Worth-the-Money Hand Tools for Cruisers

Tools live a hard life on a cruising boat. Salt, vibration, humidity, occasional dropped overboard. The cheap tool set that worked at the dock degrades fast in…

Getting Work Done in Turkey: Why Cruisers Keep Coming Back

The math on a Turkish refit makes itself obvious after one bid. A €40,000 refit in Italy or France lands around €20,000 in Bodrum or Marmaris. The work quality…

Why We Built CruiserFix: The Story Behind the Directory

May 20, 2026

When the Yard Damages Your Boat

Boats get damaged in yards. Travelift straps slip, contractors drop things, neighbouring boats sway against yours in high winds. Most yards handle their own da…

Vuda Point, Fiji: Haul-Out in Paradise

The cyclone pit at Vuda is one of the more unusual sights in cruising — physical holes in the hardstand that boats sit in below ground level, sheltering hulls…

The Cruisers' Net Recommendation Network

Every major cruising anchorage in the world runs a morning VHF net. Georgetown Exumas at 08:10, Vava'u Tonga at 08:00, Marmaris at 09:00. The format varies; th…

How We Track Spares Inventory on a Cruising Boat

The cruiser inventory problem: you have hundreds of spare parts spread across thirty lockers, and you can never remember whether you have that specific impelle…

The Tools We Actually Use Onboard (And the Ones We Don't)

April 28, 2026

Through-Hull Replacement Without Hauling

A failing through-hull or seacock is a problem you absolutely cannot ignore. Hauling out isn't always immediately possible — you might be in a remote anchorage…

Tax Implications of Boat Work Abroad

The tax side of cruising is one of those topics most cruisers underweight until they get a surprise bill. EU VAT, US sales tax, temporary import permits in Mex…

Repacking the Stuffing Box (Le Marin Style)

Traditional flax stuffing boxes leak by design — a slow drip when the engine runs is normal. When the drip becomes a stream and the bilge pump runs too often,…

Shelter Bay, Panama: Before & After the Canal

Shelter Bay Marina sits on the Caribbean side of the Panama Canal, a few miles from Colon. For cruisers heading either direction through the Canal, Shelter Bay…

Onboard Schooling During a Yard Period

Cruising families face an unusual challenge: how to school the kids when the boat is up on jack stands for six weeks, the parents are exhausted from refit work…

Saving a Stranger's Boat in a Squall

It's 3am, blowing 35 knots in what should have been a sheltered anchorage, and the catamaran 50 meters downwind starts dragging. Owners ashore. The wind is gus…

Rope Splicing: Three Splices Every Cruiser Should Know

Splicing isn't difficult. Teaching yourself the three essential splices — three-strand eye, double braid eye, Dyneema bury — takes a long afternoon. The payoff…

How We Replaced Our Standing Rigging in Grenada (And What It Cost)

May 15, 2026

Refrigeration Repair in Remote Anchorages

Marine refrigeration fails in proportion to how far you are from a refrigeration technician. By the time you're in the Vava'u group of Tonga or anchored off a…

The Real Price of Haul-Out in the Caribbean (2026)

The yard quote you got two years ago doesn't help much in 2026. Labour rates have moved, materials have moved, and the price differences between Caribbean yard…

Provisioning Before a 30-Day Yard Stay

The yard period is a logistical category of its own. Refrigeration may or may not work depending on power arrangements. Cooking gets messy with hauled-out boat…

Pre-Atlantic Crossing Rig Check

The Atlantic crossing puts more sustained load on rigging than almost anything else cruising boats do. Three weeks of constant trade-wind pressure, wave-induce…

Osmosis Scare in the Med: What Cruisers Should Know

October haul-out in any Mediterranean yard, and you'll watch a procession of dismayed boat owners staring at pinhead-sized white spots that have appeared on th…

Opua, New Zealand: The South Pacific's Service Hub

Opua is the gateway. Most South Pacific cruisers heading south for the cyclone season clear customs at Opua's quarantine wharf — the marina there is the closes…

Lithium vs AGM: Two Years Later

The lithium retrofit story has matured. Cruising boats that converted in 2023–2024 are now two years in. Reports are mostly positive, but with important caveat…

Why Cruisers Switch to LiFePO4 Batteries in Mexico

If you spend any time at Marina de La Paz, Paradise Village, or La Cruz, you'll notice that nearly every other cruising boat has a lithium retrofit either comp…

Leaving the Boat in a Foreign Yard

Most long-term cruisers eventually need to leave the boat for weeks or months — work back home, family events, medical procedures, or just a break from boat li…

Le Marin, Martinique: A Cruiser's Repair Paradise

Le Marin in southern Martinique has become the most popular cruiser hub in the Eastern Caribbean — a position it earned through French Caribbean logistics, dee…

Installing a Watermaker: What's Actually Involved

Watermaker install is among the most common cruiser DIY projects. The cost savings vs professional install are substantial (USD 2,000–5,000), and the systems a…

Hurricane Season Prep: Our 30-Day Countdown Checklist

May 5, 2026

Health Insurance for Cruisers Mid-Repair

The yard period coincides with the medical things cruisers put off when at anchor. Dental work, eye exams, routine physicals — all easier with shore access. Th…

We Hauled Out in New Zealand: Was It Worth the Detour?

May 12, 2026

The Greek Boatyard Experience: Kalamata vs Preveza

The two major Greek winter refit bases offer very different experiences. Kalamata Marina is polished, well-managed, and feels like a Northern European marina.…

Galvanic Corrosion: How Cruisers Catch It Early

Galvanic corrosion eats boats slowly — bronze through-hulls dissolving, prop shafts pitting, swim ladders disappearing — until something fails dramatically. Th…

Engine Rebuild at Sea: What's Actually Possible

The romantic version of cruising involves a sailor and a wrench, fixing the engine in some palm-fringed anchorage. The realistic version is more nuanced — some…

How to Find a Reliable Tradesman in a Port You've Never Visited

May 10, 2026

Our Emergency Spares Kit: 50 Items That Saved Our Passage

May 8, 2026

Diesel Won't Start? A Cruiser's Diagnostic Checklist

A marine diesel that won't start usually has a simple cause. Cruisers report the vast majority of "engine won't start" calls trace back to one of five things:…

Decommissioning for Summer / Hurricane Storage

Six months on the hard waiting for hurricane season to pass takes preparation. Cruisers who lay up in Trinidad, Grenada, Florida, or Mexico develop a checklist…

Decoding a Boatyard Quote

Boatyard quotes vary wildly in detail. Some give you a one-line bottom-job estimate; others itemise every step. Comparing them apples-to-apples is harder than…

Cutless Bearing Replacement: Boatyard or DIY?

The cutless bearing supports the prop shaft where it exits the boat. It's a wear item — typically 5–10 years in cruising use. When it's gone, you need to repla…

Chaguaramas, Trinidad: The Boatyard Capital

For half a century, Chaguaramas has been the budget refit destination for Eastern Caribbean cruisers. The combination of below-hurricane-zone location, deep lo…

Canvas Work in the Islands: Martinique Bimini Story

Le Marin in southern Martinique has become a quietly important canvas hub in the Eastern Caribbean. The combination of French logistics (Sunbrella in stock, EU…

Why Cruisers Burn Out During Refits

Refit burnout is real. The cruisers who quit cruising and sell the boat often do so during or just after a major refit — when the dream version of cruising hit…

Bottom Paint in the Tropics: What Actually Works

The bottom paint that worked in Annapolis doesn't necessarily work in Grenada. Tropical waters present a different challenge — warmer temperatures, more aggres…

Boatyard Friendships: Why Cruisers Need Yard Buddies

Six weeks in a boatyard breaks people. The combination of dust, heat, project stress, and isolation from normal sailing community can sink even experienced cru…

Boat Work in Thailand: Quality vs. Price in Phuket

April 15, 2026

Boat Repair in the Galapagos: What's Possible

The Galapagos is a cruising destination, not a service hub. Ecuador's strict environmental rules and the islands' remote position mean serious repair work is h…

The Cruiser's Guide to Boat Insurance in the Caribbean

April 20, 2026

Best Bluetooth Multimeters for the Bilge

The bluetooth multimeter is one of those quiet-revolution cruising tools. When the meter you need to read is buried in the engine bay or jammed behind the pane…

Best Marine Sealants: Field-Tested Guide

The wrong sealant on the wrong job creates problems that haunt boats for years. The right sealant — and there's a different right answer for almost every joint…

Autopilot Died Mid-Passage: What to Do

The autopilot does the work that crew can't sustain over a multi-day passage. When it fails — and on long enough cruising careers, it eventually does — the exp…

The 12-Volt Inverter Decision Tree

Inverter sizing is one of those decisions that's easy to get wrong. Too small and the kettle trips the inverter every morning. Too big and you've spent money o…