The Oberdorfer Pump Mechanic
Why does a 30-minute job take 4 hours on a sailboat? This is how I replaced an Oberdorfer N202M-07 raw water pump that cost me the incredible sum of €486. ($266 for the pump + $127 for UPS freight +...
View ArticleGetting High
The weather has been bad and I've been lying low. Lying low means changing the engine oil, transmission oil and fuel filter. It also means getting high - up the mast that is. If you haven't read it...
View ArticleDownsizing to a Pocket Cruiser
Sooner or later sailors, specially solo sailors, with a somewhat large sailboat will face some harsh realities: a) the need to downsize to a smaller boat b) life without a boat b) death I...
View ArticleAlive
I've been mute, deaf and dumb since April 19, but I'm still alive. And I'm hoping to sail south next week, all the way to the anchorage in Culatra. I offer you a photo-story of what's been going on. I...
View ArticleFirst Leg: Peniche to Cascais
Poor visibility, but I've seen worse. On Sunday morning I woke up to fog so thick I could hardly see the port entrance. Large water drops fell from the soggy sail flaked on the boom ready to be...
View ArticleSailing from Cascais to Sines
Slept like a man with no worries in life and motored out of Cascais at daybreak feeling more relaxed and alive. The first day on a cruise is always a bit tense; on the second day it's the only thing...
View ArticleSines to Alvor
At 6:00 I cranked the Tigress manual windlass until the 25 kg Kobra anchor clanked loudly onto the bow roller. Tied the anchor down and motored out on a clear calm day. What looked like a 36-foot...
View ArticleKayak Adventure in Culatra
I was lying in the shady cockpit in Culatra staring at my toes and pondering my main problem: I had ran out of gasoline for the dinghy outboard. Rowing the dinghy 400 m ashore during the day is easy....
View ArticleSailing Home Blues
I bought a bus ticket back to Olhão where a water taxi (25 euros) ferried me back at break-neck speed to Jakatar, anchored just as I had left it, except for some new neighbors. I had planned on going...
View ArticleFilming Life Afloat and Other Idiosyncrasies
Purely out of boredom, I made three New Year's resolutions, and I'm glad I did: Exercise arduously on a regular basis, rather than off and on. (I'm sticking to it.) Spend more time on the boat. (I'm...
View ArticleStormy Weather, Bad Film, Wet Feet, Good Times
"Red Alert: waves potentially 12 to 14 m high and strong winds. Potential disaster when peak wave heights coincide with high tide at 18:00 h," said the national weather forecast. Windguru showed waves...
View ArticleBare Aluminum Mast
If you're bored reading yet another post about my mast-climbing heroics, just imagine how I feel. I'm the one doing the climbing, grunting and scraping! Funny thing is I like it. Everybody is asking...
View ArticleWater Foot Pump Parts
How many parts does a water foot pump have? Way too many. Plus, I forgot to take pictures during the disassembly process and got confused about how the four valves are set up. Staring at the pump's...
View ArticlePump Mechanic - Episode 2
In my last post, I said I could now disassemble and assemble a foot pump in a flash. I was wrong. I should have said that "I can now destroy a pump pretty damn fast!" In case you didn't read my last...
View ArticleAlmost Ready to Sail South Soon
The "Before and After" photo shoot About 1 year ago, I had a minor accident in Nazaré during a haulout. The stern pulpit and stern boarding ladder got an ugly bruising. I straightened the pulpit as...
View ArticleSailing in the Algarve, One More Time!
In Culatra on the kayak, taken with my cheap Rollei action cam. In the early morning of July 22, I untied the lines and sailed south solo. I sailed - using the sails - most of the way, in real sloppy...
View ArticleThe Stoical Sailor
We've had nothing but rain, strong wind and dark skies for weeks. What's a man gonna do? To cheer up, I purchased an online book called “A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy.” Maybe I...
View ArticleSailing to the Algarve for the 16th Time
I sailed out of Peniche on the morning of July 21, 2018, headed for the Algarve, for what I believe to be the 16th round trip. It just keeps getting better. After a number of years of solo sailing,...
View ArticleBrits in Alvor
2018 marked my 16th round trip to the Algarve. On this trip, I anchored in Cascais and Sines, bypassed Sagres, and arrived at Alvor 3 days later just before dark. The usual routine. Leaving Peniche on...
View ArticleThe End of an Era, Time for Something New
Late one morning, after having spent six days anchored in Alvor, I motored out the winding Alvor channel on a rising tide without running aground. The plan was to sail to the marina of Albufeira, to...
View ArticleJakatar, a Corbin 39, Wins the Peniche Regatta
Jakatar won its last (2019) regatta in Peniche, in its last year in Peniche, just before sailing off to the Algarve, maybe forever! If you can read Portuguese, you can read the Newspaper report about...
View ArticleBuilding a Mooring and Deploying it from the Boat
I gave up my marina berth in Peniche and decided to place Jakatar on a mooring in Alvor, Algarve, 175 miles to the south. Since I would not have a car or a place to build a mooring ashore or even the...
View ArticleMarina vs Mooring
"A man is never lost at sea." - Ernest HemingwayIs Hemingway's motto also applicable to a mooring?Jakatar has been on a mooring in Alvor since July 2019. What are the advantages and disadvantages of...
View ArticleKiller whales attacking sailboats near Portugal and Spain
More than 30 orca attacks on sailboats since July 2020 could have a devastating impact on thousands of yachts sailing through the Portuguese and Spanish coastline each year. The video below shows one...
View ArticleCorbin 39 in Sailing Magazine
This photograph of Jakatar was featured in a "Used Boat Notebook" article published in Sailing Magazine. The writer David Liscio contacted me, through the Corbin 39 Association, and I made some...
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