Technical

Going Aloft

 

Anchor Comparison Review

Interesting article that tests the holding power of various types of anchors in hard sand in California with interesting, and sometimes surprising results.

Bill Burbidge's notes on anchoring - Quindalup 2005

For the Quindalup 2005 briefing, Bill Burbidge provided an excellent overview of anchoring techniques. The attached document contains the notes from that talk

Docking and Manoeuvering

This is a detailed document which gives excellent tips on manoeuvering your boat, especially in tight areas and marinas. If you read only one treatise in your life on boat manoeuvering, make it this one. Can be downloaded and stored on your computer or printed out.

Storm Preparation

Another of Capt Jack Klang's excellent documents, this time on preparing your boat for a storm. Arguably another "must have" document for your boat computer or library. Can be downloaded and stored on your computer or printed out.

Electronics

 

Hull Speed

"My displacement yacht's maximum hull speed is directly proportional to the waterline length and can't be exceeded, right?" Wrong! according to this article. It's very technical but appears to be reliable (validated as "factually correct" by our own Naval Architect, Kim Klaka).

Lighting

 

Physics of Sailing

Have you ever wondered how a yacht can sail into the wind? Here's a great article that describes the physics of sailing in terms we can all understand

Power

 

Trimming Furling Headsails

Neil Pryde Sails is a US-based sailmaker with a comprehensive and interesting website. This link is to an article on their website giving tips on tuning and using Furling Headsails - a must-read for any cruiser

Waste Management

 

Convert your Barient/Barlow winches to self-tailers

This link takes you to WinchMate, a website describing a product that can convert old winches into self-tailing winches.