If there’s one place that you really don’t want a valve to bust while in use, it’s in the black water system.
Question: We are planning to cross the North Atlantic east to west via the Arctic route in June on the way to an attempt to transit the North West Passage. We plan to leave from Iceland on a passage to the west coast of Greenland and are wondering how close to round Cape Farewell [south […]
In our view the standard bracket shipped with Force 10 stoves is inadequate and dangerous. Here’s an alternative.
One thing that most sailors dread is poor visibility. Throw in high levels of shipping traffic and you have a perfect recipe for sleepless nights.
Colin takes a balanced look at mainsail handling systems including single line reefing from the cockpit and permanently mounted integrated sail covers. These systems would seem to save trouble, but how well do they really work in practice? Read on to find out.
Question: We are planning a trip from eastern Canada to south west Greenland and return and have the following questions about ice [see specific questions and answers below summary answer].
We received a question a while ago that got us both thinking: “Why did you start cruising, why do you keep cruising, and how long will you keep doing it?”
Question: I have my 36′ Aage Nielsen yawl in Norway and I need to bring her home to Maine. I would appreciate your comments regarding my choice of routes. One idea is down to the Azores and then over to the eastern US; the reverse of how I sailed to Europe. The other option I’m […]
One of the main attractions of the OVNI range is their shoal draft and beachability. We’ve all seen the photos: parked on some deserted islet with an impossibly azure sea far in the background. The theory looks enticing, but how far does it reflect reality? Colin discusses their experiences on Pèlerin.
John explains why he feels confident that going with carbon fibre for our new mast has given us a stronger mast than could be built in aluminum, as well as a faster, more stable and safer boat. And all without any appreciable increase in lightning strike risk.
Morgan’s Cloud was anchored in a snug cove in Maine. We had tied everything down on deck and stripped the headsails from the furlers. Hurricane Kyle was bearing down on the coast with forecast 60 knot winds, gusting higher; no worse than we have ridden out many times before in high latitude anchorages, so we […]
So, how much did the new carbon fibre mast for Morgan’s Cloud cost? John shares the bottomline.
Colin shares some tips on how to avoid water ingress…anywhere.
John uses simple engineering and yacht design to explain why a carbon fibre mast delivers such astounding increases in performance and comfort.
A review of the best sunscreen we have found for boating.
Pictures of Americas Cup-class boat hulls breaking in half and their masts, supported by a plethora of rigging and spreaders, collapsing in relatively benign conditions, have given structures built of carbon fibre an undeserved reputation for fragility. John challenges this impression.
After sailing their new home a little, Colin gives their first impressions on the OVNI as a yacht in her own right, as well as on some of the equipment they added.
Georgia: moss-draped live oaks, barrier island beaches, charming towns, friendly people…an unexpected but fascinating cruising ground.
The most expensive and stressful part of our latest refit to “Morgan’s Cloud” was the replacement of her mast. So why did we do it? Simple, peace of mind.
Here is a top ten list (well, nine is pretty close) of what we did during the refit that we really like:
Colin evaluates some of the equipment they chose for domestic life aboard, as well as the general layout on their new OVNI.
After spending much of the last four winters in Maine and Nova Scotia refitting Morgan’s Cloud, John and I agreed that a winter in the Bahamas would be just the ticket. So when the blazing fall colours and chilly temperatures of early October indicated that Penobscot Bay, Maine wasn’t going to remain the balmy summer […]
So, what did we do to our beloved Morgan’s Cloud that could possible take four winters of hard labour?
Question: I am a novice at sailboat construction, but found a beautiful fiberglass hull on eBay and couldn’t resist the challenge of building my own [boat]. It’s 45’ LOA, 36’ LWL, 5’-3” draft, 14’ beam and 9’-6” depth of hull amidships. The hull is believed to have been built in the early 1970s, but there […]
Colin debunks some myths about corrosion on aluminum boats.