Port Orchard weekend
A quick weekend trip to Port Orchard Marina. Included lots of ferries, some big waves, and a helpful current on our way home.
9 min read
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Back to Winslow Wharf and Bainbridge Island
Winslow Wharf marina on Bainbridge Island is one of our favorite places to go because of how sheltered it is, and the abundant food and walking options nearby.
6 min read
Evening in Elliott Bay
Evening trips around Elliott Bay are some of our favorite memories. They usually involve friends who don't normally sail, and show off the beautiful Seattle skyline along with some good food and drinks.
4 min read
Mantus Snap-On light is perfect for the cockpit
I am perpetually looking for better lights for Grace, both inside and out. I stumbled across the Mantus Snap-On Light randomly a few months ago and love the portability, easy install, and light quality that it provides.
3 min read
Halogen light replacement with CREE LEDs
Good quality lighting is not something you have to sacrifice on a sailboat. It can also be economical now with the advent of LEDs. CREE LEDs are my favorite because of their color and quality, and I replaced almost everything on Grace with them.
4 min read
Sending AIS data to multiple servers over a limited cellular link
Having an AIS receiver on the sailboat means I can take that data and share it with AIS websites, as a base station. Doing that from a bandwidth-limited cellular connection creates some challenges which can be overcome with some scripting.
6 min read
Save your battery and your beer with the Stainless Lobster Fridge Optimizer
The fridge is always one of the most power hungry items on a sailboat. Mine was no exception, and never seemed to get things as cold as I wanted. The Stainless Lobster Fridge Optimizer cut my power usage in half and kept things cooler than ever before.
9 min read
Replacing cockpit hatch boards with Zarcor doors
Standard hatch boards on a Beneteau 311 are heavy and hard to use. I wanted something easier to open and close, and more useful when closed. Zarcor has a history of making doors for all makes of boats, and they worked for me too.
5 min read
New pedestal guard and NavPod
Grace had very minimal instruments when I bought her, and I wanted to add some additional space at the helm for updated electronics. This required updating the mounting location and adding a NavPod.
3 min read
Welcome to the new site - SailBits.com
I’m proud to announce the re-launch of my website under a new name and structure. I have been working on this for several months, with the final steps happening
1 min read
Boat Command initial install and review
In today’s world of always-connected systems, I am surprised that there are not more vendors in the space of vessel monitoring. In 2008 I installed a system from Boat
5 min read
Aeroccino 3 an amazing milk frother
An amazing tool to create perfect latte and cappuccino foam. Perfect for any coffee snob, like me.
3 min read