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Read more: “Cheeki Rafiki” Loss UpdateMore developments on the tragedy, but John still thinks that the most important point is being missed.
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Read more: A Sailor’s Cockpit Enclosure—Part 1Benafits and drawbacks of a cockpit enclosure for an offshore sailboat.
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Read more: John’s Thoughts & Photos—October #2This week, John’s thinking about laying up.
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Keeping Things Tasty—Tips For Food Storage (With No Refrigeration) & Meal Preparation
23 CommentsReading Time: 6 minutesMembers
Read more: Keeping Things Tasty—Tips For Food Storage (With No Refrigeration) & Meal PreparationGuests onboard Sila have been surprised by just how good the food is. Molly shares tips for safe food storage and tasty meal preparation without refrigeration.
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Read more: John’s Thoughts & Photos—October #1
John’s got a creative itch to scratch. Here is the first of a new type of post.
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Read more: 20 Things I Have Learned About Crew Overboard PreventionJust three years ago I thought I really understood Crew Overboard (COB) Prevention. And then I found out how many of my cherished ideas about what would keep me and my crew safe were just plain wrong. Here are 20 things I have since learned that could save your life.
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Read more: Keeping Things Tasty—A 36,000-Mile Lesson In ProvisioningMolly shares lessons she learned about provisioning while sailing over 36,000 miles over three years, from Europe, around South America, back to Europe and home to New England.
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Read more: The Perfect Anchor RollerThere are few pieces of gear on many voyaging boats that are as poorly designed as the anchor roller. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
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Read more: Good Communication—A Vital Key To Cruising HappinessGood communication is a skill that, like every other skill on a cruising boat, needs to be developed and practiced. Molly shares tips for good communication on board, garnered during the last three years while living aboard and sailing 36,000 miles with her family on Sila, a Boréal 47, including an expedition to South Georgia.
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Read more: The Three Keys To Cruising HappinessFamily happiness and crew morale are vital for a successful voyage. During the last three years, while living aboard and sailing 36,000 miles on Sila, a Boréal 47, Molly Barnes and her family have come up with The Three Keys To Cruising Happiness.
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Read more: Q&A—Are Battery Desulphators a Good Idea?The claims made for battery pulse desulphators seem to make them ideal for voyaging boats. A cheap, easy to install gadget that will dramatically extend your expensive batteries’ lives. What’s not to like? But do they really work? John takes a look.
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Read more: A Podcast With John and Andy Schell
John has finally learned about podcasts and specifically offshore voyaging podcasts. He has now been interviewed not just once, but twice.
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Read more: Voyaging With Children: Ten Tips From A KidJack, 12 years old, shares ten tips for kids and parents to help make life on a boat easier and filled with great experiences. This is stuff he learned over three years while living aboard and sailing 36,000 miles with his family on Sila, a Boréal 47, including an expedition to South Georgia.
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Read more: Goop and Goo, and Why I Hate 5200If you want to watch John have a complete melt down, just mention 5200 bedding compound…but stand well back, it ain’t pretty. Not just a rant, John suggests better alternatives.
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Read more: Cape Sable—The Cape Horn Of Nova ScotiaCape Sable is beset by ferocious tides and uneven shoals. Throw in regular doses of dense fog and you’ll need no convincing to avoid this place in bad weather. With the right weather and timing, however, you can have a pleasant rounding, opening up the whole Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia for you to explore.
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Read more: Yarmouth, Nova Scotia—Acadian DreamsThere’s more to Yarmouth than meets the eye—don’t just sail on by.
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Read more: Crossing The Bay Of Fundy—Off To The Land Of Big TidesCrossing from Maine to Nova Scotia can be daunting, due to the big tides in the Bay of Fundy. But the rewards of entering a new cruising ground make it worthwhile. Here are a few tips on how to make the passage.
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Read more: Battery Replacement—Resisting The Seduction of Perfection
The story of how John nearly wasted a bunch of time and money, but finally got a grip of himself. Lots of electrical system recommendations and a caution to make sure that the complexity we choose is right for us.
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Read more: Hoisting the Mainsail Made Easy—Simplicity in ActionWhen we have a problem on our boats, it’s always tempting to try to fix it by adding gear, but often a better approach is simplification. We look at mainsail hoisting as an example and provide several tips to make the job easier.
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Read more: Happy Anniversary To UsPhyllis expands a bit on our (very slow) transition to part-time voyaging and discusses the upcoming very important month of December.
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Read more: Security Tips For Cruising In Risky PlacesSome of the world’s most interesting cruising destinations are subject to theft and violence. Colin provides tips to stay safe. Fixation on risk plays no part in adventure…but planning does.
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Read more: The Weirdest—And Best—Small Boat of 2016Sick of fighting with an outboard? Want to keep fit while cruising? Like to get on the water in a small fun boat? Matt has the answer.
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Read more: Ten Tips To Fix Weather HelmThere are few problems that detract more from the pleasure of sailing than a bad case of weather helm, a surprisingly common affliction. The good news is that this problem can be fixed.
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Read more: How Batteries Charge (Multiple Charging Sources Too)The details of how batteries charge and how voltage regulators work together…or not. Practical information that will help make sure you have electricity when you need it.
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Maiden Voyage of The Boreal 55—What Worked and What Didn’t
47 CommentsReading Time: 8 minutesMembersRead more: Maiden Voyage of The Boreal 55—What Worked and What Didn’tColin’s report on testing some of the latest and coolest gear on a brand new Boreal 55: autopilot, plotter, radar, stove, hydrogenerator, it’s all here. A real gear-heads article.
