Does anyone know of any application that can take data from Raymarine or Garmin electronic units and then record data like GPS position, wind speed, heading and wind angle and what not to be reviewed later.

Sorry, I'm not sure why the image is being distorted. I don't plan on sailing on really rough days but I would like to build something about this size that I can zip up and down the coast a bit. I'm just trying to get out of freshwater.

I’m considering buying an S2 9.2 but the boat has some soft deck issues previously patched / injected -close to the mast (the one thing I forgot to take a picture of). Ofcourse a survey will tell me more but being so close to the mast and not knowing how the s2 was built I would like to hear your take on it.

After splitting with my ex partner and sailing buddy, I'm planning my first trip of the season. A fairly short one from south West England to the Netherlands. I'll be taking 2, possibly 3 people with me I've not sailed with before.

I'm a typical guy in the kitchen on land I live on chicken rice and veg 80% of the time., I'm not sure how to stock the boat to keep everyone's belly happy for a week or so. Am I over thinking this aspect?

She's a 29" westerly konsort, fairly roomy for her length with almost 11" beam.

Assuming somebody with very little experience had the time to go all in, would one year be sufficient to learn enough to go out for a long trip? My mind just came up with one year (in Northern Europe) to include all the different seasons and weather patterns, not just nice summer cruising. Would that prepare a person to for example do the Atlantic crossing?

And how much more time when the skills are to include solo sailing?

I am always in awe how some people actually don´t even invest that kind of time but just learn the basics and go. But that´s probably only for the few, so asking for the average Joe here.

I'm on a 1976 Jeanneau Brin de Folie 30' in Dominican Republic. Tonight we will sail to Luperon. We would like to sell the boat asap and fly home. If we can see the Bahamas before that, it would be great, but we heard it will be hard to sell a cheap boat there. What's your opinion?

What are some of the most affordable Catamarans with saloons? Obviously, being the type of vessel it is, "affordability" is a relative term. Just wondering if anyone here knows what the best value models are.

I have an oday 23 with a centerboard that is stuck up. It is out of the water. I have tried driving a wooden dowel through the line shaft and hammering on it, which did not drop the board. I've also tried power-washing up the sides of the centerboard trunk to remove mud, and scraping with a thin piece of metal to remove barnacles. Nothing has dropped the board. I am now at the point of cutting into the fiber glass in the bottom of the bilge, above the centerboard, to try and hammer the board down directly. Any advice before I take this seemingly drastic step?

Edit: forgot to mention - broke the dowel off in the line shaft too. Ugh.

Has anyone sailed out from Gökçeada to other Greek islands nearby? For instance Limnos. Or better yet, all the way down to Paros or Naxos? How long does it take? Any tips or recommendations from experience?

Any recommendation on a bareboat company for a charter?

I’m taking this course this weekend and am unsure of what to expect. All I know is that it’s a 1 day course. Is there a written component? Hands on?

Does anyone have up to date information on how prevalent credit card payments are for grocery stores, restaurants and mooring balls around the common anchorages?

Hi I’m 54 and never sailed before except on a rum cruise type thing. But for years now I have dreamed of sailing away and living on board. Travel between islands and anchor for a while. Then go explore somewhere else. Seems I am alone in this, in my family and my wife is not interested. Every once and a while I will download and do some free learn to sail apps. Then when money worries hit or when the bug to do it gets to big I tell myself it’s never going to happen and move on for a while. Probably 3 or 4 times a year I get the bug. Then subscribe and watch tons of live aboard YouTube videos. Just seems all those you tubers living aboard alone or with others seem to have tons of money and little real world worries. Anyway I know I should take a beginner course and see if it really is something I will like. But I feel the real road block will be money. All stories I hear are the best time with a sailboat is the day you bought it and the day you sell it. I don’t want that. Anyway looking for advice. Probably will get a bunch of live your dreams and go for it, have no regrets types, and some with cautionary tails. Anyway maybe I am just too old now to start and don’t have enough money to start it as a hobby first. Life can suck sometimes. And I want to do something different one day. Well I can keep dreaming I guess. Just don’t want to die dreaming of things ya know.

I need to get my sailboat towed from a marina in Vancouver to one in Victoria, and I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with something like this? The cost of membership is pretty low, and towing is included in the membership, but I'm not sure if non-emergency 'dock to dock' towing is included in that?

Thanks for any insight

My boat came with a raymarine system (Axiom+, VHF70, autopilot etc), recently updated to the latest version of Lighthouse 4.5.84. The boat had an AIS received (VHF70) but no AIS transmitter.

I just installed an em-trak AIS transceiver B954 and had it programmed with the same MMSI that was on the VHF, after transferring ownership of the MMSI number with boat.us.

The problem is that I see my own boat on the chart plotter, which sets off all the vessel danger alarms.

How do I convince my Axiom+ not to be afraid of its own shadow?

In April I will start my first offshore sailing course in Croatia. The registration email says oilskin and rain boots are required.

It seems that oilskin is a substantial and important investment for sailing. It costs a minimum of 300 Euro after discount from the major brands like Helly Hansen, Musto or Gill.

What would you recommend to a newbie? Thanks!

Good days sailing in the rain today.

We have an in-mast furling main sail, but the sail is a bit stretched and the bagginess has become a problem when furling in. Is this something a sail loft could help fix or will we have to replace the sail? I’m not sure quite how old the sail is as it came with our boat. The sail gives us good speed when sailing so the condition isn’t too bad, but furling it in is a problem. Thanks!

I have a like new Navman Tracker 5607 chart plotter on board my boat. It has a few C-Map chart cards, however the latest is dated 2008 with the plotter saying it was last updated the same year. I'm moored in an estuary where depths are ever changing and even the channel moves about so I need updated charts. Searching the electronic chart websites I don't seem to be able to find any compatible with this old chart plotter. I see some of them come on SD cards or similar, can I just buy an adapter and use the new electronic charts on the plotter or would they not be compatible with the old software? It would be a shame to chuck a like new chart plotter and have to fork out for a new one!

I went down to the boat yesterday to go out for the weekend to find my batteries were completely dead. All of them, house and start. My shore power was in and giving power to the boat, but my battery charger was switched off on my panel. Switched it on and still wasn’t charging. I went and bought a battery charger from AutoZone, it charged enough to start the motor, and STILL the Xantrex doesn’t charge my battery. I tested everything and it looks like shore was only giving me 2 amps, but there was no noticeable change in voltage when I would shut the battery charger off.

This is what is weird though:

• Marina lost power a few times this week
• Charger breaker was off

What would the chances be that at the same time both of these things happen, that my charger would die? Am I supposed to do some kind of hard reset when the batteries are completely discharged? They are all AGMs, about a year old.

I guess thankfully I was in my slip the first time this happened to me. Learning experience.