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Articles in this topic:
- Catamaran, Trimaran, or Monohull—Motion Comfort
- Limiting COB Drag Risk On A Smaller Boat
- Sail Buying Tips
- Radar Collision Avoidance, Part 2—Turning Plotting Into Action
- Flawed Jackline Systems Revisited
- Radar Collision Avoidance, Part 1—Plotting
- TeamO Backtow Lifejacket/Harness Review
- 20 Practical Tips For Better Watchkeeping
- Reefing Tips
- 6 Tips For Mindful Watchkeeping
- How Many Reefs and How Deep?
- The Risks Of Sidedeck Jacklines Quantified
- 11 Tips For A Good Watch System
- Building a Robust and Practical Hard Dodger
- Tether Tension On A Dragging Crew Overboard
- 8 Offshore Cruising Boat & Gear Evaluation Tips
- Rigging Tips Part 2
- Spinlock Deckvest 6D Review
- Safe and Easy Offshore Sailing—When to Reef, Part 2
- Electrical Tips
- Why We Don’t Recommend Boom Brakes
- Safe and Easy Offshore Sailing—When to Reef, Part 1
- Building A Safer Boom Preventer, Part 3—The Details
- A Small-Boat Anchoring System
- When Is A Cruising Sailboat Too Big?
- Is Your Engine Properly Fused?
- Better Jacklines
- Building A Safer Boom Preventer, Part 2—Line and Gear Strength Calculator
- Building A Safer Boom Preventer, Part 1—Forces and Angles
- Surviving Storms While Coastal Cruising—21 Preparation Tips
- Rebuilding a Cobra Yacht Steering System—Reassembly
- Surviving Storms While Coastal Cruising—9 Tips for Anchorage and Harbour Selection
- Rebuilding a Cobra Yacht Steering System—Disassembly and Inspection
- Surviving Storms While Coastal Cruising—12 Strategy Tips
- 10 Reasons Why Hybrid Lithium Lead-Acid Systems are a Bad Idea
- Converting a Racing Sailboat to a Fast Cruiser—Performance and Rig
- Hurricane Mooring Weight Recommendation
- Lithium Buyer’s Guide—Budget: Economy Options
- Applying Power and Torque
- Hurricane Mooring Pennant Photo Article
- Understanding Power and Torque
- Lithium Buyer’s Guide—Budget: High End System
- Close to Home, Yet Far Away
- Wakespeed WS500 Compared To ARCO Zeus—What Matters
- 63 Cruising Boat Maintenance Tips
- Adventure 40 Electrical System—Part 1, Voltage and Batteries
- Deck Hardware Mounting Photo Essay
- Lithium Battery Buyer’s Guide—Fusing
- The Rolling Refit Continues
- Lithium Batteries Buyer’s Guide—Current (Amps) Requirements and Optimal Voltage
- The Zen of Sail Covers
- Lithium Batteries Buyer’s Guide—Balancing and Monitoring
- Selecting The Right Hull Form
- Lithium Batteries Buyer’s Guide—BMS Requirements
- Why We Have an eWincher on a Small Boat
- Electronic Chart Dangers
- Review of Ocean Signal PLB3 Against MOB1
- Weather Analysis—Part 2, Strategic
- Weather Analysis—Part 1, Tactical
- Yes, You Can Have an Offshore Sailboat For Less Than $US100,000
- Spade Anchor Failure, Update and Summary
- Weather Analysis—Hardware and Software
- Bilge Alarms And Monitoring
- Bent Spade Anchor Analysis
- 9 Tips to Assess Weather Forecast Accuracy
- Easily Driven Boats Are Better
- Sailing a New-To-Us Boat Home—What Could Go Wrong?
- Replacing Diesel-Generated Electricity With Renewables, Part 2—Case Studies
- Replacing Diesel-Generated Electricity With Renewables, Part 1—Loads and Options
- How Weight Affects Boat Performance and Motion Comfort
- Adventure 40 Cockpit 2.0
- Falmouth For Orders
- Watt & Sea Hydrogenerator Buyer’s Guide—Cost Performance
- To Sea At Last
- 10 Tips To Save Your Engine From Overheating
- Safety Inspection and Gear For a New-To-Us Boat
- Fire Extinguishers We Have Bought and Stuff We Learned
- Liferafts For Cruisers—Positioning and Mounting
- Starting With The Basics On A New-To-Us Cruising Boat
- Going Up The Mast—More Improvements
- Liferafts For Cruisers—40 Years of Real-World Experience
- Nine Autopilot Usage Tips and Hacks
- Liferafts For Cruisers—Purchase Criteria
- How To Tune An Autopilot To Steer Better—Part 2
- Finding and Buying a Dream
- Adventure 40 Deck-2.0
- How To Tune an Autopilot to Steer Better—Part 1
- Autopilot Buyer’s Guide
- Storm Strategy—Fore-Reaching
- Colin and Louise Have a New Boat
- Eight Steps to Get Ready For Lithium Batteries
- Q and A—Trucking a Boat
- A Real World Tested Tool Kit For Cruisers
- Five Boat Lift Usage Tips
- Adventure 40 Reveal—Salon and Forward Cabin
- Balancing Battery Bank and Solar Array Size
- Going Up The Mast at Sea
- Adventure 40 Reveal—Galley, Head, and Aft Storage
- Gear Leveling and Mounting Hack
- Going Up The Mast—Four Dangerous But Common Mistakes
- How To Do Amateur Engineering¹
- Going Up The Mast—Our System
- Going Up The Mast—Fundamentals
- Adventure 40 Reveal—On Deck
- Going Up the Mast—An Industrial Fall Prevention Approach
- Adventure 40 Reveal—Hull, Cockpit, and Rig
- In-Mast, In-Boom, or Slab Reefing —Performance, Cost and Safety
- In-Mast, In-Boom, or Slab Reefing—Convenience and Reliability
- Cross-Bank Battery Charging—DC/DC Chargers
- Cross-Bank Battery Charging—Splitters and Relays
- Battery Bank Separation and Cross-Charging Best Practices
- How Hard Can We Charge Our Lead-Acid Batteries?
- Choosing & Installing Battery Switches
- Battery Containment—Part 1
- 5 Safety Tips For Working on Boat DC Electrical Systems
- Building a Seamanlike Lithium Battery System
- Two More Shore Power Safety Upgrades
- 9 Tips To Select Seamanlike Gear
- Download Cruising Sailboat Rig Checklist
- When Stuff Goes Wrong At Sea
- 8 Tips To Prevent Lithium Battery Black Outs
- Why Lithium Battery Load Dumps Matter
- Cruising Sailboat Roller Furler and Track Inspection
- Positioning of Wood Plugs For Seacocks
- The True Price of Autopilots & Vane Gears
- Cruising Sailboat Rig Wiring and Lighting Inspection
- 7 Checks To Stop Our DC Electrical System From Burning Our Boat
- 11 Self-Steering Vane Gear Installation and Usage Tips
- Why Most New-To-Us Boat Electrical Systems Must Be Rebuilt
- Cruising Sailboat Running Rigging Inspection
- 12 Cruising Boat Maintenance Tips
- WakeSpeed WS500—Best Alternator Regulator for Lead Acid and Lithium Batteries
- Cruising Sailboat Standing Rigging Inspection
- Cruising Sailboat Spar Inspection
- Test Sail and Review of The Boréal 47.2
- Going Alongside (Docking)—12 More Tips and Tricks
- John Goes Sailboat Racing and Learns Stuff
- Protecting Our Boat’s Underwater Metals From Corrosion
- Going Alongside (Docking) in Current—Backing In
- Details Matter—Engine Failure at Sea
- Going Alongside (Docking) in Current—Turning in Confined Spaces
- Going Alongside (Docking) in Current—Fundamentals
- Helping a Member Choose an Anchor
- A Good First Aid Kit
- Why I Won’t Power Our Boat With a Portable Generator
- Setting and Striking a Spinnaker Made Easy and Safe
- Check Your Boat Shore Power System
- Our New Boat Selection Process—Fitness For Mission
- Cruiser’s Tool Kit—Wrenches
- 29 Tips To Get Insurance For Offshore Voyaging—Negotiating Cover
- 29 Tips To Get Insurance For Offshore Voyaging—Us and Our Boat
- Cruiser’s Power Tool Kit
- Leaving a Dock Against an Onshore Wind—Part 2
- Leaving a Dock Against an Onshore Wind—Part 1
- Getting Insurance For Offshore Voyaging—Understanding The Problem
- 14 Tips To Come Alongside Single-Handed—Part 2
- 14 Tips for Coming Alongside Single-handed—Part 1
- Integrating and Documenting NMEA 0183 and 2000 Networks
- Two More Anchor Selection Criteria
- Making Anchor Tests More Meaningful
- Choosing A Cruising Boat—Shade and Ventilation
- When Electric Drive Works For a Cruising Sailboat
- Roller Furling Headsail Risks and Rewards
- Choosing a Cruising Boat—Shelter
- Q&A—Sailboat Performance, When The Numbers Fail
- Offshore Sailboat Winches, Selection and Positioning
- Best Offshore Boat Cockpit Cushions
- Buying a Boat—A Different Way To Think About Price
- Safety: We Can’t Do Or Even Learn About It All
- Cockpits—Part 2, Visibility and Ergonomics
- Cooking Options For Live-aboard Voyagers—Part 2, Liquid Fuel
- Cooking Options For Live-aboard Voyagers—Part 1, Electric
- Cockpits—Part 1, Safe and Seamanlike
- Should Your Boat’s DC Electrical System Be 12 or 24 Volt?—Part 2
- Should Your Boat’s DC Electrical System Be 12 or 24 Volt?—Part 1
- Topping Lift Tips and a Hack
- The Danger of Voltage Drops From High Current (Amp) Loads
- Rigid Vangs
- Maretron—Better NMEA 2000 Cabling
- Efficient Generator-Based Electrical Systems For Yachts
- Is Induction Cooking For Boats Practical?
- eWincher Electric Winch Handle Review—Part 3, Reliability and Summary
- eWincher Electric Winch Handle Review—Part 2, The Competition
- eWincher Electric Winch Handle Review—Part 1, Our Testing
- Second Level Thinking About Offshore Voyaging Boats
- SeaAngel SA15 AIS Crew Overboard Beacon Compared to The Ocean Signal MOB1
- Sailboat Deck Layouts
- US$30,000 Starter Cruiser—Part 2, The Boat We Bought
- US$30,000 Starter Cruiser—Part 1, How We Shopped For Our First Cruising Sailboat
- Washing Machines: Complexity and Space Considerations
- Planning a Refit— Keel Removal and Inspection
- Q&A Backing Out of a Bow-In Med Moor
- Two New Designs From Boréal
- Stupid Alternator Regulators Get Smarter…Finally
- Sail Area: Overlap, Multihulls, And Racing Rules
- Torquing Keel Bolts
- Refits—The Radical Option
- Non-Destructive Testing of Keel Bolts
- Cruising Rigs—Sloop, Cutter, or Solent?
- Offshore Sailboat Keel Types
- Outbound 46 Review—Part 2, Keel, Rudder, Bow Thruster, and Construction
- Planning and Budgeting an Engine Rebuild or Replacement
- Outbound 46 Review—Part 1, Hull Form
- Planning a Refit—Upfront Costs
- ShoreFasts—Part 3, The Gear
- ShoreFasts—Part 2, Example Setups Plus Tips and Tricks
- ShoreFasts—Part 1, When to Use Them
- Planning a Refit—Rudders, Repair or Replacement
- Planning a Refit—The Problem With Rudders
- Yawing at Anchor, The Theory and The Solution
- Planning a Refit—Boat Parameters
- Retrieval of Dyneema (Spectra) Series Drogues Solved
- Planning a Refit—It’s a Lot About You
- Anchoring—Chain: Stoppers, Termination and Marking
- A Sail Away Offshore Cruising Boat For Less Than US$100,000—Best Hull Material
- Anchoring—Kellets
- A Sail Away Offshore Cruising Boat For Less Than US$100,000—Rudders and Keels
- A Sail Away Offshore Cruising Boat For Less Than US$100,000—Decks, Hulls and SS Fittings
- Anchoring—Snubbers
- A Sail Away Offshore Cruising Boat For Less Than US$100,000—Introduction
- Four Hand Tools I Should Have Bought Years Ago
- The Garcia Exploration 45 Compared to The Boréal 47—Part 5, Interior, Summary and Price
- The Garcia Exploration 45 Compared to The Boréal 47—Part 4, Inside Watch Stations
- Insanely Cool Anchorage Toys
- The Garcia Exploration 45 Compared to the Boréal 47—Part 3, Hull and Build
- Passage Anchorages
- The Garcia Exploration 45 Compared to the Boréal 47—Part 2, Deck and Cockpit
- The Garcia Exploration 45 Compared to the Boréal 47—Part 1, Introduction and Rig
- Ultra Anchor Review
- Which is Best For Navigation: Plotter, Computer or Tablet?
- Buying a Boat—Never Say Never
- New Satellite Communications Systems
- What We Need to Know About Moisture Meters and Wet Fibreglass Laminate
- Buying a Fibreglass Boat—Hiring a Surveyor and Managing the Survey
- A Useful, But Potentially Deadly, Feature of Navigation Apps and Plotters
- Buying a Cruising Boat—Five Tips for The Half-Assed Option
- 12 Electronic Navigation Tips From a Cruise on Someone Else’s Boat
- Coastal Passages, Part 5—On To The Finish
- You May Need a Bigger Boat Than You Think
- Costal Passages, Part 4—Keep On Plugging
- Six Things We Need to Check Before Survey
- Series Drogues: Learning From Randall Reeves
- Coastal Passages, Part 3—Off We Go
- Why Are Saildrives Even A Thing?
- Coastal Passages, Part 2—Rounding Headlands
- Six Things We Can Learn From A Night Approach That Ended on a Lee Shore
- Coastal Passages, Part 1—Making a Plan, 10 Tips
- Six Warnings About Buying Fibreglass Boats
- Rocna Resetting Failures and Evaluation of Vulcan and Mantus
- Learn From The Designers
- Refitting an Old Boat Can Work…For Some
- Specifying Primary Anchor Size
- SPADE, SARCA Excel, or Some Other Anchor?
- UV Protection For Roller Furling Sails
- Nigel Calder’s Integrel, Part 2—Is It Really Better Than a Generator?
- Nigel Calder’s Integrel, Part 1—What You Need To Know
- SARCA Excel Anchor—A Real World Test
- Cruising Boat Electrical System Design, Part 3—Specifying Optimal Battery Bank Size
- Cruising Boat Electrical System Design, Part 2—Thinking About Systems
- Cruising Boat Electrical System Design, Part 1—Loads and Conservation
- Alternatives to Chainplates For Drogue Attachment…Or Not
- Stuff We Gotta Do—The Anchor Roller Version
- Ocean Passaging—Turning Back Is Hard To Do
- Anchor Chain Catenary, When it Matters and When it Doesn’t
- Which Old Salts Should We Listen To? 10 Ways To Decide—Part 2
- Colin on Anchoring
- Which Old Salts Should We Listen To? 10 Ways To Decide—Part 1
- Storm Survival FAQ
- AIS Crew Overboard Beacons—Setting Up The Boat Alarms Right
- Just Get a Series Drogue Designed By Don Jordan…Dammit!
- Amidships “Preventers”—A Bad Idea That Can Kill
- Rogue Waves Are Not Bad Luck
- 5 Ways We Are Updating Our Thinking On Fire Fighting
- Battery Monitors, Part 3—Calibration and Use
- Battery Monitors, Part 2—Recommended Unit
- Battery Monitors, Part 1—Which Type Is Right For You?
- Battle Testing a Jordan-Designed Series Drogue—Round 2
- Rigging Tips Part 1
- 10 Things That Are Common On Offshore Cruising Boats…But Shouldn’t Be
- Rig Tuning, Part 5—Sailing Tune
- Battery Bank Size and Generator Run Time, A Case Study
- Rig Tuning, Part 4—Mast Blocking, Stay Tension, and Spreaders
- Rig Tuning, Part 3—6 Steps to a Great Tune
- Rig Tuning, Part 2—Understanding Rake and Bend
- Rig Tuning, Part 1—Preparation
- Battery Options, Part 2—Lead Acid
- Battery Options, Part 1—Lithium
- Two Dangerous Rigging Mistakes
- Boréal Yachts—Looking To The Future
- Boréal Yachts—Eight Years On
- 8 Things I Learned From a Lazy Man’s Galley Makeover
- Time to Stop Using And Selling Tethers with Gibb-style Hooks
- Crew Overboard Recovery—Our Replacement For Quick Stop
- Crew Overboard Recovery, Is The Quick Stop Bogus?
- Which Lifejacket Auto-Inflator Should We Select?
- Should We Wear Lifejackets or Harnesses, Both, Neither?
- Apps to Manage Boat Maintenance and Cruises
- Managing Boatyard Costs—Part 2
- Managing Boatyard Costs—Part 1
- Smartphone (CrewWatcher) or AIS-Based Crew Overboard Beacons?
- Severe Weather Probability Forecast Product
- Coming Alongside (Docking)—Backing In, Part 2
- Coming Alongside (Docking)—Backing In, Part 1
- Surviving The Boatyard—Part 2
- Surviving The Boatyard—Part 1
- Running Rigging Recommendations—Part 2
- Weather Routing In Action
- Running Rigging Recommendations—Part 1
- 29 Aluminum Boat Care Tips—Part 3
- Automated Weather Routing—Part 1, The Tools
- 29 Aluminum Boat Care Tips—Part 2
- Q&A, Coming Alongside (Docking) With Twin Rudders
- 29 Aluminum Boat Care Tips—Part 1
- Seven Skills We DON’T Need to Go Cruising
- The Golden Globe Race—The Boats and the Refits
- We Love The Way Our Anchor Drags
- Iridium GO! and UUPlus, Real World Use Review
- Watt & Sea Hydro Generator Review
- Can We Really Be Seen By Ships at Night?
- Crew Overboard Prevention—Use of Climbing Harnesses
- Coming Alongside (Docking)—Taming the Wind
- Coming Alongside (Docking)—The Final Approach
- Coming Alongside (Docking)—Manoeuvring in Close Quarters
- Battle Testing a Jordan-Designed Series Drogue—Round 1
- Get-Home Backup For Offshore Motorboats—Part 3, The Winner
- Get-Home Backup For Offshore Motorboats—Part 2, The Options
- Get-Home Backup for Offshore Motorboats—Part 1, Is It Even a Thing?
- Boat Heating—Part II
- Determining When Heaving-To Is Dangerous
- 10 Ways to Make Your Boat Easier to Bring Alongside a Dock
- Boat Heating—Part I
- Rigging The Spring That Makes Docking Easy, Or an Alternative
- Coming Alongside (Docking) in 4 Easy Steps
- Transitioning From Heaved-to To a Series Drogue
- Series Drogue Durability Problems
- The Right Tethers To Keep Us Aboard—Part 2, Construction and Hardware
- The Right Tethers To Keep Us Aboard—Part 1, A Mix
- 8 Radar Use Tips
- Three Tips to Make Your Cruising Boat Fault Tolerant
- 11 Tips for Safe Navigation With Phones and Tablets
- Navigation in Fog—Underway
- Navigation in Fog—Preparation
- Navigating in Fog—The Tools
- The Artnautica LRC 58 Adventure Edition Offshore Motorboat
- Thinking About Better Offshore Motorboats
- Jacklines: Materials, Fabrication and Installation
- The Unknown Unknowns
- An Easy Way to Avoid Engine Failures
- Designing For Dux Rope Rigging—A Paradigm Shift—Part 2
- Dynice Dux, Part 1: Practical Low-Stretch Rope Rigging For Offshore Sailboats
- What Marine Engine Duty Ratings Mean To You
- A Sailor’s Cockpit Enclosure—Part 2
- A Sailor’s Cockpit Enclosure—Part 1
- Keeping Things Tasty—Tips For Food Storage (With No Refrigeration) & Meal Preparation
- Keeping Things Tasty—A 36,000-Mile Lesson In Provisioning
- The Perfect Anchor Roller
- The Three Keys To Cruising Happiness
- Q&A—Are Battery Desulphators a Good Idea?
- Hoisting the Mainsail Made Easy—Simplicity in Action
- Ten Tips To Fix Weather Helm
- How Batteries Charge (Multiple Charging Sources Too)
- Maiden Voyage of The Boreal 55—What Worked and What Didn’t
- One Simple Law That Makes Electrical Systems Easy to Understand
- Things I’ve Learned From Three Refits That Will Help You
- Giving a Tough Old Ocean Greyhound a New Purpose
- Refitting a Wauquiez Hood 38
- A Trans-Atlantic Boat For Less Than US$100,000
- How To Select The Best Power and Propeller Settings For Your Engine
- How To Stop Killing Your Engine With Kindness
- Controllable Pitch Propellers (CPPs)
- The Ultimate Guide to Using Iridium Handsets and GO!
- Going Cruising—Being Realistic About You, 4 Tips
- Iridium GO! Review—6 Myths Busted and a Purchase Recommendation
- 4 Great Tips From a Professional Meteorologist
- Mooring Your Dinghy While Ashore, Made Easy
- “Eala Bhan” Sails Home, Part III
- Keeping Safe From Chart Inaccuracies
- “Eala Bhan” Sails Home, Part II
- Five Tips For Choosing Weather Information to Believe…And Pay For
- “Eala Bhan” Sails Home—The Maiden Voyage of The Boréal 55
- Marine Electronics Recommendations—Communications
- Marine Electronics System Recommendations
- Two Tips to Make Your First Ocean Passage as Skipper Safe and Fun
- Anchor Tests—The Good, The Bad, and The Downright Silly
- Cutter Rig—Optimizing and/or Converting
- Cutter Rig—Should You Buy or Convert?
- 12 Reasons The Cutter Is A Great Offshore Voyaging Rig
- Propeller Efficiency
- Ten Ways to Make Propane Safer
- Boat Maintenance—Don’t Go Broke Saving Money
- Boréal 47—An Owner’s Experience
- Third Anchors, Storm Anchors and Spare Anchors
- Understanding An Engine Fuel Map
- Better Powertrains For Auxiliary Sailboats and Motorboats
- Downwind Sailing—Poling Out The Jib
- Downwind Sailing, Tips and Tricks
- Kedge (Secondary Anchor)—Recommended Type and Size
- Boat Maintenance—What’s Your Screwup Tolerance?
- Tools and Techniques For Managing Dissimilar Metals on Cruising Boats
- The Crazy Fools…Who Don’t Drown
- The Only Five Knots You Need to Know
- Attainably Adventurous Children
- Marine Electronics Recommendations—Radar
- Yawing at The Anchor, an Alternative Cure
- Spare Parts—Which To Buy and How To Keep Track Of Them
- Reefing From The Cockpit 2.0—Thinking Things Through
- The Secret Life Of Your GPS
- Getting Your Mojo Back
- A Real Sailor’s Motorboat Launched
- The Two Biggest Lies Yacht Brokers Tell
- Q&A: Safety of Large Pilothouse Windows
- Download Your Gift eBook
- Rustler Yachts: Maybe There’s Hope Yet?
- The Loss of “Team Vestas Wind”
- 9 Tips To Make Unstepping a Sailboat Mast Easier
- Our Mainsail Is Our Friend
- 6 Tips To Stop Marine Electronics From Ruining Your Cruise
- Perfect or Good Enough?
- Staying Attached To The Boat
- Install A Wash-down Pump—And Save Money!
- Motorboating and Sailing Compared—Part 2
- Motorboating and Sailing Compared—Part 1
- Crash Pump
- The Right Way to Buy a Boat…And The Wrong Way
- Estimating The Cost of Maintaining a Cruising Boat
- You Need More Than Money
- The World’s Best Bilge Pump Switch
- Loss of Yacht “Tao”
- Do You Need A Generator?
- Real Numbers For Electric And Diesel-Electric Drives
- Five Ways That Bad Boats Happen
- Backup Systems
- Do You Still Need Paper Charts?
- Protecting Against Lightning Strikes
- John & Phyllis’ 36 Immutable Rules of Seamanship
- Lithium Ion Batteries Explained
- Two Yacht Losses, Many Lessons Learned
- 20 Tips To Get Anchored and Stay Anchored
- 10 Tips To Install An Alternator
- 10 Tips to Help You Get Out There Cruising
- Artnautica 58—Design Analysis
- Design Parameters For an Ideal Sailor’s Motorboat
- Selecting a Chain Grade
- Mainsail Handling Made Easy with Lazyjacks
- Do We Need Watertight Bulkheads?
- Impact Resistance—Two Collision Scenarios
- Impact Resistance—How Hull Materials Respond to Impacts
- The Real Reason to Use a Harness and Tether
- A Sailor’s Motorboat
- Characteristics of Boat Building Materials
- Summary And Conclusions For Heavy Weather Offshore Section
- Companionway Integrity In A Storm
- Real Life Storm Survival Story
- Storm Survival Secret Weapon: Your Engine
- Surviving A Lee Shore
- Series Drogues: Learning From Tony Gooch
- Jordan Series Drogue Retrieval—An Alternative From Hal Roth
- Jordan Series Drogue Attachments And Launch System
- Jordan Series Drogue Retrieval System
- When Heaving-To Is Dangerous
- Heaving-To
- Goals For A Heavy Weather System
- Introduction—We Need A System
- 8 Tips For a Great Cruising Boat Interior Arrangement
- Cycle Loading—8 Tips for Boat and Gear Purchases
- Electric or Diesel-Electric Drives for Voyaging Boats
- Two Anchors Done Right
- Cyclical Loading: Why Offshore Sailing Is So Hard On A Boat
- Harnesses and Lifejackets and How to Use Them
- Keeping The Water Flowing
- The Risks of Falling Overboard at Sea
- Is It a Need or a Want?
- One Anchor or Two?
- Hydro Power
- Solar Power
- Wind Generators
- Renewable Power
- A Dangerous Myth about Reefing
- Choosing a Spot
- Laziness Never Goes Unpunished
- Pitfalls to Avoid When Buying a New Voyaging Boat
- The Case For Roller-Furling Headsails
- Are Refits Worth It?
- The Case For Hank On Headsails
- Thinking About a Steel Boat?
- A Reluctant Voyager?
- Tips For Receiving Weather Forecasts
- New Engine, The Proof is in The Voyage
- Tips For Receiving GRIBs
- Choosing an Anchorage
- Tips For Receiving Weather Fax
- It’s A Forecast, Not A Prophecy
- The Importance Of The Big Picture
- A Windlass That Makes The Grade
- Things to Know About Anchor Chain
- Serve Your Apprenticeship
- Priorities In Preparation
- Making Life Easier—Roller Reefing/Furling
- Clear The Decks For Action
- Making Life Easier—Storm Jib
- How To Use An Anchor Trip Line
- The Beauty Of Simplicity
- Chart Plotters And Autopilots, Never The Twain Should Meet
- Perkins M92B, Initial Report Card
- Equalizing Batteries, The Reality
- Storm Preparation, All Chain On Deck
- Anchor Swivels, Just Say No
- Q&A: Hybrid Rope And Chain Anchor Rodes
- AC Chargers For Lead Acid Batteries
- How Lead Acid Batteries Get Wrecked and What To Do About It
- Engine Installation—The Devil Is In The Details
- Test Sail On A Boréal 44
- Rudder Options
- Boréal 44 Design
- A Boat Designed For The High Latitudes
- New Engine For “Morgan’s Cloud”—What We Chose
- Selection Criteria For The New Engine For “Morgan’s Cloud”
- Three Navigation Mistakes That Can Wreck You
- Knowing Where It’s At
- Boréal Sailboats–An Introduction
- Don’t Forget About The Sails
- Managing Ocean Currents
- Gale And Storm At Anchor Or On A Mooring Check List
- Swept-Back Spreaders—We Just Don’t Get It!
- Carbon Fiber Masts and Lightning: Myths, Assurances And Risks
- Carbon Fiber Mast, Costs and Benefits
- The Benefits Of Carbon Fibre Masts
- How To Home Build a Hard Dodger For an Offshore Sailboat
- Cockpit Dodger For an Offshore Sailboat
- Q&A: Staysail Stay: Roller Furling And Fixed Vs Hanks And Removable
- Anchor Rode Questions and Answers
- There’s No Excuse For Pounding
- A Motorsailer For Offshore Voyaging?
- At What Age should You Stop Sailing And Buy a Motorboat?
- It’s Often Better to Anchor Than Pick Up a Mooring
- Reefing Questions and Answers
- A Prairie Woman Goes To Sea
- Taming The Wimp Within
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Electronic Chart Dangers
50 CommentsReading Time: 9 minutesMembers
Read more: Electronic Chart DangersSure, electronic charts are great, but we should never assume that every cool-looking feature is also great, some of them are dangerous.
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Review of Ocean Signal PLB3 Against MOB1
35 CommentsReading Time: 9 minutesMembers
Read more: Review of Ocean Signal PLB3 Against MOB1When something new and cool is released, it’s always tempting to assume it’s better than the older simpler option, but is it?
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Weather Analysis—Part 2, Strategic
9 CommentsReading Time: 10 minutesMembers
Read more: Weather Analysis—Part 2, StrategicWith modern weather reception and analysis tools we can plan our cruises and voyages as much as two weeks ahead. John shares how.
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Weather Analysis—Part 1, Tactical
44 CommentsReading Time: 12 minutesMembers
Read more: Weather Analysis—Part 1, TacticalMost discussions about weather reception and analysis in the cruising community end up focused on the tools and technology. But that’s not what matters. In fact, planning fun and safe cruises is all about how we USE the tools and THINK about weather. That’s just what this chapter, based on some 25 years of real cruising experience, is about.
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Yes, You Can Have an Offshore Sailboat For Less Than $US100,000
33 CommentsReading Time: 10 minutesMembers
Read more: Yes, You Can Have an Offshore Sailboat For Less Than $US100,000Some years ago Colin and John explored whether or not a seamanlike offshore boat could be had for less than US$100,000. Colin and Louise have just proved we can, but there are things to know.
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Spade Anchor Failure, Update and Summary
48 CommentsReading Time: 9 minutesMembers
Read more: Spade Anchor Failure, Update and SummaryA follow-up, with some significant changes, to our article on a failed Spade anchor.
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Weather Analysis—Hardware and Software
42 CommentsReading Time: 11 minutesMembers
Read more: Weather Analysis—Hardware and SoftwareWhich hardware and software should we use for weather downloading and analysis? Lots of good stuff out there. Here’s how to choose.
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Bilge Alarms And Monitoring
43 CommentsReading Time: 13 minutesMembers
Read more: Bilge Alarms And MonitoringVery few boats have a good automated bilge pump and flooding alarm system. Let’s fix that.
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Bent Spade Anchor Analysis
120 CommentsReading Time: 13 minutesMembers
Read more: Bent Spade Anchor AnalysisWhen an anchor many of us have come to trust over two decades fails catastrophically, it’s time to think about why and what we can learn.
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9 Tips to Assess Weather Forecast Accuracy
21 CommentsReading Time: 11 minutesMembers
Read more: 9 Tips to Assess Weather Forecast AccuracyIt’s comforting to believe that weather forecasts are always right, but we all know that’s not true. Here’s how to assess the chances that a given forecast will be wrong in a bad way.
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Easily Driven Boats Are Better
85 CommentsReading Time: 12 minutesMembers
Read more: Easily Driven Boats Are BetterJohn explains one of the most important criteria for selecting an offshore voyaging boat, and one of the most ignored.
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Sailing a New-To-Us Boat Home—What Could Go Wrong?
26 CommentsReading Time: 11 minutesMembers
Read more: Sailing a New-To-Us Boat Home—What Could Go Wrong?Colin and Louise serve up a master class on delivering an older and long-unsailed boat through difficult waters and adverse weather, and even have fun doing it.
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Replacing Diesel-Generated Electricity With Renewables, Part 2—Case Studies
50 CommentsReading Time: 10 minutesMembers
Read more: Replacing Diesel-Generated Electricity With Renewables, Part 2—Case StudiesSo far in this series of chapters we have been looking at the benefits and drawbacks of the renewable options. Now let’s pull it all together.
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Replacing Diesel-Generated Electricity With Renewables, Part 1—Loads and Options
36 CommentsReading Time: 8 minutesMembers
Read more: Replacing Diesel-Generated Electricity With Renewables, Part 1—Loads and OptionsCan we replace diesel fuel generation (main engine or separate) with wind, solar and/or hydrogenerators? Yes, but there’s stuff to know to avoid wasted money and disappointment.
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How Weight Affects Boat Performance and Motion Comfort
60 CommentsReading Time: 11 minutesMembers
Read more: How Weight Affects Boat Performance and Motion ComfortIt’s tempting to think that the more cool stuff a boat has, the better she is for cruising, but that approach can make the boat slow and uncomfortable. Eric explains how to tell when adding gear has gone too far.
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Adventure 40 Cockpit 2.0
48 CommentsReading Time: 11 minutesMembers
Read more: Adventure 40 Cockpit 2.0The final cockpit reveal, discussing the improvements made since Version 1, including new and very cool renderings.
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Falmouth For Orders
17 CommentsReading Time: 8 minutesMembers
Read more: Falmouth For OrdersColin is waiting for the weather, as happens to all cruisers, and muses on the history of an iconic port, boat design (old and new), derelict boats, and the ongoing process of getting in tune with their new-to-them She 36.
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Watt & Sea Hydrogenerator Buyer’s Guide—Cost Performance
30 CommentsReading Time: 9 minutesMembers
Read more: Watt & Sea Hydrogenerator Buyer’s Guide—Cost PerformanceDoes buying a Watt & Sea make sense? It’s complicated, depending on boat size and type, as well as usage profile.
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To Sea At Last
15 CommentsReading Time: 9 minutesMembers
Read more: To Sea At LastAfter many hours of toil in the boatyard to make her passage-ready, Colin and Louise start the long passage home to Scotland, testing the boat and gear as they go.
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10 Tips To Save Your Engine From Overheating
49 CommentsReading Time: 11 minutesMembers
Read more: 10 Tips To Save Your Engine From OverheatingA diesel engine that’s been badly overheated will probably never run reliably again. A total cruise ruiner. Let’s not let that happen to us.
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Safety Inspection and Gear For a New-To-Us Boat
21 CommentsReading Time: 8 minutesMembers
Read more: Safety Inspection and Gear For a New-To-Us BoatColin shares his safety checks and upgrades made before the long delivery passage home to Scotland.
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Fire Extinguishers We Have Bought and Stuff We Learned
46 CommentsReading Time: 10 minutesMembers
Read more: Fire Extinguishers We Have Bought and Stuff We LearnedChoosing fire extinguishers for a cruising boat is a lot more complicated than it may appear. Here’s what Phyllis and John ended up with after consulting experts.
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Liferafts For Cruisers—Positioning and Mounting
24 CommentsReading Time: 10 minutesMembers
Read more: Liferafts For Cruisers—Positioning and MountingFiguring out where to mount and how to secure a liferaft can be one of the most vexing problems in offshore boat preparation.
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Starting With The Basics On A New-To-Us Cruising Boat
28 CommentsReading Time: 9 minutesMembers
Read more: Starting With The Basics On A New-To-Us Cruising BoatColin continues the story of making a basically sound, but nearly half-a-century-old, boat ready for sailing. Vital reading for anyone buying a used boat.
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Going Up The Mast—More Improvements
19 CommentsReading Time: 9 minutesMembers
Read more: Going Up The Mast—More ImprovementsFurther refinements to the mast climbing system we figured out last year. Even after 50 years of climbing masts, we are still learning.
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Liferafts For Cruisers—40 Years of Real-World Experience
41 CommentsReading Time: 12 minutesMembers
Read more: Liferafts For Cruisers—40 Years of Real-World ExperienceJohn shares which raft he and Phyllis would buy for various cruising scenarios and why.
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Nine Autopilot Usage Tips and Hacks
10 CommentsReading Time: 12 minutesMembers
Read more: Nine Autopilot Usage Tips and HacksSo far in this series we have got deep into the technical weeds of how autopilots work, and how to make them work better. Now let’s look at some simple tips, several of which will help with vane gears too.
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Liferafts For Cruisers—Purchase Criteria
62 CommentsReading Time: 8 minutesMembers
Read more: Liferafts For Cruisers—Purchase CriteriaIt’s tempting to just shop for the “best” liferaft, but it’s way smarter to think first about why we are buying one.
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How To Tune An Autopilot To Steer Better—Part 2
30 CommentsReading Time: 10 minutesMembers
Read more: How To Tune An Autopilot To Steer Better—Part 2How to set gain, counter-rudder, and trim to make an offshore passage faster and more comfortable, and save battery, too.
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Finding and Buying a Dream
22 CommentsReading Time: 10 minutesMembers
Read more: Finding and Buying a DreamNow Colin and Louise have found and bought their new boat, the real work begins…but they got the basics right. Here’s how.
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Adventure 40 Deck-2.0
212 CommentsReading Time: 13 minutesMembers
Read more: Adventure 40 Deck-2.0Maxime and Vincent have been hard at work over the last couple of months refining and improving the Adventure 40 deck design. Let’s take a look.
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How To Tune an Autopilot to Steer Better—Part 1
21 CommentsReading Time: 12 minutesMembers
Read more: How To Tune an Autopilot to Steer Better—Part 1We can make a huge difference to comfort, speed, and electrical use by manually adjusting our autopilots.
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Autopilot Buyer’s Guide
73 CommentsReading Time: 14 minutesMembers
Read more: Autopilot Buyer’s GuideHow smart and expensive an autopilot do we need for offshore shorthanded cruising? Lots of options. Here’s how to make sure we don’t select the wrong one and that we get what we paid for.
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Storm Strategy—Fore-Reaching
46 CommentsReading Time: 11 minutesMembers
Read more: Storm Strategy—Fore-ReachingComparing fore-reaching to heaving-to and streaming a Jordon Series Drogue as storm survival strategies as well as equipment and techniques required for safe fore-reaching.
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Colin and Louise Have a New Boat
74 CommentsReading Time: 7 minutesMembers
Read more: Colin and Louise Have a New BoatAfter two years of diligent searching, one of the most knowledgeable boat buyers anywhere has selected his next offshore cruising boat, and an attainable one, too.
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Eight Steps to Get Ready For Lithium Batteries
42 CommentsReading Time: 5 minutesMembers
Read more: Eight Steps to Get Ready For Lithium BatteriesMany cruisers have already made the jump to lithium. But what if we would like to delay the considerable expense and complications of lithium, but want to be ready at a later date?
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Q and A—Trucking a Boat
37 CommentsReading Time: 6 minutesMembers
Read more: Q and A—Trucking a BoatTrucking a boat can be a viable, and in some cases less expensive option than sailing her, but what are the pitfalls?
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A Real World Tested Tool Kit For Cruisers
42 CommentsReading Time: 9 minutesMembers
Read more: A Real World Tested Tool Kit For CruisersA recommended kit that weighs less than sixty pounds and tool budgets for coastal and offshore cruising, as well as refits.
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Five Boat Lift Usage Tips
28 CommentsReading Time: 10 minutesMembers
Read more: Five Boat Lift Usage TipsA hair-raising account of a boat-lift collapse and tips to reduce the chances of this happening to us.
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Adventure 40 Reveal—Salon and Forward Cabin
143 CommentsReading Time: 12 minutesMembers
Read more: Adventure 40 Reveal—Salon and Forward CabinIn the last interior arrangement reveal article we covered the galley, head, and storage areas aft. Now let’s move forward into the salon and forward cabin.
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Balancing Battery Bank and Solar Array Size
65 CommentsReading Time: 12 minutesMembers
Read more: Balancing Battery Bank and Solar Array SizeIt’s easy to assume that the bigger the battery bank and solar array the better, but there’s a much better way to optimize the system for a live-aboard cruising boat, which will save a bundle of money too.
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Going Up The Mast at Sea
53 CommentsReading Time: 12 minutesMembers
Read more: Going Up The Mast at SeaUp to now in this series we have been looking at going up the mast in sheltered water, but when we need to go up offshore everything gets hugely more difficult and risky. As usual, preparation is the key to safety and success.
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Adventure 40 Reveal—Galley, Head, and Aft Storage
111 CommentsReading Time: 13 minutesMembers
Read more: Adventure 40 Reveal—Galley, Head, and Aft StorageA good galley, storage, and head layout are much of what makes an offshore live-aboard cruising sailboat great. The A40 design nails these requirements.
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Gear Leveling and Mounting Hack
20 CommentsReading Time: 4 minutesMembers
Read more: Gear Leveling and Mounting HackBoats are not square so it’s often necessary to mount gear at an angle and/or on a curved surface. Here’s the easy way to do that.
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Going Up The Mast—Four Dangerous But Common Mistakes
30 CommentsReading Time: 6 minutesMembers
Read more: Going Up The Mast—Four Dangerous But Common MistakesJohn highlights four more dangerous mistakes he has made and seen many others make too. With these mistakes fixed, he is now reasonable happy with his system.
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How To Do Amateur Engineering¹
21 CommentsReading Time: 7 minutesMembers
Read more: How To Do Amateur Engineering¹From time to time we get a question asking us to opine on whether a modification to the boat or rig will be strong enough. Let’s look at that.
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Going Up The Mast—Our System
48 CommentsReading Time: 9 minutesMembers
Read more: Going Up The Mast—Our SystemAfter over 50 years of going up masts John shares the system he and Phyllis are now using as well as highlighting the many dangerous mistakes he has made over the years.
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Going Up The Mast—Fundamentals
65 CommentsReading Time: 10 minutesMembers
Read more: Going Up The Mast—FundamentalsThoughts on backup systems, fall arrest as against fall prevention, and gear recommendations for going up the mast.
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Adventure 40 Reveal—On Deck
130 CommentsReading Time: 11 minutesMembers
Read more: Adventure 40 Reveal—On DeckIn the last Adventure 40 article, I examined hull, cockpit and rig. Now let’s move out of the cockpit and go forward.
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Going Up the Mast—An Industrial Fall Prevention Approach
82 CommentsReading Time: 8 minutesMembers
Read more: Going Up the Mast—An Industrial Fall Prevention ApproachMatt brings his professional engineer’s understanding of forces and his construction site fall-arrest training to bear on one of the most potentially dangerous tasks we sailors are called upon to do.
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Adventure 40 Reveal—Hull, Cockpit, and Rig
190 CommentsReading Time: 12 minutesMembers
Read more: Adventure 40 Reveal—Hull, Cockpit, and RigTen years after starting a project to create a safe, reliable and fast offshore cruising sailboat ready to go around the world, we have a design.
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In-Mast, In-Boom, or Slab Reefing —Performance, Cost and Safety
58 CommentsReading Time: 11 minutesMembers
Read more: In-Mast, In-Boom, or Slab Reefing —Performance, Cost and SafetyPart 2 of a buyer’s guide examining the trade-offs between the three ways to set, strike and furl a mainsail on an offshore cruising boat.
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In-Mast, In-Boom, or Slab Reefing—Convenience and Reliability
60 CommentsReading Time: 9 minutesMembers
Read more: In-Mast, In-Boom, or Slab Reefing—Convenience and ReliabilityPart 1 of buyer’s guide examining the trade-offs between the three ways to set, strike and furl a mainsail on an offshore cruising boat.
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Cross-Bank Battery Charging—DC/DC Chargers
64 CommentsReading Time: 6 minutesMembers
Read more: Cross-Bank Battery Charging—DC/DC ChargersCross-bank battery charging with DC/DC chargers or alternator-to-battery chargers.
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Cross-Bank Battery Charging—Splitters and Relays
23 CommentsReading Time: 9 minutesMembers
Read more: Cross-Bank Battery Charging—Splitters and RelaysA well set up cruising boat electrical system separates the house and engine start batteries. Here’s how to make sure both are properly charged.
