Sailing inyourfootsteps.com

Experience

Preventing the loss of washboards during heavy weather sailing
It is critical that the main hatch be kept secured during heavy weather sailing. Yet washboards are difficult to handle in these times. Each ascent / decent of a crew member necessitates a dismantling and reassembly of the washboards. This involves replacing typically two to three washboards in the correct sequence and orientation to correctly fit. Performing this operation in difficult conditions makes it very likely that a board could be lost overboard. In particularly difficult situations, where the boat has rolled or pitch poled, the washboards tend to fall out and get lost further exacerbating a survival situation.

Dealing with cockroaches
Cockroaches are a common infesting insect in warm climates. They make boating life unpleasant, unhealthy, and lonesome.

Preventing line chafe
If a fibre line is loaded up and exposed to an edge, or anything rough or sharp, the back-and-forth rubbing motion exerted upon this point will cause the line to chafe in two. All running rigging (ropes leading through various blocks, and to different places of the masts, sails, tacks etc) are subject to chafe, be they halyards, topping lifts, leech-lines, bow-lines, down-haulers or furling lines on roller reefing gear. Sails themselves cause chafe in light inconsistent airs when they are not setting properly or in light conditions with a lumpy or rolling sea. These situations cause a sail to be pulling well for a few minutes, but when a roll comes through or the wind dies, the drive is knocked out of the sail causing it to slap around uselessly chafing itself and everything in its immediate orbit. The jib furling line on a roller reefing unit is particularly susceptible to chafe. Although it may appear to be belayed and motionless it is constantly subject to a slight loading-and-unloading back-and-forth movement as the head sail strains and or the vessel bow crests and falls off waves and swells.

Keeping afloat after colliding with a waterborne object
The risk of colliding with a floating or waterborne object such as a whale, tree or a freight container is very low. Sadly marine experts believe two centuries of whaling may have reduced whale numbers to 1% of the original population. There are now believed to be as little as 10,000 humpback whales in the North Atlantic were 240,000 roamed (1.5m worldwide). Meanwhile the seas have become crowded with commercial shipping. Some countries in 2007 are increasing the number of ships in their fleets by 20% a year. There will be 7,000 container ships on the sea in 2008, the largest carrying 10,000 x 20ft container stacked 18 layers high on their decks. This increases the likelihood of container collision. Container collision sounds strange but piled high as described they fall off ships. Whilst some containers sink, others float just below the surface, depending on the buoyancy and packaging of the cargo they contain. The risk of colliding with a container is higher in busy shipping lanes and during winter and spring when storms make it more likely that containers are washed overboard from freighters. The problem with waterborne objects is keeping a look out for them. As they often reside just below the surface it is not practical to place a watch on the bow for days on end and they are completely imperceptible at night or in high seas.

How to make effective curtains
It is difficult to strike the balance between curtains that are both effective and do not detract from the appearance of the yacht.

Sheathing wood with glass reinforcement
Although wood has excellent properties as a building material, it is a relatively soft material, and is particularly vulnerable to damage. Abrasion and boring worms cause direct damage while unchecked moisture absorption leads to degradation and rot. Whilst normal paints and varnishes do offer a reasonable amount of protection for limited periods, they are unable either to strengthen the wood or completely seal it. These coatings are also particularly prone to weathering and can easily peel away to leave unprotected bare wood.

If you cruise extensively invest in a powered anchor windless
Manually hauling in long chains and anchors, either with a manual winch or without, is a slow, backbreaking, exhausting task. This is especially the case in very hot climates.

Making future wiring easier
Running wires throughout a vessel is a challenge. The individual paths have to be routed one by one through bulkheads and around multiple objects.

Preventing mischievous youngsters untying your vessel at town piers
In busy town piers that are open to the public you may get mischievous youngsters who see a vessels belayed shore lines on the dock cleats as just too much temptation. There is a strange nature that drives them to untie the lines and scarper.

Enhancing locker storage.
Most yachts have large open locker spaces, where individual items sit on the bottom of the locker. Once this floor space is used the rest of the locker goes entirely unused. This is a waste of one of the most constrained resources within a vessel - space.