A guide to simple coffee without the mess

I don’t drink coffee. I know, it’s strange. I simply can not stand the taste or smell of coffee no matter how many times I try it. Hot coffee, iced coffee, coffee ice cream…no, thank you. My wife, however, does drink coffee like a normal person, which means I make coffee on a regular basis. Due to the space and power constraints of life on a sailboat, a standard coffee maker isn’t practical.

A sailmaker’s advice on winter storage

Just like any other piece of equipment aboard, the sails must be properly cared for as well. To learn more about off-season sail care I spoke with a professional sailmaker about winter maintenance and storage.

Five times I wished we had a normal toilet

For living aboard, or off-grid living, it’s hard to beat the simplicity of a composting toilet. One of our first projects after buying the boat was to remove the aging head and all of the associated plumbing and tanks. The smell from those hoses and tanks is breathtaking. Literally, breathtaking. We chose to replace that […]

Preparing for Maine winters as a liveaboard, part 4

The final post in a four-part series explaining how we stay warm while living on a sailboat through the long Maine winters. I have written extensively in the past about the selection, preparation, and installation of our Olympia OL-60 heating system, but today I am going to tell you how it performed during its first winter of use.