Author: Matt Claiborne
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Boater’s Guide to the Florida Keys
The Florida Keys are America’s tropical island paradise. Islands that promise island life that you can drive to, without ever setting foot on a boat. Of course, boaters like to boat there, too. Home to the continental US’s only living coral reef, the Keys have clear water, great diving, world-class fishing, and some of the…
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Boater’s Guide to The Bahamas
During the depths of winter, nothing warms the cockles of your heart like being on a sandbar in The Bahamas, sipping a cold Kalik, and laughing about those poor saps up north. But The Bahamas are a boater’s paradise year-round. The Islands of The Bahamas is a nation made of hundreds of islands and cays…
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Boater’s Guide to Chesapeake Bay
While you can get to major cities such as Norfolk, Annapolis, Washington DC, and Baltimore during a Chesapeake Bay cruise, the charm lies in its laid-back, country-lane feel. In the Chesapeake Bay, you can play on a sandbar, taste fresh catch, visit the capital city, spot deer on a country lane, watch Navy ships in…
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Is It Safe to Drink Boat Tank Water? — The Complicated Matter of Drinking Water on a Boat
Many boaters are concerned with the water quality coming from their boat water tanks, and with good reason. Getting a waterborne illness on a boat is too easy, and questionable water is everywhere. It’s hard to have confidence in a system with many challenges: questionable water sources, dock pipes that are not properly pressurized, using…
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Boaters, Don’t Run A-Foul of Fishing Gear
Here’s a topic that we’ve had to learn about through trial and error. While I have some fishing experience, the different gear we’ve encountered along the US East Coast has been shrouded in mystery. Navigating a cruising boat means sharing space with fishermen and their gear. Sometimes, a cruising guide will note to be careful…
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Provisioning Your Boat Pantry — What To Buy So You Can Cook (Nearly) Anything (Nearly) Anywhere
Living on a boat and being a cook, I have become a master at recipe substitutions. Back when I lived land life, I’d find a recipe I wanted to make, hop in the car, drive to the supermarket, buy every item on the list, then make the recipe precisely as instructed. Living on a boat…
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Trelino Composting Toilet Review — A Boater’s Take on a New Marine Composting Toilet
Disclaimer: Trelino provided us with an Evo M composting toilet to try. What follows is our honest take on this toilet for use on our sailboat. If you’ve ever engaged me in a conversation about toilets (and really, why haven’t you?), you probably know my feelings about our boat’s human litter box composting head. We’ve…
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2024 Bahamas Pet Travel Requirements and Updates for Boaters
Getting your pet permission to come to the Bahamas has always been a bit of a hassle for boaters. As with crossing any international border, you must get permission from the appropriate authorities and complete all the paperwork to ensure that your pet meets the letter of the law: not a banned breed, has all…
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AIS vs. Radar — Real World Boater Perspectives From Cruising
If you’re outfitting a new-to-you boat or thinking about going cruising, you may find yourself having to choose between AIS or radar. There is a lot of information on the topic, including advice from experts more knowledgeable than yours. However, as a former pilot and a cruising sailor who has used these two techniques every…
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Does My Boat Need a Generator in 2024?
Conventional thinking is that a liveaboard cruising boat should have a generator. Sure, plenty of people make do without one, and many arguments exist against getting one. But a few key modern technologies are making them increasingly less important. Let’s examine marine generators from the cruising boater’s perspective. What Is a Marine Generator Really For?…