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| Cruising
Tips |
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Helpful
Cruising Tips
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1. When
motoring at night try and avoid
running both engines. If you
run down a common three gang
pot line you'll only wrap one
prop not both. |
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| 2. If
worried about dragging anchor at night
you could try some of the following
methods as an alarm system |
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- Set
the Gps anchor watch if available.
- Set
the depth sounder alarm.
- Set
the close in Guard zone on a radar.
- Toss
a weight over the side tied to
a tin can left sitting up high.
Leave plenty of slack on
the line to allow for the boats normal movement.
If the anchor drag's it will pull the line and crash the tin to the
floor. Hopefully awaking the skipper.
- Keep
a cheap compass over your bunk.
This will tell you of any wind
change.
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| 3. A
cheap auto hatch closer for rain can
be made with an aspirin. |
| Break
an aspirin in half and tie to a length
of sailmakers twine that holds the
hatch up. Tie the other into a loop
and use the aspirin as a toggle. When
it rains the aspirin dissolves quickly
and the hatch closes. |
| 4. Mast
head anchor lamps of 20watts can consume
2Amps per hour. Try a 8watt fluorescent
hung high in the cockpit area . Only
uses 1/2 an amp and doubles as a cockpit
lighting. |
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5. Fit
a lazy jack sail cover. The best
improvement to sail handling devised.
Also roller furling genoas and furling
screachers are nice haves on a cruising
multihull.
6. If
your boat is white, then spray a
4” plus dark boot line. Otherwise
you’ll be scrubbing the waterline
often.
7. Normal toilets can benefit from an occasional
squirt with vegetable oil. |
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8. 12volt
electric toilets are the answer for
large multihulls. There cheap, don’t
block and good for landlubbers to
use. Nearly all charter boats in
the Whitsundays now use them. |
| 9. Morning
fresh is the best detergent for raising
a lather in seawater. |
| 10. Normal
household double bed innerspring mattresses
work well on multihulls. Buy a cheap
mattress as they use a very lightweight
wire spring and last three to four
years before internal rusting causes
deteriation. The cheap mattresses are
surprisingly light in weight. You get
a great night sleep and avoid the constant
hassle of condensation common under
foam mattresses. |
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11. If
planning a cruise to the tropics
then make sure you have good awnings.
The sun shines a lot and abundance
of shade will really be appreciated.
Also when it rains, it can do so
for days, so make sure they are waterproof
and double them up as rain collectors.
12. Secondhand
computer fans only cost dollars and
use less than 1 amp at 12 volts.
They can be used for increased ventilation,
engine room extractors, quiet night
fans, bilge ventilators or to improve
the efficiency of a 12 volt fridge
compressor. |
| 13. Many
multihull owners struggle to supply
sufficient battery power to maintain
a 12v deep freezer system. These units
often require up to 100 amps per day
to work effectively. Try using only
a small freezer or even better don't
use your freezer at all. Suggestions
for living without a freezer. Buy meat
in cryovac satchels these last for
2 months in a fridge only, buy long
life milk, invest in a bread maker,
buy dehydrated foods and catch more
fish! |
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14. Secondhand
computer fans only cost dollars and
use less than 1 amp at 12 volts.
They can be used for increased ventilation,
engine room extractors, quiet night
fans, bilge ventilators or to improve
the efficiency of a 12 volt fridge
compressor.
15. An
excellent clothes peg is available
from fish co op merchants. A long
line s.steel clip, it looks just
like an oversize clothes peg and
works very well even in strong wind. |
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| 16. I
have read hundreds of articles on anchors
and the constant argument about which
is best. For my money the best anchor
is a large oversize CQR type. Danforths
jamb in coral, Bruces can work like
an ice-cream scoop on hard packed mud,
Fortress anchors are fragile and the
admiralty pattern was outdated years
and years ago. Don't forget the bridle,
lots of chain and heaps of scope. |
| 17. Nylon
bridles add some give to the snatching
experienced by multihulls. Bridles
should be almost as long as your beam
width. |
| 18. A
common saying for anchoring is "three
times the depth for lunch, 7 times
for overnight ". Depth to be calculated
on the High tide level. |
| 19. Chain
dogs and shackles can damage chain
and slip if the vessel is snatching
on its rode. For a long time now on
several multis I have used a short
length of 10mm spectra line to join
the Nylon bridle to an all chain rode.
The main chains bitter end is always
left fixed to a strong point. The bridle
is connected with a simple bowline
and has always been simple to undo
even after strong winds. If the knot
jambs up tight after a storm, then
simply cut the knot away. I have not
cut one away during my 4 years of cruising. |
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20. Laptop
computers are becoming commonplace
amongst cruising yachties. They have
many benefits including excellent
access to good weather information,
email, Internet access and navigation
systems. A nokia 5110 with data suite
connection has become the most common
system used. To save mobile phone
access time set your log- in home
page to the weather. You can log
on, download weather and email in
less than a minute. Don't forget
to include emultihulls.com in your
favourites column.
21. We
have researched the various solar
panels on the market and were very
impressed with the new Canon Uni
Solar Panels. The panels are shade
tolerant and even work when overcast.
Dollar for dollar these panels have
a minimum of 20% output over other
panels available in Australia.. With
the added benefit of no glass to
break and a twenty year guarantee.
We believe they are the only solar
panel you should use on a multihull.
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