One Man and His Tropical Sailing Dream
Inspired by a section I read in “Heavy Weather Sailing” by Peter Bruce, I decided to see what sea climate maps were available online, so I could include them in my collection of cruising resources. I was looking for seasonal and/or monthly average and maximum wave height and wind speed maps. Surprisingly, I was unable…
Before deciding to do my own standing rigging using compression terminals like Hayn Hi-Mod or Sta-Lok, I did a ton of research… Watching videos, reading online articles and discussions, reading manuals and literature. The experience of actually building new standing rigging, however, taught me several lessons which were rarely mentioned nor given proper emphasis for…
It seems to be not very widely known, but recreational vessels can now renew their USCG certificates of documentation for a five year period. It’s totally worth it, as it saves you from dealing with the paperwork every year–and is especially handy for those on extended voyages. The renewal fee is $26 for each year…
Yesterday I received my first weather fax! I might be a nerd (ok, replace “might be” with “am”), but it was pretty exciting. The clearest ones came from the Pt. Reyes station, which is closest. I did get one from as far as New Orleans, but none of the foreign stations I tried came in…
These custom-made chainplates will be mounted at the stern (rear) of the boat and used to attach a Jordan series drogue. The drogue (not pictured) is a long rope with 150 or so fabric cones sewn into it. When trailed from behind it slows the boat to keep it from going too fast down the…
Testing the new OptoLamp LED tri-color and anchor light, which will be mounted on top of the mast. It uses amazingly little power (< 0.2 amps) and is visible for two nautical miles. The high, bright light improves safety by increasing the ship’s visibility to others while at sea. And the LED anchor light will…
During the winter rainy season here in northern California, I would sometimes come aboard Sparklemuffin to find evidence of water dripping onto the starboard salon settee. It appeared water was pooling at a low point and dripping down from the headliner, which was slightly bulging. Not far from a portlight, which became the immediate suspect….
Today saw a fun project — fun if you’re a nerd like me 🙂 — installing an Aqualarm 20145-02 pump counter with 3 way pump switch, 2 pumps. The project took about five hours. Before and after photos below. Was the existing bilge pump switch broken? No. But this one offers two important benefits: It…
I’m absolutely chuffed to have just learned that USCG Certificates of Documentation can now be renewed for up to five years at a time. This is great news for vessels that go overseas, on extended voyages, or for folks like me who just prefer to spend their time doing things other than paperwork. 🙂 I…
The Balmar Smartgauge is quite simply the most accurate state of charge meter available for lead acid batteries. There’s nothing I can add that hasn’t already been said by Rod Collins in his incredibly thorough and detailed Balmar Smartgauge Battery Monitoring Unit article. There’s also a ton of interesting and useful technical information at Smartgauge’s web…