Chain is made to standards, so strength, size and properties are quite similar within a given grade and size. Still there can be differences (in galvanizing, for example). For imperial sizes, Budget Marine offers European “Vigouroux” chain, which has the highest standard in consistency and strength specification. For the US sizes, Budget Marine offers the […]
By Niels Lund Rigging is an essential component of a sailing yacht, but it tends to get the least attention. Perhaps because it is often out of sight and therefore out of mind when the boat is anchored, or can look strong, even when it isn’t. The prospect of going aloft to inspect something you […]
It always amazes me while looking around sailboats just how many have telltale rust on their stainless rigging and how, more often than not, it just goes ignored. While cruising, my wife and I were having sundowners on a neighboring boat when I noticed that he had quite a lot of rust around his rigging […]
In my boating career I have had them all. Some I loved and some I beat to death with a stick. So, what is the right dinghy for you? Technology has vastly improved the designs and durability of inflatables since, with my wife rowing frantically and me squeezing a foot pump under my arm like […]
I was helping deliver a sailboat, we were sailing up the Caribbean Island chain, well off shore and in deep water where pelagic fish like Dorado and Wahoo roam. It was a stunning day; we were making seven knots and seabirds were diving all around us. Seabirds in a feeding frenzy can mean there are […]
Hold fast Hurricane season is here. Having ridden out several hurricanes, and having had a boat smashed by one, I feel qualified to offer a few suggestions on storm readiness. In times past yachtsmen would be gone from the hurricane belt before the start of the hurricane season and this is still the only way […]
Everyone loves a steak, no doubt. Roast chicken for dinner, yes please! So many times you catch yourself breaking the ice with a fellow cruiser over a discussion of meat and where you can source it in the most obscure places one sails to. I do love meat, no question about that, but I feel […]
It’s always sad when you have to put your boat on the hard or the dock to return to the “real world” for an extended stay. Not only is it a downer to give up cruising and playing for a while, but the idea of abandoning your boat for lengths of time during storm season […]
BASIS: My cruising life style consists of being at anchor almost continuously for four or five months at a time, then day sailing for three or four weeks, twice per year. During the time at anchor, all my energy needs are met via solar power, the engine starting every other week just to pump lubricating […]
