The Value of Rituals - Part II

The Value of Rituals - Part II

Continuing a discussion of going through the boat twice a year to restock, renew, clean, and make sure all is right. Well worth the effort! 

Monday Minute - Benefit Party to Help Hurricane Victims

Monday Minute - Benefit Party to Help Hurricane Victims

A special hurricane relief event is scheduled for the first day of the sailboat show in Annapolis. For those who donate $75 or more to several relief organizations, the Donor Appreciation Party will be held at the close of the show, with free food and drinks. The donations will go directly to relief efforts in the BVIs.

What's Life Without A Little Adventure

What's Life Without A Little Adventure

Scott and Mary Flanders begin a new journey, a new path, with a new design concept for a cruising ocean motorboat. This begins a series of posts that will follow the philosophy behind the design spiral, the construction, and all that will follow....

Please subscribe to FollowingSeas.Media to come along...the adventure has begun!!!

Looking Good Again!

Looking Good Again!

Composite Yacht did a fantastic job painting Blue Angel. Super happy with the work, as opposed to the shortcuts done by Hunt Yachts. Dead batteries uncover previously unknown parasitic loads that took down the batteries in the two weeks she was in Trappe, MD. 

Monday Minute - An Admiral's Secret to Running A Ship

Monday Minute - An Admiral's Secret to Running A Ship

The Recovering Warrior Sailing Regatta took place this weekend in Annapolis. It takes disabled military out for a day of sailboat racing with midshipmen from the U.S. Naval Academy, put on by the USNA, National Sailing Hall of Fame, and Chesapeake Region Accessible Boating (CRAB).

I got a chance to spend time with Admiral Phil Cullom, who shared his approach to commanding a Navy destroyer.

Monday Minute - Hurricanes and Cyclone Pits

Monday Minute - Hurricanes and Cyclone Pits

We still have two months to go in hurricane season and the weather is not playing nice. We just survived Harvey and now Irma is out there. Can we please just fast forward to November?

The Value of Rituals - Part 1

The Value of Rituals - Part 1

As the season moves into cooler weather, it is a great time to spend quality time checking and tightening everything on your boat, especially if you plan to head south for the winter.

Part I takes a first look at some things to inspect and tighten on systems.

Monday Minute - A Damn Fine Measure of Engine Durability

Monday Minute - A Damn Fine Measure of Engine Durability

Monitoring fuel consumed instead of engine hours is how Caterpillar measured its workhorse 3208 diesel engine for mean time between overhauls. That was a very sensible approach, providing a better view of how hard an engine has worked during its life. 

When Is Disruptive Innovation Coming to Cruising?

When Is Disruptive Innovation Coming to Cruising?

Every so often something upsets the apple cart and created a new market for a product or service. It is called Disruptive Innovation. The cruising community is ripe for something new and different, something that challenges the status quo of big, expensive cruising boats that don't fit a more enlightened approach to sustainable cruising.

Monday Minute - Cleaners That Really Work

Monday Minute - Cleaners That Really Work

Doing the Loop? Been on the Tenn-Tom or Carolina ICW recently? Then you know about the dreaded mustache that forms on your boat's bow.

Now that the trip is done, or that section is behind you, how best to get your hull clean again?

Handholds Highlight Difficult Access

Handholds Highlight Difficult Access

As we get Blue Angel into the painting process, we find ways to make her better by greatly improving access to many of her systems and hardware. Improvements that will make the boat better.

Monday Minute - Time to Repaint!

Monday Minute - Time to Repaint!

When elbow-tiring, hand-rubbed compounding and waxing no longer does the job, it may be time to paint your boat. Gelcoat is not intended as a forever finish, and 11 years was perhaps waiting too long. No worries, striking beauty is only a paint job and $$$$ away. And it is the start of the effort to take this great Hunt design and make it into the great boat it should be. 

Enlightenment by a Dishwasher Repairman

Enlightenment by a Dishwasher Repairman

Sometime it takes a different perspective to connect what has been there all along. In this case, the routines of keeping ship appliances working applies just as well on shore.   

Monday Minute - How Hard to Run Your Diesel

Monday Minute - How Hard to Run Your Diesel

Knowing how to properly run your propulsion engine is the key to long term health care in your engine room. I share great advice from Alaska Diesel that relates to all pre-ECM diesel engines, both power and sail.

A Photo Essay - Newfoundland’s Fjord Coast and St Pierre

A Photo Essay - Newfoundland’s Fjord Coast and St Pierre

Scott and Mary Flanders share their photos and thoughts of traveling the less-popular cruising grounds of Newfoundland and beyond. The imagery is fabulous and the trip quite a unique experience to complement any cruising agenda.

Monday Minute - Exhaust Systems, The Achilles Heel of Boating

Monday Minute - Exhaust Systems, The Achilles Heel of Boating

Marine exhaust systems are not perfect, and each system variation has its good and bad points. Awareness is key, and knowing you must address this on a regular basis, regardless of engine hours.

Beyond Hollywood - Setting the Stage for Dunkirk

Beyond Hollywood - Setting the Stage for Dunkirk

The new movie, Dunkirk, tells the story of the evacuation of 335,000 troops off the beaches of Dunkirk at the beginning of WWII. It is a victory within a terrible defeat, and brought together a British nation for the difficult task that lay ahead. 

But the movie focuses on a few, leaving out the larger picture of the enormity of such an undertaking. I try to fill in some details of this staggering event in history that set the stage for the ultimate victory.

Monday Minute - Keeping Your Batteries Clean.

Monday Minute - Keeping Your Batteries Clean.

Our first Monday Minute, sharing a piece of useful information from traveling around the world, visiting boat builders and suppliers to our industry. Due to the enormous diversity of the global marine world, spanning commercial, recreational, and military segments, many of these professionals know much more than we will ever experience during our boating years.

I find their tips and comments worth considering.

Opinion: I Suppose It Begins At The Top

Opinion: I Suppose It Begins At The Top

We can't escape the future and its changes coming to our watery world. Technology is redefining our world and it is simply a matter of time before our boating passion is next...