We’ve got high pressure to our west generating northerly winds, so the solar panels are facing south, an ideal situation for a little angle. With the sun due to arrive over the equator in a few days we eyeballed 45 degrees of angle. The results were immediate and positive. At 1030 sun time (1130 local with […]
Tag Archives | Dashew Offshore
Smith Cove, and The Most Beautiful Sunset, Perhaps Ever
We have been witness to wonderful sunsets over the past 35 years of cruising. From Cocos Keeling in the Indian Ocean, to Fatu Hiva in the Marquesas, Prince William Sound in Alaska, to Greenland’s Disco Bay, we’ve been thrilled, chilled, and awe struck. But nothing compares to what we just experienced here in prosaic Smith […]
Hurricane Alert – Watch Out For Lesley
Hurricane Lesley is forecast to give Maine a wide berth, and make a direct hit on the eastern corner of Newfoundland. But, keep a weather eye peeled. This is a complex weather scenario and it would not be unheard of for Lesley to shift course more to the west. The 96 hour 500 mb forecast […]
Rockland Maine, The Light, and Why It Is Sometimes Hard To Stay Focused
We have a stack of work to do for the FPB 97, an article due today for a magazine, our accountants need data from us with which to take care of taxing matters, and we are faced with a dilemma. When we should be hard at tasks on the critical path the light is distracting […]
Scenes From A Circa Party
I’ve just returned home to a hot summer, after a wonderful 5 days down in Whangarei, New Zealand. My sweaters are put away, my coffee doesn’t taste as good as the flat whites, and I’m finding myself missing…the BOAT YARD?? After a solid week’s work, the Circa crew (and Todd and I) donned our new […]
Camden – Windjammer Weekend
We are back in Camden for Windjammer Weekend, and to meet up with cruising friends. The harbor is crowded, with all manner of traffic coming and going. Most visitors take moorings, and the best anchoring areas are now festooned with mooring balls. There is little area left to anchor, and yachts often put their hook […]
What Makes Sailors Dislike Powerboat Drivers
It is a lovely Saturday evening in peaceful Pulpit Harbor. There are a few folks out for a row, two kayaks are paddling nearby, and a trim cutter has dropped her hook to windward of us. Although there is 100% overcast, the sun has created enough illumination to cast a golden sheen on the calm […]
Southwest Harbor, Maine: Old Friends And New
Southwest Harbor, Maine, and a new experience for Wind Horse. Having now covered close to 60,000 miles, this is her first acquaintance with a mooring ball. You will find here the typical Maine brew of pleasure and work on the water. It is Hinckley country. Long overhangs rule, and varnish–high gloss of course–abounds. The facilities […]
Los Angeles to Whangarei: Sarah Visits Circa
After a long flight and 36 hours without sleep, I am sitting in a lovely conference room in the offices of Circa Marine in Whangarei, New Zealand. As I type, I am wearing a long-sleeved shirt, a sweater over that, a scarf and my coat and I’m STILL cold. My thin Los Angeles blood was […]
Optimizing Solar Panel Angle And Direction – Is It Worth The Trouble?
We are at anchor, it is quiet, just three other cruising yachts in this bay, and the sun is shining for a change. With the sun now dropping towards our neighbors in the Southern hemisphere, or the earth tilting if you prefer being accurate, the sun’s angle to our flat solar panels is less than […]
