Cruising sailboats are often sighted traveling dead downwind. The crew will poll out a single headsail, launch the chute or have twin headsails. Typically the main is not hoisted. The boat then steers dead downwind, but, is this efficient? Gail says, “Who cares? It is comfortable and easy to maintain.” Let us look at the hard numbers. Choice A: Sail dead downwind for 1 hour at 5 knots. The next sunny anchorage is dead down wind so this is the most direct course. Choice B: Sail on a […]
Vendor Review
Two Fish has needed a few fixes and we have performed many upgrades over the past two years. Here is how we rank the subsystems’ providers after-sales support. This is not a representative poll so we would like to hear from others on their experiences with marine manufacturers. Harken (winches, blocks, main sail cars) We had a bent stripper and damaged jaws in the early days of Two Fish. The company was very helpful via email on diagnosing the problem and getting the parts ordered. Their inability to ship […]
Cartageña
After reintroducing ourselves to our wool clothing in Bogotá, we were looking forward to returning to sea level and the warm breezes of the Caribbean. I was expecting a continental version of some of the islands we visited this summer, but instead I found a place more redolent of the Brazilian ports we visited last year. The buildings and streets of the old town have a similar colonial feel to Recife and Paraty and the winds of the open ocean are evident in the bent palm trees along the shore. […]
Grenadines, the Islands
May 5-18, 2015 After leaving St. Lucia, we sailed past St. Vincent and headed towards Bequia, the northernmost Grenadine. The 70 mile sail consisted of about 15 miles in the lee of St. Lucia, 20 miles between the islands, 20 miles along the coast of St. Vincent and another 15 miles through the current and waves towards Bequia. Despite the photos, Caribbean sailing is not the flat water downwind paradise that I had imagined. Even after we reached Martinique, we had more than our share of sailing to windward with […]
Bogotá
“Hello … um I mean … Hola”, Gail spoke into the hotel phone as we were woken by a 5 am call from the concierge. The caller asked “Had we been looking for the pharmacist?” Gail curtly replied “Wrong room”. This mistake phone call played into my preconceptions of drug-filled Colombia but the next three days would show me another country. Embarrassingly, most of my understanding of Colombia comes from watching Gail’s favorite situation comedy “Modern Family,” so I had plenty to learn. Politics The country is full […]
Bilge Pump
We replaced our Rule Bilge pumps and learned a bit about their mechanics in the process.
Rule Bilge Pump Breakdown from Two Fish on Vimeo.
St. Lucia
April 24-May 4, 2015 The origin of St. Lucia’s name is not clear. It was, not surprisingly, inhabited by the Caribs, who might have called it Iouanalao, where the Iguana is found. What we found was a very green island, and to call it hilly with winding roads would be an understatement. It is a volcanic island and I doubt that the many Europeans who claimed it as their possession, went very far inland. It is known to have had 14 different flags from 1660 to 1814. As a constitutional […]
Moteurs et Baguettes
April 16-23, 2015 We have had the pleasure of meeting many Volvo dealers in the Americas, many with excellent service, some not. Our dock and technicians at Case Pilote in Martinique were uniquely wonderful. We had heard rave reviews of the Martinique dealer from a fellow cruiser who replaced his Volvo with this dealer’s help. This seemed like the perfect time to do an overhaul on our engines in preparation for our Pacific crossing. About 100 feet of the local fishing pier is earmarked for Inboard Diesel and Two Fish […]
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