We are torn between a love for the tropics and the adrenaline that comes as you venture closer to the poles. FPB 64-6 Grey Wolf is now in Tahiti, soon to depart for the Tuamotus and Marquesas. FPB 64-5 Tiger, 64-7 Buffalo Nickel, and FPB 64-8 Atlantis are getting ready to resume (or in the case […]
Tag Archives | Dashew Offshore
Weather Forecasts And Routing In The Real World: Good But Not Perfect
We are looking at a barometric pressure trace from the FPB 64 Grey Wolf. This occurred at the edge of the tropics South of Rarotonga in the Cook Islands. As you close with the equator slight pressure gradients create big winds. A change of as little as two mb can indicate the onset of a […]
Hobie Alter – Surfer Dude, Marketing Whiz, Savvy Businessman, and All Around Good Guy – Gone at 80.
We’ve just learned that Hobie Alter has caught the ultimate wave, and left his earthly friends and family behind. We were friends, competitors, and collaborators with this remarkable man, and thought a few anecdotes might be in order. We originally got to know Hobie through Phil Edwards and Mickey Muñoz, two catamaran racing buddies. Hobie […]
FPB 78-1 The Dream Machine Is Taking Shape
After all those thousands of design and engineering hours, innumerable three dimensional images, and years of noodling on this ltest FPB series design, you would think we’d be tired of it. But these photos represent the high point in terms of buzz factor, and it won’t be equaled again until we see this latest FPB […]
Beowulf: The Ultimate Short-Handed Cruiser-Updated March 2014
“The new Dashew passagemaker draws much of its heritage from the high-performance sailboats for which the Dashews are well known…” –Bill Parlatore, Passagemaker Magazine Of all the sailboats we’ve done over the years, Beowulf is our favorite. She was our ultimate couple’s cruiser, and the benchmark, against which we measured everything when we started down […]
Get Ready To Rock-Making the Weather Work For Grey Wolf
It is cyclone season in the South Pacific, the weather is unstable, and Grey Wolf may win the weather lottery. The recent spate of tropical storms is creating the possibility of a very quick, relatively easy trip. The key is her ability to maintain a fast average boat speed. This allows her to take advantage […]
Weather Forecasting, Storm Tactics, and Successful Cruising
If you are looking for a magic elixir to successful cruising it will not be found in the marine hardware catalogs or boat shows. It will not come with state of the art electronics, or a different boat. It is much simpler than that. Of all the things you can do to enhance your cruising […]
Spring Is In The Air
Spring is in the air and our southwestern backyard is filled with color, love songs, nest building, and competition for the attention of the fairer sex. It is the one time of year when we’d rather be ashore than afloat. Recognizing that much of the Northern Hemisphere has rather different conditions, which at this stage […]
A Most Difficult Ocean Passage Coming Up – Playing The Weather Odds In Hurricane Season
The passage between New Zealand and French Polynesia is one of the more difficult ocean crossing endeavors. At 2200 miles along the great circle route, it can often be as long as 2600 or more nautical miles depending on weather routing. John and Amanda Neal bill this as a heavy weather passage in their sail […]
FPB Build Decisions – Helm Layout
Working on a large project like the FPB 97 means coordinating thousands of small details. Creating the best electronics layout at the helm is a detail that on the surface can appear cut and dry, but typically takes hours of pondering and back and forth. A proper layout and execution is critical to a safe, […]
