The February issue of Practical Sailor, now available online at www.practical-sailor.com, features a couple of articles that are near and dear to me. The first regards the Union 36, a heavy double-ender of dubious origins.
At the surface, the Union 36 bears a close resemblance to the 32-foot Atkin ketch that my wife and I sailed for 11 years. Both are heavy double-enders with full (or nearly full) keels, and barn-door rudders. But as reno
wned designer Bob Perry points out in our article, the double-enders that became popular in the 1970s (many of which he drew), diverge sharply from the North Sea lifeboat design that the boats’ makers claimed to emulate.
If you ever saw yourself going to sea in a salty double-ender, the review of the Union 36 will give you some useful insight into many iterations of the design and the pros and cons of the concept.
The second article that struck home with me deals with LED tri-color lights. As longtime readers know, although our magazine tracks the latest technology, we tend to lean toward proven equipment for offshore cruising, even if it might seem a bit dated. We’re not Luddites, but we hesitate to commit to bleeding-edge technology. As any cruiser knows, if it can break at sea, it will, and the fewer failure points the better. The KISS philosophy is as relevant today as it was in the days of Eric and Susan Hiscock, the globe-trotting cruising couple who famously espoused an aversion to electronics—or at least the reliance upon electronics—in their books.
Nevertheless, I believe even the Hiscocks and others like them would be jumping on the masthead LED tri-color bandwagon today. They, like my wife and I, used kerosene lanterns at sea to conserve precious battery power. And as anyone who has tried this approach will tell you, the experience of maintaining a kerosene light (trimming wicks, cleaning chimneys, and filling reservoirs), for nights on end, in a stomach-loosening cross-sea, is the sort of chore that inspires second thoughts about the cruising life.
Now, thanks to today’s LEDs, keeping your boat safely lit through the night requires a negligible amount of energy, energy that is easily recoverable through a solar panel. Most of the lights that we tested were rugged and watertight, promising a lifespan that puts incandescent bulbs to shame. Given the results of our LED testing, I wouldn’t be surprised to see incandescent masthead lights go the way of brass lanterns, relegated to museums, consignment stores, and seafood restaurants.
Sincerely,
Darrell Nicholson
practicalsailor@belvoirpubs.com
P.S. For those of you planning a long-term cruise in the near future, there is still space in the winter workshop at the Annapolis School of Seamanship, featuring PS Technical Editor Ralph Naranjo.
Also in the February issue of Practical Sailor:
Got power-hungry habits? Find out which marine inverter-charger is right for your boat. Part 1 of Practical Sailor’s report on these double-duty devices weighs the pros and cons of eight DC inverters in the 2,000-watt range.
Testers search for the best degreaser to tackle marine grit and grime. The galley, the grill, the engine room, tools: Greasy grime is everywhere, and sometimes cleaning with a multi-purpose solution just doesn’t cut it. PS tested a dozen liquid degreasers to determine which gets the job done best and which offers the best bargain.
PS hits the water with tools for tracking and fine-tuning boat speed as testers take wireless devices from Speedwatch and Velocitek (SC-1 and the SpeedPuck) for a test drive.
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