Dick Bernard

How many hulls is too many ?

Let’s face it, coming from a catamaran world makes it difficult to imagine a long range sailing life in a monohull. It’s a mix of habit of course, comfort as well, and safety in any kind of rough sea condition we encounter. The layout makes you feel protected from foul weather, and we’ve been sailingContinue reading “How many hulls is too many ?”

Homework

So that’s how the journey goes on: spending hours on boatyards’ website, all specializing in all-roads aluminium boats, reading blog stories of sailors commenting their choices, good or bad, taking notes of the mistakes they made and the issues they encountered, and how they overcame them. Putting quite a few new destinations on this on-goingContinue reading “Homework”

Size matter

There are quite some Aluminium boats out there especially if we include the second-hand market. From the purpose-built one-off, like Nanuq featured above, or the second-hand one which is available after a proven high latitude track record to the series some reputable yard have built for a long time, such as the legendary Ovni (AlubatContinue reading “Size matter”

Autonomy

There will be as many autonomy approaches as there are sailors to describe it. It starts with the Skipper who is able to perform any repair in any system of his boat, electrical or mechanical, all by Nigel Calder‘s finest standards. On the opposite, there would be the one who’s best ability would be toContinue reading “Autonomy”

Seaworthiness

It has been the IRC goal for thirty years to calculate how seaworthy were the boats engaged into races all around the planet. Their Safety and Stability Screening (SSS) method was define to rank all participating boats from a stability and safety perspective. The higher the SSS number is, the more seaworthy, in regard withContinue reading “Seaworthiness”

Rugged

It’s obvious that off-beaten-tracks will come along any high latitude sailing plan. Although there seem to be places where every sailor going after this sort of adventure would gather (Ushuaia in the South, Reykjavik in the North for instance), at some point the anchoring will be in uncharted territory. Grounding or hitting a rock onContinue reading “Rugged”

What is it that makes a high latitude boat?

Being a rookie has its advantages. It allows you to search for inspiration from role models you get to pick, and the unlimited access to online information streamlines drastically the process. And beyond the smartass answer (“Its crew is what makes a high latitude boat”), we’ll try to understand the specifics of such a boat,Continue reading “What is it that makes a high latitude boat?”

How it all starts

Ten years sailing the most enchanting places within one of the most beautiful sea, not only rich with incredible sceneries, but also with a unique cultural heritage on each of its shores. And doing this in the best of conditions, as we’d be sailing in all seasons, but especially when the nicest anchorage or littleContinue reading “How it all starts”