFree
Read more: Experts Worth Their Weight In GoldBack afloat at last, and it’s so good to feel Pèlerin swing to the wind and tide at anchor once more, after what seemed an endless winter. The last few weeks in the boatyard have been exhausting, as we’ve slogged through the work getting her ready for the long haul after a series of false […]
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It’s Painting Time Again
56 CommentsReading Time: 3 minutesFree
Read more: It’s Painting Time AgainAs the old saying goes, you pay for your pleasures, and that’s certainly true when it comes round to the annual re-fit. The many little jobs that were just too awkward afloat, added to the big ones like antifouling, can all back up and lead to a formidable worklist.
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Feathering Propeller Review
57 CommentsReading Time: 5 minutesFree
Read more: Feathering Propeller ReviewWhen we took delivery of our new OVNI 435 in 2008, we decided to stick with the standard 3 bladed propeller, partly for reasons of cost (we were running out of cash!). But on all of my previous boats I’d had either a folding or feathering prop, and fully intended to fit one to Pèlerin […]
