Is Starlink Worth It For Offshore Sailing

The addition of Starlink has been a game changer for offshore sailing. Previous to this only large boats with huge budgets had the capability to access this level of data while offshore. Gone are the days of waiting 15 minutes to download a grib. Welcome to the connected world where you can view weather radar in real time, live weather stations and bouys, and pull up to the minute gribs in seconds.

As a huge bonus it allows for full connection for everything else, including to other boats near by but out of radio range. You can now text and VOIP just like on land. The internet connection on board our boat is now better than it was at my office on land just a few years ago! We haven’t turned on our IridiumGO! since installing the Starlink, it is that good! (We still keep our GO as a backup though for true offshore work, just as we also have on board an SSB radio.)

DIY Starlink 12v Conversion Steps for a Sailboat

We will add step by step instructions at some point, but we found the hardest part of the process was obtaining the correct parts to do it as there is some confusion out there.

Here is what we used to install and convert Starlink RV to 12v on our sailboat.

Parts to Replace Your OEM Starlink Router

Starlink Ethernet Adapter

The Starlink ethernet adapter is required if you wish to be able to do the conversion without cutting the cable to the Starlink dish, essentially allowing you to easily revert to using the original Starlink power supply and wireless router if you wish. We suggest this for beginners. Of course, advanced users, or those that are more confident in their wiring skills can save money by just cutting the Starlink cable and connecting it directly to the POE.

12v to 48v Converter

This is required to step-up the power on your boat from 12v to the 48v that the Starlink dish requires. It goes between your 12v battery power source (usually the breaker and fuse) and the POE power supply.

Tycon POE Injector

We used this simple, lightweight and cheap POE injector. POE stands for Power Over Ethernet. This allows the 48v power to be inserted into the Cat6 cable, replacing the power supply that is internal, inside of your now obsolete OEM Starlink router.

inHand 305 Router (Cellular Sim Card & Wifi)

You will need some type of your own wired or wireless router. We chose this industrial router for our boat. It is powered by 12v, which makes it plug and play into our existing electrical system with no need for an inverter, which is why we are also converting the Starlink anyway. This router is handy as it can be configured for wired and wireless routing, as well as a failover WAN to two different 4g SIM cards. This type of redundancy is excellent if you are using Starlink for work, or if you are switching to local cellular networks to save money on Starlink ocean pricing while near shore.

Starlink 12v Wiring

Shielded Cat6 Plug Ends (Field Installable)

These connectors make it easy to install new ends in your Cat5/Cat6 cables. It can be done on board with no special tools or crimpers. The best thing is, if you make a mistake, you can take it apart and re-use it. They are also clearly numbered and color marked for wire positions, allowing you to be sure you have the Starlink wire arrangement correct.

Cat5/Cat6 Cables

Of course, what network would be complete without cables! You will need one standard Cat5/Cat6 cable to run between your POE and your WAN port on your router.

15 amp Breaker

Some boats use different systems, but this fits our existing electrical panel, allowing us to turn on and off the power to our 12v Starlink conversion on our boat easily from our navigation station.

12v 10 amp Fuse Holder

We try to fuse everything. An ounce of prevention is great insurance. The Starlink 12v can consume up to 6amps at 12v so you should insert a 10 amp fuse in this.

14 Gauge Marine Wire

Always use marine grade wire of proper guage for the length of the run on board to prevent voltage drop and fire risk.

Heat Shrink Wire Connectors

No boat venturing out cruising around the world should be without a kit of these on board. We used these to connect our breaker and fuse to our 12v to 48v step up converter.

Other Starlink 12v Conversion Parts Options

Now there is another really slick option out there from YAOSHENG. We weren’t able to get these in the remote corner of the world where we are sailing, but it is a nice and slick way to do the conversion. We would surely try this if we were closer to home, but it is slightly more expensive.

Of course, the last option is the direct wire from the Starlink dish to a lightweight router. Of course, going direct without the Starlink adapter is a little more wiring intensive, but completely doable. It worked fine on board the racing boat and saved a few ounces and a few bucks.

We installed Starlink on a racing sailboat in this way and it worked very well. We used a small USB powered TP Link wireless router which worked like a charm.

Easy Starlink Mounting Options on a Sailboat

Rail Mount Fishing Rod Holder for Starlink RV

This is what we used on board our boat, as we already had several on board. It fit almost perfectly, but required drilling out a bit of the plastic bottom to accommodate the insertion of the Starlink wire. It is almost a direct fit. A little bit of tape is all that is required around the top to seal it from weather and stop the Starlink from spinning inside as it looks for satellites when you are in motion.

Cable Clam

This is needed to seal the Starlink wire going through the deck for a permanent installation. We think the BlueSea stuff is pretty good quality, and the .83″ version was just large enough to pass the dish end of the OEM Starlink cable through. Yes, this will require drilling a hole in your shiny fiberglass, but it is well worth it for the game changing level of internet connectivity your boat will now have, plus it will look like a pro install and be water tight!

The post Starlink On Our Sailboat (12v Conversion How-To) appeared first on Sailing Sweet Ruca.

As you have likely watched our latest episode on YouTube, you may have some more questions about how and why we made these fiberglass repairs to our sailboat. Here we will try to give you all of the dirty details.

What Caused The Fiberglass Damage?

In mid-November, during our sail from Tenerife, Canary Islands bound for Mar de Plata, Argentina, we struck an unidentified floating object (UFO) about 800 miles off the coast of Sierra Leone, Africa.

We were only moving at about 3.5 knots in very light air as we approached the doldrums. It was raining and there were intermittent squalls. Kate was on the helm, and I (Curtis) was sleeping off shift down below in the aft cabin.

There was a very loud set of bangs as the boat heeled and spun 180 degrees. Kate yelled that we had hit something, but she could not see anything. More about this in Episode 71 on YouTube.

We immediately made ready our life raft and ditch bags and commenced inspecting the boat for damage. That night, we could find none and the boat was able to continue sailing. We inspected the boat in the water when conditions allowed, also finding no damage.

Quite some time went on, and we sailed over 2000 miles since, dove on the hull with SCUBA gear twice, and even won a race, but we finally found damage from a small hole made by the aft edge of our rudder contacting and cracking the hull many months later while sailing the coast of Brazil, as evidenced by salt water entering through the laminate.

What We Did After Finding Damage

After docking in Itajai, where we knew from following the Volvo Ocean Race that there were good facilities and a travel lift available, we moved all of the weight forward to minimize water entry and sent a professional diver into the murky brackish water to do yet a 4th inspection. He also found nothing.

At this point, we knew we had to haul the boat out to find the cause. We also contacted the manufacturer, J-Boats, to gain a greater understanding of the fiberglass hull construction in the affected areas and enlisted the help of a local professional boatbuilder and naval architect at Magma Yachts to inspect and consult on the repair.

We determined that the UFO collision we had months ago was likely the cause. It had flexed the rudder shaft some, which allowed the rudder tip to contact the hull. We also learned that the rudder shaft was designed for this and that this is a common occurrence in boats with spade rudders. It was also determined that the boat should be hauled immediately and the rudder pulled to inspect the surrounding area and rudder bearings as well.

Planning For Fiberglass Repairs to Our Sailboat

We formulated a few plans to haul the boat, and even had a contingency plan to haul at a different location if need be, with the help of Gabriel @ Magma Yachts, whose help was instrumental throughout the repair process!

Despite his company producing his own brand of yachts (check out their 38’ racer/cruiser which IMO has fantastic build quality and awesome options like a lifting keel) he is also part of the J-Boat family, as he races J/70s in international competitions.

Lifting Our Sailboat & Removing the Rudder

Luckily we were able to schedule a haul out at Marina Itajai. We had to wait for almost a month at the dock though, to make room for us, as their boatyard can only accommodate a limited number of boats on the hard.

We were able to remove the rudder before setting the boat down onto its keel during the initial haul and blocking process. Before moving the boat to the travel lift, we had already removed the autopilot components, loosened the bolts for the steering quadrant, and had the tools at hand to complete the job. It is important to do this quickly to save from having to pay for an extra lift.

Inspection – Looking For Hidden Fiberglass Damage

With the rudder out of the boat we could finally inspect the hull, keel, rudder, and rudder shaft, visually and by tapping it out. We also inspected the rudder bearings, luckily finding no damage to our Jefa bearings which we replaced way back in Episode 12!

We did find delamination and a small, fingernail-sized hole in the outer laminate just above the aft tip of the rudder. This was a cored area, so we knew we would have to dig out and replace a substantial section of the core to make a proper repair.

The good news is, we could find no further damage to the boat except for a few scrapes in the paint.

Sourcing Project Materials – Where To Buy Fiberglass & Core?

If we were at home in the USA we can source almost everything we need online, included are some links to similar materials we have used on Amazon.com so you can easily obtain items similar to what we used to make these repairs.

Instead, a few excellent new friends in Brazil helped us out by allowing us to place the transactions using their information. Brazil actually has some excellent composite providers, one of which is E-Composites. We were able to arrange delivery through Gabriel. We purchased fiberglass, epoxy resin, core material, and vacuum bag materials. Gabriel loaned us his portable vacuum pump which was a huge help and cost saver!

Fiberglass Repair Steps

It was now time to make the fiberglass repair. Here are the steps we used to complete it.

Step 1 – Grinding

Step one is the removal of all of the bad material. To get to the bad core, we would first need to remove the skins on either side. We started from outside the boat and drilled a hole using a cordless drill and standard drill bit through the punctured area. This gave us a good location on the inside to start.

Next, we started cutting, grinding, and peeling away anything on the inside laminate that was at all questionable, cracked, or delaminated from the core itself. This turned out to be approximately a 1.5-square-foot area.

We used an orbital saw and grinder with sanding pads for most of this part of the process. Sanding disks mounted in a grinder or drill were also helpful. The key takeaway here is to grind away anything that is compromised, delaminated, cracked, or unattached.

Step 2 – Core Removal

Now that we have access to the core itself, we can start to determine what parts of the core have been affected by the damage. There are two parts to the core damage. The first is impact damage and crushing of the core from the collision itself. The second is damage to the core from water intrusion, which softens the core and if left alone will rot the balsa core in our boat.

Just a note, there are many types of core. Depending on the way your boat is constructed you could have solid fiberglass with no core, wood or plywood core, end grain balsa core, foam core (of which there are several types and uses), or other composites like a honeycomb.

Any damaged core, either by impact or water needs to be removed. We do this by carefully using a hammer and chisel, as well as our orbital saw to remove it. You can also grind out the core, but we find in large areas such as this it is easier and less messy to extract with a sharp edge.

The key here is to make sure to remove all core that is compromised and keep digging until everything is dry and firmly attached. This may be a mentally painful step, tearing into your beautiful and loved boat, but it must be done to make the repair like new later.

Step 3 – Prep for New Glass & Scarf

Now that we have ground away all of the damaged fiberglass and removed all of the questionable core material, it is time to finally begin the actual repair steps.

Because we are going to be applying new epoxy and fiberglass to the old, there will be no chemical bond, only a mechanical bond. It is important to give the new repair a large area to grab onto, so to speak. The technical term for this is called “scarf area” or “scarfing.”

Scarfing means sanding or grinding an angle in the old fiberglass to which the new fiberglass is attached. The normal scarf angle is about 12:1, or for every 1 unit of thickness of the repair, you need to sand away at an angle from it 12 units. Another way to think of this: if your fiberglass is 1” thick, you need to grind or sand away an angle 12” from the hole.

Since our fiberglass outer skin is only a few thousandths of an inch thick we only need to scarf a little more than 2”. After this is done the area should be cleaned of dust and wiped down with acetone. This step is perhaps one of the most important to achieve a strong bond for your repair.

Step 4 – Repairing Outer Layer

Because our hull is cored, we have to repair 3 different layers, making the repair much more complex. We could repair all three layers at once, but we find it easier to repair the outer later in this case first.

• Pre-Measure, mark, and cut your cloth before mixing your epoxy.
• Use the same cloth and thicknesses as the original layup if possible to maintain the designed structural strength.
• Stack your repair layers in a pyramid shape, the largest in the first layer touching the old fiberglass and the smallest as the last layer.
• Wet out your cloth and the scarfed area before applying if possible.
• Use peel-ply cloth to smooth out the repair and remove any air bubbles.
• A vacuum bag is not needed, but using it will increase the strength of the repair.
• Repair from both inside and outside if possible.

Step 5 – Inserting New Core

After we completed the repair to the external skin we moved on to the rest of the repair, of which the most important part is the insertion of the core material.

The core material gives the laminate most of its strength. In our case the core in our boat is made from balsa wood, cut, dried, and arranged on a backing material in an end-grain fashion, increasing its stiffness and strength when laid up properly. The core material on our boat in this area is 5/8″ end grain balsa core.

The core needs good adhesion to both the outer skin and inner skin. It is important to sand the repair to the outer skin smooth and use structural epoxy and filler to aid in its attachment. In our case we also filled the core sections with epoxy to mimic the original SCRIMP construction done by J-Boats as we found it was beneficial to the original structure.

Step 6 – Apply Fiberglass for Inner Skin & Using Vacuum Bag

Vacuum bagging our fiberglass repairs was probably not a requirement in this case, but to us, we felt it was needed to obtain the greatest strength and contact between laminate layers. Using the vacuum bag technique does add a level of complexity, but once learned it can make repairs stronger and less messy.

After we had our core in place, we wetted out and applied our inner skin layers. Now we apply our vacuum bag tape to allow the area to seal when the other layers are applied, in a pinch one can also use butyl tape, or even duct tape (this does not work as well and is just a field patch). After this we applied a layer of peel ply, then breather material, then absorbent material.

The breather material allows the air and excess epoxy to flow to the vacuum. Spreading out the area of suction amongst the entire repaired area. It also acts as an absorbent material sucks up any excess epoxy drawn out by the vacuum. It is important to remember that the fiberglass is what gives the structure strength, extra epoxy beyond what can be absorbed by the fiberglass actually weakens the repair. This is where vacuum bagging has a great advantage over conventional wet layup repairs.

Step 7 – Fiberglass Finishing and Painting

The last step in the progress is finishing the repair to make it pretty. This can be as simple as removing the peel ply and moving on with your day, or more steps of sanding, fairing, sanding, priming, sanding, and painting to achieve a show quality perfect gloss finish. In our case, we finished the outside portion of the repair nicely, but left the inside repair bare epoxy. This way we could monitor the repair (the dried epoxy is clear), and we could paint it later to match the rest of our bilge.

Balsa Core vs Foam Core

Many people have asked us, why not use foam core instead of balsa core? This is an excellent question. Before we answer it, we need to give you a little background on core materials.

Balsa sometimes has a bad wrap. This is because many boatbuilders have taken shortcuts in construction using this core material. When balsa gets wet, it rots. That is well known. If it is sealed in epoxy and fiberglass, it will last almost forever, and it is stiffer than its foam cousins.

Most people don’t realize that foam cores can also get wet and delaminate, so choosing foam as a core material does not necessarily isolate you from the problems caused by poor construction and water intrusion, it usually only delays the damage. For the most part, any core when damaged and infiltrated with water will eventually begin to delaminate and lose its strength.

Because foam has a different density than balsa core, it is also used in different thicknesses in layups. For us to achieve the same stiffness, we would need to use a thicker foam core. This would change the internal shape of the hull and make for a more complex repair. We could use the same thickness of foam as the original balsa, but that would also mean our repair would not have the same strength as the original hull in this area.

We firmly believe that a balsa core that is well taken care of is just as good, if not better than foam. In our case, using the same size core, and restoring the boat to its original design and layup specifications was the best course of action.

Professional opinions may vary on this. Many fiberglass repair persons will just fill the area with epoxy rather than re-core or may fill in with foam, wood, or whatever is “on hand.” This happens in boat yards around the world and most consumers or yacht owners would never know the difference. It is much cheaper and faster, and some of these repairs are OK depending on the use of the boat, for example, if she will be a dock queen, appearance may be of more value than strength.

Basically, there are many ways to accomplish a good fiberglass repair, so discuss these options with your repair person if not doing it DIY. We prefer to take an engineering-based approach rather than a patch repair approach and like to do things the right way one time, even if it takes more time and costs a bit more.

Tools Used For Our Fiberglass Repair

Chisel
Hammer
Screwdriver
Knife
Orbital Saw
Grinder
Cordless Drill
Shop Vac
Vacuum Pump

Materials Used For Our Fiberglass Repair

Tyvek Suit
Respirator
Mask
Masking Tape
Duct Tape
Plastic Sheet
Fiberglass Cloth
Epoxy
Core
Sandpaper
Grinding Disks
Grinding Pads
Drill Disks
Peel Ply
Breather Cloth
Absorber
Butyl Tape
Vacuum Bag
Hose

The post This Is How We Repaired Our Fiberglass Boat & What Tools and Materials We Used appeared first on Sailing Sweet Ruca.

1. Chapman’s Piloting

This is the book to start with when learning about boating and navigation. Perhaps it is the best all around resource to have on board to learn about navigation and piloting a recreational powerboat or sailboat.

2. USCG Navigation Rules Handbook

This is a requirement for any US Coast Guard Documented Vessel to have on board. It is a great resource for learning boat navigation light patterns. This is very important for nighttime navigation. It also covers all of the rules of the road, helping you to know what you should do when vessels meet on the ocean.

3. Jimmy Cornell’s World Cruising Routes

There are over 1000 routes in this book which help you find the right time and place to start and finish your voyages. Following the routes in this book will generally lead to pleasant offshore sailing and avoid major storms and hurricane seasons. We don’t always take sailing routes in this book, as we enjoy challenging conditions which are off the beaten path, but we do consult it regularly.

4. Nigel Calder’s Boatowners Mechanical and Electrical Manual

If there is a name synonymous with DIY boat work it is Nigel Calder. This book will cover everything you possibly need to know to maintain your boats important systems while sailing, especially your engine and electrical system, which may be most sailors biggest challenge. Keeping your boat in top condition is a challenge in harsh saltwater conditions, but it is very important as a working boat is your primary means of transportation and your home.

5. Sir Ben Ainslie’s Complete Sailing Manual

If you want to sail around the world, well, you need to learn to sail. This book covers how to really sail boats big and small, catamarans and monohulls, both fast and slow. Written by national champion and Olympic sailors, you will learn how to sail and trim the proper way to make your boat move through the water. This means more speed, less fuel consumption, a smoother ride, and a happier crew!

6. Bowditch’s American Practical Navigator

Do you want to know everything there is to know? This giant book will teach it to you. This is the book you can find on the bridge of every US Merchant Maritime vessel and is the reference manual for professional seaman. Its over 1200 pages cover meteorology, navigation, oceanography, weather, and contains countless tables, charts, and illustrations.

7. Pardey’s Storm Tactics Handbook

A list of essential around the world Sailing books can not be complete without a how-to book from Lin and Larry Pardey. The number one reason sailors never leave port is fear of bad weather. The number one reason people abandon ship is because of problems when the going gets tough. This book will teach you what you need to know to get through tough storm conditions safely on your sailboat.

8. Dashew’s Offshore Cruising Encyclopedia

Perhaps the original Performance Cruising sailing couple, Steve and Linda Dashew have compiled all of their vast knowledge of sailing and boatbuilding into one book! This book contains all you need: from the time you start thinking about purchasing a boat to sail around the world, to reference items and ideas while en-route.

There are surely lots of other great books, both inspirational and educational on the topic of sailing around the world. These are books we have actually read and find valuable enough to carry aboard with us. We think you will love them also. If there is one we forgot, please drop us a note in the comments below.

Note: We do earn a commission off of the links to Amazon to purchase these books. We think it is a win/win, as we can share some of our knowledge with you and you can support our journey at no additional cost to you when you make purchases.

The post 8 Must Have Books For Sailing Around The World appeared first on Sailing Sweet Ruca.

Here we want to share the way we have the current panels mounted as well as at the end, reveal what mistakes we think we have made and what we would do instead. For now though, we want to talk about how we mounted both the old and new panels on our bimini. We have learned a lot over the last 3 years about off the grid solar setups and how to mount them on a boat, and we want to share that knowledge with you.

About Our Flexible Solar Panels Which Failed

We had 3 Renogy 100 watt Flexible Solar Panels that failed us after 3 years of excellent service. (Note: We are really happy with our Renogy flexible panels overall. Renogy did honor their 5 Year Warranty and sent replacement panels for us to an address in the USA, but they could not ship them directly to Brazil.) More on how we tested them and determined they were failed in the video here: https://youtu.be/bqlGqlyJ4cA

Their power output was excellent, and they were super light weight. We actually replaced a single Renogy 160 watt (now a 175 watt) flexible panel (which also failed but was not eligible for the warranty because we drilled holes to mount it) with these 100 watt panels while in St. Thomas, USVI.

How We Mounted Our Flexible Panels on Our Bimini

Our flexible panels were mounted to our bimini and dodger in two separate ways, via sewing attachments and via rails and rail mounts.

Our Renogy 50 watt flexible solar panels are all sewn on. The sewing attachments were sewn into our existing bimini and dodger by sailmakers in Middletown, RI and in Grenada. They use Velcro on the panel, and Velcro sewn into flaps on the dodger and bimini. Also sewn on are small tubes closed by Velcro to hold and organize the wires.

Cons: stitching and velcro adhesive wears over time, can cause dodger or bimni top to sag a bit, sometimes catch rain water

Our 100 watt flexible panels were all mounted with tube clamps and aluminum c-channel bar stock. We used some House Tuning 1″ Off Road Light Clamps to secure the panels, along with bolts and zip ties.

Pros: Cooling airspace underneath, super lightweight, cheap (er…cost effective)

Cons: Looks DIY, not as solid

How We Mounted Our New 155 Watt Solar Panels On Our Bimini

Our new 155 watt solar panels are mounted in a similar way, but we used actual solar panel rail to mount them to. The solar panel rail is then mounted to the 1 inch bimini stainless tubing with the off road light clamps. This is a really strong setup and we are really happy with it so far. It looks and feels much more substantial than our 100 watt flexible panels, but we haven’t been in an area like the Caribbean in summer yet we we are able to see the full output. Note, we only went with 155 watt panels at 19% efficiency because that was the best we could reasonably get at the time while in a remote anchorage in Brazil. We would likely use 22% efficient 200 watt panels if we were in the USA doing this project.

What Would We Do Differently?

If we could do it all over again we would create a completely custom solution for our boat, not just tag onto the existing dodger and bimini.

We would create a hard dodger with either laminated in panels or glued on flexible panels. Custom embedded laminated panels would be best as we could maximize the space available in this area and control the voltage to match in parallel with our system for less loss in shading.

For the bimini, we would likely remove it, as well as the wind generator and radar poles. We would create a custom (but still removable) arch to hold all of these items but maximize our solar real estate without more aerodynamic resistance. We would also be able to integrate our dinghy davits into this arch and it would be much more substantial so it would not flex in big seas and be safer. We would still want it mounted in a way, with waterproof connectors, that we could remove the whole thing for racing and place it on the dock. Our preferred material would likely be aluminum, similar to a wakeboard tower.

We think we could put almost 1000 watts comfortably in this area and another 200 on the dodger, bringing our total output up to 1200 watts from our existing 865 watts. That is a pipe dream (get the pun, you use pipes and tubes to make the arch) for now though, but if we were you and starting over from scratch 3 years ago, we would have done this before we started and have had a worry free super powerful solar system from the get go, instead of trying to save money and weight.

The post How We Mounted Our Solar Panels On Our Sailboat appeared first on Sailing Sweet Ruca.

Let’s talk safety! When beginning to prepare for cruising on your sailboat it is important to think about safety. We carry many safety items on board. The USCG and many other governments have some specific requirements, most items can be found at marine stores and chandleries, one however can not be and is usually overlooked: a cordless angle grinder.

If you ever have a situation at sea where your mast or standing rigging fail, it is very important to be able to safely remove it from the boat. The rig can damage the hull and be a safety risk to people, especially if there are rough conditions, when, of course it is most likely to fail.

Most carry on board some cable cutters and a hand-saw in their emergency tool kit. This is excellent, and we agree a must have. But….have you ever tried to actually cut through rigging, shackles, or a mast? It is tough.

If you need to remove the rigging, you will likely need to do it fast! That is where the cordless angle grinder comes into its own. Yes it is expensive, but when the mast or boom is possibly going to punch a hole in your hull, it is worth every penny. A good battery powered angle grinder with a metal or all purpose cutting disk will make quick work of almost anything you would possibly need to cut through on deck.

Why You Want a Cordless Angle Grinder On Your Boat

Ok, so we know a cordless angle grinder can improve your safety by jettisoning your rig in an emergency. That is a pretty extremum situation that is hard for most to envision and justify. But here are some other uses for your grinder that will make happy to have it on board.

1. Fiberglass Repair – If you ever need to repair any fiberglass on your boat, you will have the proper tool start the repair properly.
2. Polishing – you need to be careful when using one to polish with, but with the proper skill and pads you can quickly make your bright work shine, especially stainless steel. What would have taken you days will now only take you a few hours at most.
3. DIY Boat Projects – Let’s face it, if you have a boat, you are always doing some project. If you need to cut or trim anything, with the proper disks you can make short work of it, especially popular stainless steel tube for dodgers and biminis.

Which Cordless Angle Grinder is Best For Sailing

Our favorite is the Milwaukee M18 Cordless 4 1/2″ Angle Grinder. It is very powerful, lightweight, has good battery life, and built a little tougher (in our opinion) than some of its competitors. If you look around and see what the professionals are using, you will see a lot of red in their power tool boxes. If the SHTF we want the best tool available for the job.

What Other Equipment Uses the Same Batteries

Now, as a side benefit to having our angle grinder, its charger, and batteries on board there are lots of other useful items we carry that use the same batteries. It is really nice to be able to carry tools that all use the same battery and charger, as space is a premium on board and keeping the boat as light as possible is important for sailing performance.

Vacuum – The Milwaukee M18 Cordless Vacuum is perhaps our favorite item on board which uses the M18 Lithium battery system. As you know, we sail with a dog on our boat, so a vacuum is a must. This shop vac can do much much more though. We use for cleaning, fiberglass work, removing that last bit of water from the bilge, and vacuum bagging clothing and even our spinnaker. It is really powerful and durable. This is one purchase we are over the moon with and is an on-board life changer.

Which Brand Cordless Power Tools Are Best For Cruising

Before leaving land to go cruising for a long time and setting of to foreign ports, make sure you have all of the equipment you need. Sometimes the tools you want become hard to find in far away places. Voltage issues (220 vs 110) will also make it hard for USA visitors to find items they need in the EU, and vice versa. Having all of your tools use the same batteries and chargers is something we would have worked harder at before we left if we could. If you don’t choose Milwaukee, Bosch, Makita, and DeWalt are also reliable and fairly well supported worldwide.

Note: We do use these items on board and by you purchasing the items through the included links, it helps fuel our voyage, blog, and vlog, at no extra cost to you. We think it is a win/win. We help you by sharing our knowledge, mistakes, and victories. We test the products in the real world and let you know what we really think. In turn, you help keep us going! Fair winds and safe sailing!

The post Why You Should Carry a Cordless Angle Grinder on your Sailboat appeared first on Sailing Sweet Ruca.

0:24 Sailing from NYC to Annapolis via C&D Canal We leave NYC and head to Annapolis Maryland. We sail in the Atlantic ocean off the coast of New Jersey. We duck into Cape May and motor through the C&D canal. Afterward, we anchor overnight.

5:00 Welcome to Annapolis We arrive in Annapolis to lots of boats and kiteboarders. We visit relatives and check out cool new catamarans and monohulls during the Annapolis Sailboat Show in October. We enjoyed the boat show, picking up some much needed (and not so needed) items at great show deal prices. We purchase a life raft, paddleboards, and some more safety gear.

6:33 Goodbye Family After the boat show, our family left with our last big possession, Curtis’ car. We sold it to his parents as we wouldn’t be needing it for a long time.

9:24 Haulout at Jabins We decided to make an un-planned haul out and do some boat projects at Bert Jabin Boat Yard. Initially, we wanted to do this boat work in North Carolina or Florida, before proceeding on to the Bahamas, but Jabin’s is a top-notch yard with some of the best in the industry. We knew we would have access to the resources to complete the projects we wanted and they had space they could fit us into.

11:32 Boat Work We re-wire and optimize the electrical system for LifePO4 batteries, moving the battery bank to a centralized location. We do some bottom work and paint touch up. We install a line cutter on the propeller. Check the rudder quadrant, install new rudder bearings, and refurbish the autopilot. We pull the mast to install an inner forestay for a cutter rig staysail option. We also take care of many small projects like marking the anchor chain, etc. There are lots of trips to West Marine. Most notably we met some amazing people and new friends in Annapolis. We loved it there!!! Thanks to everyone we met and who helped us!!!!

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