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Me and My Seagull
"When the seagulls follow the trawler, it is because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea." ~ Author: Eric Cantona This year I splurged on a 50-euro fishing licence. My largest catch so far...
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Avoiding Ships and Obstacles
After 13 years of part-time ocean cruising, ships still make me nervous - but mainly at night. But I'm no hero like the skipper in the clip below. During the day in open water, I assume ships will...
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The Purpose of Sailing
Without purpose there's no motivation, and without motivation there's not much worth doing. A friendly club regatta is a good way for lazy sailors to hone their sailing skills. I'm a "lazy sailor"...
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Choosing a Liveaboard Sailboat and Scratching the Wrong Itch
"Choose your life's mate carefully. From this one decision will come 90 percent of all your happiness or misery. ~ H. Jackson Brown, Jr. [edited on October 28] Part 1: You have some bucks and you want...
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No Respect
It's autumn and the French cruiser migration has begun. The transient dock is cluttered with interesting and unique steel sailboats skippered by equally idiosyncratic owners. It's like turning the...
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Sailing, Fishing and Being Lazy
Peniche in the background, fish lurking somewhere underwater. Not long ago I wrote a post about the purpose of sailing in which I listed 4 reasons to go sailing ranked according to the...
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Groco Mechanic
"Some people love to spend money on stuff. I'd rather spend mine buying free time. But if you own a sailboat, the conflict between time and money can get ugly. What's the purpose of free time without a...
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Sailboat Assets and Liabilities
Another victim of a fouled propeller...Everything that could go wrong went wrong - a one-month saga and still counting in both time and money. Speaking of expenses, in the "Jakatar World" the year is...
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Deck Leak - Quick Fix Artist
On a rainy Thursday afternoon, I was in the boat talking to the Dutch Sailor about boats - specifically about living aboard in winter and dealing with cold humid conditions. I was bragging about...
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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 +...
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Getting 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...
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Downsizing 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...
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Alive
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...
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First 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...
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Sailing 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...
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Sines 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...
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Kayak 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....
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Sailing 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...
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Filming 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...
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Stormy 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...
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