A Messy New Year!
What with our land-based travels poor old Esper has been neglected somewhat, so now it’s time to attend to her needs and get cracking with those all important boat maintenance jobs.
Boat Maintenance & Skills
From configuring solar panels, installing watermakers to advice on the best apps for cruising, we share how-tos, tips and advice on boat maintenance and boating knowledge, covering both canal and sail boats.
Stellarium: Free Astronomy Software For Kids & Sailors
The kids are on half-term and the nights are drawing in. What free entertainment could be better than teaching them the stars? As a boat-owner with just a passing interest in astronomy I’ve reviewed a great piece of free software called Stellarium. It’s really easy to use and is perfect for both kids entertainment and playing around with in the cockpit at night.
Stellarium: Free Astronomy Software For Kids & Sailors Read Post »
Water Maker: Purchase, Installation & Usage Considerations
A water maker is an expensive and difficult purchase with more than the cost to be considered. In this essay we discuss the decision-making process involved in a water maker purchase. Also we examine thoughts on installation and we provide an insight into how it is used on board. We conclude with some related issues and pros and cons. We hope that this helps anyone looking to purchase a watermaker for their boat and we encourage watermaker owners to add their own comments at the bottom of the page.
Water Maker: Purchase, Installation & Usage Considerations Read Post »
Fan Belts And Braces
In the night as we were circling some hazardous rocks our fan belt decided it had had enough and sheared off. The cooling system, therefore, was not doing its job.
Fan Belts And Braces Read Post »
Passing Over To The Other Side – Red Sea Cruising
Riding waves between three to four metres high, passing under the boat from right to left, watching them roll on down hill…
Passing Over To The Other Side – Red Sea Cruising Read Post »
Long Range Wi-Fi On A Boat: EnGenius 2610
The EnGenius 2610 is a magic box that provides a wired internet connection for the ship’s computer. The basic principle is that it is mounted at the top of the mast, or as high as possible, and it sees available wifi networks for your onboard computer to connect to… and if you’re not a yottie or interested in setting up a long-range wifi connection then you’ve probably fallen asleep already! The article for the yottie-geeks only…
Long Range Wi-Fi On A Boat: EnGenius 2610 Read Post »
Boat Engine Won’t Stop
My troubles started when I attempted to turn the engine off. I pressed the ‘off’ button and nothing happened, the engine continued to trundle away. “Relay switch”, I thought.
Boat Engine Won’t Stop Read Post »
A Day In The Life On The Hard
Our time on the hard in the sweltering 30°+ heat of June at Marti Marina. For you non-yotties being on the hard means propping ones boat up on big sticks and climbing up and down a 10ft ladder in order to get on and off the boat.
A Day In The Life On The Hard Read Post »
Tinker Traveller Cover
For posterity and insurance purposes, and also to help over Tinker Traveller owners, we publish here a load of images of our new cover, made of Sunbrella.
Tinker Traveller Cover Read Post »
Sun Awning Design For A Boat
This article explains briefly how our Sunbrella sun awning works for our ketch rigged boat. Whilst it may not provide a complete solution for other boats we are publishing this article in the hope that it assists other boat owners in designing their own awning.
Sun Awning Design For A Boat Read Post »
Raving About Our Rocna
In the next few articles we’ll be featuring some photographs, video clips, maps and personal experiences of our current home Fethiye, offering something for all our friends and family to enjoy. This article, however, is very definitely for the serious liveaboard: visit any online sailing forum and there is one subject that will rouse more furious debate than any other subject known to man, beast or Poseidon: anchors. The simple anchor is the one thing on our boat we need to trust more than anything else (except perhaps our vessel’s ability to keep water out) so it is little wonder grown men pull each others’ hair out when arguing which anchor is best.
We had a bit of cash to spend on an anchor last year and, after pulling some hair, we opted for a new generation Rocna. We promised its designer, Peter Smith, to return an unambiguous account of our experience with his design. He said explicitly “be honest”. You know us, Peter, a spade’s a spade…
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Scraping The Propeller Of Barnacles: Man’s Work!
When I was thirteen, I held my breath for two minutes and fifty five seconds, sitting, very still, in my bedroom. Flapping around under a boat in cold water, stabbing a chisel at 4 months worth of crustaceans tends to tire you out a little and I think the best I managed was about 40 seconds.
Scraping The Propeller Of Barnacles: Man’s Work! Read Post »
Google Earth & GPS For Cruisers & Boat Owners
Many of us are familiar with Google Earth. It’s good fun zooming in and out of the Grand Canyon, getting a bird’s eye view of your childhood house or playing with the built-in flight simulator. Surely there is more to it than this though? In this essay I’ve attempted to provide some pointers, resources and links for the yottie to consider when using Google Earth onboard. It’s probably of little interest to you non-boaty people out there, unless you like playing with Google Earth and all the possible extra data-layers it offers. [Please note this is the last article we’ll be sending out before changing web host company in preparation for our satellite phone blog updates. We’ll be offline in April before returning online with a faster, improved service.]
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Thunderbirds Are Go!
Panic because I really didn’t know what I was doing in the engine room. The engine won’t start. Right, where do I begin? Haven’t a clue. Get a book out on diesel engines. Can’t find any of the problems identified in the troubleshooting section. Must be the carburettor. No wait, it doesn’t have a carburetor.
Thunderbirds Are Go! Read Post »
Partying In Marmaris Yacht Marina
Now I wouldn’t want you to think that we’ve been up to nothing but do-gooding these past weeks… Those of you that know us will be relieved to hear that there has been the usual amount of getting-up-to-mischief and having fun too! Now, where to start?
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