Dick Bernard

Finally … Splash!

It’s been a long time, ans there has been questions along the way regarding boat performance, built quality etc. Many apologies for not answering in a timely manner. We’ll come back to this. Long story short, the boat was delivered early August. We hold a formal christening ceremony on the day we first sailed her,Continue reading “Finally … Splash!”

Building to first splash

Well … it’s been a while since we initiated this project. There has been ups and downs along the way with a very stressed Garcia yard. Let’s face it, many large corporation saw their production cycles turned upside down by the Covid pandemic, the material, systems and transport costs inflation, and more recently by theContinue reading “Building to first splash”

Energy production systems

While we’d agreed that boat life has to be more frugal than our on-shore ones, we’re not on a radical journey in this direction, as the passive igloo project was. We plan on continuing computer-based work, using the same main appliances we’d use at home and to some extent we expect to keep globally ourContinue reading “Energy production systems”

The One

For those unfamiliar with The Matrix movie, “The One” is a systemic feature of the Matrix, in which a special code is carried by a randomly selected human being. As such, he possesses vast superhuman abilities as an avatar within the Matrix, in addition to some extraordinary powers in the real world. Basically, this isContinue reading “The One”

Water, not plastic

Everyone will agree over the fact that single use plastic is one of the main challenges for our ocean’s sustainability. Over the last two generations, the world has produced over 8bn tons of plastic, and it piles up, since it takes an average 450 years to decompose a plastic-made bottle. Therefore, we pay lots of attentionContinue reading “Water, not plastic”

Insulation and ventilation

Nanuq is a 60 feet Grand Integral launched in 2014 and designed to minimize environmental impact while accommodating a crew of up to 12 in high latitudes, including during winter. Built with the same insulation standards as a passive house, one of its first scientific projects was to prove that its crew could live throughContinue reading “Insulation and ventilation”

Heating

Winter and Northern sailing plans require lots of thinking about thermal efficiency. And since energy is one of the scarce resources on a boat, trying to limit heat loss is as much a priority as producing heat in an efficient way. When Skip Novak goes along with his Pelagic and Pelagic Australis introduction, he insistsContinue reading “Heating”

There is something about Garcia

Two brothers, Jean-Pierre and Jean-Louis Garcia, started their venture nearly 50 years ago. Specialized metalworkers at the time, they established in Normandy what would become over the years one of the most famous aluminium sailboat builders. Looking at Garcia’s homepage, with the “Nowhere you can’t go” claim, we know why a photo is worth aContinue reading “There is something about Garcia”