Maintenance in Martinique
What had been intended to be a few days in St Anne, Martinique to apply a few more coats of varnish to our teak and a few other tasks turned into a whole lot more. But on the bright side we should be nearly…
Maintenance
Preparing for Another Passage South
We have been busy over the past week preparing for our rapidly approaching departure for the Virgin Islands. We hauled Altera last week for new antifouling paint and to inspect the saildrive and rudder. Since then we have been steadily…
Teak, Teak and more Teak
By far the biggest maintenance project that we have undertaken this year is related to the large amount of exterior teak that we have on board. Teak has some great properties for long term durability in the marine environment and…
In and Out in a Day
We had a busy day today doing all the stuff that they omit from the brochures and magazine ads for sailboats. Altera has been in the water since last August and the only inspection of the underwater part of the…
Altera’s 13000 Mile Service
With the 5800 nautical miles we logged over the past 8 and a half months, Altera now has now covered approximately 13000 nautical miles. While this isn’t a lot for a cruising boat, we want to keep her in top…
Long Island and Chicken Harbour
Internet access has been limited lately so here is the first of a couple posts to come on the Bahamas to catch up. A few days before Easter weekend we set sail from Mayaguana along with our friends from Laho and…
Power Systems Update
Over the past few months I’ve had a few people enquire how our power systems are actually working out for us, especially as I was fairly detailed on why we selected what we did when equipping the boat. So now…
2014 Year in Review
The past few weeks in the British Virgin Islands have been fantastic and we have actually taken a chance to unwind and enjoy cruising. The other day I was skimming through the collection of pictures I took and figured this…
The Amenities Part 2- Power System Makeover
Most of the amenities that we take for granted require some form of power to operate and seeing as our goal is to live primarily at anchor we need to be self sufficient. As with most sailboats of a…
The Amenities Part 1
While we were sitting on the hard waiting for the prop nut I started a long post which I have since though better to split up into two. Seeing as we are now floating again, I was a bit distracted,…