I am on guard duty here looking for things that might burn my boat down….. One of the troubles with owning a boat is that a little knowledge can become a dangerous thing. Most boat skills, including maintenance, navigation, boat handling, and sail trim, are very hard won. It can take years to even learn…
Tell someone you’re going sailing, and invariably the reaction is an audible sigh and a faraway look. Sailing is like that – everyone imagines a clean white boat ghosting into a quiet bay in warm, turquoise-colored water, off a white sand beach on an uninhabited, palm tree-lined island. I’ve seen photographs of places like this,…
Why is it so difficult to go cruising? Now – we are not talking about the "foot on the water – foot on the shore" type of cruising some folks do. We are not talking about sailing away for a week, month, or semester, only to come back to your nice, big house and cherished…
My Galley on the Malo 39 What is it about potlucks in Seattle? Before I came to this wet and sometimes dreary city in 1990, I think I had been to a couple of potlucks, usually put on as organizational events by members of clubs. Here, in Seattle, I have often been invited to potlucks…
One of the things we learned on the Alaska Eagle is that you want to have your sails where you can get to them. The skipper kept some of their sails tied on deck, stored in long nylon bags. We later found out these were called "sausages". We went through quite a gale with these…
"…and tho’ we are not now that strength which in the old days moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are….” So. Here I am, performing a kettlebell squat* with our 20Kg/44 lb. anchor. The smaller anchor at my feet is our 10Kg/22 lb. stern anchor. Look how shiny. Malö sure makes purty…
My sophisticated new antenna mounting system – note the carefully constructed tower made out of a boat hook and electrical tape…. We wanted to have some sort of e-mail on the boat. Most people are installing an SSB and using a modem – this is a $4,000-$6,000 project, depending on how much of it you…
The Proud Parent – "Gallant Fox" wrapped in plastic, newly arrived from Sweden. The Alaska Eagle is a 65′ Sparkman and Stevens designed cutter that was in the Whitbread around the World race sometime in the 1970’s or so. Its original name was "Flyer’ The boat is now operated as an ocean going classroom for…
This is the start of a rambling and highly opinionated series of essays about stocking a galley the propane chef way… Every modern offshore cruising book I have every read contains a section called "Galley Essentials". Why do they call it this? Usually this section is packed full of good and not so good information…
The primary fuel filter on a diesel engine has always been a mystery to me. On my old sailboat, a 1985 Hunter 34, which I co-owned with my good buddy Larry, it was a thing of mystery to both of us. Once, he decided to clean the filter right before we left on a trip…