Learning
Broadband Express is neither
We've been living on Scream for about 100 days now. There have been various ups and downs, but the biggest surprise is that our internet provider, Broadband Express, is terrible. I remember using the internet via dial-up fifteen years ago. And while my current service is faster than 1200 baud, it isn't nearly as reliable. […]
Green boating
In honour of BlogActionDay, we're writing about our plans for making Scream an environmentally friendly boat. Scream is currently equipped with a Diesel engine, which both supplies propulsion and provides electricity to charge the batteries. Like all Diesel powered boats, the engine is acceptably efficient at moving the boat, but it doesn't generate electricity efficiently. […]
Making Lazy Jacks
We make and install lazy jacks, a system for helping take down the mainsail. Click To Play
GPS takes many minutes to acquire a fix
Like any addict, I really like to get my fix. I know that I can navigate coastal waters by bearings, soundings, dead reconing and my paper charts. I even know enough celestial navigation to make sense of all of the references and tools that I have onboard for when I go offshore. But I prefer […]
Stripping down and oiling up
Scream's toe-rail was covered in cetol varnish, which is a perfectly reputable product that we used to great effect on Wai Whare, our previous boat. However, the cetol was starting to lift after years of wear and we wanted to try something else. Some of our friends had recommended Penofin, which is an oil. The […]
Up There and Back Again - Varnishing the Mast
The captain was kind enough to haul be up the mast three times today as I sanded, cleaned, and varnished the mast. We started by lightly sanding with a 220 grit sandpaper to scuff up the existing coats of varnish. The sanding was just enough to make the varnish a little rough and white/grey from […]
Winch Maintenance
Click To Play Last weekend we did some long needed winch maintenance, and decided to show you what we did. In this video, we're taking apart an Andersen 26 2-speed winch, cleaning it, regreasing it and reassembling it.
Making a splash at the docks
When we returned from our most recent trip to Bedwell Harbour, we were a little apprehensive about docking the Big Boat for the first time by ourselves. The wind was blowing fairly strongly, even in the harbour, but as we made our approach, things seemed to be going well. Thankfully, Donna Gail, the very large […]
A visitor and a diesel
Marc A few weeks ago, our friend Marc visited us from Vancouver. Now a librarian, Marc once apprenticed as an electrician, and we hoped we could press-gang him into service. As it turned out, he was a great crew member, and we'd be happy to kidnap him have him back any time. We poked at […]
Diesel Maintenance
We knew when we bought the boat that there was some maintenance that needed to be done on the engine. But, in our haste to use the boat, we put it off. Of course, like all things, that meant that a couple of weeks ago, the engine stalled, right as we were trying to leave […]