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The Sailboat Cruiser ~ Issue #40 November 19, 2017 |
HiThe Sailboat CruiserThe Sailboat Cruiser is the free monthly newsletter of sailboat-cruising.com and sets out to bring you the news, views and general musings of, well, me - Dick McClary, a sailboat cruiser and creator/owner of the website. If you like this newsletter, please feel free to email it to your friends. If one of your friends did forward this to you and you like what you read, please subscribe by visiting The Sailboat Cruiser Newsletter #40 - November 2017What's in This Issue:
A Chance EncounterWe, that's my pal who-shall-not-be-named and I, were having a pint or two in our local pub. A stranger arrived at the bar and, as is the way of English pubs, introduced himself as Chris and got chatting to us.It turned out he was more than just a plain old 'Chris' - he was Professor Chris Reid, a Professor of Oceanography and Senior Research Fellow at
The Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science (SAHFOS).
This is going to be interesting, I thought; scientific fact and knowledge versus the byproduct of a male cow. And so it was, both of us learning much in the process from our very interesting new friend. It transpired that Chris has written a book on the subject, and kindly agreed to allow me to share the electronic version of it with you, and here it is:
Climate Change and European Marine Ecosystem Research
It makes for fascinating - and alarming - reading.
Anchor Snubber on a Bridle
Look carefully at this pic... An all-chain rode - that's good; A snubber line - yup, that's good too. But take another look. There are two snubber lines - one from each side of the bow - attached to the anchor chain as a bridle. But that's got to be better than just one, isn't it? No, I don't think so, and here's why... The snubber line is there to absorb the shock loads that can be transferred to the anchor when using an all-chain rode in lively conditions. So the snubber line should be of stretchy rope; three-strand nylon or multi-plait is the way to go. The more load that is applied to the snubber, the more it will stretch. But with a double snubber as shown here, the total load will be shared, so the total stretch will be less than if just a single snubber was used - and the anchor will be less effectively 'snubbed' as a result. More anchoring tips and techniques...
Laying-Up, Or Launching?It's that time of the year again.In the Caribbean, with the hurricane season at last coming to an end, cruisers are preparing their boats for launching. Here in the UK and other parts of similar latitude, boats are being hauled in readiness for the coming winter. We all have our own 'Hauling Out and Laying Up Checklist' - here's ours... Accessories
OK, now you can have that beer... The Perfect Cockpit Light?Mary has a hard time getting me to participate in the weekly trip to the supermarket - unless it's Lidl. Reason? Lidl has a 'boys toys' section. It varies week on week but there's always something there that you didn't know you needed - socket sets, screwdriver sets, pumps for sucking out engine oil, drones, wire strippers, drill bit sharpening machines etc, etc - and this...
It's a waterproof LED camping light, and it makes the perfect cabin light. It has a solar panel on the top and it can also be charged via a USB port.
The lantern part is made of squidgy plastic, so it won't break when you drop it. Hung under the bimini it will illuminate your cockpit perfectly. There are three settings; the first is good enough to read by but if you really want to impress your nearby anchored neighbours you can switch it to the second setting, and to really make yourself unpopular you can select the flashing mode. Find out more at
2 in 1 Crivit Solar Camping Light...
Site SecurityI'm not talking about the razor wire topped fencing around a building site - I'm talking about your personal security on sailboat-cruising.com.I'v always striven to make the site as secure as possible, but now every page has achieved the very top level of internet security. Take a look at
the home page.
This Month's Mystery BoatFinally the long-running mystery boat below has been correctly identified:-
It's not a Westsail or a Hans Christian as had been suggested by a number of you - 'C-Drifter' is a Bob Perry designed Tashiba 40 which was also marketed as the Baba 40 and the Panda 40. Many thanks to all of you who finally got it right, a result of which is that 'C-Drifter' now appears on the site at Tashiba 40 (aka Baba 40 and Panda 40) where you can discover at lot more about this interesting boat. Now then, how about this one? 
I felt no shame in being overhauled by 'Anna Maria' as we sailed north along the western shore of Dominica. She's a 55 ft, fractionally rigged, performance cruising sloop and when she slipped up the inside of Alacazam she was sailing beautifully. Any ideas anyone? Used Sailing Gear & EquipmentIt's always worth taking a look at what visitors to sailboat-cruising.com are getting rid of. Remember that one man's junk is another man's gold!Among other items this month, we have:
Cruising Boats for SaleIf you're thinking of selling your cruising boat - or know someone who is - remember you can advertise it entirely free of charge on sailboat-cruising.com - which is what the owners of these boats have done...'Hummingbird', a Freebird 50 Catamaran 'Adina', a Hylas 46; 'Aldarion', a 38' wood epoxy stays'l schooner; 'Fox', a Leopard 40 catamaran; 'Mystic Courage', Morgan 41 OutIsland Ketch; 'Catherine', a CT 42; 'Another Way', a CSY 37; 'Island Spell', a Vertue 25; 'Nautorious', an Irwin 52; 'Teepee', a Via 36 catamaran; 'Drakkar', a 46’ Fountaine Pajot Casamance catamaran; Want to check out a whole load more? Then take a look at the full list of monohulls for sale here, and multihulls for sale here... Don't forget...If you're thinking of looking at a secondhand sailboat, or just want to be aware of what to look for - and when to walk away no matter what - then you really ought to take a look at Andrew Simpson's eBook Secrets of Buying Secondhand Boats...It's full of sound advice from an acknowleged expert and could quite literally save you $$$$$thousands! More 'Likes' Please
Sailboat-Cruising.com has a Facebook Page!
Clicking the image here will take you right to it, where you can browse through many more posts and articles. Please take a look, and feel free to make a post - and don't forget to 'Like' us of course... Thanks! Visit sailboat-cruising.com's Facebook Page... And finally...If you know anyone who might be interested in the contents of this newsletter, please forward it to them. It's not secret!And this newsletter can be a two-way thing. If you've read anything you'd like to comment on, or perhaps there's an event you'd like to see announced in a future newsletter, then please let me know. See you next month! 
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