Following is where you’ll find Steve & Linda’s more technical articles, along with Cruisers’ Q & A…If you’re looking for info on the nuts and bolts of cruising, this is the section for you!
As we’re still dialing in the props on Wind Horse, we’ve just had the need to remove our new Hall and Stavaert props for some fine tuning. As the water is very cold, not to mention dark, we asked Dwayne Montgomery at Emerald City Diving in Seattle to handle the job for us.
When diesel engines operate, there is a small amount of pressure which slips by the piston rings. This pressure gets into the block and rocker arm cover of the engine and has to be relieved in some form. Typically a vent hose is attached to the rocker cover, and maybe one from the crank case. The pressurized air which is expelled carries with it a fine mist of oil. After a while everything in the engine room is covered with oil.
Oil leaks and engines seem to have a symbiotic relationship. The oil leaks provide the engine a chance to vent its frustration at being abused, while the engine allows the oil to escape and spread itself out in the world at large (or at least in your bilge).
Most of the time these leaks are tiny, and difficult to stop. Some years ago we had such a situation on Beowulf. It wasn’t until we ran into a diesel mechanic in Maine that we learned how to deal with these small leaks.
To do laundry in the Banks Islands, just south of the Solomons, all you need are some rocks, a source of water, and plenty of time.
I have to admit that I’m a laundry junky. I find it very satisfying to wash, dry and iron. It’s one task that has a beginning, middle and finished product in a relatively short period of time.
What a difference 30 years makes! Looking back to cruising on Intermezzo in 1976, we didn’t even consider what it was going to be like cruising with two small children without any laundry facilities. We had enough on our plate converting a racing boat to a cruising boat for a family of four. We took out the second head and made a pantry, took the forepeak bunks and made an athwartship double bunk for the master stateroom, but didn’t think much about how we would handle laundry. When we went cruising, I paid to store our relatively new home washing machine and dryer for seven years – which was silly, as it would have been much smarter to sell them and buy new ones later on.
When we first put Wind Horse in the water, we did not fit hull zincs. We were relying on the prop zincs, and zincs hung from the rail at anchor for galvanic protection. The zincs were being eaten too fast so we decided to pay the drag penalty (small) and weld plates with threaded holes to which we could bolt large zincs to the keel and near the props (four in total).
We’ve been using the same detail for hatch storm covers for years. This includes a tight-fitting cover, some form of lip for the cover to fit over or around, and on Wind Horse, a new feature. In the photo below you will see a series of lashings over the cover itself. These are to help hold the cover in place in truly awful conditions.
Although we’ve never had problems with covers coming off in the past, this detail is more suited to the type of weather we may encounter with the new boat.
Some years ago we were introduced to RTV silicone gasket material by a Maine diesel mechanic. He used this to fix a small leak on Beowulf’s Yanmar diesel, and told us that he rarely used paper gaskets anymore.
We’ve since carried an inventory of this material. It is good for replacing gaskets, and if there is a mating surface that is somewhat unfair, where a paper gasket is not doing the job, the RTV is a miracle material.
Hi Linda & Steve: We have recently purchased your four-volume series and find them extremely helpful. We are just beginning our sailing career and are using your books to get that 10-20 year jump (as you say). The message that stands out more than anything else is the seriousness of sailing and being prepared.
Navigation seems to us to be the most important subject (at this point). We haven’t gotten to the weather book yet, however, I know it’s just as important but one thing at a time. We live in Phoenix and keep our boat in Seattle. Can you recommend a school that offers a good navigation course in Phoenix? We wish to keep our boat on top of the water unlike Jubilation and others ( very sad).
Thank you for your help and sharing of invaluable information. Cheers, Larry
Good ventilation is one of the most important of cruising amenities. Our lessons on this subject came the hard way. We first arrived in the Marquesas Islands aboard Intermezzo in the summer, and we had just two small dorade vents, no fans, no way to open the hatches at sea or when it was raining, and an awning that was awkward to use with blue stripes which increased the temperature substantially. Oh, and the topsides were a dark blue/gray shade, nicely absorbing the morning and afternoon heat. If you want a primer on ventilation, just do the opposite of everything we started out with!
When anchored or moored so the boat can swing head to wind, the foredeck hatch is usually best opened facing aft, so air can exhaust through it. Adding a foredeck awning will enable the hatch to be left open during rain squalls.
I currently have a Raytheon R40X unit but it is an old unit (while very good) that is "dumb" and cannot talk to anything else. I can’t decide whether to replace it outright or add a 20 mile Foruno on a pole at the stern. I intend to world cruise the boat beginning in 18 months. Any thoughts? The boat is Gulfstar 50 Sailmaster that I have been updating for the voyage, and while she is older, she is a very beautiful heavy cruiser. Thanks again, Jim
I have B&G autopilot circa 2000 at the pedestal (in the network series…i.e. network PILOT), network DATA at the nav table, wind, and a repeater at the bulkhead. I also have network WIND. I have an old Raytheon (as was) chartplotter(not working), and there is an old Raytheon plotter/radar (RL9) mounted on the pedestal reading from a Raytheon antenna mounted on a pole. It gives a reasonable radar signal.
My yacht is a classic 1970 Swan 40 Sp&S. design. She is now in Antigua.
My B&G instruments work perfectly. They are all Network B&G instruments I have an older Raytheon GPS antenna also mounted on the pole. I do not know if it gives NMEA(0183) output. My nav station is run by my laptop running Maxsea software and connected to a Globalstar satphone.
I propose to buy a small fixed GPS reader to be mounted at the nav station to give position…I assume it might be able to read the signal from the existing GPS antenna though if not I can replace it with a suitable antenna, and give a NMEA signal to my laptop computer. Ideally I should like this to be a B&G GPS (if there is one in the network series). Please advise if you know of one.
Should I buy Networknav? Any info comments? Where can I buy…any second-hand from upgrades? I need a good GPS receiver as I understand it.
I want to keep the B&G instruments I have. I want to make a system from what|I have that will speak thru NMEA to my laptop. Will Maxsea read any NMEA signal and overlay it on any of the charts loaded electronically. What output signals will MaxSea give to autopilot? Do you have any observations/advice?
It is no secret that we enjoy good food. And we see no reason why we should change our eating habits on a long passage. If anything, food preparation and consumption is one of the things we look forward to at sea, and something which helps to pass the time in an enjoyable fashion.
Ground tackle is probably the single most important system on the boat in terms of safety, comfort, and peace of mind. Our approach is based on a steep learning curve-which we survived-but which we would not want to repeat. The bottom line is this: we assume that we’re stuck in an anchorage where we cannot leave, the winds have put us on a lee shore, and bottom holding is poor. Our ground tackle systems are engineered to give us the best chances of a happy outcome in this type of scenario. The side benefit is that we are totally secure in anything less than awful conditions, and we can anchor on much shorter scope the 99% of the time conditions are favorable.
For some time we’ve been confused by e-mail data rates and cost, as it applies to boat-based communications. Recently, Mike Parker, a new Sundeer owner and old-time glider guru, brought us up to speed on this subject. Here’s what we learned.
Hello from WA state, can’t tell you how much great info your site brings us, thanks for that! I was wondering if you have ever done research on cruisers’ favorite pick for an all-around good (at least weather-resistant) camera? I would assume most folks are getting into digital now. Any ideas? Thanks…we are selling out and moving on board next spring to play for the summer up here then head on down the coast mid-Aug. CAN HARDLY WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!! Warmly, Dianna
We’ve found a detailed report on piracy in Asian waters, compiled by the US Navy. It’s an interesting read, if a little chilling. Good info on where to avoid.
In the olden days, prior to launching Beowulf, we made it a point never to interconnect electronics. Although a standard protocol for exchanging data existed (NMEA 0183), we felt it was safer and more reliable to have our gear totally independent.
When we started to install electronics aboard Beowulf we adhered to this approach, except for the radar display, where we had B & G depth and speed information portrayed. Then someone showed us a radar with the GPS waypoint on the screen and we got another interconnection. As we moved into electronic charting this added a another layer of interconnection – data from the various devices into the PC, and eventually heading data from the PC to the autopilot.
While we were at first leery of this approach, we grew to enjoy the benefits. Along the way it became apparent that the actual connections were easy. But we never really understood what was going on electrically and in terms of data transmission.
Dear Steve, I am thinking of installing the Interphase http://www.interphase-tech.com/pcview.htm forward-scanning sonar on the steel 55′ sail boat that I am building. It would seem that every sail or power boat should have one of these in order to be able to see what lies ahead and to be able to avoid any obstacle. But so far I was not able to find anybody that has had any experience with it. So I am writing to you with a hope that in your research of the new electronics for your FPB you may have looked at Interphase sounders, or you may have heard from someone that used it. Would you please share your thoughts regarding this gear? – Remek
I would like to know what a raster chart is when speaking of GPS navigation. What is the alternative? Eddie
What, and how much safety gear to carry is one of the toughest questions to answer. What is right depends on your budget, risk tolerance, space available, and where you’re headed. It is easily possible to spend a very large chunk of freedom chips on this category of gear. And this is against the background that it will probably never be used!
We’ve recently been going through this process ourselves. In our case, we’ve got plenty of room on the new boat (83 feet). But just because we have the space, and can afford this gear, does not mean we are going to carry every possible item!
Here’s our approach. Easy gear first.
Even though sailboats have right of way over powered vessels on the open ocean, it is always best to stay out of the way of ships. In areas with restricted maneuverability, the bigger ships often have a legal right of way.
With good visibility, it is easy to read the ship’s range lights at night (or its masts during the day), to figure out what they are doing, and plan accordingly. But if visibility is restricted, such as in fog, the situation becomes a lot more difficult.
On May 28, 2003, the sailing vessel Wahkuna collided with the container ship Nedlloyd in the English Channel. We’ve obtained a copy of the official report on the accident from the UK’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch. The report goes into fascinating detail about what happened on the ship, and the yacht, and what could have been done differently to avoid the problems in the first place.
To download a copy of this report, click here.
I’m building a 65′ Cruising Cat, and am at the beginning design stages with my designer. While he’s working on that, I’m doing the research for the nav functionality. I’m somewhat perplexed by the array of nav equipment available from the 6-10 major suppliers and how things will fit together along with the MaxSea software, so as to get maximum coverage AND integration. Should all the items come from a single source and, if so, which would you recommend in terms of reliability and repairablilty
considering the number of places one can find ones self while circumnavigating?
Dear Steve:
Thanks so much for your various books. I just finished devouring Practical Seamanship. I have gained greatly from reading and practicing the insights shared, particularly sail balancing and heavy weather techniques. When read in conjunction with the video’s, the books are even more informative.
I presently have a 461 Beneteau. I like it very much. My wife thinks it is a bit too sporty & light. We use it for coastal crusing (West coast). We are in the beginning process of evaluating boats which are better designed/ suited for passage making. Like most everyone, we would like to sail BEOWULF, or its equivilent, but it is not likely to ever be in reach of our budget. I personally would like a Sundeer 64, but it is uncertain whether one would become available, or be affordable. As with so many others who have written before me, I am seeking advice to help with my quest.
We are looking to spend $400-500,000. I had been thinking of the Amel Super Maramu 53, but after comparing its hull design to that of the Sundeers/Deerfoots, it appears more suited to light conditions. Others we have considered seemed a bit too beamy and/or had keel/rudder designs which were not conducive to surfing. Any thoughts on production/semi-custom boats that we should focus on? My inclination would be toward a ketch, but I’d be happy with a cutter rig.
Thanks again for sharing so much and considering my questions. Linda has been quite an inspiration for my wife, who really only likes warm days with the wind behind the beam.–Mark
Our approach to propane has been greatly affected by an experience we had many years ago crossing the South Pacific. We were enroute between Bora Bora and Suvaroff, and the compressed trades were kicking along with 30-45 knots of wind.
Stability and comfort characteristics with sailboats are relatively easy. The more stable the boat, the faster and more comfortable it is. Since a key component of this stability is the vertical center of gravity (VCG-the center of all of the weight which makes up the boat), designers and builders work really hard at keeping high structure light. The other component of stability is the hull shape when upright and at various angles of heel. More beam equals more stability, but also creates drag. So there is a lot of refinement that goes into how the hull interfaces with the water.
You probably know that the induced drag on any foil (water or air) is proportional to the aspect ratio (actually, in some cases this is a logarithmic relationship-i.e., you get big changes in induced drag for small changes in aspect ratio).
I am seeking advice re the best choice for setting up an email account for use during my family’s upcoming sail around the world. My crew are my wife and two young daughters (5 and 8). We plan to depart in September 2003 from Groton CT aboard our Westsail 32. First of all, we plan to have a ham radio Winlink email address (if I can just carve out enough time to study for and take the tests!). But for sending and receiving photos and large attachments I gather that we should consider having an email address that we can access from Internet cafes and similar locations using our laptop. Do we need to have a subscription internet service provider that we would dial into from landlines at foreign ports? If so which is best? A free one like Hotmail (I think it’s free)? Or do we need to pay $10 to $20+ per month for an ISP like Earthlink or AOL? Do we simply need the email address and then plan to use the Internet cafe’s or other retail location’s internet service provider to gain access to the web. As you can tell, I am having trouble figuring all this out and would really appreciate your guidance as to whom we should contact for the best, most current advice. Thank you for whatever you can tell me to get us headed in the right direction.– Doug
Keeping the water out – now there’s a topic dear to any sailor’s heart! In the olden days, before each passage we’d put all our clothes and bedding (and anything else we wanted to keep dry) into plastic bags-double plastic bags if we wanted to be sure. But over the years we’ve learned how to make boats watertight.
Anjo Sterringa recently approached SetSail about writing an article on watermakers. She wrote to us, “I am a cruiser fallen onto land, (Mallorca) where I now service and install watermakers. There is still a lot of mystery and different ideas about pre- and post-filtration of drinking water on board. I have seen a lot of different brands (Sea Recovery, Spectra, Aqua Base/Aquaset, HEM, Idromar, Aquafresh to name a few) in various conditions.” Having time on her hands while recovering from a broken leg, she proposed researching and writing an article for cruisers on watermaker filtration and maintenance. Read the rest »
The question of how to deal with underwater maintenance and/or underwater fun is an interesting one. If you go for the whole package it means a significant amount of space, weight, and costs have to be carried.
When we started cruising seriously in the 1970s, we felt we needed SCUBA gear to clean the bottom and prop, clear fouled anchors, and for fun and games. Compressors were too large and too complex for our 50-footer so we carried four SCUBA bottles. Of course we also had two sets of wetsuits, two regulators, back packs, etc. A lot of space! Throw in the weight belts and things really got heavy.
Hi Steve, I don’t know if you covered this anywhere (couldn’t find it in your books, SetSail or in MaxSea) but I have to renew/upgrade my Radar. Obviously want to get one with Mini ARPA output for overlaying targets on MaxSea/charts. However, in addition, sailing mainly shorthanded, would like (need) to have chart, radar and overlays (if possible) on a repeater in the cockpit.
All the main Radar/Chart Plotter suppliers (Raymarine, Furuno etc.) don’t have any protocol for third party suppliers of chart software to repeat via their screens either main or repeater. As far as I found out so far, only RayTech Navigator (with additional Racing module upgrade) allows their propriety software to connect via their "Seatalk" or HSB and one (or more) of their Radar/Plotter displays.
In other words, it seems to me only Raymarine, if you buy their chart software cables, HSB or Seatalk etc. is able to achieve this desirable requirement. That would mean dumping MaxSea (of which I have an investment already) and going all RayMarine? (coincidentally I have all RayMarine ST 60’s instrumentation in the cockpit). All the other systems are capable of Radar/Plotter as main screen with repeaters (Furuno’s NavNet for example) in cockpit, but then you have to buy their cartridge Rom’s with the charts again and that would cost a fortune.
Any suggestions on how to "get repeated" in the cockpit without costing a fortune in waterproof tablet computers? Also, are there any Radars on the market which give a signal to operate on a PC/Laptop which could then be duplicated somehow to a screen in the cockpit (along with the chart plotting of course)? (what about using a PDA as a dumb terminal via wireless? bit small I know, but thinking of cost).
Appreciate your views/advice/knowledge on this subject. Kind regards/George W
Modern cruising equipment is amazingly reliable if it is installed properly, and given a bit of preventative maintenance. That’s been a theme of ours for years.
The experience we’ve had on BEOWULF and that of most of our clients is the same. Whereas in the olden days we always joked that cruising was going from one exotic anchorage to another so we could work on our boats, this does not have to be the case.
There are a couple of keys to this success. The first is proper installation. This means keeping the gear dry, feeding it with the proper-sized hoses or wires as required, and minimizing the damage that can be caused by chafe and vibration.
Over the years we’ve owned a lot of outboards. Most have given us good service-we’ve never actually had one deteriorate to the point where it had to be replaced. Our current outboard is sixteen years old, and still running strong. As a year of outboard life is generally reckoned to be the equivalent of 12 human years, this makes it 192 years old.
There’s been a scramble for the past eight or 10 years for a replacement for Freon 12 (which is now banned) in refrigeration systems. Many marine suppliers have been using a refrigerant called 134A as a substitute for Freon 12.
The problem is that 134A is significantly less efficient than Freon 12. The technical literature indicates 10-15% less efficient-but our own unscientific estimate is that it is more like 20-25% less efficient in our marine applications.
Fast forward to a couple of months ago when our friend Richard Findlay, a retiree from the heating and air conditioning industry (Richard is currently on the last phase of converting the breakthrough racing yacht EQUATION to a cruiser) sent us some technical info on a Dupont product-MP-39.
In the cruising grounds close to home you see a lot of boats carrying plastic jugs on deck filled with diesel or fresh water. You can get away with this if conditions remain moderate. But it does not take much of a wave to rip the containers (or the hardware to which they are attached) free and send them down the deck and/or overboard. In addition, all that weight stored so high above the vertical center of gravity reduces stability and in a knockdown, can make it more difficult for the boat to get back onto an even heel.
Needless to say, we prefer to keep the decks cleared.
However, if you do carry jugs on deck, take a look at this photo for a neat way to do it. Those 2 x 6 ” (50 x 150mm) boards, to which the jugs are tied, will double as fender board when tied up alongside pilings.
We’ve been giving BEOWULF a good cleaning and polish. This includes all of the engine room (even the bundled plumbing and wiring) the dinghy, inside of lockers, and interior hull surfaces. Except for the dinghy, which has stains on the inside from spilled gas/oil mix, and the engine room, which has not had a thorough cleaning in three years, most of the cleaning is a simple wipe down.
But for the dink and engine room, stronger measures are required. As a result we’ve done some scientific testing of various cleaners. Simple Green, Zep Purple, and Nature’s Orange, in concentrated and diluted ratios have been used. The result…(roll of drums)…Zep Purple is by far the best cleaner. Simple Green is second and Nature’s Orange is last.
The Zep Purple is a wonderful material in the engine room. Diluted at 3-3 we spray it on, do a quick brushing to loosen things, and hose off the dirt. We’re not sure about availability, but we picked ours up at Home Depot.
Zep Purple wins Beowulf’s seal of approval.
Any wiring or plumbing attached to equipment that vibrates is subject to chafe. Eventually this chafe leads to leaks, electrical shorts, and all sorts of dire consequences. It is better to find the potential chafe points before they become a problem.
Basically, anytime you have two surfaces touching, where there is movement, some form of chafe protection should be applied.
BEOWULF spends very little time whilst cruising tied to docks – almost none, in fact. However, now that we are in Southern California, and still looking for a permanent home, we have been doing some dock-hopping.
So far we’ve been on docks with 30 amp 110V service, 50 amp 220V power, and now 20 amp 110V power. Each has a different style plug at the dock end.
by Skip Allan (guest contributor)
Above: Bad safety hook.
Heads up, safety harness wearers. If your harness tether is clipped into a padeye, you may be in for an unscheduled swim due to the possibility of the carabiner or snap hook on the end of the tether unhooking itself from the padeye.
The NOAA S57 vector chart system promises a revolution for all mariners navigating US waters. With the advent of SetSail-MaxSea V9.2 you now have free access to these charts (in fact 9.2 Yacht is shipping with the complete database as of late April 2002). Wanting to find out more about the process by which NOAA creates these new charts, and the schedule on which the S57 charts are being completed, I called Dave Myers, the Production Manager for Electronic Navigation Charts (called ENCs) at NOAA. After a long and fascinating discussion, I came away very impressed with the process being used.
It is 2200 hours, and we’re en route between the British Virgin Islands and Panama. Wind is on the quarter, 13 to 15 knots, and BEOWULF is slipping along at a comfortable pace of 11 to 12 knots.
In the pilot house we’re experiencing something new. Our navigation computer also has a DVD drive, and our first movie on watch, Moonstruck, has just finished. It was great fun, and what surprised us the most was how clear the movie image appeared from across the pilot house. The two of us were eight feet away from the computer screen (15.7″) and the image was bright and sharp.
Question regarding SSB vs. Iridium/Globalstar…..I read the nice item on Setsail.com on Iridium/Globalstar and agree that it is coming into vogue economically for data communications/e-mail, etc….It is definitely easier for everyone on board to use in a crunch. But don’t you lose the flexibility to participate in net calls, etc.? It seems that there are always tradeoffs…You can access SailMail via the Sat. phones, correct? Also, I’m upgrading my sailing info instruments (wind direction,speed,etc.). What are your thoughts on a good manufacturer of these items in reference to MaxSea interface? Thanks, Ed
From time to time we get questions about various forms of satellite communications and how they work. This is a huge subject, one with a lot of trade offs to think about. If one of the hand held systems, like the now defunct Iridium (which may be coming back) or Globalstar makes it, that would be great as it provides a compact and relatively low cost approach.
Most metal fuel and water tanks occasionally develop small leaks. These usually occur along welded seams and can come from faulty welds, electrolysis, excess flexing of the tank, or acids in diesel fuel.
Most leaks are pin-size, tiny holes, and can be closed with a punch and hammer. Once you find the leak point, take a center punch and/or a “drift” (like a center punch but without the point) and “punch” the leak point. This will smash the soft weld metal into the hole to for a seal (this is the process that builders use to seal small leaks when testing tanks).
Here is a list of SSB/Ham nets for the East Coast to the Caribbean, to Central America and Mexico, which a SetSailor sent in. if you have any to add, please send us a note. We’ll try and keep this up to date with postings as they come in.
In all our years of cruising, we’re happy to report we’ve never used any of the serious medical stuff we carry aboard. By now, the total of supplies we’ve either thrown or given away amounts to thousands of dollars. Even the rubber and metal products have had to be replaced several times. Yet we still carry this stuff, hoping we’ll never need it.
We’ve been looking for the edge of the short-handed cruising envelope for a lot of years. Improvements in sail handling gear, materials, and our own experience have allowed us to push the horizon further and further. And even though BEOWULF looks pretty aggressive for a couple of grandparents, she is not yet at the edge of what the two of us can handle.
In the Bernhardts’ April 01, 2001 discussion of their cruising budget, they state that they pay $2280 for medical insurance for the year for the whole family. I’d like to know which insurance company they use. Their boat insurance is fairly inexpensive also, since their cruising area includes Europe…Love this site. Thanks. Claire D
The registration you filled out when you purchased your EPIRB is good for two years, after which it needs to be updated. Failure to update means valuable time may be lost if you ever need to use the EPIRB! You can get data on line at http://www.sarsat.noaa.gov/beacon.html , or in the US call 301-568-8649.
If you don’t have your beacon ID number handy, the folks at the registration office can look up the data for you with the name of the vessel and vessel owner’s name. They will then fax you the form to update.
Also, remember to check the replacement date on the battery. Most are good for five years.
Spectra Lashing
In the olden days, before turnbuckles and shackles, all sailing vessels were rigged with line. Now, with high-modulus fibers, we’re making our way back to the old approach. Today, many racing boats use multiple wraps of spectra or vectran line to make the same connection that used to be made with a stainless steel shackle.
From time to time we seem to need a bit of thin rod stock-to replace a hinge pin, or make a catcher for fishing wires of ropes. The cheapest and most diverse source for stainless steel rod is a welding shop that does stainless work. Pick up three or four pieces, typically three feet long, in different diameters.
They will come in handy one of these days.
Few boats have an accurate dip stick for their fuel (or water) tanks. These are easy to make if you have a bit of time. Start out with a half inch dameter wooden dowel, which will fit into an access hatch or fill for the tank in question (we typically have a stand pipe welded to our tank tops, which is headed with a ball valve and a threaded cap).
Start with an empty tank, and then pause every 20 or 25 gallons to allow the fuel to level out and any foam to subside (you may have to wait 15 to 20 minutes). Drop the stick into the tank, note the liquid level, and mark it with a pen.
When you have finished the process, give the dip stick a clean, and seal with epoxy or varnish.
We’ve been using “traction” batteries for years in our boats. Our experience is that these have the best ratio of cost/space/weight to USABLE amp hours available. The cells we use are typically guaranteed for 1500 80% cycles! In the marine field, assuming you equalize them periodically, they will last 15 to 20 years, and withstand a huge amount of punishment.
Good ventilation in the tropics is a key factor in enjoying the cruising life. This applies to charterers as well as full time cruisers. It also applies on those hot, wind-challenged summer days closer to home.
One of the keys to maintaining onoard ambience is a good flow of wind through the interior. This can often be augmented with wind scoops over hatches. When working out the rigging of the scoops, one also needs to consider reduction of sun load and protection from rain squalls.
The three photos below give some interesing options (for more information on awnings and wind scoops see pages 152-170 in Offshore Cruising Encyclopedia).
Hi, I am enjoying reading our book “Surviving the Storm”. I know you could not cover all the topics, and I have not read the whole book yet, but I could not find data or reference to world storm patterns. If one was chicken, and wanted to avoid category two and three heavy weather storms (page 16), what cruising routes could be planned, and where not to be at what time of year? I recall some published charts that show wind direction and speed at various locations. What about information on routes and the best time of the year to avoid bad storms. Could you name a few good sources for me. I get the hint that New Zealand is risky at best. If I missed this information in your book, please let me know where it is located. Thanks, Mike
We’re headed back to the boat (in Norfolk, VA) in the next few days and are in our usual pre-going-away period of trying to get our respective desks cleared off. It will be really nice to get away from the daily overdose of news to which we subject ourselves when there are televisions close at hand. (Such equipment is banned from the boat for exactly this reason.) And, of course, the usual list of pre-departure projects, check lists and stocking up will keep us occupied and away from the news.
The two of us have been having some dialog about our philosophy of self-defense, in light of the “new reality” in which we all find ourselves. When we cruised years ago, and the kids were little, we looked at this in the same way we dealt with our medical kit. We were well prepared for almost any eventuality, and hoped like hell we’d never have to use that preparedness.
But with the kids on their own, the defense mechanism tends to moderate. On the other hand, the hassle of carrying an arsenal continues-there can be a lot of paperwork and running around when clearing in and out-if you have guns aboard. So, in recent times we’ve changed our approach to this very controversial subject.
I found your web site today and was fascinated with all the possibilities. We are in the process of buying a 42′ cat and will be sailing from the US East Coast through the Panama Canal and out to the South Pacific and points beyond. The boat does not have anything other than self steering and basic instruments and we would like to equip with radar, gps, plotter, etc…running into a PC and of course not spend a fortune. What would you suggest as someone who obviously has a great deal of experience? The route plotting seems like a great idea and we will have a sat phone but are unsure about a SSB. Thanks, David
Hose is commonly used for chafing gear for dock lines and anchor rodes. It works OK as long as it is of a large enough diameter to allow air circulation around the line (as shown in the photo beside).
Seems like most folks have problems finding the right frequencies and times to receive fax broadcasts. The best times and frequencies vary with the sunspot cycle, time of day, and how far you are from the broadcasting station.
Sitting here in Antigua, with Boston and New Orleans stations just 1500 or so miles away, you would think everyone would be pulling them in. Yet a lot of folks have told us they are hearing nothing. We are getting good coverage, so I suspect there must be a common problem with picking the correct frequencies.
One of the maintenance issues that is bound to occur is a bad salt water pump impeller.
The photo above is from Wind Horse‘s starboard engine. Notice the missing vane in the lower right portion of the impeller? It would have been better to change this impeller on a proactive basis, before it got old and tired. The missing vane reduces cooling water flow, and we now have to find the piece so it does not block one of the heat exchangers.
It’s been a long time coming. We’ve been fighting this mother of all wars for five long, hard years. But yesterday we tasted the sweetest of all fruits-Victory!
Yes, friends, after running our Yanmar diesel hard (2800 rpm continuously) for an hour, not a trace of oil was to be found. Danny, our miracle-working mechanic from Billings had indeed found the elusive oil leak which has plagued us since launching BEOWULF in New Zealand. And now our engine sump will stay CLEAN!
Linda & Steve, In your recent article on the new passage planning software (I hope to see more on this later) you made a comment regarding downloading weather forecast data during your passage. What method do you use to access internet at sea?? Regards, Mark
I have a 1997 Beneteau 461 with roller furling main and genoa and need to replace both sails. The main is relatively new but is poorly shaped – the leach cups, etc. I read that you use vertical battens in BEOWULF’s roller furling jib. If you used a 135% genoa instead of a 100% jib would you still use vertical battens or is their application only for jibs?
The British firm, Maxiroach makes roller furling mainsails (and headsails) with full length vertical battens that appear very attractive on paper. Doyle Sails makes a swing batten main. Quantum makes a main with vertical battens. Could you give me any advice on which of these products is the best or recommend someone that may know.
If you were going to buy a new roller furling main ( I know this is not likely to ever happen!) who would you go to for advice on the best way to go?
We’ve used slab reefing on our mains (and mizzens) on all of our boats going back to the 1970s. We’ve looked at in the mast and in the boom systems as they’ve come along and worked out their bugs, but have yet to see anything as fast, reliable, light, or inexpensive as good old slab reefing.
As we’re cruising on the East Coast and occasionally reading the New York Times, we feel it behooves us to be politically correct. We are already at a disadvantage in this regard due to the fact we have no burgee halyards to either masthead, and so cannot fly our owner’s signal or yacht club pennant correctly. The situation is made worse by the fact that in the land of Hinkleys we have neither varnish on deck, overhangs fore and aft, nor polished blue topsides.
We woke up this morning pondering this problem when Linda had an epiphany. “We’ll equalize the batteries! It’s been three months, they are overdue, and there are bound to be one or two cells lower than the rest, which has to be depressing for the poor dears.”
So, we’ve been sitting in this lovely anchorage in Somes Sound, with the smells of the verdant forest wafting around us on deck, and the smells of batteries being equalized wafting below. We started the process this morning at 0900, and should be done by 1300.
To all you SetSailors who are into washer/dryers on your boats, we’ve got an update on our ventless dryer.
Steve: A new Iridium Satellite LLC has just announced on CNBC that these satellites are back in business with coverage over 100% of the globe. Great for offshore roaming types. Phone cost looks like $1500US for the handset, which accepts on-line data. I don’t have info about operating costs. Regards, DM
We’re anchored in Newport, Rhode Island, to say hi to some friends and take care of some business. A pleasant couple of sails and anchorages have allowed leisure time to review a couple of the things we’ve been testing, and the results are positive.
BEOWULF has been sitting at Atlantic Yacht Basin in Norfolk, VA for the past two months. She’s had her Trace inverter connected to shore power, acting as a battery charger. Before we left her we topped off the batteries.
We seem to get a lot of questions about anchors and anchoring systems – especially after one of the magazines runs an evaluation article.
If you are always anchoring close to home, in a good holding bottom, and bring your anchor up by hand, then having the most efficient, lightest weight anchor for your conditions makes sense.
But once you start to cruise a bit, and some of those anchorages become less than perfect, you need a good all-around anchor. From our experience, there is nothing that will touch the Bruce in this category. Yes, it is not the most efficient hook in terms of holding power per pound of anchor, but in thin sand over coral, or rock it is unbeatable (and these are amongst the toughest situations). What we do is go up on size a notch or two – for example, on the Sundeer 56/60 we specified a 110 pound (50kg) Bruce. In a lot of conditions you could get away with a much lighter version of another anchor, but this is enough weight to hold the boat in a poor bottom in a real blow, and in a good bottom you can anchor on very short scope.
One of the cool things about cruising is all the interesting gear, systems, rigs, and canvas work we get to check out. Here are a couple of interesting approaches to tropical shade.
It took a long time for us to become fans of roller furling. However, starting with Beowulf, the combination of the size and weight of her sails, and the increasing reluctance to get salt water on our bodies, forced us to take a harder look at this gear.
