Ocean Navigator - March/April 2022 - Ocean Navigator

Classic Pearson Electra goes electric

My Pearson Electra, sleek as she is, weighs a little more than 3,000 pounds and is propelled by a three horsepower Torqeedo electric motor. I captain her along the May River in South Carolina’s low country, which stretches with miles of tidal creeks and rivers from Pawleys Island to the confluence of the Savannah River at the Georgia border. I’ve had no problem powering through the strong tides, what are regarded as one of the Eastern seaboard’s greatest differentials with surges of up to eight feet. I fell in love with this 58-year-old boat, named Sea Gypsy, when I first…

The first six thousand miles without Patrick

Rebecca Childress readies the wind vane self steering rig aboard her Valiant 40 Brick House. Rebecca with her late husband Patrick Childress who died of COVID 19 in Cape Town in 2020.Rebecca aloft on Brick House performing a pre-departure rig inspection. Brick House’s route from Cape Town to Greneda.The stack pack arrangement for Brick House’s mainsail. Rebecca and her captain for the trip Michael Hayward.The rugged and distinctive landscape in the vicinity of Cape Town, the starting point for Brick House’s passage to Greneda.A rainbow appears as a good omen for Brick House in the anchorage at St. Helena Island.…

Fresh water abundance

A watermaker setup like this frees the voyager from the tyrrany of searching for and then hauling fresh water at every stop on a passage. The Schenker Zen 30 is a smaller model not much bigger than a briefcase yet it produces a respectable 8 gallons of fresh water per hour.This Parker Marine Village LTM series AC watermaker produces up to 1,800 gallons per day and comes with an optional salinity monitor and diversion valve.FCI’s Aquamiser+ is available in framed and modular configurations, featuring staged priming of motors and constant monitoring of product water.The Spectra Ventura 150 runs on 12…

O-rings and boat yoga

Ease of access often translates into ease of maintenance. Think about servicing tasks when choosing an installtion site. The Katadyn Power Survivor 80e makes up to 3.4 gallons an hourWatermaker pre-filters.This Spectra Newport installation fits nicely in the space. But maintence or repair may require some disassembly.The control panel and cover of an installed version of a Rainman watermaker. Previous Next A couple years ago a friend of mine asked me to deliver his 50-foot boat from Florida to the Bahamas just before Christmas. The idea was for him to fly in with his family and spend a week cruising…

For want of a chronometer

By the time George Simpson took command of the transport hospital ship, Arniston, in 1814, he was a 60-year-old, seasoned mariner. Arniston was owned by a company called Borradailes of London and had been requisitioned by the Royal Navy to bring invalided soldiers of the 73rd Regiment and some of their families back to England from Ceylon (modern day Sri Lanka). Arniston was an East India merchant ship built on the Thames in 1794. Armed with 58 guns, it was 175 feet LOA, with a 43-foot beam, drawing 17 feet. On this voyage, Arniston would be homeward bound with 378…