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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.
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Read more: Cruiser Under $20K, Bayfield 29My last post got me thinking about the importance of just getting out there in some boat, any boat, if we really want to go cruising and make a success of it. We can always buy a bigger and better boat later. With that in mind, there’s a Bayfield 29 we go by on our […]
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Read more: A Boat While You Wait To Go CruisingI came across this cool article on old small boats available for less than the cost of a good dinner out. One of these would make a great project while waiting and saving to go cruising: Learn some useful skills while fixing the boat. Then hone sailing skills. The O’Day Day Sailer for US$78 jumped […]
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Read more: Brion Toss Splicing WandI have owned this great tool for at least 25 years. I don’t use it that often, but when I do, it saves so much agro. The photo to the right shows the way I was using it locked in a vice to Brummell splice 1/2″ Amsteel. No way my little D-splicer was going to […]
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Read more: Getting Ready for a HurricaneThe North Atlantic heating up in the last week got me working on preparing our new-to-us J/109 for a strike. We have always added a backup pendant before expected winds of storm force or over, but in the past it was chain. Now, with a smaller boat and the availability of high-modulus rope, we are […]
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Read more: Justifying Expensive ToolsThe enjoyment of one’s tools is an essential ingredient of successful work Donald Knuth This quote makes me feel a lot better about blowing the price of a nice second hand car on new tools after we sold the McCurdy and Rhodes 56 with all my old tools. Thanks to Stan Honey for the heads […]
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Read more: Battery Bank Separation and Cross-Charging Best PracticesWe all know that any cruising boat should have the engine and house banks separated, but that’s just the start of what we need to know.
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Read more: A Fractional Rig is Like a GearboxAbove is with the backstay set for light air (about 7 knots true) and mast on our J/109 pretty much straight. Big time power in the mainsail and lots of sag in the headstay powering up the jib. This is the same two sails in 14 knots true at which point we de-powered by pumping […]
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Read more: 49er, 49er FX and NACRA 17 WorldsA friend invited me along to watch some of the races. Amazing how performance sailing has changed since my days in the 505, and yet, in some ways, is still very much the same. Also interesting that of the few races we watched, the women’s teams in the FX seemed by far the most aggressive, […]
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Read more: Don’t Ever Lie AhullI can’t believe that experienced ocean sailors are still making the mistake of lying ahull in heavy weather and then blaming a freak or rogue wave when they get rolled. We have known for over 40 years how dangerous lying ahull is. Extra big waves are a reality in anything over gale force offshore, not […]
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Read more: Slippery Deck Shoe FixMy Gill deck shoes were completely losing their grip. We are talking scary-slippery, to the point I nearly went on my ass, and overboard was a real possibility. We have seen this before. Seems like whatever material deck shoe soles are being made of these days, it develops a hard yellowy layer way before the […]
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Read more: Why We Need a TravelerWe increasingly see boats without travellers, but that’s a big performance hit, particularly in light air going to windward where we want the boom on the centreline but the sheet not too tight. To make that happen the traveler car needs to be well to windward of centre. Check out the nice twist and leach […]
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Read more: Demo of In-Boom FurlingMy friend Hans, who advised me while I was writing the article on the tragedy aboard Escape, took me out on his Farr 56 for a demo of hoisting, reefing, and furling, using his in-boom automated mainsail-handling system. Hans is an incredible resource, since he has owned boats with slab, in-mast, and in-boom furling, as […]
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Read more: Safer Transom Ladder
Our new-to-us J/109 has a robust transom swim ladder that could definitely enable someone who fell overboard get back into the boat, at least in smooth water. But check out the photo above: There’s no way for someone in the water, particularly wearing a lifejacket, to deploy the ladder unassisted. The angle is just wrong […]
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Read more: Nylon Line In Europe 2The plot thickens. I came across this product page at RobLine an Austrian rope maker and they have a bunch of lines for mooring, docking, that will be good for anchor snubbers. Interesting quote from that page: Robline caters to the trend toward using different fibers for mooring and anchor lines, depending on the specific […]
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Read more: John and Andy Schell PodcastAndy Schell and John Harries do a podcast together. Lithium batteries, seamanship, refits, and much more.
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Read more: Starlink MaritimeStarlink are going to provide a solution for moving vessels, but before we get too excited check out the price! Think US$10,000 for the unit and US$7000/month for service! Looks like I will be right that Iridium will the solution for most of us for some time to come. In 2019 I predicted 10 years […]
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Read more: Nylon Rope in Europe
A member was having a heck of a time finding Nylon rope for a snubber, as we recommend, in Europe. After some research I think I have found out why: What we call Nylon in North America, and the UK, is known as H.T. Polyester in Europe and staff in stores sometimes refer to it […]
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Read more: Lessons From a Tragedy at SeaJohn’s take on the causes of the two fatalities on the yacht Escape south of Nova Scotia in June 2022, and some thoughts on how similar tragedies can be avoided.
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Read more: Backstay Adjusters & Fractional RigsWith fractional rigs we are way more interested in how much pumping the adjuster down has shortened the backstay and bent the mast than we are the reading on the pressure gauge (within reason). That’s why the marked batten. Click on images to enlarge
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Read more: Reaving HalyardsYou see people taping messenger lines to halyards, but that can lead to tears when the messenger comes off inside the mast. So way better to put a flemish eye, sometimes known as a reaving eye, in the bitter end of all halyards and internal reefing lines. The key to success is that the eye […]
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Read more: Whip Before CutWhen shortening a line, it’s way easier if we put on two sailmakers whippings and then cut the line between them. Whipping how-to. (Scroll down to #6)
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Read more: How Hard Can We Charge Our Lead-Acid Batteries?Charging batteries fast has all kinds of benefits: less engine wear, fuel savings, less carbon. But how far can we go?
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Read more: Folding Props Not For Cruising
I made a bollocks of sailing off the mooring today and got stuck stern upwind on the chain. Not a big deal to sort out on a light J/109, but I did get a graphic reminder of how little reverse thrust folding props have. Definitely not appropriate for a cruising boat where the bigtime reverse […]
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Read more: Balmar Battery Monitor On-TestAfter two months and four defects: I finally got the SG200 we bought for our J/109 working. I will write a review once I have more experience with it.
