Category: Boat Life Hacks
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Galley Goodness: Bahamian Coconut Bread Loaf
This recipe is inspired by the homemade loaves of bread we get from every small Bahamian settlement. Locals make either plain, sweet white bread or sweet coconut bread — they’re both exceptional, but the coconut bread really blows us away. It’s unique, islandy, and thoroughly Bahamian. For the record, our favorite loaves come from Sid’s…
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Galley Tips for Reducing Propane Use on a Boat
As new technologies emerge, things become chic and fashionable in boat outfitting. A recent trend I’ve noticed is boaters ditching their propane galley stoves and ovens in favor of electric appliances. So, is it worth the expense? Can a small boat retain its off-the-grid efficiency and still ditch propane? Here’s a look at how we…
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Product Review: Our Experience with Coppercoat
Note: We have no affiliation or marketing arrangement with Coppercoat. We paid full price for the product after years of research and had no extra help during the application process. Coppercoat anti-foul coating is a fascinating product that’s been on the market for decades, but it’s polarizing and plagued by misunderstandings, misinformation, and some very…
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How Not to Drag Anchor: Lessons Learned from Ten Years Living Aboard
The internet (along with every dock-tail party and cruiser potluck) is chock full of anchoring advice. Most of it centers around one anchor being better than another. Curiously, nearly all participants believe that their anchor is the best choice. Sounds like confirmation bias, doesn’t it? We’ve spent most nights at anchor since we started living…
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Navigation Notes: Picking an Anchorage
How do you choose an anchorage? At first, it seems an easy question, but experienced boaters will tell you that it’s one of the most complex skills you’ll have to learn during your first year of cruising. Day boaters seldom anchor; if they do, it’s for a “lunch hook” and not for sound sleep or…
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Thoughts on Fire Prevention and Safety for Boaters
When you hear about something crazy happening in the boating world, some accident, tragedy, or close call, what do you do? Do you shake your head and say, “What an idiot, that’ll never happen to me!” Or do you say, “That’s terrible, what steps can I take to make sure that never happens to me?”…
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Navigation Notes — A Guide to US East Coast Inlets
Depending on where you are in the world, inlets have different names. In the Bahamas, they call them cuts. Out West, they refer to the ‘bar crossing’ when coming in and out to sea through the mouth of a river. But on the East Coast, we call them inlets: river mouths or breaks in the…
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Original Gift Ideas for Boaters — 2024 Guide
Boaters can be difficult to shop for. Most have various limitations. For example, their boats may not be able to use certain doohickies or have enough space to store them. However, if they need something, they often buy it, meaning their boats are typically well stocked with the essentials. What follows is a list of…
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5 Boating Apps We Actually Use
There are tons of apps for boaters, but how many are really important to everyday life? If Dockwa wrote this article, we’d include Dockwa on this list; if BoatUS made it, we’d include their app. But this article isn’t written by anyone but a cruising boater, and while I have those apps on my phone,…
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How To Properly Tie to a Mooring Ball
In life, sometimes you get too much instruction, and sometimes you get too little. We find this is the case with moorings balls — boaters are more or less left on their own to figure it out. If they’re new, the results can be stressful. Cruisers on the ICW are often new, and even if…