382 Days… That’s how long it took from the signing of our contract in Annapolis until today, when we saw Starry Horizons, our Helia 44, for the first time while taking a Fountaine Pajot factory tour. “Patience” has been our word of the moment and we’re getting lots of practice at it. Constructions Pictures A week and…
Cruising catamaran sail trim can be a fairly technical issue with differing opinions about how to best trim the sails to optimize boat speed and balance. I most certainly will not profess to be an expert in the subject, but I do feel I’ve come a long ways from when I first learned how to sail…
As part of the process for buying our cruising boat, we had to divide up moving aboard the boat into two stages: “self-delivery” and “live-aboard”. Our new boat had to somehow get from the factory in La Rochelle, France, to the US. There are three options: ship your boat, hire a delivery crew, or captain…
Time keeps ticking away and we slowly get closer to when Starry Horizons will be in the water. We hit a big milestone this past week as we submitted our final list of options we want from the factory. The amount of time we’ve had since Annapolis has been both an exercise in patience and beneficial as it’s…
The dingy and its outboard engine are a vital part of the cruising life, shuttling us to and from the shore, to other boats, and carrying all manner of items for us, from groceries to scuba/snorkel gear etc. Choosing the right combination has taken a lot of time and research. Here’s the thought process that went into…
While in the planning process of outfitting a blue water catamaran, we knew that it would be a multi-step process. One of the most important steps that we took was to install a reverse osmosis watermaker. We picked a Cruise RO watermaker, and five years later, we are still incredibly glad we have it. Why…
There have been a number of times where we have been at boat shows or meeting people and talking about our life. Back in the early days, we wished we had an easier way to exchange information other than just writing down emails on a spare scrap of paper. Boat cards sound pretty common in…
This is a topic no one particularly likes to contemplate. It’s great to be prepared for a man overboard scenario, and Amy and I have been trained to handle the boat if one of us goes overboard, we do focus more on prevention. Years ago, I was captaining one of the dinner cruise boats out…