The Offshore Voyaging Reference Site

Tips, Tricks & Thoughts:

on test

  • Going Aloft Articles

    I went up the mast today to remove the fragile stuff from the top prior to unstepping. A highly recommended precaution if you don’t like paying for new wind instrument wands.

    Phyllis and I had this down cold on our McCurdy and Rhodes 56, but it’s always a bit nerve wracking on a new-to-us boat with different gear and set up.

    We took a bunch of photos of the new gear we are using for a two part article Matt and I are doing together on going aloft. Look for it over the winter.


  • Spinlock 6D—One Size Does Fit All

    Our friend Margaret, who is of the petite persuasion, wearing the Spinlock 6D we are testing here at AAC.

    One of our concerns with the new model was that with only one size, instead of three as the 5D we have used for years was available in, was that fitting a smaller person might be a problem, particularly since we think that it’s vital that the chest strap be snug.

    Turns out we need not have worried. Thanks, Margaret, and Spinlock for providing the jacket free for evaluation.

    We will be publishing a full report once we have had more experience with the 6D, but so far we are liking it a lot.


  • Harken Bosun’s Chair

    I let my much-loved and venerable Hood Sails bosun’s chair go with her when we sold our McCurdy and Rhodes 56.

    Just received this replacement from Harken. After a quick look over, I’m liking what I’m seeing a lot, but of course I will know more once I have used it and will share that in a two-part series on going aloft that Matt and I are working on.

    What bosun’s chair do you have and how do you like it? Please leave a comment.

    Note we are not talking climbing harnesses here, that’s a different piece of kit.


  • Balmar Battery Monitor On-Test

    After two months and four defects:

    1. Bad cable.
    2. Despite paying full price we were shipped a beta test shunt that could not be updated to latest software.
    3. Ditto the display which did not have enough memory for the latest software.
    4. The final problem was a bug in the iPhone up-date software that it seems that Balmar’s support techs don’t know about, since they didn’t tell me when I called, even though it’s on their site.

    I finally got the SG200 we bought for our J/109 working. I will write a review once I have more experience with it.


  • Victron Chargers Rock

    I’m loving this little charger I bought. I will write more in an upcoming article, but the ability to check out, on my phone, exactly what happened in the last charge cycle is amazing. Tells me a lot about battery health and how to set up the charger best for our usage.