Many people ask me how I enjoy the holidays as a live aboard cruiser. Well…this festive season marks our fourth year on the boat and fifth year owning her. Looking back, we have celebrated Christmas in various countries with a variety of friends and family. Amazingly, each year Santa seems to get the Lat and Long that I send him, much to Sienna’s delight.
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Is it safe to sail to St Vincent & The Grenadines?
The title should actually be, ‘Is it safe to sail to St Vincent’? The Grenadines, as a whole, are known to be safe. It’s St Vincent that has the bad reputation. There are 32 islands and cays (pronounced ‘Keys’) that make up St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG). Nine are inhabited, including the mainland St Vincent and the Grenadines islands: Young Island, Bequia, Mustique, Canouan, Union Island, Mayreau, Petit St Vincent and Palm Island.
In 2016 when we did our first full Caribbean sailing season we skipped St Vincent. Immediately after passing it by I had several cruisers say, ‘Don’t miss St Vincent – it’s great!’ I vowed that I would most definitely visit the island if the opportunity came up again.
On our visit we checked into Chateaubelair on the northwest side of the island. Then we sailed down to Cumberland Bay and anchored with our stern facing the shore – an anchor heading out to sea and a line tided to the shore. What were our overall thoughts of the island and the people? Watch the video to find out. And check out the photo gallery too.
Boat Life With Boat Buddies
What is a boat life with boat buddies like? Boat buddies are boats that you decide to travel with. Once you start cruising, you’ll meet a variety of boaters in an anchorage. Considering that most people are heading the same direction, many boaters choose to team up for social, safety and, if it’s a kid boat, guaranteed play dates.
Watch the following video to get a glimpse into the boat buddies we had on our journey from the Bahamas down to Trinidad. Find out why all the girlies from Rondo, Pura Vida and Britican are bending over. Watch now…
Boat Handling – Leaving A Dock
Most boat crashes and hull crunches happen when docking and leaving a dock. Why? There’s a variety of reasons. Some new (and experienced) boat owners misread the elements (wind, tide, current). Other’s misjudge the space available. And it’s very common for inexperienced marina dock hands or crew to mess things up with the lines. Boat handling leaving a dock is a key skill to learn.
Unfortunately, once a new boat owner has a crunch it can be quite a setback.
Sure, there’s a cost associated to a scratch or hole but the real issue is with confidence. We’ve met many new boat owners that have a few small accidents and decide to call it a day. Take a look at all the boats you’ll find in a marina on a perfect sailing day – many people want to live the dream, buy access to the dream and then lose steam when it comes to actually making the dream happen (leaving the dock).
The crazy thing is that there are very safe and easy steps regarding boat handling leaving a dock.
In fact, the steps that we use make docking and leaving a dock look like a breeze – even for newbies. Like so many things with boat ownership, having a blueprint or a checklist can help you make a success out of it more times than not. Below you’ll find a video where Simon explains the procedure, we then demonstrate leaving a dock and we also provide an alternative. Furthermore, you’ll find the steps written below the video.
To access this post, you must purchase The Britican Club.
Liveaboard Cruiser Insider – Julia Weeks from Prepare To Tack
How does one become liveaboard cruiser? What do they do with their land based stuff? How do they get a boat? What motivates them to do it? How do they fund it? What are the biggest lessons they’ve learned? What would they change? What’s their favorite memory? What recommendations to they have for you? Find out here!
Life On A Boat
This video should be entitled, sailing to Dominica and Martinique however we didn’t really see too much on land. It’s more of a video about what life on a boat is like. There’s some passage planning, heavy winds, a major squall, sushi, swimming, pot luck, fishing, socializing – you know, the all the things you do when you live on a boat.
Guadeloupe
After our quick visit in Antigua, we sailed south to Guadeloupe with our two buddy boats, Pura Vida and Rondo. On our trip, we anchored in Deshaies, stopped off at the Jacques Cousteau’s Marine Park on Pigeon Island for a snorkel and then went onto Les Saintes. Watch the video to see some sailing, fishing,[Read More]
Preventing Boat Engine Failure
What’s the number one thing a boater should do in the hopes of preventing boat engine failure? To ensure routine engine checks are completed. On Britican, we do a series of routine engine checks before EVERY voyage. On the video below, Simon will show you how he completes each check.
Engine Checks & Engine Failure Prevention
Members Only Extended Video. Here’s what Simon does to check our engine before every start. These key steps are in place to reduce the likelihood of engine failure. Additionally, for our members only, Simon goes through his thoughts about taking a week-long Diesel Marine Engine course – should you do the same or is there a better way to spend your time and money? Finally, Simon offers the four main reasons that we’ve experienced engine failure on Britican over the last four years so that you learn from our mistakes and are better prepared!
To access this post, you must purchase The Britican Club.
How To Fillet A Mahi Mahi Video
There are many amazing things that go along with becoming a liveaboard cruiser. One of them is fresh fish for dinner. But how do you catch a fish and once you have it, how do you fillet it? More specifically, the question to ask is how to fillet a Mahi Mahi? Watch this video to[Read More]
