On this page, you can find a list of all the blogs we've written. Scroll through the pages to see the older ones. To view them in their various categories, use the main menu bar above where you can find them grouped by the places we've visited and by year. On the Blog Posts menu you can select blogs by the following groups:
- Life Aboard – our experiences of living on a boat,
- Boat & Technical Projects – the upgrades and repairs we've made to Emerald,
- Land Travel – experiences away from the boat,
- Green Emerald Series – Colin's posts about making Emerald into an off-grid sailing boat,
- Passage Reports – our experiences during the longer sailing passages.
Latest Blog Post
What Next for Emerald, Having Escaped Porto Santo?
After 20 months in Porto Santo, Emerald’s crew sailed south, docking at Las Palmas for essential repairs, and upgrades. The uncertainty about availability and the return of Med-mooring challenges had a happy ending. We settled into the convenience of marina life, pleasantly surprised by the peacefulness, despite the city setting.
All Posts
Take a browse through the many posts we've written over the last few years as we travel and live on the watery world.
What Next for Emerald, Having Escaped Porto Santo?
After 20 months in Porto Santo, Emerald’s crew sailed south, docking at Las Palmas for essential repairs, and upgrades. The uncertainty about availability and the return of Med-mooring challenges had a happy ending. We settled into the convenience of marina life, pleasantly surprised by the peacefulness, despite the city setting.
Full Passage Report: Sailing Porto Santo to Gran Canaria
Departing Porto Santo for Gran Canaria, 310nm south, we anticipated challenging conditions, with 3m seas astern. Departing with a downwind rig and despite uncomfortable movement and little sleep, we managed through changing winds and rig adjustments. After three days and a precarious night entry into Las Palmas, we arrived, relieved.
Porto Santo to Canary Islands Day 2
Conditions eased on day two of our passage from Porto Santo to The Canary Islands. We dropped the downwind rig and changed to a more comfortable sail plan for a broad reach.
Porto Santo to Canary Islands Day 1
Our report from day one of our passage from Porto Santo to the Canary Islands. Under the downwind rig, we rolled through the day and night, with sleep eluding us.
When the Wind Blows in Porto Santo
Porto Santo’s winds are influenced by the Azores High. The harbour provides good protection from the prevailing north/northeast winds. However, south to southwest winds bring challenges, and an occasional named storm can bring uncomfortable conditions for boats both on the moorings and pontoons.
Why Did We Have An Overheating Propeller Shaft?
After a tricky departure from the pontoon in blustery conditions, we returned to the boatyard to investigate the overheating propeller shaft. We made repairs, replaced damaged cutlass bearings, and recalibrated the alignment between engine and prop shaft. Back in the water, testing showed no overheating, allowing sailing plans to resume.
We Need New Sailboat Batteries: Lithium or Lead Acid?
With Emerald back afloat, we were making plans to sail away south. But unknown to us, our batteries were starting to fail. Was this the right time to change to Lithium LiFePO4?
Festive Fun in Funchal and Porto Santo
We were feeling low after our failed attempt to sail away from Porto Santo. We couldn’t fix the propeller shaft bearings until a space came free in the yard. In the meantime, we needed to restore our spirits, so we went in search of some festive fun in Funchal.
Leaving Porto Santo – Our Hotel California
18 months ago we’d arrived at Porto Santo with a broken engine. Since then we’d ridden a rollercoaster ride of emotions as we’d attempted to fix and rebuild it. At last we’d reached our moment of reward, setting off for new horizons. Or had we…
Emerald’s Launch From the Boatyard: The Moment of Truth
We just had some Coppercoat repairs to complete before choosing a date to launch Emerald. We were feeling a swirling mix of emotions – excitement to be afloat again tempered with the fear of something going wrong. And there were many things that could go wrong!
Sailing Life: All you Need is Just a Little Patience
We had one big boat job left to do to be able to escape the boatyard, but the weather had other ideas. It was another lesson in how patience is a good trait to have to make the sailing life go smoothly…
What Happened Next in Our Boat Engine Rebuild
Perhaps you were wondering where we were at with our boat engine rebuild? And why did we think we had a dose of the commentator’s curse? Click the link to find out.
Advice for Servicing a Hydraulic Autopilot
Our hydraulic autopilot developed an oil leak. As it’s an old model, servicing support was no longer available, so we took on the task ourselves. Here we share our experiences and tips for servicing a hydraulic autopilot
Our DIY Boat Engine Rebuild: The First Test Run
With our rebuilt engine back in the boat, the next big step was to test it. But before we could do that, we needed to reconnect the ancillary systems. And of course there was an expected issue…
Boat Engine Rebuild – The Gasket Debacle
Gaskets have been one of our biggest issues during the engine rebuild. First there was the tear in the timing case gasket, then having remedied that, the oil sump leaked oil from all around its new gasket.