Author: Matt Claiborne
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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?…
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Marine Air Conditioning — Do I Need Air Conditioning On My Boat?
This is the second article in a series about big accessories that we often wonder—do I really need that on my boat? Watermakers, generators, and air conditioning are generally things you will have on your want list, but should they be on your “must-have” list? Keep your cool, man. Here are my thoughts on marine…
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Thoughts on Watermakers After Ten Years Cruising US East Coast
When we purchased our first full-time cruising and liveaboard, a Lagoon 380 catamaran, we set out with the same list of outfitting and equipment questions that most new boaters do. Although we had been boaters for years prior, we were new to big liveaboard appliances like generators, air conditioning, and watermakers. Independence was a blank…
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Welcome to The Boat Life Academy
We’re Matt and Lucy Claiborne. We’re experienced boat owners (25+ years), living aboard (10+ years), and cruising full-time (8+ years). We want to share some of the tips and tricks we’ve learned along the way. On this site, you’ll find articles, courses, and an active community of both experts and novices. The goal here is…