Building a Weather Picture

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One of the most important skills for successful cruising is understanding the weather and how it impacts your plans. This doesn’t mean being a meteorologist, making your own forecasts, or interpreting esoteric weather charts. Rather, it means selecting the right forecast from professional meteorologists (NOAA, Environment Canada, European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts), utilizing real-time weather data from the multitude of weather reporting sites along the coast, and adjusting cruise … Read more

Safe Harbour | Snowpocalypse at Blake Island

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With Seattle in chaos and normal obligations cancelled because of snow in the forecast, we sought refuge on the water. What better place to spend the blizzard than Blake Island, we thought. So on Friday, after doing battle with every other Seattleite at the grocery store (50 minute line at Trader Joe’s!) we cast off. The locks, unlike the grocery store, were deserted—no waiting on a snow day! By mid-afternoon … Read more

Getting the Most from Windy.com

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Windy.com is our single favorite weather resource for cruising the Pacific Northwest. We never ignore the official NOAA or Environment Canada marine forecasts, but Windy offers a much more granular look at the weather. Environment Canada and NOAA forecasts cover large areas over many hours with wind speeds expressed in big ranges (10 knots or more). Windy allows you to pan and zoom to the area you’ll be traveling, and to … Read more

New Airship | Before and After

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You may recall back in November we bought a beautiful and very clean 2006 Nordic Tug 42, and we sold our 2013 Nordic Tug 34′ “Airship”. We’d had our Nordic Tug 34 for four years, and in those four years we spent over 900 nights aboard and 2,700 hours underway, went to Alaska and back four times, around Vancouver Island three times, and spent countless days exploring Puget Sound, the … Read more

Slowboat at the 2019 Seattle Boat Show

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January 25 – February 2, 2019 It’s that time of year again! The Slowboat team will be presenting six different free seminars at the 2019 Seattle Boat Show. We are excited to share our knowledge with the boat show crowd to help people have a richer, safer, more satisfying cruising experience.  Hope to see you in Seattle! WiFi in the Wilderness – Connected Cruising Kevin Morris, Sam Landsman, Laura Domela Saturday, January 26, … Read more

Scooters Aboard!

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Upon arriving in a new port, I, like most cruisers, usually want to explore ashore. Sometimes there are chores to do, other times there are specific attractions, and often I just want to get the feeling of a place. Regardless, land transportation quickly becomes an issue, especially if the supermarket, chandlery, or attraction is beyond easy walking distance. For years I carried a Dahon Mariner folding bike, but seldom used … Read more

Improving the Boat Fridge: Fridge Optimizer

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Several years ago, I replaced the 15-year-old Norcold refrigerator aboard Safe Harbour with a shiny new NovaKool RFU9000. The new fridge reduced power consumption and was quieter, but it was far from perfect. In fact, it (along with the Force 10 range with the heat output of a Bic lighter) are among the most frustrating pieces of equipment onboard.  Temperature control in the NovaKool is, at best, imprecise. The rudimentary … Read more

Meet the new Airship

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We finally did it!  The new Airship is a 2006 Nordic Tug 42 flybridge model. We always said we didn’t want a flybridge (because, solar!), but she’s got one, and I’m sure we’ll eventually be totally on board with the flybridge concept, especially after the weather warms up. She’s got a Cummins QSC 8.3L 540HP common rail turbo diesel engine, an Onan 9kw generator, and SO. MUCH. ROOM! Two staterooms, … Read more