Voyaging Tips

Attaching gear to lifelines and stanchions is generally not wise and sometimes dangerous.

Emergency tillers are important items that usually appear designed with little consideration to actual use, and are often given equally little attention by their owners.

The weather is approaching, and you are checking the lines on your boat.

Watching someone pick up a mooring ball has always been a source of amusement while sitting at anchor with an afternoon cocktail in hand.

Recently, there has been a good deal of interest in swivels placed between one’s anchor and chain.

Retired flip-flops have proven to be incredibly useful on board our Tayana 37, Active Transport.

In a recent issue, we spoke about our selection of software for our upcoming passages across the Indian Ocean (“Voyaging electronics,” July/August 2018).

With the advent of cellphones, smartphones, and 3G and 4G data, the use of Wi-Fi and “Internet cafes” is diminishing.

A couple of years ago, good friends from Islesboro, Maine, lost their rig overboard on their 40-foot sailboat off St. John’s, Newfoundland.

We had wanted a new cabin sole/floor in our 1972 Tartan 34.5 for several years.

You can go crazy adding all sorts of tools and gadgets to your boat, many of which you might never use.

We were warned about the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) well before we left on our Pacific crossing.

Fenders, as most sailors know, act as bumpers to keep your boat off the dock and prevent its hull from being scratched or chafed by whatever protrudes from the dock, like cement or wood pilings.

The problem with all the battery-powered burglar alarms we have found at hardware stores is that the alarms were neither louder nor more frightening than a chirping canary.

As a surveyor, it is my job to inspect hoses for problems as I go about my inspections.

We all use charts for navigation, either paper or electronic, but undoubtedly have found that charts come in varying degrees of accuracy.

Before heading out on a long multi-year trip, you might want to consider taking a good look at your propeller.

Under the right confluence of conditions, sailing dead downwind can be as bad as catching it on the nose.

If you’ve ever attempted to eat fish three meals a day, you can appreciate the importance of preservation methods.

One of the handiest little skills that I’ve picked up along the way has been splicing: three-strand, rope/chain and braided.