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Read more: Limiting COB Drag Risk On A Smaller BoatAs boats get smaller, building a system gets more difficult and more compromises must be made, but it is doable.
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Read more: Backing Plates Must Be ParallelBolting fittings down on deck seems so simple, and it is…as long as we follow some common sense rules.
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Read more: Sail Buying TipsNew sails are expensive, here’s how to get the most for your money.
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Read more: Which Snap Shackle Is Stronger?Some thoughts on snap shackles, particularly for use on spinnakers.
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Radar Collision Avoidance, Part 2—Turning Plotting Into Action
10 CommentsReading Time: 11 minutesMembers
Read more: Radar Collision Avoidance, Part 2—Turning Plotting Into ActionIn the last chapter Eric covered plotting, now he explains what course changes to make to avoid collisions, as well as to reduce the stress of getting too close to another boat.
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Read more: Q&A Offshore Communications in 2025Yes, there are a lot of options out there, but actually making the right call today is simpler than it has ever been before.
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Read more: Mainsails—Full Battens or NotShould we order a mainsail with full battens or not?
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Read more: Adventure 40 April 2025 ReportPossible financial backers have come forward but we still need a project leader.
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Read more: Flawed Jackline Systems RevisitedIn the last chapter we examined the risks of being dragged and particularly tether tension. Now let’s relate that to the jackline systems we see out there in use.
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Read more: Time To Torque The Keel BoltsLike most owners with a new-to-us boat that is far from new, I spent the first couple of winters focusing on stuff that just had to be fixed. This winter I have had the luxury of moving on to things that need doing, but are not immediately obvious. In this case torquing the keel bolts. […]
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Read more: Radar Collision Avoidance, Part 1—PlottingIt’s great to have radar, but if we don’t know how to plot other vessels it won’t keep us safe from collision. Here’s how to use radar right.
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Read more: AAC Reverting To Google SearchWe have long offered Google searching of AAC, but then a couple of years ago Google started returning a bunch of links to information other than ours, which confused the hell out of people (justifiably), so we added a different program to search the site. It kinda worked, but nowhere near as well as Google, […]
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Read more: The Swiss Cheese Model of Risk ManagementI’m always interested in ways of thinking about risk that we can apply to offshore sailing. Here’s a particularly good one.
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Read more: TeamO Backtow Lifejacket/Harness ReviewTeamO are selling the BackTow lifejacket and harness as the answer to the risk of drowning while being dragged after falling overboard attached to a tether. Is that true? Let’s take a look. We also compare the TeamO against the Spinlock Deckvest.
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Read more: Singlehanding TipsSinglehanding is controversial. Some thoughts on that, as well as some tips to make it safer.
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Read more: Quote Of The DayEven though this is from the investing industry, it’s relevant to us offshore sailors.
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Read more: Making Content Free, Or NotWe often get emails from members asking us to make a particularly popular article, usually with a safety theme, free, because they feel that many sailors would benefit from it. And, hey, that’s gratifying, thank you. And, almost invariably, the writer suggests that doing so would increase our membership. Makes perfect sense that showing a […]
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Read more: 20 Practical Tips For Better WatchkeepingHard won practical tips from 50 years of standing watches at sea.
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Read more: Reefing TipsRelevant reefing tips, which we will add to over time.
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Read more: Sometimes Doing The Right Thing Is HardI just took the cover off the salt water pump on our engine to find a blade missing off the impeller, despite the pump only having about 100 hours on it. Annoying, but here’s where things really went down hill: Login to continue reading (scroll down) Learn About Membership Get to know us for FREE
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Read more: 6 Tips For Mindful WatchkeepingIt’s all too easy to regard watchkeeping as a hated chore, but these tips will both help to avoid that and make offshore sailors safer and offshore boats less likely to break.
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Read more: The Loss Of Yacht “Solution”John’s thoughts on the probable cause of the loss.
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Read more: Group Meeting With JohnGet together over Zoom with John and a like minded group of cruisers.
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Read more: How Many Reefs and How Deep?How many reefs are optimal? Two, three or four? If we think about this the right way, for most of us the answer is simple. We also tackle the relationship between reefs and whether or not we have a storm trysail, also much misunderstood.
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Read more: The Risks Of Sidedeck Jacklines QuantifiedDespite the well-documented risks of being dragged after falling overboard, many (probably most) offshore sailboats are still using sidedeck jacklines, raising the key question: Is that solution worse than nothing? At last we have numbers to help each of us make that critical decision.
