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Solar Panels

Know-how: Solar Updates

Sixteen years ago, I installed solar panels on my boat. At the time, the peak efficiency at converting sunlight to electricity was around 16%. Today’s

Power Sails, Sails Built with Integral Solar Panels

Alain Janet is pretty talkative these days, and with good reason. The head of the UK Sailmakers loft in southern France, Janet has spent most of his adult life making sails and working on how to make them better—not just for sailors, but also for the environment.

Know How: Upgrade to Energy Independence

When we bought Sea Spell, our 38-foot sloop, we realized she needed a major power upgrade. The existing electrical system was adequate for a boat kept in a slip, plugged into shore power and used for occasional weekend trips, but we intended to live aboard and cruise to distant tropical islands.Far from land, there is no grid to plug into. Instead, we now generate power with a

Woman wearing a hat on a boat.

Water System Salvation

Tank water can easily be contaminated with anything from a lingering bad taste to dangerous bacteria. Installing a triple filtration set up on Ben-Varrey helped.

A bridge and a moon

Understand the Tides

Tides are an essential part of coastal sailing, so don’t forget to look at the moon once in a while. 

John Rousmaniere Speaking about Inductee Lord Dunraven at Americas Cup Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony NYYC Oct 21, 2016. Photo by Carlo Borlenghi

Eight Bells: John Rousmaniere

The sailing world has lost another great this week in the passing of John Rousmaniere, author of Fastnet Force 10 and numerous other sailing texts.

A boat anchored in a calm and pristine green water.

Zero to Caribbean

As a yacht broker, many people have talked to me about wanting to buy a boat, learning to sail, and then taking their own boat

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