The engine of a sailboat is its sails, and we need new ones.
These things are not cheap, for a 41′ boat like our Tartan, you can shell out $4000 – $9000 for a single mainsail. For a budget conscious outfitting like ours, we need to think hard about the cost, it will be one of our biggest purchases.
Or are they?
With the beginning of our trip 8 months away, we are doing more and more gear buying as we work through our lists of needs. One of the lists I have been working on this week has been safety gear. Specifically, I have been figuring out the scope of what I need for my motley cabin crew.
Let’s face it, if you are sailing, there is a critical piece of information you need to know.
How windy is it?
Many boats, mine included, have an onboard wind meter, or wind vane, that will give us this information. These are expensive though, from $500-$1000. Wouldn’t it be great if there was an affordable and easy alternative that could be used as a standalone or a backup to your main system?
There is – the Vaavud Wind Meter.
Continue reading “Gear Review: Vaavud Wind Meter”
If you have a Mac laptop (or any other laptop come to that), it can be frustrating trying to charge it from a 12V plug, like that in a car or boat. The draw on a Mac power source can be high, as much as 85 watts for a MacBook Pro.
The initial solution is to buy a small “converter” that will change the voltage and power to something usable. This works well enough, but it’s horribly inefficient. The voltage has to be converted twice before it gets to the laptop, and the converter will often get pretty hot.
Fortunately, there is an easy solution, get a 12V GPK Car Charger from GPK Systems.
Continue reading “Gear Review: GPK Car Charger for Apple Macbook”
This is a video about a Hawaiian spear gun for under $15.
Continue reading “How to Make a Hawaiian Slingshot Speargun”
Sailing With Kids 