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www.oceannavigator.com MAY/JUNE 2020 OCEAN NAVIGATOR 1

Contents

8

Issue #262 May/June 2020

On the cover: Neville Hockley on the bow of Dream Time, a 1981 Cabo Rico 38, anchored within a remote, uninhabited lagoon in the middle of the South Pacific. Catherine Hockley photo.

For more on voyaging, follow us on:

www.facebook.com/oceannavigatorwww.twitter.com/oceannavmag

30

25

DepartmentsChartroom Chatter 4 Plans released for new small, low-cost

race boat 5 Tropical grounding 6 Aussie sailor secures sailing speed record 7 CCA presents 2019 sailing awards 8 Female researchers study plastics in Pacific 8 Sailing events worldwide affected

by pandemic

Marine Tech Notes 9 Virtual sailing during the pandemic

by Tim Queeney

Power Voyaging 11 Oil’s well that ends well

by John Kettlewell

Short Tacks15 Anchor room 17 FADs offshore

Voyaging Tips40 All wave energy must pass

by Phineas Sprague

Navigation42 Celestial navigation series, part 12

Nav Problem 48 November shakedown to Bermuda

by David Berson

18

FeaturesOcean Voyaging18 From the Tagus to Rabat A European winter base and a Moroccan

trip to reset the EU clock

by Craig Smith & Peter Smith

Special Section25 Squeezing out fresh water Modern watermakers range from hands-

off automatic units to basic operator-involved models

by Wayne Canning

30 Building your own watermaker

A look at putting together a unit from standard parts

by Dave McCampbell

34 Avoid drilling holes in your boat

by John Lewis

15

9

34

2 OCEAN NAVIGATOR MAY/JUNE 2020 www.oceannavigator.com www.oceannavigator.com

contributors

Neville Hockley (Short Tacks, “Anchor Room,” page 15) lives aboard the 1981 Cabo Rico 38 Dream Time with his wife, Catherine. For 12 years, Neville and Catherine have explored the world under sail, very slowly, one tropical anchorage at a time, navigating more than 43,000 nautical miles since they departed New York in 2007. After one season in the Mediterranean, they crossed the Atlantic and currently are in the Carib-bean. They plan to sail back to New York by the sum-mer of 2020. They are already dreaming of a return to the South Pacific. To learn more about Dream Time’s adventure, visit their website: www.zeroXTE.com.

Peter Smith (Ocean Voyaging, “From the Tagus to Rabat,” page 18) is a New Zealand boatbuilder, offshore sailor turned long-distance cruiser, and designer of the Rocna anchor. He currently is living on board his cus-tom-designed, self-built, aluminum expedition yacht. Read more about Peter and Kiwi Roa’s adventures, including lots more photos from recent voyages, at www.petersmith.net.nz. Craig Smith is Peter’s son and biographer, who was brought up in the cruising life-style. He now lives in Auckland, New Zealand, while trying to keep track of Kiwi Roa’s whereabouts.

CIRCULATION/EVENTS

CUSTOMER SERVICE: 1-866-918-6972

EMAIL: [email protected]

EDITORIAL

ADVERTISING/MARKETING

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Editor Tim Queeney 207-749-5922 CoPy Editor Kate Murray Art dirECtor Kim Goulet Norton CoNtributiNg EditorS Scott Bannerot Twain Braden Nigel Calder Ellen Massey Leonard Eric Forsyth Jeff & Raine Williams David Berson Ken McKinley Wayne Canning

[email protected]

WESt CoASt uS & CANAdA,

iNtErNAtioNAl Susan W. Hadlock 207-838-0401

EASt CoASt uS & CANAdA, iNtErNAtioNAl Charlie Humphries 207-939-1929 PubliSHEr/ AdvErtiSiNg dirECtor Alex Agnew 207-450-5363

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buSiNESS oFFiCE Lee Auchincloss

ISSN0886-0149Ocean Navigator is published in January, March, May, July, September and November, with an annual special issue of Ocean Voyager in April, for $27.95 per year by Navigator Publishing LLC, 30 Danforth St., Portland, ME 04101. Peri-odicals postage paid at Portland, Maine, and additional mailing offices.Postmaster: Please send address changes to Ocean Navigator, P.O. Box 461468, Escondido, CA 92046.

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OceanavigatOrnMARINENAVIGATIONANDOCEANVOyAGING

MAINOFFICEJohn lewis (Feature, “Avoid drilling holes in your boat,” page 34) grew up sailing in Miami, where he enjoyed plenty of cruising adventures into the Florida Keys with his 16-foot Windmill. His big boat experience started on a 54-foot Herreshoff ketch that had made several passages to Europe. John was a life sciences researcher and then worked in the scientific instrument busi-ness. He has owned several boats on both the East and West Coasts. He did the Singlehanded Transpac in his Nor’Sea 27 in 1994. Retirement meant an opportu-nity to sail his boat around the world at least once. He and a friend completed a six-year circumnavigation in 2014 on his Tayana 37 pilothouse, Active Transport.

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4 OCEAN NAVIGATOR MAY/JUNE 2020 www.oceannavigator.com

If you’ve been wantIng to buIld your own 19-foot (5.8-meter) race boat and sail it around, you may be in luck. McIntyre Adventure, the organizer of the solo 2018 Golden Globe Race and the forthcom-ing fully crewed 2023 Ocean Globe Race, recently released plans

Plans released for new small, low-cost race boat

ChatterChartroom

Below, the Mini 5.80

boat is designed

to use sustainable

plantation plywood.

Right, Class Mini 5.80

founding board mem-

ber Eli Van Der Broke,

on right, presents

license for Hull No.

2 to Michiel Pals of

Kolibri Yachtbuilders

in the Netherlands.

<<

expressed for this little plywood Mini-Mini that I love and can-not wait to sail,” Don McIntyre, founder of the Mini 5.80 Class, said in a press release. “We have schools talking about building fleets, friends getting together to build two or three side by side, and yacht clubs wanting to know more. Even top-name sailors are looking to have some fun on a simple boat for a change, where the

(in Amsterdam, just as the city’s HISWA Boat Show closed down due to COVID-19) to estab-lish a new international one-design class called the Mini 5.80. The new boat design is meant to be built from sustainable plantation plywood and is intended as a low-cost race boat. The cost for the plans is 300 euros ($322).

“We are surprised and excited at the level of interest and passion

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MAY/JUNE 2020 OCEAN NAVIGATOR 5www.oceannavigator.com

human element is more important than the tech-nology. This little yacht with a big heart for even bigger adventures has a strong future for sure!”

Designed by Polish sailor Janusz Maderski, the plans go against the modern trend of high-tech, extreme foil-ing yachts — instead returning to the basic principles of a simple, strong, safe and afford-able oceangoing mini racer that can be built with simple tools. The design reportedly can be towed behind a fam-ily car and will fit into a 20-foot container for shipping.

McIntyre Adventure

also states that the Class Mini 5.80 Association will establish controls and simple guidelines to monitor construction, with all owners required to create an online blog and post clear photos and descriptions of their build process. Building materials will be speci-fied and simple surveys will be carried out on the steel-plate lead bulb keel. McIntyre further stated that critical rud-der and chain plate components will be sup-plied by the 5.80 class, and minimum build weights will be set and checked. The boat will reportedly require 500 hours to build.

after the cold of wInter, northern saIlors may be thinking about the won-ders of a warm, tropical destination like Hawaii and some beautiful sum-mer sailing. But not all is perfect, even in Hawaii. The Coast Guard was called to assist a 35-foot ketch named Steady Beat that experienced an “anchor failure” and went aground near Waikiki Beach Hotel.

USCG Sector Hono-lulu watch standers issued an Urgent Marine Information Broad-cast (UMIB) notice to mariners, deployed a Sta-tion Honolulu 45-foot response boat-medium crew, and Coast Guard

marine safety personnel responded.

The reported maxi-mum pollution potential was 30 gallons of diesel fuel, engine lube oil and marine batteries. All 30 gallons of fuel were removed, along with lube oil from the engine, miscellaneous household cleaners and four marine batteries.

While tropical con-ditions are not always benign and a squall can be challenging, the con-ditions at the time of the grounding were report-edly 2-foot surf seas and a 3-mph wind — not exactly the type of weath-er that you’d expect to put a boat on the beach.

Tropical grounding

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Coast Guard

and state offi-

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the salvage

of a sailboat

that went

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ChatterChartroom

Aussie sailor secures sailing speed recordwhIle most saIlors have slowed down a bIt by age 81, Australian sailor and Ocean Cruising Club member Bill Hatfield is setting speed records. On Feb. 22, 2020, he became the oldest man to sail around the world solo, nonstop and unassisted. He also set two official

solo, nonstop, in a vessel under 40 feet, regardless of age.

The WSSR Council announced the establish-ment of a new World Record Reference Time:

• Time: Around the World Westabout, Single-handed, 40 feet

• Yacht: L’Eau Commo-tion, Northshore 38

• Name: Bill Hatfield (AUS)

• Dates: June 8, 2019, to Feb. 22, 2020

• Start time: 02:04:10 UTC on June 8, 2019

• Finish time: 00:28:19 UTC on Feb. 22, 2020

• Elapsed time: 258 days, 22 hours, 24 min-utes and nine seconds

• Distance: 21,600 nm• Average speed: 3.48

knots• Comments: No pre-

vious record, hence an “Initial Benchmark Time.”

“I really didn’t set out for it to be a big media thing,” Hatfield said. “A few people said I must do a blog and because I did it every day, I rather self-ishly thought if I didn’t do it every day, people would take seriously any EPIRB activation — and I did get a few alerts when I got closer to land than I should have.”

Above, Bill Hat-

field after return-

ing from his latest

circumnavigation.

Below right, Hat-

field’s Northshore

38, L’Eau Commo-

tion, on his return

to Australia.

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speed records in the pro-cess. The World Speed Sailing Record Council confirmed Hatfield’s two records on March 11. His records are: 1) the first westabout, solo, nonstop circumnavigation from Australia, and 2) the first westabout circumnaviga-tion from any country,

<<


<<

on march 6, the cruIsIng club of amerIca presented its 2019 sailing awards at the New York Yacht Club in New York City. French, Irish and Ameri-can sailors were honored for outstanding achieve-ments in their sailing exploits.

French sailor Guirec Soudée from Brittany, France, was presented with the Young Voyager Award. Soudée com-pleted a five-year voyage, starting at age 21, that included the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, the Northwest Passage, win-tering over in the ice of Greenland and visiting Antarctica. After receiv-ing the award, Soudée said he wasn’t a good sailor when he started out, and further claimed that after 45,000 miles

he still doesn’t consider himself very good. “I’ve learned to never give up, to work hard and to have confidence,” Soudée said. “Life is short. Anything can happen, so you have to make it a happy life.” One of the more unusual aspects of Soudée’s five-year voyage is that he was accompanied on board by his pet hen, Monique.

Irish sailor Gregor McGuckin of Dublin, Ireland, was given the Rod Stephens Seaman-ship Trophy for the attempted rescue in the Southern Ocean of a fel-low Golden Globe Race competitor, after himself being dismasted and erecting a jury-rig. He referenced the “unwrit-ten understanding that when one of us gets into difficulty, we know

CCA presents 2019 sailing awards

Left, Guirec Soudée with his

hen, Monique. Above, Irish

sailor Gregor McGuckin.

Below, French solo racer Jean-

Luc Van Den Heede, winner of

the 2018 Golden Globe Race.

there is a whole group of people who will have our back out there.” McGu-ckin said his rescue attempt was not unusual for ocean sailors who are united by a love of sail-ing. “I just happened to be in this situation and have no doubt that any-one else in my situation would have done the exact same thing.”

Noted French solo sailor Jean-Luc Van Den Heede, winner of the 2018 Golden Globe Race, was named as the 2019 recipient of CCA’s esteemed Blue Water Medal in honor of his achievements in single-handed sailing. The six-time solo cir-cumnavigator was unable to travel to New York to accept his award, but the CCA has invited him

to next year’s ceremony to receive his award in person.

Other awards included the Richard S. Nye Tro-phy for Sheila McCurdy of Middletown, R.I.; the Far Horizons Award, given to Peter and Gin-ger Niemann of Seattle; the Royal Cruising Club Trophy, presented to Stephen W. James of Palm City, Fla.; and the Charles H. Vilas Literary Prize, awarded to mother and son pair Molly and Porter Barnes of Los Oli-vos, Calif.

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as the covId-19 pandemIc spawns a progressIvely wIder impact on the world at large, it is cutting a simi-larly wide swath through sailing events worldwide. A sampling of canceled events includes the 2020 St. Thomas International Regatta, the 2020 Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta, the 2020 BVI Spring Regatta, the 2020 Antigua Bermuda

Sailing events worldwide affected by pandemic

ChatterChartroom

an all-female crew of researchers, called eXXpedI-tion Round the World, departed Easter Island on March 9 aboard the 73-foot research ketch TravelEdge, bound for Tahiti to study plastics in the ocean and in the South Pacific Gyre. The passage is the eighth leg in a two-year scientific research mis-sion, in which more than 300 women from around the world will participate. Altogether, the trip is composed of 30 individual voyage legs, during which the researchers will gather plastic samples from the world’s various oceans and seas, including four of the five oceanic gyres.

“Easter Island is an

Female researchers study plastics in Pacificincredibly important stop on our world mission,” Emily Penn, mission direc-tor for eXXpedition, said in a press release. “The South Pacific Gyre is the least researched accumulation zone, and we’re looking for-ward to being able to share our learning and experi-ences once our inbound crew reaches land.”

Starting at Easter Island, one of the most remote inhabited islands on Earth, the crew will look at plas-tic pollution challenges on land. They will then sail to the Pitcairn Islands group and aim to visit the uninhabited islands of Ducie and Henderson, where observers have noted between 200 and 2,000

times more trash on the islands in 2017 compared to counts per-formed in 1991. In Tahiti, the crew will investigate the impact of this influx of marine debris.

According to eXXpedi-tion, the reason for the all-female crew is that women are still underrepresented in the science, technol-ogy, engineering and math (STEM) sectors. Glob-ally, women occupy only 13 percent of the STEM workforce (including health professionals), and are also underrepresented in sailing as well as the wider sporting community.

Global resource sustain-ability company TOMRA has joined as a science advisor and gold sponsor for eXXpedition Round the World. Several women from the TOMRA team will be aboard as crew-members to work on the mission, including two on the voyage from Easter Island to Tahiti.

Race, the British Ched-dar Ales Chase, the 2020 Maine Boatbuilders Show, the 2020 Palm Beach International Boat Show (rescheduled), the RORC Easter Challenge, the 2020 Newport to Ensenada Race, the 2020 OSTAR/TWOSTAR Transatlantic Race, and the 2020 New-port Bermuda Race in addition to many more.

The three final legs of the 2019-20 Clipper Round the World Race, which began in September 2019, have been post-poned for 10 months. The boats and crews, originally scheduled to depart the Philippines on March 21 bound for Seattle, were quarantined at Subic Bay on March 15.

Even with these unpleas-

ant developments for ocean racers, there is hopeful news for the future: The organizers of the 2021-22 Ocean Race have announced that race will go forward in October 2021, with racers departing from Alicante, Spain, in October 2021, visiting 10 interna-tional cities and finishing in Genoa, Italy, in the sum-mer of 2022. n

A team of researchers

will study the plastics and

other detritus in the South

Pacific Gyre between Eas-

ter Island and Tahiti.

<<

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Sailing and voyaging are an intriguing mix of

companionship and solitude. And, given the need for people to stay separated to slow the growth of the COVID-19 outbreak, sailing groups and boatbuilders are looking for new ways to maintain the social nature of sailing and get prospective buyers to look at boats.

The group element of sail-ing is perfectly demonstrated by events like regattas and race series, where part of the fun

is sailing together with your fellow crewmembers on your boat, as well as taking part in the captains’ meetings and cookouts and parties ashore. The gathering of fellow sailors, of people who all speak the same language of sailing, is the lifeblood of the social side of the sport.

The solitude aspect of sail-ing is something experienced by perhaps a smaller group of sailors who prefer the contem-plative quiet of being aboard alone or with a small crew. In

With boat

shows can-

celled, some

boatbuilders

are turning to

use of virtual

tours for their

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Hylas H60.

BY TIm quEENEY

Virtual sailing during the pandemic

MARINE tEch NotEs

that realm, standing watch at midnight, for example, is a way to connect with the natural environment — and perhaps some of one’s own mental and spiritual environment — in a deep way that isn’t usually available on a boat full of out-going conversationalists.

The social side of sailing requires a level of interaction only readily available in groups. Another element where groups work best is with sailing edu-cation. Community sailing organizations, of course, have

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Some com-

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groups, like Sail

Newport, are

looking for new

ways to replace

hands-on sailing

and sail training.

education as a big part of their reason for being. Education is usually most efficient in groups and, for an activity like sailing, when people can learn “hands on.” The current situation is forcing some adaptation that may not be the best for hands-on learning but nevertheless continues the educa-tion for group members.

Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, Calif., has long had a vibrant sailing program through its School of Sailing and Seamanship (OCC-sailing.com). It involves educa-tion and hands-on training from small boats up to offshore vessels. According to Mette Segerblom, the school’s sailing program coor-dinator, the need to go virtual has already involved changes at OCC. “We are looking at possibly moving our Coastal Navigation 1 class to an online environment and record an informational piece about USCG licensing,” Segerblom said. “How-ever, we don’t have specific details as of yet. We are looking at all our

classes for possible ways of engaging our students.”

Sailing Ships Maine, a sail-training nonprofit designed to edu-cate young people about maritime careers, is partnering with AVTEC’s Alaska Maritime Training Center (www.AVTEC.edu) to offer mari-time training to high school students

MARINE tEch NotEs

sailing and navigation simulation to the global sailing community.” According to Sail Newport and Sail-online, this was the first in a series of planned virtual races.

When asked what prompted this idea, Brad Read, executive director of Sail Newport, wrote in an email: “This was something that we as a staff came up with. I knew some of the folks at Sailonline.org and they were wonderful in creating a course on their platform that I came up with — a tour of Narragansett Bay. [It was] really well received. The Sailonline community [was] super supportive. Happy to provide a dis-traction!”

Other efforts to go digital include yacht brokers like Denison Yachting in Florida, which is touting its “Vir-tual Boat Show.” Boatbuilders like-wise have been making use of virtual tours to allow potential buyers the opportunity to “walk through” their boats. Hylas Sailing Yachts recently sent out a press release promoting its “Hylas H60 Virtual Guided Tour.” The company described the 360-degree presentation of its new H60 as a “powerful all-in-one 3D data platform that brings you to an accurate and immersive digital space.” Hylas isn’t the first boat-builder to offer a user-controlled virtual tour of its boats, but it is another example of how this trend will likely expand to all builders.

With the challenges of COVID-19 likely to be around for some time, these types of virtual efforts will at least attempt to fill the gap left by the crimp in social sailing. n

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interested in maritime learning. The “Introduction to Nautical Skills” course ran from Jan. 14 to March 31, with another offering of the course available in the fall.

Sail Newport in Rhode Island (sailnewport.org) got aboard the vir-tual boat early: The sailing organiza-tion joined up with the online virtu-al sailing site Sailonline.org and held a virtual race through Narragansett Bay dubbed the “Quahog Cup” on March 22. The racers sailed virtual Farr 30s. Sailonline is owned and operated by Sailonline NavSim AB, a not-for-profit, community-owned company. It defines its mission as “to offer a superior Internet-based

http://www.AVTEC.edu

http://Sailonline.org/


power voyaging

Oil is oil, right? Wrong! Have you experienced

the dread of searching for the correct engine oil in a foreign country where you don’t speak the language? Your little pocket dictionary won’t have the translation for, “I need API CJ-4 15W-40 die-sel oil.” Pointing at the bottle on the shelf might work, but be sure you are pointing at the correct container!

To complicate matters, outside of North America you will find different prominent codes on the container related to other standards organizations like the ACEA (Association des

Constructeurs Européens d’Automobiles), and you may see manufacturer-specific codes as well. Luck-ily, major oil suppliers tend to include a wide variety of codes on their labels, but you may find it to be infor-mation overkill.

A typical oil label on the back of popular Shell Rim-ula diesel oil (found widely outside of the U.S.) might look something like this:

“SAE Viscosity Grade: 15W-40.

API CI-4, CG-4, CF-4, CF; ACEA E7, E5; Global DHD-1, Cummins CES 20071, 72, 76, 77, 78;

Left, marine

diesel engines

are impres-

sive machines,

but without

the proper

oil, they will

not operate

as intended.

Below, a photo

of the oil page

from John

Kettlewell’s

engine manual

that he keeps

on his phone

for reference

when buying

oil.

Cat ECF-1-A; DDC 93K215; Mack EO-M, EO-M+; MAN 3275; MB Approval 228.3; Renault Trucks RLD-2; Volvo VDS-3.”

What does it mean, and how do you find the cor-rect oil for your engine,

or does it matter at all? Addressing the last ques-tion first: Yes, it matters. But, depending on the type of engine, its age and what type of oil it was originally

Oil’s well that ends wellSTORy ANd PhOTOS By JOhN kETTlEwEll


power voyaging

spec’d for, you can probably get away with a variety of oils that might not be ideal but likely won’t do any major damage. Notice all the caveats in that last sentence. No, it is not a good idea to stray far from the manufacturer’s guide-lines — but yes, you may have to when tied up to the only fish boat dock with supplies of diesel oil.

Reading comprehensionThe place to start is in the engine hand-book that came with your new motor, which hopefully you have a copy of. If your ves-sel’s engine dates from the last decade or so, the recommendations might align pretty well with the labels on oil bottles. However, if you have an older boat, don’t be surprised if the official oil information doesn’t really match up with what you can purchase today.

For example, my Perkins diesel dates from 1978 and the engine hand-book lists such things as Shell Rotella TX in 20W/20 or 20W/40, both of which are obsolete and

no longer available. Plus, it only lists some MIL specs and nothing about API or ACEA stuff. You are unlikely to find MIL specs listed on a bottle of oil today.

Should you go hunting for antique engine oil? Obviously that is impractical, and in fact would be detrimental to your engine. Like many technologies, engine oil quality and performance have

advanced significantly in the last 40 years. If you

go direct to Per-kins, or to many

other major diesel engine companies, you will find them recommend-

ing their own brand of 15W-40

oil with a CI-4 or CJ-4 designation for a

wide variety of engine sizes and types. The particular brand is

less important than the API code and weight

numbers.

The multitool of oilsWhy has this single oil (15W-40) replaced that

page of alterna-tives in our old

engine manuals? We first have to look at what

the numbers mean. The first part, “15W,” stands for the oil’s viscosity

(how thick and resistant to flow it is) in cold temperatures; the “40” is the viscosity at normal engine operating temperature, which is quite hot. The idea is that you need a thinner oil to flow easier when it is cold outside or when starting the engine, but the oil is engineered to increase in viscosity as it heats up in order to maintain the proper protection of engine components.

One thing to keep in mind is that the lower the W number, the easier your engine will start due to less resistance turning over with a thinner oil, and the oil will flow faster through the many oil cavi-ties in your engine. A large por-tion of total engine wear occurs during startup and until the engine warms to proper tempera-ture. During this period of time, the engine is somewhat “starved” of lubrication. Almost no matter how thin the oil is or how low the W number, the oil is simply too thick for good lubrication dur-ing startup. That is one reason why it is not a good idea to blast off under full throttle right after firing up the engine. Let it warm up a bit, and your engine oil and engine will be much happier.

Going back to our old manuals recommending things like straight 20W oils and sometimes a 20W-40, there was a good reason for that. Engineers knew about the extra wear caused by cold startups, so they spec’d oils that were light enough to allow for reasonable starts yet heavy enough for hot running. Oil technology of the

These API symbols found on lubricating oil

packages provide information about vis-

cosity and the types of service the oil was

designed to provide.


have wider viscosity ratings. For example, Shell sells Rotella T6 synthetic in weights of 0W-40, 5W-40 and 15W-40. Most boat owners would see little gain in going to anything below a 15W oil unless you start your engine in below-freezing temperatures.

You will get a lot of water-front advice not to switch from conventional oil if you have an older engine with a lot of hours on it. You will hear horror stories about leaky seals and loss of oil. Synthetics do sometimes cause these problems on older engines due to improved cold-flow prop-

day couldn’t produce multigrade oil that could last a full oil change interval and maintain the proper viscosities at both startup and normal operating temperature. Today’s 15W-40 diesel oils can do that, as has been amply proven in millions of over-the-road trucks, all sorts of commercial vehicles and other equipment that utilizes diesel engines that are very similar to marine ones.

SyntheticsTo further complicate matters, there are many so-called “syn-thetic” oils on the market that

can be easily recognized by their higher prices and dramatic adver-tising copy. I won’t get deeply into the pro and con arguments for synthetic oil, but suffice it to say it is probably superior to so-called “conventional” oil, though it is not required for most marine engines yet.

If you have an older engine, the handbook will not mention syn-thetics, but there will definitely be a possible synthetic substitute for whatever conventional oil you are running. Synthetics have bet-ter cold-flow properties — even at the same W rating — and they

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erties (when the engine is at rest) and because synthetics tend to be good at cleaning up old sludge in your engine, which may be acting as an oil seal.

If you are interested in switch-ing to synthetic oil in an older engine, my recommendation is to try it gradually. Maybe start out by trying a semisynthetic oil, or by mixing your own by putting a mix of conventional and synthetic. See how it goes. Yes, it is generally safe to mix oils of different weights and types as long as they have similar API ratings like CH or CJ. In my experience, synthetics can provide a noticeable improvement in cold starts, even when temperatures are well above freezing, and synthetic oils have greater durability and create a potential for longer drain intervals.

The bottom line is that you will find it very hard, if not impossible, to quantify any gains by switching from the recom-mended type, weight and service designation of oil recommended by your engine’s manufacturer, which is very likely to be the aforementioned conventional CI or CJ 15W-40.

Alphabet soupMoving forward into the 21st century, you’ll find more and different acronyms followed by numbers on the backs of oil bottles. As stated previously, most of the newer oils are “backwards compatible,” meaning when your engine originally called for API CG-4 but all you can find is CJ-4, there is no need to worry. API

categories for diesel engines, until recently, all began with the let-ter “C,” followed by the various letters of the alphabet. So, CF-4 came before CG-4, and CG-4 came before CJ-4, and so on. The gradual march down the alpha-bet related to improvements in oil specifications over the years, so you can be confident you are doing your engine good by pur-chasing the latest, greatest alpha-bet combination — until the last few years!

In the quest for lower engine emissions and greater fuel econo-my, modern diesels are becoming higher revving and hotter run-ning, and they are beginning to utilize additional equipment that reduces soot, particles and green-house gas emissions. To keep these engines running properly, we started to see CK-4 and FA-4 oils in December 2016. Luckily, CK oils retain the backwards compat-ibility described above, but FA-4 oils do not! As a tiny warning about this, the diagram known as the “API donut,” which is found on many oil bottles, highlights the FA-4 designation in a red seg-ment. The days when you can just grab any bottle of diesel oil at Walmart or a truck stop are over!

Another thing you will notice at your local truck stop or Walmart is that the shelves are heavily stocked with lower-viscos-ity oils like 5W-30 and 10W-30, which are engineered for easy starting of very tight-tolerance engines at lower temperatures, as well as for maximum fuel econ-omy. Unless your marine engine

handbook or manufacturer speci-fies those weights, be wary about trying lower-viscosity oils.

Few, if any marine engines, require FA-4 oils yet, but it is good to be aware of their exis-tence since you will find them widely available wherever truck oil is sold, and those stores are great places to purchase quality oil for your marine engine. But watch out! Major manufacturers like Mobil and Shell are produc-ing CK-4 and FA-4 oils that may be on the shelves right next to each other in very similar looking bottles. Typical clues that you are grabbing an FA bottle are phrases like “Advanced Fuel Economy.”

FA oils are all about pollu-tion and fuel economy. These attributes are also needed in the marine engine world, and there is no doubt many boaters will soon be looking specifically for FA oil since it is spec’d in their engine handbook — or maybe it will be in the engine app!

One little trick I have found invaluable is to store a note on my phone with various filter numbers and engine oil specs so I have that information literally at my fin-gertips when I am in the oil store. I attach a photo of the oil page from my engine handbook to the note.

Good oil hunting! n

John Kettlewell is the executive director of Sail Martha’s Vineyard. He has been cruising from Labrador to the Caribbean for more than 40 years, and he’s the author of The Intracoastal Waterway Chartbook.


Short tackS

Above, the

custom-painted

“Makemo

marker” the

Hockleys use

to mark their

anchor posi-

tion. Left, their

Cabo Rico 38,

Dream Time, at

anchor in Anti-

gua with plenty

of room.

One of the challenges of world voyaging is not only navigating open ocean, but also negotiating a busy anchorage when you finally arrive at your destination.

Eleven years ago in Makemo, our first anchorage in the Tuamotus — a remote chain of atolls that rests in the middle of the South Pacific — a pearl farmer allowed us to select a float from an impressive collection of weathered markers and buoys stacked on the sun-bleached coral on the edge of a dazzling turquoise lagoon. We chose an old fiberglass buoy about the size of a vol-leyball and asked how much we could pay him. It was a gift, he said with a smile, and welcomed us to French Poly-nesia.

Later that week, with our

1981 Cabo Rico Dream Time anchored alone in a lagoon — floating in water so abso-lutely clear a perfect shadow of the boat, even our kayak, could be seen resting on the sandy bottom 20 feet below the surface — we painted the buoy white and put a rusty can of green boottop paint to good use, branding our new float with an anchor on the top and “Dream Time NY” around its waterline.

Over the years and 46,000 nautical miles of world voyag-ing, my wife Catherine and I have deployed our Makemo marker in dozens of countries, and it has served us well — in the waters off Tonga, New Zealand, Fiji, Vanuatu, Aus-tralia, even Norfolk Island, Thailand, Turkey, Greece and Spain. And, as we have just crossed the Atlantic Ocean,

Anchor room by Neville Hockley

sailing from Cape Verde to Saint Lucia, it now marks the location of our anchor in the Caribbean Sea. But unlike the deep anchorages we’ve visited where limestone ledges or volcanic rock threatened to snag our ground tackle, here we’re using it not to retrieve a fouled hook but to help secure a little room.

When we left New York in 2007, we sailed south to the Panama Canal, explor-ing the quieter shorelines of Belize, Guatemala and Hon-duras, and along the way we shared anchorages with just a handful of boats. But this is our first time in the Eastern

Nev

ille

Ho

ckle

y

Neville H

ockley


Short tackS

Caribbean, and space — particu-larly in the Leeward and Windward Islands — can be at a premium. Many of the popular bays sur-rounding Saint Lucia, Martinique, Antigua and the U.S. Virgin Islands

are at capacity with thousands of cruising boats, charter catamarans and megayachts of all shapes and sizes squeezed together with barely any swing room to spare. But, even during the height of the sail-

ing season, there are still plenty of anchorages with more than enough room to go around. Ironically, it’s when we find these quieter corners — locations not marked in the local cruising guide books — while anchored in shallow water with a sandy seabed that our Makemo marker has proven to be the most helpful.

Captains and charter yachts accustomed to anchoring in close quarters may not give a second thought to anchoring just off your bow, especially if they’ve just sailed over from English Harbour where a mere boat length between neigh-bors is standard practice. But if you don’t want a new neighbor quite so close, deploying an anchor marker can be a useful technique to secur-ing a little room.

Anchor floats won’t work in crowded bays where space is limited and where boats lay and swing over each other’s hooks, but if there’s plenty of room to spare and you want new arrivals to know where your anchor is placed — especially if you’re on a full-keeled vessel that lays to current rather than wind — then an old fender over your hook can be a helpful marker to all.

We’re anchored now in Antigua, and while we may no longer have an entire lagoon all to ourselves, thanks to our Makemo marker at least we’ve secured a few boat lengths off our bow.

—Neville and Catherine Hockley sail aboard

their Cabo Rico 38, Dream Time, and have just

returned from a circumnavigation. To read

more about Dream Time’s world voyage, visit

www.zeroXTE.com.

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In some places in the world, voy-agers need to look out for FADs in the water. The official term for a FAD is a “fish aggregating device,” although on our boat we tend to call it a “fish attracting device.”

Fish like shade, so the locals build something and anchor it to the bottom — even in 5,000 feet of water! Sometimes they’re bam-boo structures, but often they’re steel drums, perhaps 10 feet across and 15 feet long. They’re unlit and uncharted, so they are huge hazards to navigation, especially for us catamarans.

They’re common enough that we try really hard not to sail

FADs offshore by Jon Hacking

at night in any part of South-east Asia, but of course sometimes that’s just not possible. Recently in Davao Gulf (southeastern Philip-pines), we ran right over one at about 8 p.m. Luckily, it appeared to be only Styrofoam covered in scooter tires. After catching on our anchoring bridle, it broke the bridle and went between our hulls, forced down by our bridge deck. This scared us, but no lasting dam-age was done.

We mark FADs on our charts, and we publish those overlays on our website as GPX files for other cruisers to download (along with our tracks and other useful infor-

mation, like depths over bars). But new FADs are constantly being built, and they’re not well anchored, so they tend to drift around.

In the Caribbean, the locals simply break down several card-board boxes and spread them out on the surface. They come back after a few hours and troll around the outside of their floating mini-island, and then they’ve got din-ner. Much less of a hazard for us, and much cheaper to make, but of course they only last a day. n

—Jon Hacking sails with his wife, Sue, aboard

Ocelot, their Kronos 48 Waquiez-designed cat.

A fish aggre-

gating device

in Indonesian

waters.

Co

urtesy In

do

nesian

Min

istry of M

aritime A

ffairs and

Fisheries


600 nautical miles of calm, we found the Portuguese trade winds and again reached the final miles to the Portuguese coast.

We made landfall under a poled yankee at the mouth of the Tagus River, where the headland of Cascais forms its northern coastline. Here, there is safe anchorage for any winds except southerlies, and also a marina that can provide

Upon departing North America and Greenland, our

future plans saw our 52-foot aluminum sloop Kiwi Roa based around Europe and the North Atlantic, with ventures to the likes of Iceland and Svalbard possible. For the northern winters, a southern base was desirable — and one that would provide for our New Zealand yacht to spend years in and around the EU. The result was that from Cape Farewell, the compass

Above, Kiwi

Roa dockside

at Doca de

Alcântara in

Portugal. Far

right, Kiwi Roa

hauled out for

work on the

keel (right),

damaged by a

collision with

a rock shelf in

Greenland.

heading was southeast.We intended to stop at the

Azores, but by the middle of December we were too late and weather depressions had begun tracking across the route. After five days of strug-gling with contrary winds, Peter got the message and reshaped our course directly for the Iberian Peninsula. The winds gave us five days of fast reaching, after which a high expanded out as far as the English Channel and sat over the Atlantic for a week. After

A European winter base and a Moroccan trip to reset the EU clock

Tagus to RabatFROM THE

STORY AND PHOTOS BY PETER & CRAIG SMITH


respite for sleep and timing of tides before pushing on toward Lisbon. Ashore, the area is developed for tourism, or at least the facade of the seafront. More interesting are the historic buildings, particu-larly five centuries’ worth of fortifications that the modern additions cluster around. The squat walls of the Citadel of Cascais border the beachline from a view at anchor: At one end, a foreboding complex of pentagonal fort towers; at the opposite defensive position, a cyan swimming pool has been installed.

This southern European mixture continues along the coast. After recovering from the trans-Atlantic, we first made for Doca de Alcântara marina near central Lisbon, the likeliest to accept transient visitors and provide a good starting base. We sailed under the imposing steel suspension bridge named Ponte 25 de Abril for the bloodless “Car-nation Revolution” of 1974 that ended the Estado Novo regime.

Predating 20th-century drama is Portugal’s more mar-

ketable history: Walking dis-tance from Doca de Alcântara is the enormous Monument to the Discoveries, celebrat-ing the Age of Exploration. In the form of a ship’s prow, this is a tall slab of concrete and limestone, lined on either side by historical figures headed by Prince Henry the Navigator holding a carrack. They stare out to the harbor, at their feet a small boat marina berthing dozens of the modern Portuguese sailor’s more modest affairs.

The Alcân-tara marina was our home for a few weeks and a good base for vari-ous Lisbon-centric tourist activities. It is a municipally oper-ated marina berthing mostly permanent boats, so there are no seasonal rates — they use a sliding scale based on days stayed.

The Tagus River widens into a large estuary, many miles across, before it contin-ues into the continent. While the Lisbon coast is fairly uni-

From Cape

Farewell, Kiwi

Roa sailed

southeast to

Portugal and

later to Rabat

in Morocco.

form, the southern banks are broken by a complex of inlets formed by tributaries and sub-estuaries. On a peninsula south of Lisbon proper is the town of Seixal, a river and fishing center once known for its dockyards and shipbuild-ing. Kiwi Roa anchored here among small local boats bob-bing at moorings, waiting in a holding pattern before pro-

gressing to our final destination.

Across another small estu-ary is the neighboring town of Amora, where we found the deciding factor in our original selection of Portugal: Tagus Yacht Center, a haul-out boatyard. At its dock, Kiwi Roa squelched in mud at all tides but high, and was surrounded by an assortment of depressing derelict vessels. But, Rafael and Sergio — sons of the founders — have a 70-ton travel lift and reputed good value for money. They are DIY-friendly and accept-ing of live-aboards, and shops and other support are nearby. Peter particularly liked this yard; the price was right and it included power, water, Wi-Fi

Route ofKiwi Roa

A T L A N T I C

O C E A N

40°

50°

60°

30°

N

20°30°40°50° 60° 10° W 0°

Cape Farewell,GREENLAND

Rabat,MOROCCO

Lisbon

Olhao

Rabat

S P A I N

MO

ROCCO

PO

RT

UG

AL

A t l a n t i c

O c e a n


and basic ablutions. There are boatbuilding and basic machine shop facilities avail-able to those who are practi-cal. Recommended to us by a reliable friend, it was to be Kiwi Roa’s home for the next 10 months.

A major refitThis was in the pursuit of a major refit for Kiwi Roa. She had carried us safely for many thousands of ocean miles through some of the world’s hardest conditions and had endured two major sailing accidents: one a knockdown in the Furious Fifties between New Zealand and Chile, and the other a half-roll between the Falklands and South Afri-ca. The rig and all systems had survived intact but with some damage, including a broken

boom gooseneck, broken strands in the aft lower stays, and doubtless more unseen.

Peter disconnected the boom from the mast before unstepping it while still afloat, an easier job against the dock. Kiwi Roa’s mast is 65 feet high and with all shrouds, attach-ment and furler, it weighs one ton. With the boat cradled on the hard, it was time to get to work — a mast refit, spreaders repainted, and preparations made for the yankee to be replaced and a roller furler added. The old hanked system had been starting to test the aging skipper’s limits.

A critical keel repairThe hull presented more major work: the routine anti-fouling recoat, as well as the re-polishing of Kiwi Roa’s

unpainted aluminum hull, which Peter likes to perform every five years or thereabouts. More critical was the keel, which we had badly dam-aged back in Greenland by slamming into a rock shelf at 5 knots. This tested the hull (and rig) beyond reasonable limits, and now the damage could be properly assessed. The keel on Kiwi Roa is a low-aspect-ratio fin filled with 7 tons of lead, contained in a keel box of 10-millimeter alloy plate, which is welded directly to the equally thick hull plate chines. Kiwi Roa’s fuel tanks’ top and bottom plates provide second and third skins, which never got tested even though the keel’s side plates were split away from the round leading edge by the collision. That solid bar of alloy had been bent back into the lead ballast, bulging the plate up to the fuel tank. The whole keel box had been shunted out of alignment with the hull, and the stress could be seen in circular cracks radi-ating through the underwater epoxy on the hull itself. It was an impact that would have ripped the keel or bottom out of most boats.

Above, Kiwi

Roa anchored

at Olhão in

southern Por-

tugal. Below,

Salé Medina

from across the

bar at Rabat.


After the refit and repairs were completed, Kiwi Roa was relaunched. We first stopped at the Seixal dock, a floating pontoon for local small boats, to clean the boat up after the winter’s work and take deliv-ery of a new HydraNet genoa. The local sailmakers were not quite up to the task, so this was an expensive shipment from Cape Town. With a lit-tle nervousness, Peter hoisted it at the dock — a perfect fit. Then it was back to Doca de Alcântara to complete fitting the new rollers and tune the rig, and Kiwi Roa was ready to return to the winds and waves.

Kiwi Roa would depart and return to Lisbon several times over the course of several years. One can venture back out of the Tagus to Cascais to wait for a weather window at the marina there. We also filled with diesel and had some work done at the on-site North Sails loft. The Atlan-tic swell surge can penetrate the marina at times, mean-ing much dock movement, surging vessels and chafe problems with shore lines. We waited out an early winter storm; every now and then,

a big wave would spend itself against the marina breakwater, sending sheets of green water and spray 50 feet into the air.

To the AlgarveOur first trip was to get the boat out of the EU for the paperwork clock reset, and southward lay the answer. En route was the Portuguese Algarve region, the holiday and retirement destination of choice for many Europeans. It’s 165 nm from Cascais to the waters near Faro at the southern extremity of Por-

tugal, well along the coast toward the Spanish border and the Straits of Gibraltar. Here is a large, protected inlet surrounded by a barrier of low-lying sandy islands with names like Ilha Deserta, run-ning some 10 miles along the coast, sheltering the beautiful Rio Formosa web of marshy wetlands and channels that form perfect anchorages. We dropped the hook off the beaches of Ilha do Farol, a small fishing village clus-tered around a picturesque lighthouse. The islands are

Below, the

Monument to

the Discoveries

in Lisbon.

22 OCEAN NAVIGATOR MAY/JUNE 2020 www.oceannavigator.com www.oceannavigator.com

pleasant, but the right south-westerly conditions can make navigation dangerous. A sub-stantial breakwater guards the entrance between the islands, and the tide can run at 7 knots through it.

Confusingly, this island is also called Ilha da Culatra, and features a second village by that name on the north-ern side. Both house local fishermen, whom we found somewhat reticent — perhaps understandably annoyed with tourists and jaded by the hun-dreds of yachts that swamp the perfect anchorages in summer. Many buildings are abandoned, including houses and churches; the reality is that seasonal tourist money keeps these places propped up. Culatra has a few small shops and cafes catering to tourists. The locals use their fast, small, open boats to nip across to the mainland towns.

For our own resupply, we managed to find anchorage off the town of Olhão. This was our last mainland stop before departure.

South to MoroccoBy that December we had

cians founded their colony a few kilometers inland. Up and down the coast there are several small, modern ports formed by breakwaters but their utility is limited. The awkward part of the sail from Europe is not the passage but navigating the river entrance, which nowadays features a dual-stage breakwater system that attempts to buffer the Atlantic swell but neverthe-less leaves a dangerous bar to contend with. Entry requires timing, and Kiwi Roa with its 7-foot, 2-inch draft needed a high tide, ocean swell less than 6 feet, and daylight. This was complicated by the beginning of Atlantic winter storms and resulting ripples emanating from the north that ended their own passage in seafoam against African beaches.

Later, Peter revisited the bar from the riverside and photographed what an extra few feet of swell looked like at half-tide on a quiet day. The picture is a rather terrifying emphasis on why conditions and timing are critical for a safe entrance. In the event, our weather window coincid-ed with tide and sun. The city

A kasbah for-

tification on

the Bou Regreg

River in Rabat.

finished the boat work, and come summer would head back toward Arctic adven-tures. But with time to kill and EU regulatory limits pressing on a non-EU yacht, the opportunity arose to visit somewhere a bit different: a new culture, in Arab north-west Africa. The Moroccan coast is only a short passage across the Gulf of Cádiz, south past the Straits of Gibraltar, to where the cities of Rabat and Salé sprawl next to the ancient Bou Regreg river.

Tangier, at first impression a closer option, we rejected in consideration of a poorer marina and harbor. Further-more, Rabat’s relatively higher status as the capital and resi-dence of the king makes for a more modern, secure and sta-ble city a little removed from the chaotic effects of loose EU immigration policies on the African Mediterranean coast. After visiting Tangier and Spanish Ceuta briefly by land, we didn’t regret this choice.

Rabat and its twin city of Salé are obvious river settle-ments and have been since antiquity, when the Phoeni-

MAY/JUNE 2020 OCEAN NAVIGATOR 23www.oceannavigator.com www.oceannavigator.com

is built out along the coast, a flat mix of medieval and mod-ern buildings in a pale tan color scheme. Finally, with the reassurance of a local pilot boat, we made an uneventful entrance into the river.

Marina upriverUpriver, the Bouregreg Marina is a modern facility cut into the north bank and framed by geometric concrete development, upscale suites and apartments on one side, and parks, open-air swimming pools and the wide bridge that carries multiple lanes of traffic, trams and pedestrians across to the Rabat side. The marina appeared to have an oversupply of berths at the time of our visit but has been set up to encourage foreign yachts; local regulations have even been tweaked to align with and take advantage of EU regulations applicable to overseas vessels just like Kiwi Roa, which find themselves having to leave EU waters. They can sail down to Rabat-Salé and stay in safety — with crew either flying home or wintering over on board — then return to the EU for the following summer with little effort and the paperwork clock reset.

Living aboard for such a layover is well catered for by the marina, and is quite pleasant in the winter climate with warm days and temper-ate nights. Security is well implemented, if perhaps a little overzealous by most

standards. Local visitors to the marina must register with cus-toms before being permitted down the docks. Marina staff with essential service roles all speak some English.

Immigration is handled at a dedicated customs dock outside the marina, where the authorities have offices situat-ed within the marina complex and handle matters on site. If flying out of the country, permission to leave the vessel is required along with relevant paperwork, which airport staff may demand to see. Import-ing mail and parcels is also relatively straightforward, with the post office only a few tram stops away in Salé. Taxis are cheap and ubiquitous: Stand on the roadside and flag down a yellow one for the Salé side, or a black one to cross the bridge to Rabat. While some knowledge of French or Ara-bic is helpful here, the marina office will underwrite the plight of monolinguals with a written note.

Local professional services in Rabat seem to be up to modern standards. Peter had some urgent dental work performed and found the dentists well trained (usually in Europe), and working with good facilities and equipment; crowns were made on site within a few hours.

Large areas of the cities are occupied by medinas (old town quarters), kasbahs (forti-fied keeps) and souqs (mar-ketplaces). Salé Medina offers all supplies the cruiser may

desire: fresh chicken (killed and processed while the cus-tomer waits and spectates), beef, fish, and vegetables of every variety brought to mar-ket daily, most probably as organic as it gets. Trays pres-ent mounds of nuts, spices, dates of all types, couscous, rice and flour. Bakers operate from tiny little spaces sell-ing fresh breads, near street restaurants where the bread is used in place of a spoon for all meals, all included for very low prices by Western stan-dards.

Mirrored on the opposite riverbank is Rabat Medina, and with it being a slightly intimidating complex maze of alleys and lanes, we indulged in a guided tour.

Morocco claims the title for the largest mosque in Afri-ca. It is located in Casablanca, some 80 kilometers southwest down the coast, and a fast train makes for an easy day trip. The Hassan II Mosque was a prestige project for the country in the ‘80s and ‘90s. Now, its minaret is the second highest religious structure of any: 60 stories, 690 feet, and the top fitted with a laser beam. Outside of prayer time, the mosque is very obviously geared as a tourist attraction, with a ticket kiosk, guided tours, women permitted in all quarters and shoed feet toler-ated.

Internally, the prayer hall can accommodate 25,000 worshippers, with many more outside. The roof is retract-


able, while the main space is an immense hall of granite and marble dwarfed by tower-ing columns and topped with cedar carvings.

Roman ruins nearbyBack near the boat, and fur-ther back in time, the old Roman ruins at Chellah were a highlight. “Salé” traces its etymology back to Punic Shalat — the earliest dating of ruins suggests 8th century B.C. — which the Romans took over and turned into Sala Colonia, a far-flung frontier town established in the first century. Scant parts of the Roman town remain here and there: crumbling brick and tile, foundations of a bath-house, a few pillars and arches, a nymphaeum water tower that once distributed water from an aqueduct. A forum, grass growing between weathered paving stones, lies near the capitol temple where the orig-inal room and space layout is clearly distinguishable, com-plete with interior altar.

In our own time, we ended up staying in Morocco for five

months, a great contrast from the high latitudes that have been our habitat for most recent years. The Rabat-Salé area has much to offer the visiting sailor, whether amus-ing tourist distractions or the more rewarding returns made on acquainting oneself with an unfamiliar foreign culture and those that preceded it in history. And, with reset EU allowances, Kiwi Roa could return to Europe and further plans in the north. With that said, we do not claim this visit to do justice to the region, and perhaps will return to both Portugal and Morocco in the future. n

Peter Smith is a New Zea-land boatbuilder, offshore sail-or turned long-distance cruiser, and designer of the Rocna anchor. He currently is living on board his custom-designed, self-built, aluminum expedi-tion yacht.

Craig Smith is Peter’s son — and biographer — who was brought up in the cruising lifestyle. He now lives in Auck-land, New Zealand, while try-ing to keep track of Kiwi Roa’s whereabouts. Read more about Peter and Kiwi Roa’s voyag-ing, including lots more photos from recent voyages, at www.petersmith.net.nz.

www.oceannavigator.com

Above, the

Bou Regreg

River looking

across from

Rabat to Salé.

Below, ruins of

a Roman bath

house at

Chellah.


Squeezing out fresh waterBY WAYNE CANNING

While watermak-

ers have become

increasingly eas-

ier to use with

each generation

of models, this

installed unit has

a set of laminat-

ed instructions

handy.

The term “watermaker” is a bit of a misnomer, as these units do not

really make water but rather turn undrinkable salt water into drinkable fresh water. The cor-rect name is “reverse-osmosis desalination system” or “RO system,” but let’s face it: That simply does not roll off the tongue quite as easily as “water-maker.”

Understanding the correct name helps understand what these systems really do and how they work. Watermakers take salt water and push it through membranes that only allow the smaller water molecules

25

to pass through, blocking and separating the larger salt mol-ecules. The result is fresh water from salt water. Sounds pretty simple, but of course nothing on a boat is that easy.

Membranes are a semiper-meable material that, in a sense, filters on a molecular level. In order to do this, salt water is pushed against the membranes at high pressure. The pressure is required to squeeze the water molecules through the mem-brane material. This is why watermakers use an energy-intensive, high-pressure pump. The resulting water that gets through the membrane is called

the product, while what is left over is called brine or reject.

Almost all watermakers found on smaller boats will consist of a few basic compo-nents. To understand these and how they work together, let’s follow the flow of the water through a basic system. First, the water comes into the boat through a thru-hull fitting. This salt or “raw” water is pumped through at least two pre-filters of five and 20 microns by a small low-pressure or lift pump prior to going to the high-pressure pump. These filters are required to remove larger

Wayne Canning

Modern

watermakers

range from

hands-off

automatic

units to basic

operator-

involved

models

WATERMAKERS

www.oceannavigator.com 26OCEAN NAVIGATOR MAY/JUNE2020

particles that could damage the high-pressure pump or clog the membranes. Some systems will have additional filters along with an oil separator to

further protect the system and membranes from contamina-tion. Dirty water can result in frequent filter changes or dam-age to the membranes, so it is also best to operate a water-maker away from polluted harbors or bays if possible.

Once the filtered raw water gets to the high-pressure pump, the real action begins. The high-pressure pump raises the water pressure to around 800 psi, which is the pressure required to push the water through the membranes. A pressure relief valve is also installed at this

point to prevent over-pressur-izing of the system. The hoses connecting the high-pressure side of the pump to the mem-branes will also need to be designed for this high pressure.

Membranes are keyThe key part of the whole system is the membranes them-selves that separate the salt from the water. The membranes are housed in special high-pressure fiberglass tubes. The filtered, pressurized raw water enters one end of the tube and comes out the other, while the desalinated water leaves from a separate port in the tube. Larger-output systems will use two or more membrane tubes. The bulk of the raw water that enters the membrane tube does not pass through the mem-brane. Only about 10 percent actually passes through it as fresh water, with the remainder exiting overboard as salty brine. The pressure in the membranes is maintained with a flow valve on the brine outlet side of the membrane tubes. This valve needs to be adjusted, as

WATERMAKERS

Wayn

e Can

nin

g Courtesy Simrad

the pressure can change due to salinity or temperature of the raw water.

Many modern systems have digitized and automated controls to keep the system functioning correctly. In the past, it was up to the operator to manually adjust flow rates and check salinity levels for the product or fresh water output. Many of today’s systems have automatic controls to do all this with little or no operator input. Remote panels for easy access and monitoring also mean no more crawling into cramped compartments to operate the watermaker.

Selecting the right water-maker can be a bit intimidating with so many types and sizes of units available. For most voyag-ers, output volume and power supply will have the biggest impact on selection, followed closely by cost. Power options

Courtesy Spectra

Above, it’s a

good idea to

make sure the

pre-filters are

easily acces-

sible. Below

right, a Spec-

tra Newport

400c semi-

modular DC

system with

digital remote.

MAY/JUNE2020 OCEAN NAVIGATOR27www.oceannavigator.com

and output are often tied together; the more power available, the higher the output. When it comes to power supplies, the two main options are AC or DC. Engine drive systems are also an option but are not widely used due to installation costs and problems with maintaining steady pressure over varying engine rpms.

Powering the flowThe AC systems, either 120V or 240V, will generally have the high-est output. For boats equipped with a generator, AC can be a good option. For those cruisers without an installed generator, a small portable generator such as the Honda 2000i

is a good way to power a midsized watermaker. Trying to run a water-maker from an inverter is not a good idea due to heavy battery loads. A better option for those without a generator would be a watermaker designed for 12 or 24 VDC.

Improvements have been made to DC pumps, making them more energy efficient. Most DC high-pressure pumps now use an energy recovery system that can increase their efficiency by as much as 75 percent. These systems use some of the high-pressure wastewater to help power the pump, thereby reus-ing energy normally lost overboard with the brine discharge. Due to this

increased efficiency, many of these units have outputs close to that of the AC systems with the advantage of not having to run a generator during use. A vessel equipped with a good amount of solar power will be able to silently and economically produce water during daylight hours.

Once the power supply has been figured out, the output volume needs to be considered. Sales figures can be impressive, but understanding how and when the watermaker will be used is also important to output. Many units are rated in gallons per day output while others will be gal-lons per hour. Gallons per hour will be generally the most useful number,

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At Spectra Watermakers, we create products that make life aboard simple and easy, and we believe in saving you money, time, and power. With the push of a button you can have

fresh water for drinking, cooking, showering, laundry, or washing down your boat. Our unique energy recovery pumps allow your watermaker to be quieter and more energy

efficient than anything else on the market as well as making regular membrane replacement a thing of the past. Over 20 years of experience has led us to build a trained worldwide

service network, so that you can can travel knowing fresh water is always at hand.

Efficiency, Reliability and Control

Photo Credit: S/V Zingaro

www.oceannavigator.com 28OCEAN NAVIGATOR MAY/JUNE2020 www.oceannavigator.com

and those rated for daily out-put can be converted to hourly simply by dividing by 24.

Before figuring out how much output is needed, think

about your daily water usage while aboard. If your boat is simple with a small crew, the needs will be modest — a smaller unit might do. If you have a larger crew with a clothes washer or dishwasher and you like to do a freshwater wash-down of the decks daily, your needs will be higher. I usually suggest the water tank be filled and the boat used as expected until the tank is empty; from that, you can cal-culate your daily average water usage. Add a 25 percent mar-gin, along with a bit extra for flushing the watermaker with fresh water. Then, think about how often the watermaker will be run. If you typically run a generator for part of the day, this would be the time for running a watermaker as well. With 12-volt systems, you may want to run it during the best daylight hours for the most solar power. With this infor-mation, you can calculate how

much output is needed. The biggest mistake most make is buying a unit that is too small for their needs, so bigger is often better.

Selecting a brand will depend on where you plan to cruise and how hard parts will be to obtain. Many smaller companies use off-the-shelf parts to assemble their systems. This can be an advantage, as parts might be easy to source in more remote locations. Larger companies may use proprietary parts that are harder to source, but they may also have a larger dealer network, meaning parts and service are available world-wide. It can also be useful to check a company’s reputation for customer support.

Cost tied to output volumeCost can also be a factor for many. As with most things, the more bells and whistles, the higher the cost. The trick is to achieve the cost/option balance that best suits your bud-get and needs. Gen-erally, cost is going to be tied to volume output; however, control options and installation costs can add to that. Again, it is better to select a system that will have a higher output than you think you may need. A larger system will not have to run as often, or for as long. Should the need for more water arise, there will also

be some reserve capacity. Keep in mind that although many systems have automatic con-trols, it will cost more for these conveniences both in original purchase price and mainte-nance costs.

Another consideration is whether to purchase a modular unit or a system that consists of separate components. A modu-lar unit has all the pumps, filters and controls in a frame or housing, making installation easier and neater. Typically, these units are about the size of a small generator and are a good way to go if space is available. For those with space issues, a system with all the components separated allows the system to be spread out to fit available space. Noise dur-ing operation and accessibility are important should be kept in mind when selecting an

installation location. Modern watermakers are quieter than their older cousins, but the high-pressure pumps can still be a bit noisy. This is particu-larly true with the AC units since they run at a higher rpm.

Wayne Canning

Wayne Canning

Above, this

Watermakers

brand unit

has a typical

simple manual

control panel.

Right, a Sea

Recovery mod-

ular unit.

WATERMAKERS

MAY/JUNE2020 OCEAN NAVIGATOR29www.oceannavigator.com www.oceannavigator.com

changed on occasion. The system and membranes will also need to be treated with chemicals or “pickled” if the system is not going to be used for a period of time, such as during winter layup.

Modern watermakers have come a long way in the last few years, mak-ing them almost as easy to operate and maintain as a typical generator. Although there is a price to pay for this convenience in higher purchase cost, the ease of use and maintenance may well be worth the extra expense. After all, we are out using our boats to relax and enjoy the lifestyle — not to do more work. For those on a bit of a budget or who enjoy the hands-on approach, even the simpler sys-tems have improved energy efficiency and performance at an affordable price. Many of my clients ask if it is worth the expense of a watermaker when cruising the islands. My answer is simple: Would you rather be lug-ging five-gallon jugs of water back to the boat from ashore, or would you rather be enjoying a sunset drink in hand?” Most will take the latter! n

Contributing editor Wayne Can-ning is a marine surveyor, writer and photographer. Visit his website at www.4ABetterBoat.com.

Remember, there are also several filters that will need regular inspection and changing. Pumps, valves and other com-ponents will also need service from time to time. The easier it is to get to these parts, the easier the service.

Like most modern appliances, watermakers tend to have computer controls that take much of the guess-work and adjusting out of the opera-tion. Some will even have Bluetooth or Wi-Fi connectivity to allow the units to be operated from a smart-phone or tablet. Some units can even be programmed to operate at specific times without user input. This is particularly useful for routine system flushing to keep the membranes from drying out when the system is not being used regularly. For those that are old school, want things simple and like a hands-on approach, many companies still offer basic systems without all the computer controls. This can also help keep the cost down for those on a tight budget, but it will require more time and effort from the operator.

No matter what system is selected, it will require routine maintenance. The pre-filters will need regular inspection and changing. Some systems will alert the operator when pressures get high, indicating filter changes are required, but for most these will have to be checked regu-larly. Depending on the amount of use and how well the system is cared for, membranes will also need to be

Wayne Canning

A Matrix modular unit with

manual controls.


A look at

putting

together a

unit from

standard

parts

Modern technol-ogy has brought us many new

devices that make the cruis-ing life much safer and easier. Since we are not interested in camping out while cruising, obtaining safe and clean fresh water has always been a major priority, especially overseas. The three most common ways of obtaining fresh water on a cruising boat are: 1) an effec-tive rain collection system, 2) from shore via a hose, or 3) a watermaker. Given reasonable storage capacity and a good fil-tration system, a high-capacity watermaker is the most effi-cient — especially if you are a boonies cruiser.

A reverse-osmosis water-

maker takes clean seawater and, by pushing it through a specialized membrane (special filter) at relatively high pres-sure, makes fresh water. This means that no longer do we have to carry hundreds of pounds of extra fresh water just to ensure we don’t run out. Also, we no longer must get up in the middle of the night to catch rainwater, or search out places ashore where we can jerry-jug water from sometimes expensive or sus-pect sources.

Watermakers suitable for use on a cruising boat can be obtained from a number of sources depending on your budget and tolerance for elec-tronics gadgetry. But they all

do the same thing: make fresh water from seawater. We think that if you are going to have a watermaker aboard, it should have bulletproof — and main-ly mechanical — equipment with minimal electrical and electronic parts; use common-

30

Building your own watermakerSTORY AND PHOTOS BY DAVE MCCAMPBELL

Right, a water-

maker inlet

manifold under

construction.

Below right,

a well-laid-

out system

like this one

will make

operation and

troubleshoot-

ing easier.

WATERMAKERS


ly available (not proprietary) components; make the most water practical in the shortest time (40 gallons per hour is our choice); and be repairable with onboard spares, tools and skills.

As an example, we use about 50 gallons of fresh water a week for daily cook-ing, drinking, showering and cleaning. A 40-gph water-maker with two 40-inch mem-branes can make that in one and a half hours with setup and flushing time included. Smaller units can take sig-nificantly more time to do the same work, thereby seriously affecting a cruiser’s free time.

The elements

of an engine-

driven water-

maker system

are shown in

this schematic.

Major watermaker components

The heart of the system is the high-

pressure plunger pump, similar to

what is used in the car wash and

other pressure-washing industries.

The rpm and flow rate are impor-

tant, with the ideal flow being 2.5

to 5 gallons per minute. An electro-

magnetic clutch is not necessary,

or even desirable in my opinion. A

robust commercial-quality pump

is necessary. I don’t like plastic,

but the body does not have to be

stainless steel or titanium. The latter

two may last a lifetime, but that is

overkill for most of us. Bronze and

even brass will last for 15 to 20

years, as long as it is flushed with

fresh water after each use. We use a

commercial brass Hypro pump, cost-

ing about $470, whereas a titanium

or stainless-steel pump can cost

$1,500, and bronze is about $800.

This is worth considering if you are

on a tight budget.

The next most expensive parts

are the membranes and their

tube housings. Again, quality is

important; the industry standard

40-inch Filmtec 2540 membranes

cost about $200 each. I bought our

original Codeline fiberglass tubes

for about $50 each at a used marine

parts store. Purchased new, the

price is about $250. There are other

options, but stainless-steel end fit-

tings are best and used tubes must

be free of defects and leaks.

The remaining parts include a

rugged 12V boost pump to make

sure the high-pressure pump never

runs out of salt water. Jabsco’s

Water Puppy is suitable, which is

what I use.

Two stainless-steel, oil-filled

gauges are necessary. One is a high-

pressure gauge for keeping track

of the feed water pressure through

the membranes (about 800 psi). The

other gauge is a low-pressure gauge

for monitoring filter feed water pres-

sures (about 10 psi). Both gauges

should be supplemented with flow

meters to help determine when it is

time to clean or replace membranes

and filters.

We use two flow meters, one

for the saltwater brine flow out of

the membranes and one for the

freshwater product flow. For longest

life, it is important not to produce

more than about 20 gph through

each membrane. So, on a two-

membrane system, the product flow

should be kept to no more than 40

gph while operating.

Finally, there is the high-

pressure regulating valve, several

three-way “Y” valves, numerous

stainless-steel and plastic fittings,

and both high-pressure and low-

pressure hoses to suit your installa-

tion. No rocket science is required;

just time and common mechanical/

electrical skills to do basic plumbing

and maintenance work.

Dave McCampbell

www.oceannavigator.com 32OCEAN NAVIGATOR MAY/JUNE2020

An engine-driven pumpBecause the power needed to run this volume through the membranes is more than 2 hp and a 12V motor won’t handle that, we have chosen

to belt our watermaker pump to our main engine on our last two boats. This is similar to an alternator arrangement. You can drive a watermaker pump with a generator, but using only a generator puts another expensive, sometimes cantankerous and complicated

piece of mechanical/electrical equipment between you and fresh water. If the generator fails, as they sometimes do, you are back to spending hours per week manually collecting fresh water from rain or shore.

We most often run the watermaker when underway and moving the boat. Infre-quently, we run it at anchor and sometimes just flush it with fresh water to satisfy the once-a-week run requirement that prevents biologic buildup on the membranes.

We average less than 10 hours per year in the tropics using the engine just to operate the watermaker.

If you decide to make your own watermaker, there are several sources of information on the Internet, including my guide. Fifteen years ago, it took me quite a bit of time to engi-neer the specifications, develop a parts list, and then find and purchase the equipment. By that time, I had seen two suc-cessful DIY units, so I knew it could be done. I used a mix of some used and some new parts, mainly because I was on a tight budget. Since then, I have refined the unit somewhat, installed two units on our boats and helped several other cruisers do their own using my information.

Extensive engineering details are on our website under “CSY Workshop,” and we have a PowerPoint slideshow in our “Presentations” section. There

Above, mem-

brane tube

end fittings.

Below, a

watermaker

Hypro pump

mounted on a

slide under the

engine crank-

shaft pulley.

Watermaker parts list

• HP pump: Hypro 2345B-P, 4.7 gph,

3/4” shaft; ~$470

• Boost pump: Jabsco Water Puppy

18660-121 (12V self-priming, 6-7

gpm); ~$120, Amazon.com

• Membrane housings (x2): 40” long,

2.5” diameter (Codeline or A&M

Composites); ~$250 used, $400 new

• Membranes (x2): Filmtec SW30-

2540; ~$200 each

• Pressure relief valve: Nupro Purple

Spring

• Water filter housings (x3): 3/4”

fittings

• Water filters: 5- and 20-micron and

charcoal

• Flow meters: Dwyer VFB-81-SS,

6-60 gph; Dwyer VFB-86-SS, .5-5 gpm

• Pressure gauges: oil filled, all stain-

less steel; high pressure, 0-1400 psi;

low pressure, 30-70 psi

• Bypass valve (1/4 turn): Aquapro or

McMaster, rated for 1000 psi

• Three-way valves: SMC 1/2” FNPT

branch; 1/2” FNPT three-way ball

valve, model #22152

• High-pressure hose: 1000 psi, size

and length appropriate for your boat

(see diagram); stainless-steel fittings

• Low-pressure hose: Size and length

appropriate for your boat (see dia-

gram); stainless-steel fittings

• Electromagnetic clutch for high-

pressure pump (optional)

• Pulley for high-pressure pump

• Intake strainer: Vetus, Shurflo, etc.

• Swagelok or Yor-Lok fittings

• Needle control valve

Dave McCampbell

WATERMAKERS


is also a Seven Seas University webi-nar I did for SSCA a couple of years ago, with the slideshow narrated.

Better than the WHO standardMy first unit on Soggy Paws, our CSY, was still in service after eight years when we sold the boat in 2016. It had the original pumps, mem-branes and fittings, and was belted to our 60-hp Perkins. It was still producing fresh water that tested to about 250 ppm (parts per million solids content). The World Health Organization standard is 500 ppm.

Because I was careful never to run my watermaker in dirty or silty locations, in addition to having two pre-filters, I never had to clean the membranes in eight years.

The second installation on our catamaran is now belted to a 27-hp Yanmar 3GM30. It has a different mounting configuration, and after four years of use still produces water

at less than 200 ppm. There are many ways to mount

a pump to an engine; you just need to be able to tightly tension the belt drive around the crankshaft pulley. You want to use an appropriately sized pulley to run the watermaker at near full rpm from an engine running around 50 percent of its maximum rpm.

Once you have all the parts, any competent cruiser should be able to install a watermaker in a week. It

took me two weeks — but then I never claimed to be competent, just thorough.

As with ground tackle, we think bigger is better, within reason. So if you don’t have a watermaker yet, consider easing your cruising work-load and making the crew happy by obtaining a watermaker. Then you can wash dishes in fresh water, take freshwater showers every day, and not worry about using too much water — just like normal people. n

Dave McCampbell is a retired U.S. Naval diving and salvage officer with over 40 years’ cruising and eight sail-boats’ worth of maintenance experience. He and wife Sherry, currently cruising in Southeast Asia, spent eight years crossing the Pacific via Easter Island, Hawaii and Micronesia. Prior to that, they circumnavigated the Caribbean over four years. Their most recent excur-sion was a 7,000-nm journey from the Philippines to the lower Solomons via eastern Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Four years ago they sold Soggy Paws, their CSY 44 monohull of 19 years, and moved to the “enlightened side,” purchasing a new Soggy Paws, a St. Francis 44 catamaran. Their exten-sive website is at SVSoggypaws.com.

A watermaker

high-pressure

manifold. Note

how Dave

McCampbell

has labeled the

system elements,

which allows new

crewmembers to

more easily learn

the system.

Rough pricing for a range

of 40-gph units is as fol-

lows:

• High-tech machines

with sophisticated energy

recovery pressure pumps

now cost about $20,000

and use a number of

proprietary, electronic and

plastic parts.

• Standard, commer-

cially produced marine

units sell for $10,000 to

$15,000.

• Modular or kit units

are available from several

sources for about $6,000.

These companies provide

all the parts necessary,

as well as installation

guidance. Some have

assembled and tested

modules, making assem-

bly and installation easier.

These are a great option

if you can’t source all the

parts yourself and want

installation guidance.

Just be sure you compare

prices for all the parts you

need, as some units are

pretty basic.

• A 40-gph, do-it-

yourself project can be

completed for as little as

$3,000. Making your own

unit involves sourcing and

assembling components

from the Internet, your

local hardware store,

marine flea markets or

other sources.

None of the above

prices include installation

labor, which is required

for all units.

Dave McCampbell

Watermaker pricing


feel like I would be doing much damage when I drilled the holes I needed to install new gear.

But my Tayana 37, Active Transport, was delivered in pristine condition, and I had a real problem picking up my drill and making holes.

That’s when I started try-ing to find ways to install things belowdecks that did not require drilling holes. I’ll discuss a few examples to illustrate the major cat-egories of solutions I have come up with and leave it to you to figure out the details

for your boat. I have also used one of these solutions above deck, though never for mission-critical gear. Every-

Once I settled on a Tayana 37 pilothouse boat as my choice to

allow me to tick off the pri-mary item on my bucket list (circumnavigation), I set out to find a suitable used boat.

At the time, I was not able to find any boats on the market that did not have teak decks, and by the time I factored in the cost of remov-ing a teak deck from a used boat, I was right up against the cost of a new boat. So, for the

first time in my life, I bought a brand-new boat.

This brought with it emo-tional issues that I had not planned on. All my previous boats had come to me with a few scars that reflected on the modifications of the previous owner(s), as well as those of a few docking indiscretions.

So, I did not

34

Story and photos by John Lewis

Right, 3M Dual Lock

tape connects with

itself — no need

to worry about

hooks and loops.

Above right, John

Lewis calls his nav

station “Dual Lock

central,” after using

it to attach so many

items, such as the

holster for the auto-

pilot remote and

two small digital

clocks.

Avoid drilling

holes in your boat


The CloZures

vertical blinds

John Lewis

installed on his

boat, shown

closed in the

top image and

open on the

bottom.


thing that takes any kind of load is always through-bolted.

Drilling holes in teak was trau-matic enough, but at least those holes are easy to repair with teak plugs. The real problem, for me, was drilling into the white plastic parts of the ceiling and overhead, where a cosmetically invisible repair was much harder to pull off. Besides the benefit of avoiding the trauma associated with drilling holes in my boat, I think I have also done a lot to preserve value for when the day comes to sell it.

Hole-free attachment alterna-tives also give me the freedom to try positioning things where I want them without overthinking it. If I change my mind, it’s not a big deal if I have not drilled any holes.

There have been situations

where hole-free options would not be adequate. The 32-inch TV is securely attached to a bulkhead, for example. But my rough estimate is that I have avoided drilling at least 100 holes in the cabin of my boat during the 17 years I’ve owned it.

Port blindsI needed some way to prevent sun-light from shining directly on the varnished surfaces and to provide privacy when at a dock, but drilling holes to mount curtain rods and having custom curtains made did not really do it for me.

I discovered a new product (new in 2003, that is) that was called “peek-a-boo shutters,” made by Zarcor. The name seemed dumb, and the company eventually changed the name to CloZures.

CloZures are attached to the glass of the ports using round dots of 3M Dual Lock tape (more about this miracle material later). The CloZures consist of two pieces of thin polycarbonate, one of which

is attached to the glass while the other slides back and forth to open or close the shutters. Vertical bands of paint are silk-screened onto the polycarbonate. When the bands line up on top of each other, you can see out; when the inner piece of polycarbonate is slid so the bands are side by side, you cannot see through them.

At first, looking through the shutters seems like looking out through the bars of a jail cell, and the photos make this look worse than it really is. Your brain quickly learns to ignore the vertical bands when you are looking out through the ports.

My CloZures have been in place for about 17 years and show no signs of needing to be retired. I have replaced the tiny nylon rivets that hold them together due to sun damage, and I occasionally take them off the ports so I can clean the glass, but otherwise they have been maintenance-free. Most of them are still attached with the


Top, an array of cooking utensils set on

Command hooks — no holes were drilled

to put these up. These items all come

down for stowing in a bunk when Lewis

heads to sea. Above, two power strips in

the galley held in place with Dual Lock.

original 3M Dual Lock dots. Zar-cor sells all the replacement parts.

In addition to the privacy aspect, these shutters also protect the varnish in the cabin from UV light. The Tayana boats have an epoxy-based varnish on interior surfaces, and while it’s great for protection from beer cans and other abuse, epoxy does not stand up well to UV exposure. In a few places where UV does shine on the interior woodwork, there is sun damage — but there is no damage in the areas where the shutters have been protecting the wood finish.

Zarcor also sells similar shut-ters for overhead hatches, and in retrospect I wish I had installed a couple of those, too. The worst sun damage to the varnish is in places where sunlight comes in through the overhead hatches.

There are some good illustra-tions on the Zarcor website that illustrate how these CloZures shut-ters work (www.zarcor.com/prod-ucts/clozures/index.php).

A paper towel holderI could not figure out a place to mount a paper towel holder that involved drilling a couple small holes in the galley teak rather than in the plastic on the inside of the coach roof. The logical place for the holder was against a white plastic surface, and I have already discussed my concerns with drilling holes in those surfaces.

So, I took a chance on an idea I came up with: attaching a teak batten to the plastic using silicone sealant — a method from before I knew about the 3M Dual Lock.

I put a couple of T-nuts into the backside of the batten so I would not have to worry about the tips of the self-tapping screws damaging the plastic surface of the coach roof when I attached the paper towel holder. Now, I have been able to

attach several paper towel holders over the years by inserting machine screws into the T-nuts.

The teak batten has been in place for 17 years and shows no sign of coming off. I took a chance with this because I figured getting hit in the head with paper towels was not a major worry should my solution fail. Besides, I have been hit in the head by worse things.

3M Dual LockThe closest I ever come to sound-ing like an evangelist is when I’m telling friends about the properties of 3M Dual Lock. Dual Lock is sort of like Velcro, but rather than being a hook-and-loop arrange-ment, it is a system with hooks on both sides of the fastener. The hooks are made from polyethylene and the connection that results is very strong. You don’t have to worry about having equal amounts of hook tape and loop tape on hand; Dual Lock fastens to itself.

There are things mounted on my boat using Dual Lock that have been in place for 17 years. There has only been one failure that I’ll mention below.

Dual Lock is very good for applications where you do not anticipate making and breaking the connection on a regular basis. For one thing, it holds so well that it can be hard to get it apart, but also the hooks seems to loose their tenacity when you make and break the connection frequently. It’s not a problem if you must occasionally break the connection for things like replacing batteries in devices secured with Dual Lock. I’m sure


the attachment would hold up for at least 100 make-and-break cycles.

Even though the hooks connect very securely, it is not difficult to remove the Dual Lock tape, even years later. I have removed Dual Lock that had been in place for up to 10 years and saw no damage to the underlying surface. You simply peel up one corner with your fin-gernails and grab it with pliers to pull it off the surface slowly. The only reason you have to pull slowly is so the Dual Lock material does not break and force you to start over.

Here are a few examples of appli-cations I have found for Dual Lock:

• The navigation computer (Acer Netbook) that took us around the world was secured in the nav desk with four postage stamp-size pieces of Dual Lock. It has never shown any signs of mov-ing. USB hubs and other computer accessories are similarly fastened with Dual Lock.

• All of the pictures and paint-ings in the cabin are secured with Dual Lock strips. Usually a couple pieces the size of a postage stamp is all it takes. None of the framed pictures or paintings have ever come loose during the 50,000 sea miles that were logged when I was out cruising.

• Terminal strips for 110-volt AC can be stuck in place with Dual Lock and won’t come loose unless you want them to.

• I have secured motion-activat-ed lights under the cockpit cover and under the radar arch (over the gas grill) with Dual Lock. Both have been in place for years and show no signs of coming loose. In the applications involving devices with batteries, it’s a good idea to avoid covering the battery access panel with Dual Lock. Don’t be hesitant to cut weird shapes — it works just as effectively.

• The 21-inch TV in the for-ward sleeping cabin is mounted on


a teak board that is attached to the cabin side with strips of Dual Lock.

The only time Dual Lock has failed me was when I used it to attach an Android box for the TV to the overhead, and the heat out-put of the box softened the Dual Lock adhesive. However, I never had any problem with Dual Lock in hot tropical climates.

You can find Dual Lock at some chandleries, but many won’t sell short lengths. You can, however, buy short lengths on Amazon. You don’t need that much; six feet will last a long time.

3M Command hooksOnce again, 3M comes to the res-cue. I suppose it’s not surprising that the company that developed the adhesives that hold modern car bodies together would also have a lot to offer boaters.

Command hooks are available in most hardware stores and on Amazon. They are designed for household applications as varied as hooks for hanging clothes, cable organization (I use the ones they designed for Christmas lights for that purpose) and attaching various fixtures for the galley and head.

There are several mounts for things like cellphones and tablets that use 3M Command adhesive strips.

I used several Command hooks around the windows in the pilot-house on Active Transport to allow me to secure a car windshield-type sunscreen in place when bright sunlight made it difficult to see the nav computer screen.

The adhesive strips that are used

to attach Command hooks have not damaged any surfaces. They hold tenaciously and, in my experi-ence, are good to hold a lot more weight than the manufacturer specifies. Extra adhesive strips are

available in case you don’t like your original location.

Magnetic cellphone mountsI was skeptical about magnetic cellphone mounts at first but even-tually decided to give them a try. Now, I use them for lots of appli-cations.

First and foremost, they are very good at attaching a smartphone to a surface in the nav station, in the galley for keeping recipes handy, by a bunk or in the car. You don’t have to fuss with lining the phone up perfectly or closing a mechani-cal clamp to hold the phone — just put the phone on the magnetic mount and it’s secure.

I have not crossed oceans using these mounts, but I have been out in bouncy conditions in Southern California and down the coast from Washington and never had reason to worry about my phone coming adrift.

These mounts come with some thin steel plates that stick to the back of your phone or inside the phone’s case. The only magnets are in the mount itself.

I have always used the 3M adhesive pads that come with the mounts, but in retrospect I wish I had removed that stuff and replaced it with Dual Lock just so it would be easier to remove when the time comes.

In addition to my phone, I have used these mounts to secure remote controls and the wireless thermo-stat that I use to control the space heater on the boat. You can get these mounts on Amazon, and you can cut the steel plates with scissors

Top, the port side of Lewis’ nav station has

a Bluetooth speaker resting on a window

frame with Dual Lock holding it to the

glass. A USB hub and document scanner

are mounted with Dual Lock. Above, a

magnetic phone mount and charging cord

held in place with a screw and loop.


to make them fit on other objects like TV remotes.

The type of magnetic mount I have been using would inter-fere with wireless charging of cell phones. There are some new designs on the market that are designed to be compatible with wireless charging, but I have no experience with them.

Use screws already on boatSome of the cabin trim in Active Transport is held in place with stainless-steel screws and finish-ing washers. The builder used that solution — instead of screws covered with wood plugs — in places where it was anticipated that occasional disassembly might be necessary. The front panel of the cabinet where the microwave is mounted is held in place by visible screws. The screws can also be used to capture wire clamps to organize cables without the need to drill a hole. The same is true for the wood battens between the plastic panels on the overhead.

Before I did the 1994 single-handed Transpac Race, the Single-handed Sailing Society organized seminars for the participants. One was presented by a well-known San Francisco Bay Area sailor named Mark Rudiger, whose subject was emergency repairs at sea.

The one thing I will always remember from his very entertain-ing presentation was that the first thing you should do when some-thing goes wrong at sea is nothing. He advocated stepping back and assessing the situation. That advice has always served me well, and I

would like to extend Mark’s idea to include situations in which you find yourself reaching for your drill to install a new piece of gear. Give it a few minutes and ask yourself if there is some way to accomplish the

same goal without drilling holes. n John Lewis circumnavigated

aboard his Tayana 37, Active Transport, sailing more than 50,000 miles.


VOYAGING TIPS

The weather is approach-ing, and you are check-

ing the lines on your boat. The owner of the boat near you is attaching his boat to the dock with a spider web of lines. The lines are effectively absorbing huge

pitching and rolling forces. Stressing the docking lines unnecessarily is counter-productive to the mission of keeping the boat safely alongside the dock. Wher-ever a stressed line crosses a chock, heat builds up and strands part. Your sinking realization is that the real problem presented by the upcoming weather is that this neighboring boat is likely to visit your boat for an impromptu and expen-sive dance.

Independent dock lines Docking lines work inde-pendently to pass roll-ing and pitching stresses back and forth between them, positioning the boat alongside a dock so that it can breathe and let the waves pass under it with-out removing energy. The exercise is about minimiz-ing unnecessary forces on the lines and tuning neces-sary holding forces to work together. When the boat can’t pitch freely, the chocks concentrate the forces of lifting the dock and become dull knives.

In most situations, one

Set up dock

lines to allow

wave energy

to pass by the

boat, rather

than strapping

the boat down

tight.

only needs four well-placed dock lines (two spring lines, a bowline and a stern line) and three robust fenders to achieve a configuration that positions the boat alongside.

Spring lines: You’ll want two long spring lines, pref-erably at least half the length of the boat, leading fore and aft from the motion center of the boat. A spring line is the radius of a circle. The longer the radius, the closer a chord of a given length comes to the circumference. When the two radii come together at the center of the boat, the stretch in the tight line becomes the springing force.

The spring lines have four functions:

• To position the boat alongside the dock.

• To be a hinge in con-junction with the fenders, allowing the boat to pitch and roll freely.

• To keep the boat close to the dock.

• To damp the fore and aft motion due to wave surge relative to the dock. Surge is a force that can make a dock tie-up unten-able. Force is equal to mass

BY PHINEAS SPRAGUE

All wave energy must pass

D O C K

Bow in butstopped bystern line

Maximumdistance fromdock allowedby tightspring lines

Stern in butstopped bybow line

Positionedby springlines tight

Fenders

Spring lineattachment points

Spring line stretch:Nylon 13% 1.2 feetDyneema <1% 0.3 feet

Stretch controls maximumdistance of boat off of dock


multiplied by acceleration; loose or stretchy spring lines allow the boat to accelerate with the surge and come to an abrupt stop when the stretch is used up. Stretchy spring lines accelerate the boat in the opposite direction after the surge becomes neutral and increase the distance the boat can move off the dock. This distance off the dock makes it harder to tune the bow and stern lines to act independently. A second lighter set of spring lines with snubbers can be tuned to reduce the shock on the tight, low-stretch spring lines.

Bowline: The bowline leads perpendicular to the axis of the boat. The longer the radius, the better — consider adding a snub-ber or a cleat across the dock to get more length. The purpose of this line is to allow the boat to move around the midship fender hinge toward and away from the dock as it pitches. The pitch of the bow is the chord of the circle defined by the radius (the length of the bowline). The bowline is NOT to keep the

boat in position fore and aft on the dock. The bowline should be “drooping” loose and as long as possible, enabling the bow to rise freely. At the end of its scope, the real “work” of the bowline is to prevent the stern from hit-ting the dock. As a wave passes, it pulls the bow horizontally along the circumference — a distance defined by the chord (pitch) and radius of the bowline — toward the dock. It can do this freely because the stern line does not resist. The bowline eventually becomes slack, which allows the bow to move away from the dock on the fender hinge as the stern line pulls the stern in.

Stern line: The stern line is attached like the bowline. When the wave passes, the slack allows the bow to lift and move toward the dock. But when the stern line runs out of slack, it keeps the bow from hitting the dock.

Three robust fenders: The fenders should be large in diam-eter and placed at the midship pivot around which the boat moves. As the boat pitches and

rolls, these fenders are the point of contact with the dock. The fore and aft fenders contact the dock first, before the bow or stern line scope stops the swing abruptly. The compression of the fender significantly absorbs the momentum and realigns the boat. The middle fender is the pivot point. In calm conditions, with the springs adjusted, they keep the boat aligned to the dock. Diameter matters!

Chafe gear at the chocks: Chafe gear should be placed at the chocks and anywhere the loaded lines might contact the boat. The chafe gear isn’t sacrificial; it reduces the point stress caused by the change in direction through the chock.

Snubbers are a further refine-ment and are useful shock absorb-ers when the conditions are extreme. n

Phineas Sprague is a circumnav-igator who sails aboard the 72-foot Alden-designed schooner Lion’s Whelp and is the owner of Port-land Yacht Services in Maine.

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Editor’s note: We’re revisit-ing this series on navigating by the sun, moon, planets and stars in the age of GPS because celestial nav is not only a viable backup to satel-lite navigation, but it is also a skill that ocean voyagers should have in their toolkit. In this series, we’ll cover all the basic knowledge you’ll require to get up to speed on this elegant and rewarding technique for find-ing your way at sea.

In this installment, we’ll discover moon sights and how they add a useful celestial body to your arsenal. We will also look at how to use celes-tial navigation techniques to determine your vessel’s com-pass deviation.

The two big celestial bod-ies for shooting sights are

the sun and the moon. We’ve discussed the sun in detail and now it’s time to look at the other body, which has a few more wrinkles than the sun that we have to take into account.

The moon has the obvi-ous advantage that it is big and bright enough to be seen during the day. Better yet, it is easy to identify. However,

Celestial navigation series, part 12 Moon sights and determining compass deviation

it has a reputation among celestial navigators as being a difficult sight to reduce to a usable line of position (LOP). And that reputation appears to be borne out by a quick look at the data for the moon on the daily pages of the Nautical Almanac. Instead of the two columns of data like the sun, the moon has five columns of data. In addition, there is a separate altitude correction (converting Ha to Ho) table for the moon in the back of the Nautical Almanac. These differences may seem daunting, but this added data is handled similarly to the way we use the data for the other celestial bodies, so we’re building on what we’ve already learned.

All those extra columns for the moon are based on two physical facts: 1) the Earth and the moon are a system, and 2) the moon is close to us, astronomically speaking, and so every little bounce and wiggle is notice-able.

While we may think the moon orbits around the center of the Earth, in fact, the moon’s mass is enough to move the center of gravity of the Earth/moon system away from the center of the Earth and closer to the Earth’s surface. The center of grav-ity for the system is called the barycenter. The result is that the Earth wobbles as the moon goes around. This increases the complexity of the moon’s motion as seen

from Earth. And because the moon is roughly 238,900 miles away compared to the 93 mil-lion miles of the sun, this added complexity has a greater influence on the moon’s observed posi-tion.

NAVIGATION

Moon’sorbit

Center ofgravity

MOON

EARTH

The moon’s

motion through

the sky is

complex in

part because

the Earth and

moon orbit

around a com-

mon center of

gravity, called

the barycenter,

just below the

Earth’s surface.


These two factors are the reason for the added correc-tions — apparent altitude (Ha) to observed altitude (Ho) — to the sight cor-rection process, and they increase the importance of the d and v corrections.

In addition to being eas-ily seen and identified, the moon also has the advantage of sometimes being visible during the day. When that’s the case, it provides an excel-lent opportunity for a fix by allowing the navigator to cross its LOP with that of the sun and get a fix position.

There are five columns of information for the moon on the daily pages. GHA and declination are familiar to us by now. There is also a separate column for d and v factors for each hour. In addition, there is a column for HP, which is an abbrevia-tion for horizontal parallax. This HP number is used in correcting our moon sight to Ho. The v factor is always positive for the moon, while d gets its sign based on the trend in declination, just as it does for the sun. Make sure you don’t make the mis-take of using the increase or decrease of d to determine its sign. There is a special column for GHA increments for the moon in the colored pages; otherwise, this is just

like a sun sight.Correcting a moon sight is

somewhat involved but really only adds one step, or some-times two. Turn to the sight correction pages in the back of the Nautical Almanac. Index error and dip are exact-ly the same as for any other sight. There is a dip (height of eye) table back with the moon sight correction tables; it is the same dip table as that for the sun and stars. The table is repeated here just for convenience.

Use the Ha (apparent altitude) to enter the top of the table. Find the correct column for your Ha. Now, descend to the correct degrees and then the proper tens of minutes. The degrees are listed in bold in the column. The row for the tens of min-utes is listed to the far left and right of each page. That value will be added to Ha.

Continue down the col-umn to the line labeled with “L U”. Pick “L” if you shot the moon’s lower limb and “U” if you shot the upper limb. Follow down the appropriate column until it crosses the row for your HP. This is also added to Ha. If it was an upper limb shot, 30 minutes must be subtracted from the result to get Ho. The directions for the table are right there on the page.

Sample problemOn Nov. 27, you took an upper limb sight of the moon. The time was 19:26:46 GMT and the Ha (corrected for index error and dip) was 42° 41’. Find GHA, declination and Ho.

First, head to the daily pages and get the five pieces of information you need: GHA for 1900 is 178° 35.2’; v is 12.8; declination is 1° 21.8’ N; d is +11.8; and HP is 58.5.

Now, back to the incre-ments page for 26 minutes. The increment for 26:46 is 6° 23.2’; the v correction is 5.7’; and the d correction is +5.2’:

GHA 1900 178° 35.2’increment 26:46 + 6° 23.2’v correction + 4.9’GHA 19:26:46 185° 03.3’

EARTH

A

B

Zenith

ObserverHorizon

Parallel to horizon

MOON

In celestial nav-

igation, we are

theoretically

measuring the

angle between

the horizon

and the moon

at the center

of the Earth.

However, since

we are on the

surface, a cer-

tain amount of

parallax error is

included in our

sextant sight

— more for

the moon since

it is so close.

The horizontal

parallax (HP)

factor helps us

correct for this.


declination 1900 N 1° 21.8’d correction + 5.2’declination 19:26:46 N 1° 27.0’

Now it’s time to correct from Ha to Ho. Enter the table in the column for 40°-44° with the Ha of 42° 41’. Move down the column to the bold 42 and then five more rows to the row for 40’. The cor-rection here is 52.0’.

Continue down to the “L U” and pick the U for upper limb sight. Move down that column to

Determining compass deviationEven when you’re far out at sea, well out of sight of any landmarks, it is relatively straightforward to determine the deviation of a com-pass.

Probably the most difficult part of the process is to take an accurate bearing to the sun. With a dome compass, stand on the opposite side of the compass from the sun and look straight down onto the lubber line in the middle of the compass card. The reflection of the sun will appear as a small dot of light next to the edge of the compass card. The bearing on the compass card closest to the dot of light is the compass bearing to the sun. Note the time when the bear-ing was taken.

One advantage to ocean sail-ing is that on many passages the vessel’s heading does not change significantly. Therefore, it is not necessary to determine the com-pass deviation on a variety of head-ings. Use the time — and date — to determine the declination and GHA of the sun. Combine the GHA with an assumed longi-tude to find LHA. Enter the sight reduction table with an assumed latitude, declination and LHA.

From the sight reduction table, get the Z and then convert that to Zn using the formula that appears on the upper left-hand corner of each page. Zn is the true bearing to the sun.

This needs to be changed to the magnetic heading (assuming the compass in question is a magnetic compass). To do this, the magnetic

NAVIGATION

On Jan. 10, 2002, your DR position is

10° 05’ N, 70° 05’ W. Your height of eye

is 14 feet and your sextant has an index

error of 1.2’ on the arc. Your watch is

set to GMT when you shoot the upper

limb of the moon at 08:10:14 and get a

sextant reading (Hs) of 33° 20’. Reduce

the sight and plot the LOP. (Nautical

Almanac data for 2002, and every year

from 1999 to 2025, is available online

at www.thenauticalalmanac.com).

V factor: +3.8GHA (hrs.) 124° 55.0’GHA (min.) 002° 26.5’V corr. + 0.7’GHA 127° 22.2’ass. long. – W 70° 22.2’ LHA 57° 00.0’

Dec. (hrs) N 22° 58.5’D corr. – 0.9’Dec. N 22° 57.6’

HP factor: 60.3Hs 33° 20.0’Dip – 3.6’IC – 1.2’Ha 33° 15.2’Alt. corr. + 57.4’HP corr. + 05.1’UL corr. – 30.0’Ho 33° 47.7’

Assumed position: 10° N, 70° 22.2’ W

From HO 249Hc 34° 13’Table 5 corr. – 03’Hc 34° 10.0’Ho – 33° 47.7’

Moon problem

Horizon

Horizon

MOON

SUN

Lower limb

Upper limb

Sometimes, due to the changing phases of

the moon, we need to shoot an upper limb

sight because the lower limb is not visible.

where it crosses the row for HP = 58.5. That correction is 4.0. Both these corrections are added to Ha. Because this was an upper limb sight, 30’ must be subtracted from Ha as well.

Ha 42° 41.0’1st correction + 52.0’HP correction + 4.0’upper limb correction – 30.0’Ho 43° 07.0’


GHA 118° 22.9’ 02:20 + 35.0’GHA 118° 57.9’ assumed longitude – 61° 57.9’ LHA 57.0°

d = –0.6Declination = N 19° 07.4’ No d correctionAssumed latitude = 39° N

Take the assumed latitude of 39° N, declination of 19° 07.4’ N, and LHA of 57° into the sight reduction table. Z = 95°:

360°Z – 95° Zn (true bearing to sun) 265°

From the pilot chart, the mag-netic variation in this area of the North Atlantic is 19° W; this is added to true direction to get magnetic direction.

True 265° Variation + W 19° Magnetic 284°

Now, compare the actual magnetic bearing to the compass bearing.

Magnetic 284° Compass – 276° Deviation 008°

Because the magnetic bearing is greater than the compass bearing, the devia-tion is east. So, on a heading of 100°, this vessel has a compass deviation of 8° E. n

variation needs to be applied. Magnetic variation can be found on pilot charts.

Finally, the difference between the magnetic bearing and the com-pass bearing is the deviation. If the magnetic bearing is larger, the deviation is east. If the magnetic bearing is smaller, the deviation is west.

Here’s an example: A vessel is on a heading of 100° according to its compass. In the late afternoon on July 27, a bearing is taken to the sun of 276°. The time is 20:02:20 GMT. The DR position is 39° 04’ N, 61° 52’ W.

Looking on the daily page for July 27 for the time 2000:

Answers

50’

40’

30’

50’

40’

30’

20’

10’

50’

40’

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

10

20

30

40

30

60

70

30’

20’

10’

71° W 70° W 69° W

10° N

9° N

11° N

Moo

n08

10

70°

60°

50°

40°

30°

20°

10°

10’10’20’LONGITUDE SCALE

MID

-LA

TITU

DE

30’40’50’ 0’0°

350340

330

320

310

300

290

280

270

0

8070

60

50

40

30

2010

90

260250

180 170160

150

140

130

120

110

100

190200

210

220

230

240

AP

0810 DR0810 EP

Communications expert Gordon West reports

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The plotted DR, AP, LOP and EP for the moon sight

problem at left.

Intercept 22.3’ miles awayZ = 070°Zn = 290°

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Nav Problem

It was cold on the morning of Nov. 20, 2019, when Dan

Torchio and his crew of two slipped the lines off Rhapsody, a Passport 47 aft cockpit cut-ter, departing the safe confines of Greenport, N.Y. They were taking the Robert Perry design on a maiden ocean passage to Bermuda and beyond. Torchio, who had been sailing since a youngster, had spent

the previous two seasons get-ting to know his boat, sail-ing around Gardiners Bay.

He was champing at the bit to be gone. Since the official end of the hur-ricane season at the beginning of November, sail-ors like Torchio had been unable

to leave because of the unusual amount of severe weather that had been circulating in the Atlantic. He needed at least a four-day window to get to Bermuda without getting too beat up. None of the three weather services that he had access to were able to give the green light until Nov. 20. Thinking he could depart earlier, he had arranged to fly his family to Bermuda for the

The Passport

47 Rhapsody

at the dock in

St. George’s,

Bermuda.

Thanksgiving holiday and now the time was getting close. Ruefully, Torchio said, “You never sail on a schedule, but you always end up on one.”

Finally, the weather services agreed the time was right. The wind was from the northeast and would be backing to the northwest: perfect for a fast reach to Bermuda.

The idea was to try to make 7 knots if they could. Both his crew were experienced to a greater or lesser degree, and Torchio had more than 20,000 miles of experience as offshore crew. The boat was solid, and the steering station was enclosed with canvas to keep the helmsman out of the weather. They were soon out of sight of land in 20- to 30-knot brisk northerly winds. The wind was perfect and the sky blue, but the sea was already kicking up and the crew began feeling the effects of seasickness. Torchio was immune to the discomforts and spent a major part of the next four days in a state of non-sleep. Just as they settled in at a position of 39° 45’ N by 70° 44’ W on Nov. 21, they picked up a mayday 120 miles southeast of Montauk. Being close by, they changed course to see if they could render assistance. It was the sailing vessel Volare out of Newport,

November shakedown to BermudaBY DAVID BERSON

bound for the islands, report-ing that captain and owner Joseph Francis Gigliotti had been washed overboard. Tragically, he was never recov-ered. Rhapsody stood off, but the Coast Guard had already arrived on scene.

Even though Rhapsody was equipped with GPS and chartplotters, Torchio is a practitioner of celestial naviga-tion. He owns an Astra IIIB and uses it whenever he can. On this passage, he got some good latitude noon sights of the sun’s lower limb that kept his skills sharp. Let’s join him on Nov. 22 at a DR of 36° 45’ N by 67° 50’ W. He is doing a LAN observation of the sun. Height of eye is 10 feet; there is no index error. The Hs of the observation is 32° 48’. Use the 2019 Nautical Almanac. n

A. What is the time in GMT of local apparent noon?

B. What is the Ho?C. What is the latitude of the

observation? D. What is the EP?

A. LAN at GMT is 16:17B. Ho is 32° 59.7’C. Latitude is 35° 50.9’ (using

1600 hours declination of the sun)

D. EP: 36° 51’ N by 67° 50’ W

Answers

Dan

Torch

io

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Working with you to - Ocean Navigator Magazine...42 Celestial navigation series, part 12 Nav Problem 48 November shakedown to Bermuda by David Berson 18 Features Ocean Voyaging