(In case you missed them, read part 1, part 2, and part 3.)

If you get hooked on stargazing, you’ll want to see more. You might get to the point where you’re willing to spend a little cash to accomplish this. (more…)

Sorry, no gear or gadgets today. I was reading a thread entitled “Ideal Cruising” over at C-Brats, the online community for C-Dory owners. As a new C-Dory owner myself, I’ve still got a lot to learn about these great little boats.

Anyway, in this particular thread, Pat Anderson said a lot that I can really relate to. Remember, C-Dories are smaller, outboard-powered boats that are cruised inshore, almost (but not quite) exclusively. There are extremely shoal, ideal for exploring coastline almost as you would in a dinghy or kayak. So for this discussion, “cruising” does NOT mean multi-day bluewater passagemaking, OK? (more…)

The San Juan Islands are a cruising paradise. Not the tropical kind, of course, but a paradise nonetheless; paradise with foulweather gear, let’s say. But our little archipelago is not without its dangers. By far the most frequent mishaps are simple groundings, which range in severity from mildly embarrassing to life-threatening. This video, taken on Sunday, illustrates a grounding with some real danger involved.

I’m positive the crew of the sailboat felt there was a great deal of danger involved! Watching the video, we can only imagine what awful noises the boat and rig generated each time the hull got shoved up against those rocks.

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(In case you missed them, read part 1 and part 2.)

At some point, you’ll probably realize that you’d like to see more than you can with naked eyes, and you’d like to know a little more about what you’re seeing. When that happens, here are the items you should consider getting. You might already have some of these:
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We interrupt this gear-n-gadgets blog for an important announcement: Aaron’s gone racing!

He’s crewing aboard a 57-foot Sparkman & Stevens yacht named Lightning, which is competing in the Swiftsure Lightship Classic this weekend. The race starts near Victoria, BC, proceeds out the Strait of Juan de Fuca toward the Pacific Ocean, rounds the Swiftsure Mark, and returns to the finish line near Victoria, a distance of 138.7 nautical miles.

But hold on: This story has a great gear-n-gadget angle, after all! Each competing boat has been provided with a Class B AIS transceiver. The data will be presented in the Swiftsure Race Tracker, a Google Maps mashup, enabling us non-racing couch-potatoes to follow the race in realtime.

Good luck, Lightning, and good luck, Aaron!

(If you missed part 1, you can find it here.)

Amateur astronomy doesn’t really require any equipment at all. Mostly, you need time: time to allow your eyes to adjust to the darkness, and time to watch whatever might be going on up there. Whether aboard your boat or ashore, you’ll want to find a comfortable reclining or semi-reclining position, so you don’t get a sore neck. Ashore, this can be as simple as a blanket and a patch of grass or beach. Seriously, though, make yourself comfortable; otherwise, you won’t watch for very long. Obviously, turn off or move away from all the lights you can. And dress warmly, since your body temperature will start to drop as you spend time inactive. (more…)

Cruisers are unusually fortunate when it comes to astronomical opportunities. We enjoy dark skies and quiet evenings with few distractions. If we’re sailing offshore, we’ll stand watches through the night. Add in a clear sky, and you’ve got all the ingredients you need for a rewarding stargazing session.

Some of the original stargazers were mariners, of course. Nautical astronomy is a specialized discipline in its own right, concerned with precise predictions and complicated mathematics, all aimed at determining a vessel’s position. (more…)

That’s right guys, this is a nail gun for fabric that can punch right through eight layers of heavy canvas. Use this machine to build your own dodgers, biminis, and even sails. Or, ahem, cushions and curtains. Matt Grant of Sailrite put one of their semi-industrial sewing machines through its paces for our camera at Strictly Sail Pacific, and I actually learned a thing or two. Like why you want a walking foot or zigzag stitching capability.

Sailrite is at most of the sailboat shows demoing their sewing machines, and they also have an outstanding catalog of marine and outdoor fabrics and all the supplies you need for canvas work. They have a range of kits from sails to winch covers. And if you’re not confident in your sewing skills, you can get their instructions, books, and videos to get you over the hump.

I’ve had a pretty favorable impression of Sailrite, largely shaped by their friendly presence at boatshows and outstanding catalog, so I did a little searching online to see what other people think of them. I was pleased to discover that most customers have had great experiences with their products and service. And the prices of their portable Ultrafeed machines are quite reasonable, especially considering that they are high quality tools that will give you many years of service.

website: www.sailrite.com

Got a Garmin GPS with the accompanying Mapsource software? Altendorff noticed that there’s a menu item in Mapsource to view your routes in Google Earth, which is a great planning tool in conjunction with your charts, or a great way to reminisce about your voyages. Okay, you know about Google Earth, right? If you’ve ever been fascinated by maps or globes, you MUST check it out (and it’s free).

As regular readers may know, I recently bought a used C-Dory 22 Cruiser. I love my little boat. It came with a nice suite of Raymarine electronics: C-80 multifunction display, GPS, radar, autopilot, and Ray54 VHF radio. It’s this last unit I want to talk about today.

What a nice little unit. It’s got DSC, which means, among other things, that I can hold down the “distress” button for three seconds and the radio will automatically send out a distress call, complete with my current position from GPS and my MMSI number. This MMSI number is important, because it allows the authorities to look me up in the big MMSI database and know all about my vessel.

Oh wait, the radio won’t broadcast my MMSI number. Actually, it will send out the previous owner’s MMSI number. Hold on, that can’t be right. Oh, I see: OK, so I need to apply for a MMSI number from Boat/US, and then update the MMSI number programmed into the radio. Boats (and installed VHF radios) change hands all the time; there’s got to be a simple way to update the MMSI number. As a matter of fact, there is…NOT! (more…)