The 9 BEST UPGRADES for a Blue Water Boat
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- Опубліковано 9 лип 2024
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It takes some work to turn a boat into a true blue water cruiser. This week we'll cover our nine favorite upgrades that helped us sail safely and comfortably around the world.
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Table Of Contents
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0:00 - Intro
0:30 - Anchor and Ground Tackle
3:46 - AIS
6:08 - Watermaker
8:55 - Solar Panels
11:16 - Folding Propellers
13:51 - IridiumGO!
16:53 - Dinghy
19:19 - Cockpit Enclosure
21:13 - Radar
23:10 - Wrap Up
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I just want to say - this cruising tips series you’ve done is SO helpful and well done that even though I watched this one when it was released I’m going back and watching a lot of them again as we prepare to make the big jump into boat ownership. So thanks again for the work you guys put into these, it’s appreciated
I have an 78kg new generation anchor on an 18 ton monohull, with 115m of chain. I am a weight weenie, but this is the one place where I will choose heavy. Many fishing and other boats do not have AIS so don't rely on it. Watchkeeping is more important than ever.
Great advice, great list of recommendations but I can think of a couple more; one thing I would like to have are rungs on my mast so I can easily climb it, two a larger alternator, three a life raft and an i Com handheld transceiver AIS for when all else fails!
This was really good. Saw it twice….. loved the rational behind your decisions.
Excellent advice David! Would love you to do more of this detailing some of the other upgrades (e.g., sails, standing and running rigging, trampolines), equipment (e.g., navigation, galley, fans), clothing (e.g., foulies, sun-protection), toys (e.g., dive and snorkel, photo/video/sound), etc. you have added and discarded along the way.
Yep, we’re trying to sort out video ideas to cover pretty much all of those things!
Great advice. One more upgrade: you also need a companion like Amy to support you around the world.
Fair point. As we've said, spending time with your partner is the best part of this lifestyle. We're working on some concepts on how to talk about relationships on boats so we'll just have to leave this video focused on blue water boats themselves. 😉
Some of your best videos, cheers mate, preach it.
Great list !!! Had to save this vlog for future reference. Thanks, David.
Hi Guys, Great advice as always. We (our family -4 of us from Oz) are embarking on the sailing life at the end of this year 2023 when our daughter finishes school. I am new to your channel and i love that you guys are just real!!! The information and experiences you share always seem to have no agenda, that's the sailing world i grew up around. The work you obviously put in to make these videos must be quite a lot, so thank you for your efforts, from what i have seen they are great. I will continue to watch your channel as we get ready for our journey. Any advice you have for us will be greatly appreciated. We have watched hundreds of youtube vids of other families & people doing this and we think yours is the most informative. Other channels seem to sell, sell, sell the how to do this full time. How to teach you, all the pit falls, but isn't that part of the learning / growing experience? I will gather as much information from other sailors out there like you guys and dive in.
Congrats on a great channel...and hope we catch up out there one day...Cheers Aaron
Hey Aaron! Thanks for all the compliments and glad you found our channel! The cruising life isn't always easy but I try to give 2 pieces of advice for people looking to start out.
1) Make sure everyone on board has a reason _they_ want to do this. It doesn't have to be the same reason. When we started, we said Amy was a traveler who sails, and I was a sailor who traveled. Keeping sight of why you're doing this life will help you during the inevitable low points.
2) You need to have confidence in your _figure sh*t out_ skills. I 100% guarantee things will break, or things will go wrong (and usually at night). It's impossible to know how to fix everything or handle every situation, but you need to have a level of ability/stubbornness to work through it yourself. The cruising community is incredibly kind and helpful, but there won't always be people/professionals around to do things for you.
Hope that helps and we'll look forward to seeing you on the water someday!
Love the new format. Great info
Good to see some tech videos again. Nice new format. I bought my 85# Manta and AIS based on your suggestions several years ago.
Thanks for all this info. So helpful!
Enjoyed this ! We have everything you mentioned here and we love our 65 Mantus!! Getting ready to cruise south next year! We added a diesel heater to our list!
Excellent video! very refreshing and to the point. Thank you.
Super good info. Thanks for taking the time to make it.
Excellent info from someone with experience.
Really good information from your practical experience. Very interesting and well presented. 👍
I think you missed high-quality batteries (Lithium) that should maybe have been included in your Solar section, nice selection of the 9 upgrades though, no one should be without any of these :-)
I mentioned this in a reply to another comment, but I did debate a lot about whether or not to include lithiums on this list. I decided not to because most (hopefully all) boats come with some sort of batteries already. If it is a new or new to you boat, there can be a lot of value in learning power management and electrical systems on cheaper lead acid batteries.
An upgrade to lithiums once the existing lead acid batteries die is well worth it at that point and by then you should have a much better idea of how to manage power on your boat.
Second that, best upgrade on many levels
Excellent information!
Excellent as usual, well done author Amy
great video. Thank you.
As usual, very useful.
Thank you for the great information!
Well done and very useful!
Agreed with the comments - really useful series
These are going to be a great series. I remember when the prop fell off. 😖
Outstanding insight!
Excellent video thank you
Thank you.
Very good information!
Well done
Great information, 👍
Hello, new to your channel. Great job on this post! Wholeheartedly agreed with your suggestions. Looking forward to watching more of your posts. Thanks
Featherstream Props are the best already 3 years under our boat and really 0.6 knots more speed
What a surprise, good to see you guys again. Hope all is well.
It's good to be back! And yes, we're doing well. 😄
You need update the video & add Starlink to the list. Holy hell what a game changer. 1,100 mile offshore passage down the east coast this past week and didn’t lose connection once. A friend in the Salty Dog rally was able to stream NFL game 650 miles offshore. 👍🏻
OC Tender - best in the business
Thanks 🦘
Good list! I have the same 85# Mantus anchor and love it! I have been using a Kiwiprop (with Propspeed) with good results so you might want to check into that option.
Thanks for the suggestion!
Good list. My list mirrors yours but adds a lithium bank and a good downwind sail setup (a reacher and a runner). Of course this assumes all the safety equipment is accounted for.
That's a good assumption! I'm working on another video concept going over safety equipment in more detail.
Great video David. I must admit that I am jealous of your beautiful enclosure. 😂 Even though we do have a full enclosure, it doesn’t compare to the one you designed for Starry Horizons.
I've yet to go on a boat that didn't have at least one thing that made me think "That's a great idea! Why didn't we do that???" 😂
No fishing tips? Just kidding, love that you guys are back!
Of all the things we feel qualified to give advice on, fishing is definitely not one of them! 🤣
On the new models of folding props I have seen on the end nut with the wide washer has threaded holes in opposite sides with grub nuts so once tightened you use lock tight on the grub screws. This prevents the nuts turning as a second security feature. These are on Gori props. My friend has them and his older prop nut does not have these grub screws but the new one he bought does. He bought a new one as he lost the old as the nut was not correctly tightened
Very interesting. That does sound more secure. I'll have to take a closer look at Gori. Thanks!!
Looks to me like BWC (Blue Water Cruising) 101. Ever thought of a compilation of boating advice (like this one and more) as well as your "10 points on cruising ........") in 1 video with maybe an index on covered subjects for easy reference and quick access?
At least one power winch a very nice addition as well.
Ohh… good call. Raising our mainsail would take forever without an electric winch.
@@OutChasingStars
Don't forget the screecher!
Great list we agree with your recs. One question - how do you keep your enclosure free of scratches? We have lots of scratching where we roll ours up. Is it user error? Do we have a sub-par quality material?
We definitely have some small scratching in our panels after all these years, but thankfully not too many really big ones. I try to clean the panels with a Plexus cleaner pretty regularly so maybe that helps?
As for the material, I don't know too much about what was actually used, but I do feel our isinglass is thicker than I've seen on some other boats. 🤷♂️
@@OutChasingStars thanks for the quick response. I don’t know about our material either. I think ours has many scratches because we roll them all the time since they are our front helm window (pretty much every time we sail!). Perhaps your cockpit enclosures are opened and closed
Less often.
One other thing I thought of... How often do you wash off your panels with fresh water & soap? I take advantage of our large watermaker to wash the boat/panels after big passages and I think that may help a lot too. If the panels are rolled up with lots of salt still on them, I could see the salt causing some scratches as things rub and move around.
I very much liked your cockpit enclosure. Since we are taking delivery of our Balance 442 later this year I would like to ask about it. Who made it? I would like to get a similar looking one. Thanks.
We had it done in Palmetto, Florida. Unfortunately, I don't think the company that did it for us is still in business.
@@OutChasingStars Thank you anyway
Interesting episode, although the list is kind of all stuff "we bought" for years. However, I expected a more realistic view. Consider you are looking for a used boat or just purchased one. Most advice is to not immediately buy all possible gadgets and upgrades you ever read or seen on YT as essential; instead, go out sailing, and your list of crucial upgrades will for sure change. For example, imagine that your list may be categorized as "must" and "nice" for the newly purchased boat. For the sake of simplicity, excluding any personal safety equipment, you were faced with which items to buy on a wish list. For example, you may go for a new anchor and rode, water-maker, or considered the AIS. I try to make the point, you actually don't have the option of picking 9 items. Instead, if I have, say $10,000, I have to choose between a few expensive things or a combination of cheaper items. Maybe your "nice" items have to wait a while. Thus, make an episode like, "what I would I think is essential if I have $10,000, or $25,000 - you see the order becomes significant. Which items picked will be a trade-off between different needs, and other things have to wait until more money Is available. I hope you got the more realistic scenario that most cruisers are faced with unless their economic situation is not an issue. Maybe you can share the order of your essential upgrades as a starter. Cheers.
Wise and eloquent! Like me. ;-)
Don’t get a big ego now… 😉
If you have a large cat compared to a big monohull are you more limited on marina locations that can pull you out of the water for 'emergency' maintenance?
In general, it will be a bit harder to find both marinas and haul out yards that can handle cats. But it will also depend on the beam of the big monohull as well as the width of a marina berth or haul out slip really seem to be the limiting factor.
As always on Point David, We have 8 of the suggested upgrades just been hanging off Sat comms and waiting on Starlink, We have stayed Coastal so 4G Antenna on the mast and 4G router has been an essential tool as get comms 50KM off the coast and apologies but we totally copied you enclosure designs with the Scallops and for a day sail they are perfect and when on the hook for numerous days we roll them up completely.
One Question have you added a second single line reef or a second reefing line back to the helm to save having to use the strop at the mast?
No need to apologize! We're quite flattered when other people think we have good ideas. And besides, we've borrowed good ideas from countless others!
We did convert the 2nd reef to single line reefing for a while, but now I've actually removed all our old single line reef setups and we use the strop at the mast for all reef points. We could never get proper tension along the foot of the sail with single line reefing. The tack would always get pulled down first and the low friction ring we used would get jammed in the gooseneck. That actually damaged the gooseneck to the point we'd severely chafe reefing lines.
So we went back to using the strop and changed our reefing procedures. Rather than go straight into the wind, we sheet in the genoa super tight, set the autopilot wind vane to about 41deg, loosen the mainsheet so much that the main starts luffing and then reef. This results in a gentler motion than bashing straight into waves and I feel more comfortable going to the mast.
One project I'd really like to do some day would be to add additional reef lines to the luff of the main which would allow us to lead everything back to the helm again. But with the current design of our enclosure, there isn't enough room for additional lines or clutches. So it remains a future project!
@@OutChasingStars Thanks for the reply and your method makes sense and I will give it a try as I've nearly been bounced off the boat bashing directly into the wind and waves hence me seeking a better solution, However i agree the long term solution would be extra reefing lines back to the helm for the luff of the sail.
Excellent summary and narrative - my only comment would be , I would add in there medical training/medications/ equipment and safety equipment / few ever talk about these 2 subjects , maybe you can consider to do a video just on these 2 subjects .
Yep, those videos are already on our idea board!
Since this seems to be aimed at novice boat owners I think you really should have explained the whole anchor watch thing a bit better......Anchor Watch, especially in a crowded anchorage, and in adverse conditions it is not only about you dragging it is also being aware of others dragging or swinging into you.
a xiegu 12 volt ssb transceiver is under $500 on line
not a bad video over all. If i remember right, ya'll are not new to sailing, like so many channels?
or?
anyhow, thank you
We're both have our US Coast Guard 100 ton licenses and Amy's business before we started cruising was in the maritime industry. So we had some experience around boats. 😁
@@OutChasingStars well my apologies. there's so many channels that's hard to keep up!!
i kinda chuckled about the one fella that finished his classes, got his license (6pax? maybe i don't know and he didn't' clarify) got a couple thousand or so miles of coastline under his belt and declared himself a well experienced sailor, so the problems couldn't be his judgement!!
I'm noticing that folks, (sailing wisdom for example) appear to be counting flight miles and on land touring miles, walking to the store miles, etc etc to their sea miles!
classes are so important, licensing is convenient, to say that least. but when are these knuckle heads going to accept, that experience is important to be able to safely teach/guide others.
if a person wanted a 100 ton license, or 50ton, etc what do ya'll know about how to, and where to go to get it?
I'm sure a number of your viewers are asking themselves that same question.
Lithium battery should be number one couchsailor approved 🤔😁👍 I'm assuming they don't come standard
I went back and forth quite a bit on whether to include lithium batteries on this list. Lithiums are definitely an amazing upgrade but most boats at least come standard with some sort of (usually lead acid) batteries. For this list, I wanted to focus on items that most boats don't come standard with, or that are worth it to upgrade immediately (props).
Also, for us it was worth it to learn electrical systems and energy management on the cheaper AGM batteries SH came with before upgrading.
Insurers are starting to refuse to insure boats with lithium now...
@@billynewport251 wow haven't heard that one have you heard of any incidents 🤔👍
Don’t forget the washer because this Captain doesn’t wash clothes in a bucket
Lithium is highly volatile in water
Can I get away with some combination of chain and rode? After X meters - the risk of the rode being on the ground is minimal - right? How much chain is enough?
That answer depends a whole lot on where you intend to sail. The South Pacific and Indian Ocean have some incredibly deep anchorages. In some of those spots we’ve used all 300 feet of out anchor chain.
As for a chain/rode combo, I’ll stand by what I said in the video. I still think all chain is worth it. Coral bommies can get quite tall and every anchorage will have different depths/conditions.
@@OutChasingStars help me understand the math. If I have 150 chain and lots more.rode,.why wouldn't that work in deep places. The chain is on the ground and the rode is the scope.
Backstory: I am soecinf out my boat now.
⛵❤
How much chain do you carry?
We have 300 feet of chain. Places in the South Pacific and Indian Ocean have some incredibly deep anchorages so having that much chain was necessary. If we were just cruising say the Bahamas or the Caribbean, we wouldn't carry that much.
I thought batteries would be on the list…or refrigeration, knowing capacity of either are issues from the factory. Great list though!
🙂👍🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
are you talking about sailors that sail or parkers that park more than they sail?
If you install Oceanvolt Servoprops and replace the diesels, you can regenerate while sailing.
That is a really tough topic that I go back and forth on _a lot._ I absolutely love the idea of a 'greener' setup with a ton of solar and electric engines. But most things I've heard is that there are still some kinks in the system or some limitations on their use. We've definitely been in situations where having big, powerful diesels helped us get through some rough conditions that lasted for a long time.
Plus, diesels are generally very easy to maintain and you can find parts/service in most places around the world. If we had problems with an Oceanvolt system in the middle of the Indian Ocean, it could be a real challenge to get fixed...
It is definitely something I keep an eye on for any 'future boat'. Even though Amy rolls her eyes every time I mention the topic. 😆
It is a massive expense, for sure, probably best to plan from the start like you said, possibly with a faster boat to recoup more energy. Maintenance shouldn't be necessary very often though. You never have to worry about fuel starvation, especially in rough seas, for example. Bad fuel, including diesel bugs, obviously isn't an issue either, although I know you went to great lengths to build your fuel system. It comes down to going 2 kts instead of 7 through the doldrums, assuming you had at least 2 kw of solar, but never having to buy diesel. You could also trade the diesel generator for more lithium if you wanted to go whole hog. Replacing fuel tanks with lithium would seem a pleasure knowing you wouldn't have to clean fuel tanks.
That said, I don't remember the brand of props you were using, and I have no experience, but I always thought Max Props with line cutters on the shafts would be good.
Glad to see you guys again! Thanks for all the great videos!
Like all things on boats, there are always compromises! 😁 Not having to buy diesel, or worry about bad diesel would be nice. But I might go insane trying to get through the hundreds of miles in the doldrums at 2 knots! I think you have the right idea that a faster boat may solve these problems, but Amy needs convincing! Haha
We have Flexofold 3 blade folding props. And the annoying thing is that they actually perform really well. We get good power in forward and reverse and there’s no regular maintenance required. But that’s all for naught if they’re just going to randomly fall off. I have heard good things about Max Props but they do require regular greasing. Also I’m a bit more partial to folding props as with the blades tucked away, it’s one less thing for ropes/nets to snag on. Compromises right???
No Propellers is faster
OMW! What an ego on this kid!
Silver spoon much?
How about a new number 1. Blue water, monohull only.
As I said, everyone has their own list. 😄 We're quite happy with our catamaran and for a downwind, tropical tradewinds circumnavigation she was a great platform.
Would we take her into Arctic waters? No. But she handled the wild weather in the Mozambique Channel and around South Africa like a champ.
I would rather stay home than be stuck on a monohull!
Actually those that can afford it buy the full boat not a half boat like a mono 😉😂