Innehållsförteckning för March 2023 från PassageMaker

After missing the latest iteration of Marlow Yachts’ Voyager line flagship, the Voyager 100V, at last year’s Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show (Marlow decided to jettison its quays among the trawler set, opting instead for a spot on the outer face docks), I recently met Senior Yacht Broker Eric Gervais for a walkthrough, partly with the intention of comparing her to Hull No. 1, Ice, which I toured in 2019.Like that vessel and all Marlow yachts, her hull is cored and vacuum-bagged with Kevlar and carbon fiber, following Marlow’s proprietary Full Stack Infusion. It’s a one-shot, hull-and-deck bond that helps to create an optimal strength-to-weight ratio. The builder also kept weight down in the skybridge via extensive utilization of carbon fiber. Finished in midnight blue, with hullsides that mimic wood…

When your boat is plugged into shore power or running a generator, the battery charger(s) will keep your bank charged up. When conditions don’t require that you run the genset, the alternator provides the charge. How do you know if the alternator properly charges the batteries? What can you look for to monitor the alternator’s condition and anticipate problems before a failure? LOOKING FOR TROUBLE Let’s begin with the alternator belt(s). An improperly tensioned belt can slip in the pulley, preventing the alternator from reaching the required rpm. For conventional V-belts, a good rule is an eighth of an inch of deflection for every inch of span. For serpentine (grooved) belts, you can use a plastic gauge to test for tension, and to make sure the tensioner on the engine…

It was a difficult choice. My sister-in-law and her spouse invited us to join them on Calypso, their Mainship 390, for a cruise anywhere along the Great Loop—a circumnavigation of the waterways of the Eastern and Central United States. “How about Florida?” my husband, Frank, asked, thinking we could join his sister at the beginning of her yearlong adventure. “Or the Dismal Swamp?” But that sounded more mysterious—and hot—than this Seattle-based sailor could handle. “The Chesapeake would be interesting,” Frank suggested. “We could try the blue crab.” After considering the varied destinations of the Loop, we decided on the Hudson River Valley segment. As West Coast sailors, we knew that cruising up an Eastern river in a trawler would be a novel experience for us. As a historian, I wanted…

The Lynx Crossover 27 attempts to provide the best of both worlds as a practical, powerful load-carrier as well as a comfortable platform for adventurous cruising. Lynx Yachts got its start in the same way as many Dutch shipyards: building an elegant, bespoke, displacement motoryacht whose conservative looks and canoe stern gave it timeless appeal.But Lynx’s founder, mechanical engineer Slim Bouricha, had plans for more. “I wanted to set up a brand that would build reliable and seaworthy boats with a strong focus on operability and maintainability, yet with a modern flair,” he says. His experience in shipbuilding and oil taught him that ideas from workmanlike offshore support vessels were creeping into the world of superyachts, with support vessels being launched to carry all the tenders and toys that wouldn’t…

Remember when you were a kid, and you returned home to an interrogation by your mother?“Where were you?” “Nowhere, ma.” “What were you doing?” “Nothing.” And you were being completely honest. You had just been enjoying the nowhereness of wandering and enjoying, whether it was at the playground to see what was going on or just to inspect an anthill. I’m a fallen-away pilot who switched to soaring when I found myself spending too much time chatting with air traffic control (which sounded just like my curious mother): “Where are you going? What are you doing?” One of my favorite things about flying, aside from looking down on crowded freeways, was the “$100 hamburger.” That’s pilot-speak for getting into the air for no particular reason. It actually means flying a…

John and Chorlette Copolla were making good time on their offshore run south last fall on Greyback, their Kadey-Krogen 55. The counter current near shore was stronger than expected, and the seas less than forecasted. In these ideal conditions, they decided to continue overnight to Charleston, S.C., where they would arrive the next morning. The only drawback with the revised plan is that they would arrive a day before their reservation at the marina. John figured they would just anchor upon arrival and take their slip at the marina the next day. The popular anchorage in the Ashley River in front of Charleston’s marinas is well known to have debris on the bottom, so John attached a trip line to the anchor’s crown. It would allow him to pull up…

You might be moving up in size from an outboard-powered sport boat. Or, maybe it’s time to downsize into a smaller boat. Either way, the Rover 29 might fit your needs. It’s for cruising with a friend or spouse, or for cruising solo. It could handle three or four people in a pinch, but just for a single night.Originally, I used my little tugboat TugZilla as the basis for this new cruiser. TugZilla is 26 feet long, and I have run her many hundreds of hours, but I wanted a bit more length to play with on a fresh sheet of paper. I penned a double-ended design that measured 29 feet long, and I gave it a couple of twists. I increased the width of the rear house to stretch…

Whether you are shopping for a new or previously owned boat, relying on a professional surveyor or trusted friends, you should never fall in love with any boat before your due diligence is complete. The new ride has to be as good as, or better than, the boat being replaced. I think of this initial due-diligence period as a pre-survey, like dipping a toe in the water before jumping in.On a recent jaunt with a friend to do a pre-survey on a 10-year-old, 40-foot cruiser, he told me the boat was the right size for his growing family’s needs. He said he passed the boat every day at his marina, on the way to his 35-footer at the end of the dock. He liked it because his goal was to…