Lift boats are the service vessels of the offshore oil industry. Their most obvious feature is the three giant cylindrical legs towering 250 ft above the deck. When the lift boat gets alongside a rig these legs are lowered to the seabed and the whole boat is jacked up so that it can act as …
Posted on September 11, 2017 by saltyjohn Ninety minute documentary about Sir Peter Blake, an extraordinary sailor: This entry was posted in Sailing and Travel, Uncategorized by saltyjohn. Bookmark the permalink.
Just back from a few days sailing in Scotland. The weather was disappointing for August but we got a couple of good days sandwiched between a major thunderstorm and torrential rain. A boat with a pilot house is a definite advantage when the weather decides to be miserable. The scenery is always spectacular in this …
It’s really important to have a properly set rig to get the best performance from your boat without placing excessive loads on the rig or hull. The best way to achieve this is with a rig tension gauge made by rigging manufacturers Loos & Co, available from Saltyjohn.com here in the UK. For the average …
If you think anchor selection is a controversial subject you should try talking about propellers. I don’t know why these subjects should cause such angst, but they do. So I’ll just dive right in. The first issue is drag: Under sail with the engine stopped does a fixed propeller create more drag when it’s locked …
A visit to the basin at the Royal Albert Dock in Liverpool is always rewarded with some interesting boats. I was there last Friday:
On the Road Again by John S Alty The sun was coming up as I reached the Atchafalaya Basin and I stopped on the elevated stretch of highway cutting through the swamp to watch nature showing off. Mist rose like smoke through the cypress, burnt red and yellow by the dawn bursting over the horizon. …