Back when I was a kid, cruising was not about buying stuff, keeping up with the Joneses, or being cool. It was mostly about being there and doing it. Most everyone out cruising was on a budget, no one had fan clubs or followers, and companies were not handing out gear to Influencers. To tell …
I recently had a conversation with someone wanting to get into cruising and it seemed that his main goal had a lot to do with achieving a certain level of independence. Sound familiar? For me, the best way to achieve a reasonable amount of independence is to simplify and live within one’s means. Which, I’ll …
Most cruising folk I know are obsessed with the weather in general and when it comes to the “H” ting time we can’t get enough input. The first thing I look at when I wake up is the NOAA forecasts and the last thing I check before going to sleep is a cocktail made out …
You might want to check out. Sensible, simple, and cheap. Better yet, it should cost you less than $60 or so in materials and a couple of days of work. Considering that the cost of used vane gears (Aries, Navik, Windpilot, Atoms, Hasler, etc) are getting more expensive and hard to find, this gear makes …
Folks up in Florida should be some kind of nervous… Down here it’s been fairly calm and while Beryl nailed the Grenadines and we had Ernesto kick some butt here in America’s Paradise, it’s mostly been benign weather wise. Fact is, the last few days have been mostly windless and a stiff breeze would be …
The late, great Thomas Colvin advised that one needed about 1HP per ton of displacement for one’s auxiliary engine. Note the emphasis on the word auxiliary. Using Colvin’s formula, that works out to an 8HP engine for the Islander 36. Our current raw water cooled Yanmar 3HM is a 27HP. Of course, Tom Colvin was …
I have to admit that, where internet content is concerned, most all of the available information far exceeds Mr Sturgeon’s Law and more so when boat stuff is involved. That being the case, I recently found a link to this Ted talk and it’s been whizzing around my brain to the point where I’m having …
Ian asked what affordable means and I realized I was less than clear about my wants where propulsion is concerned. So, let’s dig in… Affordable is a scary word these days and pretty much useless without context. In my case, back when I first put together an electric drive for “So It Goes” I spent …
