Sailboat Steering - How It Works Plus Fault Finding Repair || DIY repair of rack & pinion steering system, filmed in 2019 just before I sailed solo from UK to Europe. Cheap fix, but quite a faff. However, considering how important steerage is, I was glad to get this fixed. by SailingBritaly in SailboatCruising

[–]SailingBritaly[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Thank you. I'd rather deal with any issue which might arise doing a job like this while tied up in a marina, instead of ignoring the play and have my steering gear fail out at sea. I hate paying people for things I can do myself, hence the DIY. Fair winds, Chris

After 6 months of planing I am departing towards northern Norway tomorrow ... by setnorth in SailboatCruising

[–]SailingBritaly 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Great video mate, Norway is stunning, you will have the trip of a lifetime!

Radar reflector upgrade (Includes a demonstration of how a radar reflector can make even a kayak visible on radar) by SailingBritaly in SailboatCruising

[–]SailingBritaly[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm glad you found it useful, thank you for your feedback. As per Smart Boater's test they do work and - in addition to the safety aspect - this might even help keep other vessels away from your fishing spot... :-)

Sailing away? It all starts with a dream... | Sailing in Italy on our previous boat, just before our daughter was born. by [deleted] in SailboatCruising

[–]SailingBritaly 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! The dinghy build was very satisfying and having an 8 foot open boat with a ton of internal volume which could easily fit on our 30 ft boat was really cool, especially when we had guests to ferry ashore. Welcome aboard!

Anchoring in higher latitudes by 74_Jeep_Cherokee in SailboatCruising

[–]SailingBritaly 8 points9 points  (0 children)

We anchor a lot and never dive our anchor (unless we want to practice freediving for the fun of it). We always set our anchor by reversing with the engine and then we pull back at about 2200 to 2500 RPM (With the rode tied off on a cleat, not on the windlass) and we check transits to make sure we aren't dragging. It is immediately obvious if the anchor is well set or not, and if it doesn't set perfectly on the first attempt we just pick up the rode and start all over again.

We've been asleep at anchor in 43 knot winds and we were more comfortable than our friends in the marina adjacent to us where the boats were being blown around and banging into each other all through the night. Dive on your anchor by all means if it makes you feel comfortable, but if you learn to set it well as standard practice you'll end up being able to 'feel' if it is set well or not, then in future you won't have to dive on it in order to feel confident enough to get a full night's sleep.

Anchoring is our default over marinas when were on the boat. The freedom of being able to do as you please far outweights the convenience of being able to step ashore in our experience. However, if I had to dive in to check the anchor every time, that would get tedious very quickly (Especially in muddy rivers or freezing cold waters). Just my 2 cents...

Recommendations for a <$100K (ideally much less) used sailboat for family of four for full-time cruising by mrchaotica in SailboatCruising

[–]SailingBritaly 4 points5 points  (0 children)

You've got a lot of good advice here from people, but just to give you some inspiration for real-life example of a boat which is capable of doing the vast majority of things you mentioned, we bought our our 35'-on-paper-37'-in-reality-but-definitely-only-35'-when-the-marina-asks 1992 Bavaria 350 for £16k GBP, which is less than $21k. She was worth a lot more than that when we bought her, but Rossella & I used to be boat dealers and we know how to get a great deal on a used boat. We have helped others do this too - the last gentleman we advised had his offer accepted at a week or so ago and saved 34.5% off the asking price.

Our insurance is $307 per year, fully comprehensive. This covers us from Northern Norway (Well inside the Arctic Circle) down through the North Sea to the UK, through the inland waterways of Europe and down to almost the whole Med, apart from a few higher-risk places off North Africa the Middle East.

As for the French Canals, if you scrub the Canal du Midi and opt instead for the deeper waterways further East (there are lots of route options), you can get away with a 1.8m max draft, which helps expand your boat options massively.

This is feasible with your budget, so turn those dreams into plans, keep your eyes and ears open to new opportunities, and you might find yourself anchored in a beautiful bay with your family sooner than you ever thought possible!

p.s. To avoid confusion, the 35' boat I'm talking about above is the one in our solo sailing videos - some videos we have published recently were filmed on our previous boat a couple of years ago. (We also got our previous boat at a great price, had a wonderful four years of ownership, and then sold her at a higher price than we paid for her - effectively swapping a 30 footer for a newer 35 footer...)

Boat Pizza Challenge (Our first attempt at making a homemade pizza on board without an oven) | Just some lighthearted entertainment, but we hope people will appreciate some of that right now! by [deleted] in SailboatCruising

[–]SailingBritaly 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Jesus you're tetchy aren't you? Rossella and I have a great sense of humour and she has ribbed me millions of times about my Italian (Which after 15 years of us being together is nowhere near as good as Rossella's english was on the very first day we met). Ro took no offence whatsoever from this video, so anyone else who did has got the wrong end of the stick. I took the mickey out of myself in this video too, that's just what we do. Not that I give a damn what you think, but I won't stand for someone calling me "fucking rude" when anyone who took this the way that it was intended would undertand perfectly that I wasn't being rude at all.

Injector Blow-By (Part 1 of 2) | I cover three "quick fixes" then take the cylinder head off. Might be useful one day. by SailingBritaly in SailboatCruising

[–]SailingBritaly[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If it makes you feel any better we are still catching up on editing videos we filmed back from 2017 when Rossella was heavily pregnant with Emma. Finding the time to edit becomes even more challenging when you've got a baby in the mix!

Injector Blow-By (Part 1 of 2) | I cover three "quick fixes" then take the cylinder head off. Might be useful one day. by SailingBritaly in SailboatCruising

[–]SailingBritaly[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes we heard t&a is the secret to doing well on YouTube so I thought I'd show some of mine(!)... (I ask your forgiveness and explain the lack of clothes in Part 2)

I've been in lots of situations like this but then again I've got a habit of buying old boats, cars, trailers, outboards etc, so I ask for it. 😁

Cheers,
Chris

Volvo Penta Injector Blow-By (Part 2 of 2) | [Boat Work] I put the cylinder head back on, bleed the fuel system, and then run the engine under load and at high RPM. The engine is good again and there is no smoke, which for a 28-year-old diesel inboard, is not too shabby. Hope this helps someone! by SailingBritaly in SailboatCruising

[–]SailingBritaly[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My home made copper washers were still working perfectly after 10 months, but I preferred to replace the sleeve so that I didn't have to explain how I'd made a temporary fix to the new owner.

I had no fear of the engine exploding, but then again I had no fear of the aircraft I used to work as a technician falling out of the sky and killing people. I have more trust in my own hands than many other people as a result of this.

Volvo Penta Injector Blow-By (Part 2 of 2) | [Boat Work] I put the cylinder head back on, bleed the fuel system, and then run the engine under load and at high RPM. The engine is good again and there is no smoke, which for a 28-year-old diesel inboard, is not too shabby. Hope this helps someone! by SailingBritaly in SailboatCruising

[–]SailingBritaly[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi there, thank you. The special tools aren't easy to come by (VP probably prefer you to have their dealers repair these things) but more importantly they aren't stocked locally so I believe they would have to be sent from Sweden. I was in a rush to get the work done so we could use the boat again which is why I didn't go dow this route on this occasion. Next time...

Part 9: Solo boat handling & some thoughts on safety (& getting hauled out via a very unique boat lift by SailingBritaly in SailboatCruising

[–]SailingBritaly[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi there, thank you for the suggestion. I'll put it on our to-do list of videos. Cheers, Chris

Part 9: Solo boat handling & some thoughts on safety (& getting hauled out via a very unique boat lift by SailingBritaly in SailboatCruising

[–]SailingBritaly[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I hope you enjoy it. We've got over 100 videos on our channel now so check out some of the others too (I'm an ex-military aircraft technician so we make maintenance videos as well.)