Royce’s Sailing Illustrated and other Books you Should Own

A little departure from our normal fare- these are the books that have survived every boat, which means we use them enough to take care of them. Most of them are available at Amazon.


  • Royce’s Sailing Illustrated
    This is the sort of densely illustrated guide that should be in every sailor’s bunk or bathroom. Compact, understandable, and universally celebrated for good reason, even a quick skim will reach ypu something.

  • Charlie Wing’s electrical handbook.
    Our copy is well worn, and often referenced.


  • Marine Diesel Engine Maintenance
    Nigel Calder. Basically anything he has written, but this one is particularily great. Diesel Engine owners? Just buy this. Dont ask silly questions.


  • Modern Marine Weather
    Densley packed with information. Still getting through it.


  • The Boat that Wouldnt Float.
    For long sails and offwatch hours. Funny!

Wichard Offshore Knife

Sailing knives. Like a winning season or a good bra- they can’t last forever. We’re always on the lookout for the next one.

Today’s advice is a hearty reccommendation for the Wichard Offshore Knife from our friend Michael, a bona fide, sails-a-sailboat-everyday professional sailor. “I keep abusing it and it just keeps working.”

You can’t ask for much better than that.

Soliban SP52

The sealant failed; water snuck in, and important wires corroded.
The solar panels needed replacing.

Thank you internet.
Solbian SP52 with added nonskid texture coat
Distributed through Bruce Schwab Ocean Planet Energy.

Like all finely designed, expensive italian things…they look sooo good. They almost purrrr at you.

The application was straightforward- peel the film, push it down, no bubbles, go slow. Good prep is key.

Some mixed feelings persist concerning that 2mm gap we left betwen the two panels. A water channel, we now assure ourselves.

We’re hoping to get 3 Amp hours out of each 52 watt panel into our Firefly 31 and AGM secondary.

iNavx screenshot

iNavX

iNavX

iPad + iNavX + Joy Factory’s Submersible aXtion Pro =
The power of a color chartplotter for a fraction of the cost.

Bear Extender Outdoor

The Bear Extender

Someday wi-fi will be easily accessible and free!

But until that day, you can increase the number of wi-fi signals received with this amazing antenna, developed by students at Cal Berkeley to connect over long distances to the campus wireless network (“AirBears”, hence “The Bear Extender”).

Sure, you’ll disconnect every now and again; but in general the Bear Extender is the easy button solution for catching wi-fi from the marina office, or detecting one of the many network hotspots sprinkled around most major cities.

Update 2018: For ease of setup and portability, The Bear Extender is still pretty great. Ill be showing off my own set up later this tear.

Wine Glasses

Stainless Wineglasses

Gifts for Yachties

UPDATE 2018!

We lost a goblet. It dropped from a great height- the fairly invisible seam between the bell and the stem popped open.

A couple of years ago we gave all our other goblets and glasses to Goodwill.

Amazon seems to be the best source on them, click this link to check them out.

They don’t make wine taste weird, and they don’t break.

They last forever, are easy to clean, and just make sense on a boat.

One of our most solid recommendations; our original set of glasses is still going strong after many years.

-2015 Review

Nature's Miracle Urine Destroyer

Nature’s Miracle

Hey- do you smell something?

Ah liveaboards. Such security!

They keep your boat lines tied, shoo strangers off of the docks, and alert the marina of strange noises grinding away in your engine room for no apparent reason. Liveaboards are great for so many reasons.

However? Sometimes they have that cat. You know the one.

Heres a couple of amazon affiliate links.because hosting is 10 bucks a month, help us out!

The stuff we used

Nature’s Miracle Cat Urine Destroyer Pour, 128 fl. oz.

the hardcore stuff

Nature’s Miracle Sunny Lemon Advance Cat Stain and Odor Eliminator Gallon

H1 Salt SpyderCo Yellow Handled Hawkbill Blade

It goes shhhkcLICK as you open it, one handed.

And boy howdy, it’s badass enough to really hurt you if you get lazy.

Originally bought for the TransPac race, this little hawk-billed knife cut away much kelp and many fishing lines, crossing the Pacific to Hawaii and back again until it was lost.

Bought another one and it was crowned greatest hose cutter of all time. Amazon sells them for less than the fancy knife store

Dry Socks

Dry Socks

There’s no replacement for a solid pair of Dubarry’s on a cold wet night.

Dry socks instead of seaboots? One way to leave the clunky galoshes behind.

Ideally great on sport and smaller boats where quick movements are expected, they’re also convincing for longer races.

Also extremely seabag friendly, unlike sea boots.

Scooter Tire Bridle

Our neighbors grind through a set of fat docklines every season, yet we rarely adjust our lines. Why?

Behold! The Scooter tire bridle. We have a great deal of surge in our marina, but our Scooter Tire Bridles have keep our boat safe.
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this is the alt

NoMars

No one likes throwing down cash for fenders.

Watch a stray fender float by after a storm and note your reaction- is it cha-CHING and a fumble for the boathook? Mine sure is. 

Fenders are expensive, and Gel Coat repairs can be very expensive.
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