Phyllis

Phyllis has sailed over 40,000 offshore miles with John on their McCurdy & Rhodes 56, Morgan's Cloud, most of it in the high latitudes, and has crossed the Atlantic three times. As a woman who came to sailing as an adult, she brings a fresh perspective to cruising, which has helped her communicate what they do in an approachable way, first in yachting magazines and, for the last 18 years, as co-editor/publisher of AAC.

Jonbuoy—Stuff That Works (We Hope)

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Reading Time: 3 minutes
JHH5II-15389
We have lots of ways to get out of the water on “Morgan’s Cloud”. From left to right: ladder that can be deployed from the water with a pull of the lanyard; custom-built swim ladder; Lifesling; JonBouy.

The winter we spent in London England living on Morgan’s Cloud at St Katharine Haven next to Tower Bridge, was wonderful. We walked all over the city and soaked up the history and culture. And the pubs…wow!

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Q&A: Foul Weather Gear

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Reading Time: 3 minutes

Question [edited for brevity]: I did a quick search on your site, but didn’t find anything discussing foul weather gear. I’ve researched all lines and all levels of gear—West Marine, Gill, Henri Lloyd. I’d like to think this stuff may last me 10 to 15 years with proper care and avoiding snags anywhere on the boat. We’re planning several trips along the U.S. east coast this year and one to Bermuda.

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Q&A: What About Ferro-Cement Boats?

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Question [edited for brevity]: I was perusing the boats for sale on the web and came across a number of ferro-cement hulled boats and I was wondering what you thought of that material in general for use in a cruising boat. Is it ever a good idea or is it a matter of manufacturer and current condition? Since I haven’t heard of any companies using it these days I thought it might be an indication that it was an experiment that didn’t show a lot of promise.

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Maui Jim…Aloha*

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Reading Time: 2 minutes
No Tilley Hat and pre-duct tape, but you get the idea

John and I have been ardent fans of Maui Jim sunglasses for many years and many pairs. Their glasses get ever lighter in weight and more comfortable and their lenses get ever better at cutting glare on the water (we prefer their super-thin polarized glass lenses in gray).

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Treasures From The Sea

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Reading Time: 2 minutes

JHHGH1-1050587Ever since John took up photography, our hikes have turned into strolls interspersed with numerous long hiatuses while he records our surroundings for posterity. This initially caused a certain amount of friction, until I developed my own obsession—sea glass.

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Provisioning For Remote Voyaging, Part I

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Reading Time: 2 minutes

A big part of preparing for an extensive northern trip such as the one we undertook this summer is provisioning. In this case, I had to provision for six months. Yikes!

A number of people have asked me how I go about doing this, so here goes.

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Why Go North? For The Adventure

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Reading Time: 4 minutes

Though Amundsen said that adventure is the result of poor planning, when we say we go north for the adventure, we mean the chance to explore “off the charts”.

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Science Project Wrap-Up

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Reading Time: 3 minutes

What to southerners is a hostile environment, is home to Greenlandics…albeit a rapidly changing home, as a summary of the scientist’s findings confirms.

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Upernavik And North

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Expedition Sailboat Morgan's Cloud in an anchorage in West Greenland

“Morgan’s Cloud” reaches her furthest north for this trip, in the Upernavik region, which takes the vigilance up a notch with more extreme weather and less accurate charting.

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