Insider ideas: Totem’s 2020 gift guide
Every year we put a holiday gift guide together, to help pick out something special for the cruisers and cruisers-to-be on your list. This year, the suggestions have a new source. We send an occasional newsletter to coaching…
How to Report Nautical Chart Corrections
One great virtue of electronic charts is their ability to be updated quickly by both NOAA's Office of Coast Survey (OCS), who makes the charts, and then the mariners who use them on the water. Electronic Navigational Charts…
Destination Manzanillo: Thankful for the freedom of cruising
In the month of November leading up to Thanksgiving, we have a running family tradition aboard Yahtzee to go around the table during a meal each day and share one thing we’re thankful for. A couple days after dropping anchor…
Adding a NMEA 2000 powered Raspberry Pi to your boat
Easy to install Raspberry Pi computer that gets its power from the NMEA 2000 bus — Great for SignalK, OpenCPN, and OpenPlotter. Running a Raspberry Pi aboard a boat has been a popular thing to do for a number of years. I’ve…
Walking down the…Loving LoCo: 5 Hidden Gems of Cruising the Lower Columbia
I mean Lower Columbia, not loco like crazy. Though if you own a small boat and don’t visit LoCo, you may be crazy. There’s always something to see, to like, to love. Here are my top five of a recent trip.
Rendezvous Internet Setup for 2020
I am constantly making updates and changes to my internet system on board Rendezvous, but I do usually settle on a stable system that I go back to when I am not testing, or when I have guests aboard. This is that system for…
The importance of making a good first impression when sailing
As all sailors soon figure out that proper style is a vital ingredient to sailing, here are two true tales of style from the archives.
Making an unforgettable impression on your advance sailing instructor.
Detecting Fast Winds Aloft… and Why We Care
The winds aloft at about 500 mb (18,000 ft) play a key role in the winds we ultimately feel on the surface. The relationship is discussed in our textbook Modern Marine Weather. In short, the direction of the winds aloft tell…
The Kilisut Cut by Kayak
I crabbed the inflatable kayak along the sand bar, looking for a channel. There wasn’t one. The current was against me, spilling over the wide breadth of the cut like a fan, the bottom visible a couple of feet below. I made…
