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Read more: Don’t Trust Used RopeModern ropes are fantastically strong, to the point that, in most cases, at least on cruising boats, there is a massive margin of safety simply because the rope is generally chosen with enough diameter to be easily handled and is therefore many times stronger than the peak load. In fact, I can’t remember when a […]
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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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Read more: Good LED Steaming/Deck LightWe fitted a MarineBeam LED Steaming/Deck Light on the mast on our J/109 a year ago, and so far I’m impressed. Small, light, relatively inexpensive, and amazingly bright, with incredibly low current draw. Of course we don’t know how reliable it will be over time, but so far so good. By the way, I have […]
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Read more: His and Hers Autopilot ControlsPhyllis and I have done a couple of crew overboard recovery drills lately (with more planned) and one of the many things we learned was that a wrist remote autopilot control is extremely useful in a COB emergency. But what happens if the person wearing the only control is the one who went over the […]
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Read more: eWincher as a WindlassOur J/109 has a great anchor locker as well as a removable anchor roller, but no windlass, and there is no way in hell we are adding all that weight up forward on this boat. No worries. Our eWincher, driving a two-speed primary cockpit winch, hauls the rode as fast, or maybe a bit faster, […]
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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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Read more: What It’s Really All AboutA beautiful full-moon-lit evening in a lovely anchorage rafted up with good friends for a fine dinner. Not a lot more to say, really.
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Read more: Apple Watch Photo-Trigger HackI needed to get the model and serial number off the fridge unit on our J/109, but the problem is that the plate is on the far side and inaccessible, at least to an arthritic old fart. I was pondering using my borescope, but controlling it holding the wire would have been difficult. Then I […]
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Read more: A Coastal Cruiser Reviews A Watt & Sea HydrogeneratorAn honest evaluation from a thinking guy, who carefully evaluated his usage before pulling the trigger on an expensive piece of gear, not a fan-boy video.
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Read more: Good Fractional Rig-Tuning ArticleWe have five detailed step-by-step chapters on how to tune a masthead rig, starting here, but we don’t cover fractional rigs because they are unusual in the offshore cruising world. But if you do have a fractional rig, like we do on our new-to-us J/109, there’s a good tuning article over at Practical Boat Owner. […]
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Read more: Don’t Forget Weather Maps
I have to confess that, now we are no longer cruising offshore, I have tended to get my weather information from Windy and call it good. But I just realized that that lazy approach was resulting in me losing the strategic and tactical feel for the weather I developed over some five decades of observing […]
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Read more: The Most Dangerous Thing Offshore Cruisers DoLast week I linked to a well-done report and some associated testing over at Practical Boat Owner that made a convincing argument that sidedeck jacklines are worse, at least when used with a standard 6′ long tether, than not clipping on at all, because of the risk of being killed by dragging. And then a […]
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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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Read more: Carry Spare Banjo Fitting WashersBanjo fittings are ubiquitous on engines (there are a lot of them around, too), usually in the fuel system, but the fresh water cooling circuit often has a few as well. And each of them has a small copper washer each side of the fitting that acts as a seal. Here’s the thing: the washers […]
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Read more: Check Tachometer AccuracyThere are all kinds of good reasons to check our engine RPM, including making sure: But the problem is that tachometers can drift into inaccuracy. And an even bigger problem is that if we change our alternator to a larger and more robust one, as many of us cruisers do, and most of us should, […]
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Read more: V Booms a Great IdeaPocket Boom, V Boom, Park Avenue Boom, it doesn’t much matter what we call them, these booms are a great idea that should be adopted by a lot more sailors than do. A great way to simplify sail handling, and make it easy to put on the sail cover, but without the complexity, weight, performance […]
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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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Read more: Edson Radar TowerWe are really happy with the way our new radar installation came out, particularly the Edson tower. We have long felt that the best place for a radar is on a tower, not on the mast or backstay. It even inclines for when we are heeled in fog…yes, we get wind and fog here in […]
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Read more: Take a Racer SailingI have long argued that one of the quickest ways to become a better cruiser is to go racing as crew. It also works the other way around. Brooke (on the left) owns and seriously races a J/109 on Narraganset Bay. So while she was visiting with our friend Ed, she came out sailing on […]
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Read more: Sidedeck Jacklines Worse Than Nothing?We at AAC have long argued that sidedeck jacklines (jackstays) are not safe because of drag risk. But PBO are taking that up a level by suggesting, based on some very sobering testing as well as even more sobering analysis of sailors falling overboard and being dragged by their tethers, that it might even be […]
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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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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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Read more: Is Your Radio Talking to Your GPS?Even though I have been working on our new-to-us J/109 off and on for nearly two years, there are still chores on the to-do list, one being to program our new MMSI number into the VHF—I did our AIS transmitter as soon as we got the boat. Luckily for me, although disturbing to find out, […]
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Read more: Bluetooth Autopilot Remote RocksGiven that, this remote control for our new B&G autopilot is invaluable and just generally adds to the fun. A couple of button presses will even make the boat tack automatically while I handle the sheets—beats heck out of steering with a foot while tacking. Highly recommended and way better than wired remotes or running […]
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Read more: Pull Tackles Tight When Laying UpI have been doing this sailboat ownership thing for over 60 years and still I learn stuff, usually when something bites me on the ass. We were all set to bend on the main last week when the outhaul jammed solid. No way to pull it out to shackle it to the clew. When we […]
