technical – Page 2 – Sailing Illusion

A bitter-sweet visit

This has been a difficult visit to New Zealand for me… and not just because of the sleep deprivation and the stress of assuring the boat and its systems are ready for the four of us to trust our lives to for the next few months. I’m so focused on Illusion and our trip to Vancouver, that I haven’t taken extra time to visit friends (or even write blog posts!!). I feel strangely disconnected from NZ, as though I’m not really here, since I’m not really connecting with this country as I have in the past.
Continue reading “A bitter-sweet visit”

Immensity – post by John

“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.”
— Antoine de Saint Exupéry

We are drawn to the endless, but today, we are still working on confined land. And what keeps us working, all day, every day, is our need to finish this small business and enter the immensity.

This world-crossing sailboat has spent seven years swinging in a circle one hundred and forty feet in diameter. Recently we took her off her mooring and sailed her ten miles north and into a small marina for a haul out and more work. And now she is on dry land, standing absolutely still on support poles. The hull of this ship was built eighteen years ago. We are now rebuilding nearly everything else. We now have the mast out and are detaching cables, struggling with dissimilar metals that have welded themselves together. Continue reading “Immensity – post by John”

AIS, DSC, VHF, oh my!

It’s a few years now since I’ve spent any time at sea. Over that time, knowing that one day I’d be back out there, I’ve been following a great advance in collision avoidance systems for ships. Having spent many nights out on the ocean, any advance in technology that can assist the sleep-deprived in keeping the boat and its passengers safe gets my attention. One particularly challenging aspect of night watch is identifying ships from their lights and trying to work out whether they are likely to crash into you. In some situations, minutes of uncertainty can result in hair-raising, adrenaline-rushed moments of panic. This is where AIS comes to the rescue! Continue reading “AIS, DSC, VHF, oh my!”