How to Get Into Boating

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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

Nine Boats to Alaska: Failure Analysis

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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

WiFi in the Wilderness

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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

Yeti Love

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When we traveled in our Airstream we had a nice stainless steel Coleman cooler that did a great job for us keeping things cold and looking shiny. But the marine environment does not care about shiny. The hardware started to rust a little, and we decided we needed something tougher that could stand up to salt spray and being tossed around a bit. Enter the Yeti Tundra 50. The refrigerator on Airship (our … Read more

The Case for Alaska

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“Can I call you right back? A couple orcas just surfaced right in front of the boat and I don’t want to hit them,” I frantically told the U.S. Customs officer as I eased the throttle back. “No problem, that’ll happen,” the officer responded. Welcome to Alaska. We were motoring north in Tongass Narrows, on our way into Ketchikan after a three-week transit through British Columbia. Anchored in Foggy Bay … Read more

Power Made Easy

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Airship’s Electrical Upgrades Before our 5-month trip up the Inside Passage to Alaska aboard Airship, we did some major upgrades to Airship’s electrical power system. Now, after five solid months on the boat – mostly away from marinas, here is a summary of how the system performed, what we learned, and what our “ideal” power system might look like. SPOILER: It was AWESOME! We could not be more thrilled with … Read more

Entering Ford’s Terror

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(Updated June 2024). Ford’s Terror  might just be the most beautiful place on the planet. Cliffs—absolutely enormous granite walls, really—rise from water’s edge to snowcapped bowls and peaks 5000 feet above. Countless waterfalls, some trickles, others torrents, plunge from these peaks. Bears forage ashore. Dolphins frolic around anchored boats. The scale of Ford’s Terror is difficult to comprehend and impossible to convey. It’s like Yosemite, but with water in the … Read more

Airship | Kayaking Around Melanie Cove | Desolation Sound, BC

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After our stop at Mitlenatch Island yesterday, we continued on to Melanie Cove, inside of Desolation Sound Marine Provincial Park. There are three areas to anchor in Desolation Sound Marine Park: Prideaux Haven, Melanie Cove, and Laura Cove. There are three areas to anchor in Desolation Sound Marine Park: Prideaux Haven, Melanie Cove, and Laura Cove. There were 4 or 5 boats in Prideaux Haven, and 5 boats in Melanie Cove when we … Read more