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Surviving Storms While Coastal Cruising—21 Preparation Tips
30 CommentsReading Time: 11 minutesMembers
Read more: Surviving Storms While Coastal Cruising—21 Preparation TipsWe have selected a good harbour to ride out a storm, now how do we prepare?
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Read more: Wakespeed WS500 Pro On TimeIn April I hinted about a Bluetooth-enabled version of the WS500, our favourite alternator regulator, and in late June I confirmed that the WS 500 Pro had been announced, for shipment in “fall of 2024”. That said, I always worry that products announced before they are ready to ship will be late, often horribly. Anyway, […]
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Read more: North Sails—Another MonopolyI’m a capitalist. But I also strongly believe that capitalism should be played with rules and a referee. After all, as Scott Galloway is wont to say, it’s a full-body contact sport and would we let people play rugby or American football without a ref on the field? Might not end well. But that’s exactly […]
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Read more: Rebuilding a Cobra Yacht Steering System—ReassemblyIn Part 1 Colin pulled his steering apart and found some frightening defects, now he gets into fixing it right.
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Surviving Storms While Coastal Cruising—9 Tips for Anchorage and Harbour Selection
42 CommentsReading Time: 11 minutesMembers
Read more: Surviving Storms While Coastal Cruising—9 Tips for Anchorage and Harbour SelectionWe are coastal cruising and a storm is forecast. So how do we choose the right harbour or anchorage to ride it out in? These 9 tips will help.
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The Correct Shore Power Charger Profile To Use For Lead-Acid Batteries
0 CommentsReading Time: 3 minutesMembers
Read more: The Correct Shore Power Charger Profile To Use For Lead-Acid BatteriesAs I have written before, most shore power chargers are far less smart than they claim to be. The problem is that unless chargers are connected to and compatible with monitoring systems like Victron Cerbo with Distributed Voltage and Current Control (DVCC) enabled, or Victron BMV with VE Smart Networking, they have no way to […]
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Rebuilding a Cobra Yacht Steering System—Disassembly and Inspection
11 CommentsReading Time: 11 minutesMembers
Read more: Rebuilding a Cobra Yacht Steering System—Disassembly and InspectionThe idea of buying an old boat and going cruising is attractive, but there are also harsh realities to be aware of, like that the steering system is often a ticking time bomb. Not a lot of romance here, but lots of good experience-based advice.
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Read more: Great iPhone MountWhile I firmly believe that navigating on a phone is a very bad idea, and I’m no fan of installing navigation devices of any type on the steering pedestal (distraction), I have run into a situation where having my iPhone close to hand while steering is desirable: When anchoring I need to activate the Vesper […]
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Read more: Surviving Storms While Coastal Cruising—12 Strategy TipsMillions of words are written about managing storms offshore, but what about when coastal cruising? Here are some real-world proven strategies.
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Read more: Fitting Jib In-HaulersThe in-haulers in action. A couple of weeks back I wrote about how jib in-haulers have pretty much removed the need to carry overlapping genoas on a J/109, like our Morgan’s Cloud. Several members expressed interest in learning more, so here are a few photos and some notes on how I set up our system. […]
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Read more: A Nasty Danger of Twin RuddersAs most of our regular readers know, we at AAC are not fans of twin rudders for a whole bunch of reasons, including complexity, vulnerability to damage and because they can’t be used in conjunction with prop wash to manoeuvre a boat, thereby making a bow thruster pretty much required for safe docking. But now […]
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10 Reasons Why Hybrid Lithium Lead-Acid Systems are a Bad Idea
29 CommentsReading Time: 5 minutesMembers
Read more: 10 Reasons Why Hybrid Lithium Lead-Acid Systems are a Bad IdeaI have been frequently asked for my thoughts on systems where lithium and lead-acid batteries are connected in parallel. Here you go.
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Read more: Don’t Be Fooled By A Coolant Overflow TankOur Yanmar, like most marine diesels, has a coolant overflow tank (left top). When checking the fluids, as I do regularly, it’s tempting to just glance at the tank and assume that if we see coolant above the “LOW” line all is well. But that’s not necessarily so: A friend of mine was in the […]
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Read more: Networked Smoke Detectors Improve Liferaft StorageWhile we don’t plan to go far offshore in our J/109, we did buy a liferaft as our emergency exit if we are suddenly faced with a fire or a leak that we are not able to stop. We are often not carrying a dinghy, and even when we are it’s stowed deflated below, so […]
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Converting a Racing Sailboat to a Fast Cruiser—Performance and Rig
49 CommentsReading Time: 12 minutesMembers
Read more: Converting a Racing Sailboat to a Fast Cruiser—Performance and RigA racing boat, as long as she is not too extreme, can make a great cruising boat, but there are many things to learn before buying, and to change after.
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Read more: The Importance Of Boat Speed To Autopilot OperationModern smart autopilots rely on an accurate true wind calculation to steer well with the wind aft of the beam, particularly when a spinnaker, A-Sail or code is set. And assuming we have the apparent wind direction wand accurately adjusted for angle on each tack, another important input to true wind direction is boat speed, […]
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Read more: WakeSpeed Pro Alternator Regulator Announced
Wakespeed have announced a new alternator regulator, the WS 500 Pro. Here’s the scoop based on an in depth email conversation I have had with Al Thomason, chief designer at Wakespeed.
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Read more: Hurricane Mooring Weight RecommendationThis hurricane season is forecast to be one of the most active in history, and that means we should think about upgrading our moorings.
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Read more: Q&A—Which Courses To Take?Question You mention the International Certificate of Competence and the Yacht Master Offshore course. I’m at the beginning of my journey and started with an ASA course. Are the Yacht Master courses going to be the best overall to begin working towards? Member, Michael Answer Login to continue reading (scroll down) Learn About Membership Get […]
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Read more: Fun We Can Have Sailing Under Bare PolesI was out sailing singlehanded a couple of days ago. When I got back into our cove I, as usual when I’m planning to return to our wharf, dropped and furled the mainsail after starting the engine. But then it struck me that it might be fun to see if I could get alongside without […]
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Read more: Lithium Buyer’s Guide—Budget: Economy OptionsIn the last chapter we examined an ideal fully integrated lithium system at a big price, now let’s see if we can save some money without sacrificing too much.
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Read more: Q&A—How To Increase The Insured Value of Our BoatQuestion …The alternative was a policy only for boats with a value above $75K US. I have massively upgraded my 45 year old Morgan 382 for offshore voyaging (most recently a new Beta 35), as well as its cosmetics. But I know the market and no surveyor could honestly value it at $75K (my paint […]
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Read more: Q&A—Sizing a Staysail Roller FurlerQuestion Having a good look at some of the pictures where I can see the furling gear you used on MC it appears to me that it is about 1 size smaller then your head furler. Is this correct? And if so, were you ever concerned about its size in heavy weather? Member, Pepijn Answer […]
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Read more: Interesting Refrigeration OptionI have long been a fan of holding-plate refrigeration systems over evaporator systems: More efficient. When done right, better temperature consistency. Can be force-run when there is ample power, say when motoring or a generator is running—can be automated. Can be shut down overnight for quiet without the box thawing out or getting too warm—if […]
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Read more: Applying Power and TorqueWhen choosing mechanical gear, especially engines, it’s important to understand power and torque. Many people misuse these terms to sell products, so being informed helps us make better decisions.
