After a year of cruising, both having anchored-out and stayed at docks in 3 countries, we were pleased to find how much went well with the boat and its gear under the conditions we encountered. Some of what follows may be irrelevant for some readers (for example, vacation-style cruisers may not care about how much water is in the tanks when they’re out for only 5 days), but for longer-term trips these notes might help other folks who are analyzing how to put together an unstoppable boat. Here’s a summary of some of the things that worked very well for us, in no particular order.
Foot powered salt water pump in the galley sink. Highly efficient way to conserve fresh water – wash dishes with soapy salt water, rinse with fresh. Because it’s foot powered the boat’s batteries are saved, too. We also have a foot-powered fresh water pump, in case the electric water pump goes kerflooey and we need to draw water from our tanks.
Watermaker. The Little Wonder 200 watermaker by Village Marine Tech. We had intended to use it once we were in Mexico, but we were surprised at how few opportunities there were at the beginning of our cruise in BC to get potable water into the tanks from an outside source. For example, there is no potable water available from a dock anywhere in the Broughtons, so if you plan on a long stay there in BC you need to have either a watermaker or you must commit to making repeated trips to the fine marinas at Port McNeill or Port Hardy for fresh water. One’s potable freshwater opportunities are similarly limited on the west coast of Vancouver Island as well as south of the US border along the Baja Peninsula – even in expensive marinas. With the Little Wonder a small boat like our 40-footer* can put some of its modular components in a lazarette and other components elsewhere. Result: Compact installation, and fresh water at the rate of about 12 gallons per hour in Canadian waters where the salinity and water temps are low. Results may vary – especially if you cruise the Dead Sea. Schnort.
The Sun-Shower. Very low-tech, and uses even less water than our boat’s efficient inboard showers, and heats the water by solar radiation instead of battery/heat exchanger. (Just place the black, water-filled bag in the sun until warm & then shower; water pressure is sustained by gravity flow.) Difficulty: to heat the water, one needs a few hours of uninterrupted sunshine — which was only feasible for us on 6 occasions in Canada from March 28 through July 25, 2007. It’s obviously more efficient in the Tropic of Cancer, but wherever it sails, when the Sun Shower works it works very well.
RayMarine RL-80 (2001) Pathfinder radar/chart plotter interface with RayMarine/Raytheon GPS. Upon testing against US & Canadian paper charts and compass, and against our backup handheld GPS, this bad boy appeared spot-on within a few yards. Consistently. Difficulty: This Raymarine gear came with boat and was severely out of date by the time we approached Southern California and it was showing symptoms of early-onset Alzheimer’s. Sometimes it would suddenly blink and ask us, “Where am I???” Moral of the story: ALWAYS carry a backup handheld GPS. We do. And its results were within a few feet of the old Raytheon GPS‘s – when the old GPS was awake and not drooling. We ended up replacing the inboard GPS while we were in Oxnard, California, and the new unit appears to work fine and is consistent with our handheld unit. But now that we are out of US/Canadian waters with their hyper-accurate charts, we must always consider the inherent and significant position inaccuracy of those charts we have and not rely on GPS positions alone.
The Raymarine autopilot. It’s worked like a champ, especially after GB upgraded the course computer while we were in Sidney, BC. Some folks swear by a wind vane, others by an autopilot, but most everyone would agree that some sort of automatic steering is essential for cruisers who travel long distances short handed. We have certainly relied on our autopilot during overnight passages and in fog when we have the luxury of leaving the helm to pay closer attention to the VHF, the radar display, and what we can see of the surrounding waters.
The Fagor pressure cooker. GB was reluctant to consider this item at first but discussions with other people (hi, Meps & Barry!) and eventually with Dean and Diane on the sailing ketch Talisman finally convinced The Propane Chef to try cooking on board with a high-quality pressure cooker. Wow. It is a very conservative use of propane, and GB cooks excellent meals every time. Best for rice, beans, soups, stocks, sauces, and stewing meats – especially tenderizing cheap/tough cuts of pork or beef. Bonus: you can easily make more than one meal at a time with the pressure cooker, which makes the chef’s and crew’s lives easier especially on long passages when everyone’s tired and just wants some pre-cooked food as fuel. Or, when outside temperatures are hot and one wishes to reduce the amount of heating-up of the salon one must do while preparing meals. Awesome.
The in-line water filter. Thanks again to Dean & Diane. MS had insisted on the low-tech Brita filter/pitcher combo, but the filters were quite expensive and the water pitcher kept getting in the way on the galley’s limited counter space. As Dean & Diane experienced on their own boat, the SeaGull in-line filter occupied much less counter space with its wee spigot, it purifies water well and at less long term cost than the Brita and its multiple filters. At about US$450 (including 3 or 4 backup filters that according to Dean & Diane’s years-long experience equal a 4+-year supply) it might be an unnecessary extravagance for a vacation cruiser, but is a serious consideration for the long-term cruiser.
Dr. LED lights. We have two of them in the salon (white lights only) and one at the nav station (toggles between red and white). They are very bright, very easy on the eyes, and very easy on the battery draw. I absolutely love these lights (got the nav station one as a Christmas present and was very thankful, if you get my drift and I think you do). We also have one for the mast head anchor light that we just installed, which promises to save us even more of our battery power and provide better light than the conventional anchor light we had up there. Cool.
The Alpenglow fluorescent lights. Another wise purchase. Like the Dr. LED chart light these fluorescents toggle between white and red; we have one overhead in the galley and one overhead in the salon. They use very little energy, and the white-light setting approximates the wavelength of daylight – very comfortable for day to day use. We use the red setting for night passages — or any time one of us is rummaging about in the dark and doesn’t want to wake the other.
The dinghy (Grey Fox) and kayak (Red Fox). Most folks only need one or the other – but in areas like BC where there is so much to explore, you definitely enhance your travels by having some sort of tender to the mother ship. Grey Fox is a Caribe Hypalon inflatable with semi-rigid (i.e., removable panels) inflatable bottom, powered either by GB’s manly, manly oars or a 2-stroke Tohatsu outboard motor; Red Fox is a 2-person inflatable Innova Helios kayak (with rudder) that takes only several minutes to deploy and makes shore excursions and tidepoolin’ E-Z and FUN. We have used the tough and sturdy Grey Fox for extensive exploring, fishing, or where the currents are strong – but we have taken the light and sleek Red Fox into way-cool places where only a kayak could go (like the Breathtakingly Narrow Path Between The Rocks Into The Concealed Tide Flat of Mystery At Bligh Cove in Nootka Sound). Big plus about both these tenders: they collapse into small enough bundles that they can be stored in our lazarettes for ocean passages, rather than remaining on deck where they might become problematic should heavy weather arise. Grey Fox breaks down into 2 separate bundles (floor panels & the inflatable part) so it’s less unwieldy and easier to stow than other dinghies; Red Fox folds into a large backpack-style pack with padded shoulder straps, weighing about 35-40 pounds. We bought each of these because neither GB nor I feel comfortable carrying inflated dinghies on deck or (perish forbid!) astern when we’re making any passages on open water. GB and I have experienced how quickly things can go wrong so we prefer as few distractions and as clean a deck as possible.
The Shade Tree boat awning and other on-deck shade covers. Handy to have in northern climes to provide more shelter from inclement weather, but mandatory in areas of hot sun. The shade covers reduce the heat in the cabin by 10 degrees F or so, while still providing good air flow. When properly deployed these covers are fine in winds to 30 knots or more – we’ve had our large Shade-Tree up in 40 knots at our old marina in Seattle and it survived with no ill effects – though we would never advise anyone to keep it deployed in such heavy weather.
The boat in general. Gallant Fox is a great boat! The 66-lb. Bruce anchor plus 210 feet of chain has served us well in every anchorage BC, the US and Mexico has thrown at us – there was only one place (the gale in Wahkana Bay in the SE Broughtons) that we needed all 210 feet of chain. The rig and sails are fine and the Fox showed how good a downwind cruiser it is on the trip down the Baja Peninsula. This is definitely a tough, ocean-capable boat that can keep on going. Which brings me to the next point. Supplies:
This goes for both short- and long-term trips: PLEASE take – at a minimum – enough crankcase oil for one complete oil change, and plenty of fuel filters. We know people who travel for months at a time and carry only one spare quart of oil. Nononononono. If something goes wrong with your engine, chances are you’ll need to flush it and one full oil change (4 quarts or more) will be the least you will need. Make room for it. Also? In many places (e.g., north of Nanaimo, BC, or south of the US border) the fuel can be old or suspect for other reasons, and you may need to change fuel filters more often than you ever have before (although thus far we have had no problems, anywhere). You will also need to add oil if you have occasion to make a long run using the engine – say, if you run the engine steadily for 30 hours or more (as we did from BC to Oregon when there was no wind for over 270 miles), you may find your crankcase needs another quart of oil. To accommodate all vagaries of usage and available oil & fuel quality, we carry 10 primary and 10 secondary fuel filters – as a start.
Spare zincs. Take fsr more than you think you will need – especially if you have an odd size zinc or it has an odd-type fitting. They are very hard to come by outside the US. We have found that some places – marinas, more so than anchorages, obvy – are very "hot" with lots of stray current running through the water; zincs get eaten up very rapidly. Example: some marinas in Ensenada can eat through a propeller zinc in less than 6 weeks. Check out this pic – the cone-shaped zinc on the left is a new propeller zinc. The little ring on the right is what was left of the same size zinc after 5 months circumnavigating Vancouver Island, running down the West Coast, and spending about 3 weeks at a dock in Ensenada. Divers in Ensenada recommend replacing zincs every month.
…and of course there will be even more in future post(s). Heh.
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* Yes, people, a 40-foot boat is considered "small" these days. The "small boat harbor" in Monaco, for example, is intended for "small" boats up to 100 feet. Most sail and power boats we’ve seen south of the US are larger than ours. Bottom line: if your dinghy is not a helicopter, you have a SMALL boat.
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