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Plastiki, 39 days out of San Francisco and halfway to a final destination in Australia, arrived on Wednesday in the Line Islands. I gather it was none too soon. Arriving at the Line Islands. © Plastiki Co-skipper Jo Royle writes, “We were ready for a stop. Everyone on board has worked hard to keep the smiles [...] …Read More

As part of my informal spring getting ready checklist I'd be remiss if I didn't mention your boat's shore power cord. You need to check to see if it is melting......... What I mean by that is taking a close look at all of the insulation on the length of the cord to ensure that the insulation hasn't been cut or abraded to the point where the individual wires inside the outer insulating jacket are exposed, but also to check for any sign of terminal over-heating at both the boat end and dock box end of the cord. Is there any sign of melting insulation? The photo below shoes what this will look like: Unfortunately the cause for what you see in the photo above may actually be in your dock box. As I've mentioned before and will probably mention again sometime, the primary by-product of electrical resistance is heat. Electrical resistance can be caused by loose electrical connections, in this case your shore power cord. At the dock end, most often the cause is at the receptical in the pedestal. the terminals loosen up after years of a plug being pushed in and out of the socket, resistance develops and heat is generated, causing melting around the actual connecting lugs or pins. At the boat end, the same thing is true and the melting you see above is the net result. Left unattended, these connections can generate enough heat to actually start a fire. Circuit breakers will not trip in this case because the actual amperage flow is being resitricted, and amps are what trip circuit breakers, less amps means no trip! So, what happens is these things just keep getting progressively hotter to a point of ignition someday. Before you launch this year, check that cord, if its starting to melt, you may be able to repair the ends with replacement parts, if the insulating jacket is violated, its time for a new cord. Take a really close look at the reseptical on your dock box, and if you have any suspicions about it, get you marina to inspect it and make any needed repairs. Check yours today and be sure you're safe for the upcoming season! …Read More

Our "affordable upgrades" series continues with some "zing" and "bling" you can add on the cheap. …Read More

Island Pilot is super-sizing its IPS-powered 435 into a new 531/2-foot model. New molds for the 535 have been built at the company’s yard in Zhuhai City, China, and Island Pilot reports that it has two firm orders already for the new yacht. If you really liked the 435 but wished it had a little [...] …Read More

From the Indian Ocean, approaching Australia after a six-month, nonstop circumnavigation, Sydney to Sydney: “Despite the fact that today started with a knockdown, a wet bunk, a headache and some pretty huge seas, I’ve had a great day. I know the words knockdown and great don’t belong in the same sentence, but right now I’m feeling [...] …Read More

The first in our series of affordable improvements that will help make your boat better. …Read More

Editor’s Note — Victoria Allman is the chef aboard a 143-foot megayacht and the author of the recently released “Sea Fare:  A Chef’s Journey Across the Ocean.”  This is the fourth in a series of periodic columns here on OceanLines featuring her irresistible recipes. Best of all for OceanLines readers, who are travelers of the [...] …Read More

Last month, the U.S. Coast Guard announced the winners of its “People’s Choice” photo contest, which we covered here. This month we have the winners of the in-house photo contest from the Coasties. These are great photos and although we’ve all seen similar photos before, we can’t seem to get enough of them. When you [...] …Read More

The video you see here was taken while departing the Fort Pierce, Florida, inlet, Friday, April 16. The tide was running out strongly and the wind and seas were running in just as strongly. The resulting washing-machine ride was rather sporty, although our Krogen 58′ handled it well.  At one point, we realize we’ve forgotten [...] …Read More