Generation
From the beginning we have been planning Solar panels fitted to the guardrails. We have seen lots of boats with Solar Panels attached to the guardrails. However, as we are wanting to have zero fossil fuels we need more solar than most. We have gone for Victron 175 watt panels
Plans
Today I have had a couple of really helpful and thoughtful comments from Jacob. So much that I think it worth responding with a post. In Dyneema Termination and Chainplate update Jacob wrote: Having extras in the case of the DIY tangs, is a good idea. I do not mean
Appliances
While we wrote Going 100% electric: the “house” after Going 100% electric: the Motor we had in fact made most of the decisions around the house electrical system before we made the decision that we would go straight to an electric motor instead of the diesel. Now we are thinking
Environmental
I recently found this product: The AnchorRescue II which looks like an excellent option for being able to trip your anchor if needed without all the problems of using a traditional trip-line to a buoy (tangles, other people picking it up etc). It is good that it is a 2nd
Environmental
In a number of my Dyneema rigging posts I've referred to using HDPE to reduce friction and chafe where dyneema comes into contact with the mast or the deck. I'd found a straightforward supply of HDPE as rods and sheets at Direct Plastics. However, we have
Plans
I said I was going to write this in my post "In the works", just taken a bit longer than I thought. This is what our wheelhouse looks like at the moment. The blue cover is really designed for use when Vida is ashore, or left on a
Environmental
I have written a lot on rigging your boat with Dyneema and thought it was about time I provided a overall guide to what I've written. So I'm going to try to give a coherent guide to what we have explored so far. First, the obvious
Plans
[Update] I have written a lot about Dyneema standing rigging so I now have a guide to it all in: Dyneema / Synthetic Rigging Summary[End Update] Updated design now completed see Next generation Dyneema Chainplates. When I was coming up with the design of through deck dyneema chainstays and the
Plans
At the moment we are working on two sets of ideas. Chainplates. Following up on a merger between our through deck synthetic chainplates and our Drogue attachment we are looking at whether through Bulwark chainplates might work well. Wheelhouse. We have been having some conversations on Attainable Adventure Cruising which
Cooking
I've been thinking about the relationship between these two concepts. Unfortunately, in my view, both concepts have been manipulated by unscrupulous businesses so that they have been undermined. Recently I saw an ad for composting coffee pods that drove that home for me. Coffee Pods have long been
Safety
When we chose our Spade anchor we read up on all the testing and advice we could find. Some of that was videos by Steve on his SV Panope YouTube channel. Since then he has continued to add many more tests. These are by far the most useful tests I&
Environmental
Amidst the dark days of the catastrophic response by the UK government to the Covid pandemic, the disaster that Brexit was always going to be, continues to unfold. Unsurprisingly, given the dire impact on so many industries, communities and individuals, little attention is being given for the implications for what