Monitor Your Boat From Afar - Review Of The ROAM Device
The Boat Galley
If you have to leave your boat, are you confident all is well aboard? You can be with the Roam Device, an affordable and easy remote boat monitor system. Summary John Herlig from The Boat Galley team recently installed the Roam marine monitor hub on his 1967 Rawson 30 sailboat, currently anchored in Florida while he is away from the boat. He found the installation and setup of the Roam device faster and easier than expected. The device monitors vital boat systems and connects to a cell network to send data to the cloud. Users can access data from an app on their phone. The price is...
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No Foreign Land - A Great Cruiser Resource
The Boat Galley
Everything you need to know about this cruiser-based, crowd-sourced, social app. We rely on it every day! Summary When you've arrived at a new anchorage, how do you figure out how to find necessities? Especially if you're out of range of The Boat Galley cruising guides? After all, there are places where cruising guides don't exist. Luckily I have a great resource to share. Cruising is more than dolphins and beautiful sunsets. Sometimes, you gotta get stuff done, like buying groceries or diesel. Or maybe you're just craving a restaurant meal or want a fun day off the boat. You have...
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Best Marine Weather Apps
The Boat Galley
I'm frequently asked for the best marine weather apps. Cruising the Florida coast and Bahamas, I've found a few favorites. Summary Apps are helpful. But don't forget to look out the hatch to see what's happening in your area. If you need more information, here's what we relied on while cruising Florida and the Bahamas. Windy Windy is great for a color-coded, big-picture view of the wind, wave, and rain forecasts. The motion feature shows changes over the hours and days. We've found Windy pretty accurate. It does require internet access to use. RADAR Radar programs come and go. So I...
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How to Capture Rainwater from your Cruising Boat
The Boat Galley
Here's why you should collect rain water on your cruising boat, even if you have a watermaker. And a few tips to tell you how to do it. Summary Catching rainwater on the boat? Is it worth it even if you have easy access to water in your cruising locale? We think so. In the Marquesas, where we're currently cruising, we find taps providing water in every settlement's port. It's not always potable. But it's suitable for showers and laundry. We also have a small watermaker onboard. Even so, we still gather rainwater aboard Calypso. A heavy rainfall fills our collapsible water jugs in 20...
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Galley Straps on a Boat - Do They Help or Harm?
The Boat Galley
Some cruisers think galley straps are a great safety item. I disagree. Here's why. Summary An important feature of a well-designed cruising boat galley is safety for the cook--ensuring they aren't tossed around the boat in rough seas. Many cruisers think galley straps solve the problem. But I believe they can make things worse--particularly the ones I saw on my friend's boat. What are the major issues? 1) Straps confine the cook in front of fire and hot pans with no ability to move away. 2)Straps don't help if you need access to other areas like lockers or the sink. 3) You need two hands to...
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Doing Laundry in a Bucket When You Live on a Boat
The Boat Galley
When you need to do laundry on the boat and there's no laundromat nearby, one unexpected tool will make the job easier. Here are the steps to having clean laundry aboard--no washing machine required! Summary: As budget cruisers in the 1990s, we did nearly all laundry on board. Today, we intend to splurge on laundromats. However, not everywhere has them. Or the cost can be high, like in French Polynesia where we are now. So what do you need to wash clothes on board? My supplies include two buckets, cold water detergent, fresh water, and a clean (unused) toilet plunger. Here's my...
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Recovering from Surgery When You Live on a Boat
The Boat Galley
Preparing for surgery when you live on a boat? Then we have some tips to help from when my husband Dave had a hip replacement while we were living aboard Barefoot Gal. Summary So how do you make arrangements when you live on a boat full time and have to schedule a surgical procedure? There are three components important to consider: 1) How long will it take for you to recover from your procedure? You need to get a realistic assessment from your doctor. And remember, when you're asking questions, they may not understand what it's like to live on a boat. 2) Where is the safest place to...
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Pacific Passage Highlights
The Boat Galley
Distilling a 4200-mile Pacific passage into memorable sound bites isn’t easy. But certain experiences definitely stand out. Here are some favorite moments from our 33 days at sea. Summary Sitting in a rolling anchorage is a great time to review Pacific passage highlights. After 32 days at sea and 8 hours heaving to so we could anchor during daylight there are so many epic experiences to reflect on. On our passage, I wrote daily emails. Follow the link below for access to all of them. They include observations of conditions and the moon and stars. But here, I'm just focusing...
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Vacuum Sealer on Your Boat - Yes or No?
The Boat Galley
The answer to whether you should have a vacuum sealer on you boat is complicated. But hopefully I can give you a few ideas of what to think about before you decide for yourself. Summary Over the years, many readers asked me about vacuum sealers for boats. I had one aboard two different cruising boats. And although I liked mine, I still consider them a luxury item. Here's what you should know if you're thinking of buying one. Vacuum sealers preserve food better than zipper bags. They remove more air, their bags are tougher, and they won't open unexpectedly if you seal the bags...
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Provisioning for a Long Passage in Unfamiliar Places
The Boat Galley
Provisioning for a long passage is only one thing you have to do before setting out for distant shores. It's even more difficult when you're doing it in somewhere that's new to you. Here's how we managed the task on a 4-day timeline. Summary We thought we had plenty of time to leisurely provision our boat before leaving for French Polynesia. We could focus on other boat tasks in the meantime. But receiving a visa ahead of time meant we had to get moving. So, how do you provision for a long passage on a short timeline? And especially when it's in a place you're unfamiliar with?...
info_outlineI'm frequently asked for the best marine weather apps. Cruising the Florida coast and Bahamas, I've found a few favorites.
Summary
Apps are helpful. But don't forget to look out the hatch to see what's happening in your area.
If you need more information, here's what we relied on while cruising Florida and the Bahamas.
Windy
Windy is great for a color-coded, big-picture view of the wind, wave, and rain forecasts. The motion feature shows changes over the hours and days. We've found Windy pretty accurate. It does require internet access to use.
RADAR
Radar programs come and go. So I can’t recommend a specific one. I prefer ones that show how fast the storm cells are moving and in what direction.
Hurricane Tracker
Everything Hurricane Tracker offers is available on the (US) National Hurricane Center website. What Hurricane Tracker does brilliantly is to make the information easy to access. This is critical if you either have slow internet or pay by data used.
For each storm (and Invest and Potential Storm), Hurricane Tracker has all the NHC maps, satellite images, and the official forecasts and analysis. It’s quick and easy to tap or click from one to another. Its ease of use is why I'm willing to pay for lifetime access.
Marine Weather Center
Marine Weather Center is the “proper” name for what most East Coast and Caribbean cruisers call “Chris Parker’s weather.”
Chris and his staff are full-time marine forecasters for this area and provide subscription forecasts by SSB and email. Subscribe via SSB to talk with him during his designated times for your location. But we use email for time to digest the information.
Chris is a former cruiser who understands weather as it applies to boats. And he's trained other forecasters to do the same. Forecasts are quite accurate. They tend to err on the side of caution.
To read and for cost information for the apps or information about apps for other cruising grounds, visit Favorite Weather Apps or listen to the complete podcast.
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Links:
Windy - https://www.windy.com (also avaialable for iOS and Android)
Hurricane Tracker - http://www.hurrtracker.com/Main/web-app.html
Marine Weather Center - https://www.mwxc.com/signup.php
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Music: “Slow Down” by Yvette Craig