Three weeks have elapsed since I wrote from Sucia Island. Since then, I’ve been wandering around the San Juans, trying to stay warm and avoid the worst of the windy weather we’ve been experiencing. Destinations have included Jones Island, Fisherman Bay, Blind Bay, Friday Harbor, Sylvan Cove, Brigantine Bay, Cypress Island, and more. I haven’t been in the San Juans since August, and it’s amazing how different they are this … Read more
We’ve been cruising around the San Juan Islands for a week or so with Sam on Safe Harbour. We’ve all been working hard creating and recording more webcasts for you as part of our “Mastering the Inside Passage” series. You may have already seen our first installment is “Clearing Canadian Customs.” This will soon be followed by “Clearing US Customs,” “Overview of the Inside Passage,” “WiFi in the Wilderness,” and “Flying Drones from … Read more
Half a mile outside of Elliott Bay Marina, I peeked into the engine room and saw hot, strawberry-red coolant spraying out of a now-disconnected hose. Twenty knots of southerly breeze was pushing me towards Magnolia Bluff. Instinctively I dropped the anchor and shut down the engine. This was a maintenance-induced failure. I’d just had the whole cooling system apart to clean or replace several components. Although I’d test run the … Read more
January 27 – February 4, 2017 Will you be attending the Seattle Boat Show this year? If so, we hope to see you there! Our team at Slowboat will be giving a handful of free seminars at this year’s show. Come see us! Slowboat seminars, along with date, time, and location: iPhones, iPads, and Boats: Tips from a Twenty Something Cruiser Sam Landsman Saturday 1/28/17, 2:00 p.m. | Stage #4 Club … Read more
For the last several winters I’ve kept the boat in Anacortes, just an hour from the San Juan Islands. The winter boating was superb, with a dozen or more State Parks within a few hours cruise. More often than not, I was the only visitor. This winter, I’m based at Elliott Bay Marina in Seattle. And while it’s not close to deserted islands, I’m thoroughly enjoying winter cruising on Puget … Read more
Boating isn’t for everyone. Several members of my family owned sailboats at various times during my childhood, and much time was spent sailing around the Southern California coast and back and forth to Catalina Island. Much time was also spent avoiding sanding duty (“With the grain. Always with the grain.”) on my mom’s Honduras mahogany Rhodes 33, while instead, my brother and I pretended we were stranded on a tropical island, making sandals for ourselves out of … Read more
Last summer I took eight boats (nine including mine) from Anacortes to Southeast Alaska. Naturally, we experienced a few failures along the way. Below is an accounting of those failures, how we addressed them, and what lessons can be taken away. Failure: Inverter cabling This “professionally-installed” inverter cabling was woefully undersized—2 AWG rather than the specified 2/0 AWG, and the lug was 2/0 sized and poorly crimped to the cable. … Read more
Back in April, we posted an early review of the WiFi in Motion MAX Marine router from SinglePoint Communications. We promised to let you know how the system performed after some extensive testing. Now, after cruising from Puget Sound, WA up the Inside Passage through British Columbia, around Southeast Alaska (and back) on a five-month trial, we think we have enough experience to give a thorough review – of the … Read more