John links to a must-read article on hull design for heavy weather and highlights a couple of really important things he learned from it.

The single biggest bitch we hear about battery monitors is that they are always wrong. John shares how to fix that and make your batteries last a lot longer too.

Being able to accurately monitor our batteries is a vital function for all cruisers, but which of the multitude of systems offered should we buy and install? John defines the functions we actually need, and then recommends a monitor.

After recommending the Lewisporte Marina to a number of cruisers looking to leave their boat in Newfoundland over a winter, John and Phyllis finally get a chance to visit Lewisporte themselves…for the second time in John’s case.

It’s tempting, when selecting a complex piece of gear like a battery monitor, to dive straight into the details and features, but that’s a near-sure route to a bad decision. First let’s take a giant step back and look at the two main types of monitors and decide which is right for each of us.

Phyllis shares the latest act of kindness bestowed on her and John by a Newfoundlander.

Trevor Robinson updates what he has learned about using and maintaining a series drogue built to Don Jordan’s design. This is not theory, but true testing over a gruelling circumnavigation in the Southern Ocean, including multiple deployments in gale and storm force conditions. Anyone who goes to sea in small boats will benefit from reading this.

The Golden Globe Race 2018 has started, and Colin, who lives in Falmouth, site of the feeder race start, takes a look at the boats and the competitors.

John puts his lazy streak on display with five rigging hacks to do less work, but still do things right.

“Things are different now” is a mantra on “Morgan’s Cloud”. And never more so than now, as John and Phyllis try and act their age.

It’s always easier not to fix our boats right, and using the excuse that “everyone does it like this” is a tempting way to excuse doing extra work and spending more money, but the sea does not recognize excuses.

Phyllis and John are back out cruising and in one of their favourite parts of the world.

In the previous four parts of this series on mast tuning, we got all the basics taken care of, now we just need to go sailing to complete a great tune.

These days, most boats with AC generators have signifigant DC (12 or 24 volt) battery banks that need to be charged regularly by the generator. But often that process is horribly inefficient. The good news is that the fix is easy, simple, and relatively inexpensive.