Category: Uncategorized
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Is a Safety at Sea Seminar Worth it?
A couple of weeks ago, Sarah and I attended a Safety at Sea Seminar. It’s a full day US Sailing Sanctioned Seminar and designed to meet the Safety at Sea requirements for the Newport to Bermuda Race, sponsored by the Storm Trysail Foundation. Coincidentally, the one we attended was also…
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Stop Gear Sliding with Tree Frog Pads
One of the biggest problems with sailing is that a lot of the time, you spend life at 20-30 degrees askew. We have a big strap in the galley to keep our cook in one place, but nothing like that to keep our laptop from sliding off the table. I…
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Chinese Flexible Solar Panel Alternatives
After calculating our boat’s electrical needs, I realized I needed to add some solar panels to Alchemy. We already have two 90W rigid panels, but more would certainly help all that iCharging for Angry Birds. A visit to my “go to” place for research, sailing forums, uncovered several sailors using…
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What Sails Should You Take Cruising?
While preparing for an extended cruise or passage, one important consideration is going to be what sails you are going to decide to take. Being away from home for so long, and making sure you have room to stuff in all the oreos and legos, you aren’t going to be…
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Microfiber Pack Towels for Sailing
Cruising with three young children, a staple of everyday, often several times a day, is swimming. Where there is swimming on a sail boat, there are wet towels hanging from the lifelines. Tiring the boys with swimming is an important part of our daily sanity, but it sure does suck…
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How to Embed Google Spreadsheets in WordPress
Google Docs and Spreadsheets offer an easy way to embed them in a webpage using an iFrame. You just copy and past the text into your site, whatever it’s built with, and voila. Trouble is they look like crap. There is a better way though, depending on what CMS you…
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How Safe is the Caribbean?
Last week, a British man was murdered on the Caribbean of St Lucia. I’ll be honest, that scared me a little. In about 9 months, I am taking my wife and three boys to the Caribbean, and had pondered St Lucia on our itinerary. Can I keep them safe? Since…
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Using Fuel Bladders to Extend Range
Among my humongous list of things to do is to figure out how to carry more diesel fuel. The Tartan 41 was always intended to race, so had only 27 a gallon tank. On Alchemy, the previous owner had replaced that with a 40 gallon tank. With a 1,500 mile…
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Using A Fuel Bladder to Extend Range
Among my humongous list of things to do is to figure out how to carry more diesel fuel. The Tartan 41 was always intended to race, so had only 27 a gallon tank. On Alchemy, the previous owner had replaced that with a 40 gallon tank. With a 1,500 mile…
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USCG vs SOLAS Flares for Offshore Sailing
Still working on our safety gear list, I have been turning my attention to flares and signalling devices, and in about five minutes, I was confused. The United States Coast Guard (USCG) sets rules on what signalling devices and flares you need to carry. “All vessels 16 feet and over,…
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