Come Along with S.V. Scream Archives: learning
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17 December 2009
Galapagos Cruising Permit / Autografo
There are all kinds of rumours circulating about the rules governing private vessels visiting the Galapagos islands. We have met a few cruisers who insist that we would not be eligible for a cruising permit or that such permits exist only in theory but in practice are not issued. Others assure us that there is [...]
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10 December 2009
Review of Explore Central America!
Boaters in first world countries enjoy many amenities that are unavailable elsewhere. One of the most important differences is the lack of official publications describing the waters. While Latin American countries do make their own, high-quality charts, these charts are unavailable to the cruising yachtsman. I, and others I know, have tried to no avail [...]
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30 October 2009
Monteverde, Costa Rica
From our trip to the Monteverde cloudforest, including great shots of hummingbirds and us ziplining.
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2 July 2009
Scream’s Guide to Walking the Mayan Ruins in Tikal, Guatamala
The Mayan ruins at Tikal are fascinating and inspiring. We highly recommend a visit for anyone with an interest in history, archeology, or nature. The ruins of the Mayan capital of Tikal cover over 16 square kilometers. Seeing each ruin in any degree of detail will take many long, tough days. For most people one [...]
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24 June 2009
Solar panels, a year in review
The solar panels that we installed last May have been wonderful. We installed two 195 watt solar panels on swivel mounts near the stern. Having cruised full time since we’d like to share a few thoughts.
The pivoting mounts that mounted our panels on have been a success for entirely different reasons than we expected. We [...]
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4 June 2009
Review of Uniden Atlantis 250 Handheld VHF Radio
We bought a Uniden Atlantis 250 handheld VHF radio at the 2008 Vancouver boat show. We bought the radio as we wanted a hand held to use from the dinghy or in an emergency. We’ve had good reception with the radio. The battery holds a charge well. It has been wet many times without any [...]
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17 May 2009
Cruising Budget 2008-2009
The Budget 2008-2009
After years of research we decided that budget of $500/week1 was an appropriate cruising budget for a 45′ sailboat with a crew of two. We found some information on this topic in many sources, but it mostly lacked the level of detail that we wanted. So we have been tracking our budget for [...]
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15 May 2009
Provisioning for Mexico
“People eat everywhere” is a useful phrase to keep in mind when provisioning for a voyage. Wherever there are people you can get food. The conditions are that you may not like what they eat and where there are no people there are no groceries.
Mexican supermarkets are comparable to those in Canada and the US. [...]
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1 April 2009
Sea of Cortez: A Cruiser’s Guidebook
We obtained a copy of Breeding and Bansmer’s invaluable cruising guide before we arrived in Mexico.
When we left the US we could not imagine how bad the official charts are in Latin America. The official charts are often over a century old. The Latitudes and Longitudes of major features are often incorrect by a nautical [...]
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15 January 2009
Back in La Paz
After twelve days trying to get north, we’re back in La Paz to re-provision. We know a number of other boats who are also failing to go north, including Kalagan and Warana from the 2008 BCA Island Fleet.
The winds and seas in the Sea of Cortez aren’t anything like what we are accustomed to. The [...]
