Ocean Navigator - Ocean Voyager 2022

Bluewater Gear – A build-up to voyaging

Eric and Kim Paulsen voyage aboard their 1968 Grand Banks 42, Splinters. The couple spent 15 years meticulously rebuilding the boat in a barn on their ranch in Colorado, and moved aboard in 2019. Eric sailed most of his life in the Midwest where his parents owned several sailboats. He spent a year in the Caribbean working on a 64-foot Hinkley doing charter work. He later moved to San Diego and worked for Sailing Supply and was the west coast rep for Schaefer Marine. He raced on Shock 35’s and J 35’s and owned and sailed a Santana 20.…

Marine Electrical System Monitoring

New battery chemistry means new ways of tracking system status Having owned seven sailboats over the past 40 years, I have seen a few electrical systems. And over the past 14 years we have been on this cruise, I have seen a few more. And one of the key elements of a good voyaging boat is being able to monitor the vessel’s electrical system accurately As a young US Navy lieutenant stationed in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in the mid-1970s, I purchased my first sailboat, a 1929 35-foot wooden Alden yawl named Cynara. There was not much of an electrical…

Marine Water Heaters Explained

Key facts voyagers need to know about these valuable units With a few exceptions, most electric marine water heaters are simply scaled-down versions of those used in homes and businesses the world over. The components of these units are relatively simple. An electric heating element is immersed in the water contained within the heater’s tank. It, in turn, is controlled by a thermostat which regulates the temperature of the water. When electricity is applied, the heating element warms the water within until the set point on the thermostat is reached, at which point the heating element turns off. Water heaters also typically include an…

Water heater support

Water heaters, when full, are especially heavy and they are typically supported in a cantilever fashion, i.e., only the bases are secured, and often with nothing more than tapping screws, on which significant leverage may be applied. While on an offshore passage some years ago, in a lively seaway, the water heater on the vessel I was aboard broke free of its supports and collided with the engine, holing the water heater’s tank, which discharged 180° F water, and bending a fuel pipe, which cracked and spewed pressurized fuel, into the engine compartment. When I opened the door and looked…

High Seas Communications

Choices for voyagers to keep in touch In preparation for writing this article I dug through my metal box of boat notebooks and found tattered radio logs from our Pacific crossing on Oddly Enough our Peterson 44. They feature lists of boat positions, including the missing and lost, their weather reports, official weather forecasts, boat chitchat, and reflect our widely scattered “class” of 2001 and how dependent we were on the HF SSB nets that kept us in touch. The ability when on the ocean to communicate beyond your boat is as vital now as it has ever been. Whether…

Energy-Independent Cruising

Tapping into sun, wind and water power If there is one thing all cruisers have in common, it is a yearning for independence and self-sufficiency. Once we pull in the dock lines at our home marina and set out on an ocean cruise, we want to make sure we can get by with the equipment and energy sources we need to sustain ourselves on our journey. Energy independence for today’s offshore cruising yacht entails tapping into three sources of power: sun, wind and water. With proper planning and effective energy management, these three energy sources offer 24-hour access…

Offshore Safety – A self-designed and built cruising cat

Eric and Lynne Toyer are Australian liveaboards who voyage aboard their 60-foot catamaran Amarula. They completed a circumnavigation in 2019, 17 years after departing from Australia. They are currently in Indonesian waters. Eric is a former Royal Australian Navy chief petty officer, navy diver and shipwright. He’s also a naval architect and a marine surveyor. He’s achieved the rating of a Master 4 in National Maritime Operations, Master of Harbour and River Steamers and Marine Engine Driver II. He designed, built and operated three prawn trawlers spanning a 25-year period with experience in Australia, the Middle East and East Africa.…

Weather Onboard: All hands On Deck!

Using every resource available to get a comprehensive weather picture When it comes to weather information, ocean voyagers can never have too much help, and with today’s connected world there are many ways to gather as much data as you want or need. However, some of the tried-and-true sources that have been in use for decades or longer still form the basis of every voyager’s toolkit. Long ago a friend who voyaged regularly across the Atlantic and back on tiny, simple homemade boats gave me a piece of weather advice I have never forgotten and that still remains true…

Telehealth Benefits

Methods for talking to a doctor from a remote location For offshore sailors far from home, trusted medical advice is hard to come by. The benefits of telehealth, where minor medical conditions are resolved over email or video chat, are clear: It’s the surest way to access the advice of licensed doctors in the US from anywhere in the world. The practice has improved through the pandemic years, and looks likely to grow long after patients return to the waiting room, which is good news for sailors, who rely on distance consultations when abroad. “People are more accepting of…

Voyaging Skills – Canal dogs, trimarans and the tropics

For Luc and Jackie Callebaut, voyaging on their trimaran Sloepmouche with their Schipperke dogs is a way of life. After working as a school teacher and scuba dive instructor in Belgium in the 1970s and early 80s, Luc Callebaut left for a new life when he joined Club Med as a Gentil Organisateur (GO) in 1984 in Guadeloupe. It was there he met Jackie, formerly a US Forest Service ranger, who was also enjoying a new life as a scuba instructor for Club Med. After eight years working as sport managers around the world, they decided that sailing around…