Farewell Lifeline Netting, You Were a Win-Win
At this point 7 years ago, Porter was on the verge of his first birthday and in the preceding few months had become increasingly mobile aboard Yahtzee. Holding onto the settees and cockpit coaming to stand up and take small…
Destinations: Flowing into Varney Bay
Here's our latest installment from Lynne Picard of SalishSeaPilot.com about a gem on the west coast of Vancouver Island. Friends snapped a photo of us anchored near the entrance to Varney Bay. (Photo by José Luis Gomez) It…
Video: Talking Van Isle West Cruising with Salish Sea Pilot
Learn about cruising the west coast of Vancouver Island with Jim and Lynne from Salish Sea Pilot. This is a video of a PowerPoint presentation that we gave virtually at the 2021 Vancouver International Boat Show. Again,…
Destination El Salvador: Embracing a New Country and Cruising Style
Motoring over a glass calm sea towards the coast of El Salvador, the excitement of getting to a new country is palpable. To the east, the sun has just come up and is throwing golden light on conical volcanos and then…
Finding a cellular data plan for your boat
One of the biggest challenges with staying connected on the water is finding an appropriate cellular data plan. Before you embark on buying a new router, cabling, or anything else, start here – finding a plan can be…
GRIB School: Explaining this Ubiquitous Component of Modern Marine Weather
What is a GRIB File? Use of numerical weather model forecasts by individual mariners is an ubiquitous component of modern marine weather. Almost any navigation program these days connected to a wireless source on land or at…
Dinghy Decisions – Choosing a Tender for A Small Boat
As I moved to an anchoring mindset with my 1985 Pacific Seacraft Flicka 20, Sampaguita, I was going to need a dinghy. The main questions? What would it be, and where would I store it? At 20 feet, the storage space above and…
Chasing Rum on Puget Sound
Lucile McDonald (1898-1992) was an amazing journalist/historian/author on the prowl for Washington State history. Let's once more follow her trail through Puget Sound when she was beach-combing for tales of the rum-running…
Gear Review: Vesper Cortex after a few months
The Vesper Cortex is an AIS Class B+ SOTDMA transponder combined with VHF radio and remote monitoring. It shows amazing promise after the first few months of use. The Vesper Cortex has been one of the most anticipated…
Lazy days in Zihuatanejo
Looking skyward from our dinghy, I watch dozens of dark brown frigate birds whirl overhead in continually shrinking circles. They soon begin to dive all around the small cove, hitting the water with a splash, setting the…