Remote Cruising Navigation and Communications: Building a Layered Backup Plan
Modern glass bridges gather every vessel metric into bright, unified displays, but treating that helm console as a single point of truth creates serious risk when you leave domestic harbors. Once cell towers drop behind the horizon and coastal repeater stations vanish behind island terrain, your electronics must handle distinct tasks independently: plotting position, tracking […]
The Commissioning Checklist to Use Before Your First 30-Day Cruise
A month aboard gives you more time to discover a missing spare, an awkward storage arrangement or a system that has not been exercised in normal use. Preparing the boat and crew before departure helps you address those questions while familiar support is still nearby. Use a commissioning checklist to organize observations, documents and follow-up. […]
A Seasonal Maintenance Calendar for Pacific Northwest Cruising Yachts
A seasonal calendar reserves time for work before it competes with a cruise. It helps you arrange yard access, technicians, parts, and owner checks across the year. The equipment manuals determine what is due; the calendar gives that work a place and a responsible person. Pacific Northwest owners may cruise through winter, reduce use, store […]
Managing Cabin Condensation: Practical Moisture Control for Shoulder-Season Cruising
Cold seawater on the outside of a hull and warm human activity on the inside create an inevitable physics problem: condensation. When surface temperatures drop below the dew point of cabin air, airborne water vapor returns to liquid form on your windshields, hull sides, and locker bulkheads. Managing that moisture requires understanding where it originates, […]
Testing a Cruising Galley: Layout and Meal Workflow at the Dock
The easiest time to identify a frustrating galley layout is before committing to it. Counter finish and refrigerator size deserve attention, but they do not show how a cook retrieves food, prepares a meal, moves cookware, and cleans up while other people use the boat. A stationary visit can reveal those relationships without operating appliances […]
Two-Person Watchkeeping: Maintaining a Proper Lookout, Managing Sleep, and Executing Clean Handoffs
Two-person watchkeeping depends on attentive lookout, useful handoffs and an honest assessment of rest. The crew’s size alone does not establish whether a passage is manageable. A practical routine makes responsibility clear and gives both people permission to raise concerns early. It also recognizes when the route or crew arrangements need to change. What a […]
Docking a Single-Screw Trawler: Preparation for Wind, Current, and Berth Assessment
Calm docking begins with understanding the exact yacht, the berth and the conditions. A single-screw boat’s response depends on its installed propulsion, rudder, hull and equipment; memorizing one maneuver does not establish how it will behave. Preparation is useful because it makes the unknowns visible before close quarters. Hands-on instruction remains the place to learn […]
Fuel Planning for Long-Range Trawler Cruising: Build a Passage Budget
Nameplate fuel capacity will betray you if you treat it as a passage budget. A long run across open water—whether down the Pacific Coast, across the Gulf of Maine, or through the Exumas—demands an arithmetic budget built on running time, auxiliary burn, and environmental drag rather than a simple division of tank gallons by engine […]
Storage Volume and Usable Payload: A Cruising Yacht Buying Test
Locker volume tells you where items may fit. It does not establish whether the boat should carry their combined weight in those locations. Treat storage access and loading suitability as connected questions when evaluating a cruising yacht. An inventory gives the discussion substance: what you carry, where it lives, how it is secured, and which […]
Sedan vs. Pilothouse: Choosing the Right Helm and Living Layout for Your Crew
A sedan and a pilothouse layout can both have an interior helm. The useful comparison is how the operating station relates to the galley, salon, accommodation spaces and exterior routes—not a weather or passage-capability verdict based on the profile. Think about the people who regularly cruise with you. Do they want to sit near the […]