Windborne in Puget Sound

  Not even finger-proof Well, now I have the answer.   Remember way back, when I discussed Lexan vs. Plexiglass and postulated that polycar...

Some of you may have heard that we had a completely unprecedented heat wave here in the Pacific Northwest.  Seattle temps exceeded 110°F! Th...

Do you have a water heater on your boat? Here’s a fact that you probably know, but which has direct bearing on the question: Virtually...

If you have read this blog for any length of time, the name Drew Frye will be familiar to you.  If not, then I will tell you that Drew is an...

Starter motors are not designed for continuous service - they are not provided with any cooling capabilities.  This is because the design ex...

AIS - Automatic Identification System - is a system whereby ships (boats, yachts) broadcast information about their location, speed, course,...

If you are compliant with US Coast Guard regulations, you have a fire extinguisher aboard.  In fact, you probably have more than one...  And...

Our recent experience in Friday Harbor tells me that our charts are not adequate.  There is at least one more wreck in Friday Harbor that i...

The red arrow shows our location We dropped anchor in Friday Harbor on Tuesday, pretty much in the normal place.  Well, one of the two...

20 lb propane cylinder A recent post got me thinking about propane. On the TV show, Hank Hill worked for a company that sold propane a...

Every winter there are boat fires - fires which rapidly lead to marina fires except in the most fortunate circumstances.  And these fire...

The winds in Puget Sound can be exasperatingly screwy.  A frequent forecast has winds in the north part out of the north and winds in the so...

Bounty awash Some of you may remember a short post I made a while back concerning the loss of the tall ship Bounty. The question I a...

Right across the dock from us, on s/v Ghost , we have a genuine credentialed heroine. On Nov 20th, there was an electrical fire aboard Gho...

What?  You don't have headlights on your boat?  No?  Why not? White, bright You should.  An LED headlight like this one is dirt ch...

Sunday nite, the tall ship Bounty sank in hurricane-whipped seas about 90 miles off Cape Hatteras.  Fourteen of the sixteen people aboard ...

You do have a flashlight aboard, don't you?  You should. Aside from all the "regular" things you'd use a flashlight for ...

It is probably a coincidence that the marina posted this notice at the head of our dock Tuesday, just a week after this blog posting . And...

m/v Clupea This morning when Steve cranked the starter on m/v Clupea , a gorgeous old wood boat, the starter solenoid exploded, starting ...

Three Sheets Northwest notes this safety item - you need to check your flares. Note that the "signals" they speak of are the act...