Preparing Yourself for Solo Sailing
Last week, I covered some of the things I suggest you need to think through on the boat before heading out solo. Now, what...
Your New Feature-Packed VHF Radio
In the ever-evolving realm of maritime communication, Digital Selective Calling (DSC) and Automatic Identification System (AIS) have emerged as game-changers within the latest models...
Preparing A Boat to Sail Solo
You have probably heard people say sailing solo is dangerous or irresponsible. How can you keep a proper watch? What happens if you have...
Solar Panels: Go Rigid If You have the Space…
Movies can be corny, but Jack Sparrow nicely summarized the romance of sailing: Thats what a ship is, you know. Its not just a keel and a hull and a deck and sails, thats what a ship needs but what a ship is ... what the Black Pearl really is... is freedom.
Leaping Into Lithium
Your dock neighbor just switched out her old 12-volt lead-acid batteries for lithium-ion batteries. Should you? The lithium solution will be more expensive, but...
The Tricked Out Tillerpilot
Self-contained tillerpilots are a simple and darn handy means of steering a smaller sailboat, particularly when sailing solo. For the singlehander a tillerpilot is...
Resolving Common Steering Problems
Your steering packed it in and you are stuck with either your emergency tiller or an emergency rudder and tiller. These often require the...
Sketching Out Installation Options
I worked through the alternative steering geometries and forces using trigonometry. An easier way to evaluate various installations is to use a triangle, ruler,...
Essential Tillerpilot Accessories
Tillerpilots don’t come with the even the most basic accessories we need, so our options are to order overpriced widgets or to improvise.
RETAINER (PHOTO...
A Modified Tillerpilot Setup
Having two different locations for attaching the tillerpilot to the tiller can be a practical alternative for smaller boats that won’t produce loads that...
The Fastest Cruising Sailboat in the World?
What is the fastest cruising sailboat in the world—and can a monohull really compete with catamarans for speed while still being livable? In this...
Latest Sailboat Review
Morgan 34 Used Boat Review
By today's standards, the Morgan 34 is a small boat, comparable in accommodations to a lot of 30-footers. When the boat was designed, she was as big as most other boats of her overall length. In profile, the boat has a sweeping, moderately concave sheer. The ends of the boat are beautifully balanced: the bow profile is a slight convex curve, the overhanging counter aft is slightly concave. Esthetically, hull shapes of this period from the best designers are still hard to beat.