Hi Reader,

Welcome to the MAY edition of 'Families Afloat'! The monthly newsletter full of inspiration, stories and invaluable information for sailing families.

If you want to have a catch up of our previous newsletters, you can find them here: NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE.

This week's topic is what cruising is really all about... Fixing your boat in foreign countries! 😂

I'm pretty sure that almost every cruiser we've met has had to fix their boat abroad at some point in their journey, if they haven't, it's because they haven't been cruising for long enough yet!

We've had a few experiences ourselves of having breakages abroad while we were cruising... read on to find out more!

What You Should Be Thinking About This Week

'Everything on Your Boat Is Broken... You Just Don't Know It Yet!'

Think about it... the seas and oceans are tough environments to be in. Between the salt water and sea air, things get corroded far quicker than they ever would on land and in areas you might not think to check.

This inevitably means that items onboard will break, and quite probably before you might expect them to.

I would highly recommend having check lists of systems and items on board that are inspected (either by yourself or by a professional) on a regular basis to spot small problems before they become large ones.

You may choose to inspect items at the beginning and end of the season or even before every sail (definitely recommended for some systems like the engine and rigging, especially for longer offshore passages).

Keep a close eye on....

Your engine and all its hoses, bolts, filters, fluid levels etc
Sails
Running rigging
Standing rigging and all the mast connections
The mast and spars
Electrical connections and systems
Safety gear onboard
Seacocks
Anodes
Lifelines
Harnesses and lifejackets
Propellor shaft bolts
Alternator connections
Fuel - check for contamination (diesel bug etc!)
Outboard engines (carburetors get clogged up easily in salt water environments - run it dry after each use unless it will be used again within a very short period of time)

(This list isn't comprehensive so feel free to add to it for your own boat! ...Let me know if you can think of anything that I've forgotten!)

Gear Review

Following on from the theory of 'everything on your boat is broken... you just don't know it yet!'...

To help us keep on top of boat maintenance, I designed a book! It has lots of different areas to keep track of everything including...

All the Maintenance & Repair work that needed doing
Spare Parts that were needed onboard
Serial numbers of items aboard
Space to write a Boatyard Jobs List for things to be done next time the boat was lifted with space for quotes and contractor details
A Fuel Log to track our usage and costs
An Upgrades Wish List
Useful Contacts
Space to draw things like wiring diagrams etc
Note pages

A4 Printable Boat Maintenance Log Book — Printable Boat Maintenance Log Book

Buy Now

We found it very useful to keep track of everything that needed doing to make sure that any issues we found onboard were dealt with promptly and also regular maintenance was carried out too.

Every boat should have one!

It's A4 size and now available as a digitial download for the very first time, meaning you can buy it and print it instantly ready for use onboard! 🤓

Boat Tour of the Week

I don't know about you, but I LOVE looking around other people's boats! Every week I will share a new boat for you to take a look around.

This week we are touring Ryan and Sophie's Beneteau Oceanis 40 called Polar Seal.

They are currently in Annapolis, USA.

Do you have a family sailing yacht boat tour you'd like to share? It can either be your own boat or one you've found on YouTube! Let us know here.

Cruising Memories

"One evening just before sunset when we were sailing into the Med, we were hit from behind by a GINORMOUS rogue wave that almost tipped us over!!!

The wind had been steadily increasing over the course of the day but the waves had only built to a couple of metres or so. The rogue wave that came up behind us was roughly half the height of our mast which was ~18m high!

Needless to say, it scared the hell out of me and we decided to change course and head closer to shore and anchor somewhere for the night instead of carrying on as originally planned. It was a long six hour sail in the dark with the constant fear of being hit by another giant wave.

Luckily, we reached the shore safely and anchored overnight.

The next day, it was calm and we decided to continue our journey under motor along the coast. A few hours later, we noticed smoke from the engine outlet that hadn't been there before.

Understandably, we were concerned and decided to turn off the engine and sail in the light airs to the next port which happened to be Almerimar on the south coast of Spain.

We made it safely to port but were still very concerned about the engine and did some investigating while we were there as we weren't happy to continue using it in its current state. We relied on our engine a lot while out at sea due to the fact our boat needed a lot of wind to sail which wasn't always available!

A few nights turned into six weeks while we were waiting for a new engine part to be delivered that never arrived. The nightly rate also increased during our stay there (that we weren't told about) which definitely sped us up when we realised!

We found another way to fix the engine in the meantime and spent our time there exploring and enjoying what Almerimar had to offer - lots of delicious tapas, walks along the sea front, and multiple parks for our then 1 year old daughter.

Spending six weeks in Almerimar definitely wasn't planned but we made the most of it."

Robyn Hawkins - @sailing.mutiny

What Cruising Memories do you have? Let us know here.

Galley Recipe of the Week

This week it's 'Oven Roasted Dorado'.

The recipe this week is from Robyn of @sailing.mutiny.

Oven Roasted Dorado for 2 (plus a toddler!)

Preheat the oven (I think I did it on the highest heat our boat oven would allow which was gas mark 4 ish!)
If you buy the fish in a supermarket (like I did!), ask them to prep the fish for oven roasting. They'll gut the fish and scrap any scales off for you, if you catch it youself then you'll have to do that to.
Prep the fish for the oven by lightly scoring the skin on both sides then brush over some oil (I used olive) and sprinkle with sea salt, pepper and garlic granules.
Oven roast until it looks like the picture above and the flesh is cooked through.
In the meantime, prepare the potatoes for boiling (or cheat and use tinned potatoes like I did!) Cook until you can insert a knife and they feel ready.
Boil some peas (fresh, frozen, or tinned) until heated through. Drain the water off and add a small knob of butter, salt and pepper. Mash until thoroughly squished!
Serve all together with fresh bread (and butter unless you're like me and can't stand the stuff on bread 😂) on the side.
Enjoy! 😋

Have you tried to make it?

Why don't you let Robyn @sailing.mutiny know on Instagram how it turned out!

What's your favourite galley recipe? Let us know here.

Pets Corner

Our furry friends are most definitely part of the family.

Each week, we'll share a picture of our favourite boat dog or cat (though we're not limited to those - show us what other animals you have onboard!)

This week it's Rufus from @rufus_and_wally.

Rufus is 2.5 years old. He loves to sail. It seems to relax him. He knows to go to the windward side up wind and switch sides when we tack. He is very agile on it. We were worried how he would take to it but the first sail he was hooked.

He has a new baby brother now so not sure how that is going to work! (He'll be featured in newsletter soon so you can meet him too! 😊)

He's a Maremma mix and loves adventures!

Want your salty seadog (or cat, or other pet!) to be featured in the newsletter?! Let us know here.

Bilge Banter

Complete the following (and get as inventive as you want!!!)

You see a sailor struggling on the pontoon in front of you. You _____________.

Submit your answers here.

Puzzle Corner

It's time to get your thinking caps on.

Can you solve our nautical themed puzzle?!

This week it's a PIGPEN CIPHER!

Find out in the newsletter next week if you're right.

Last Week's Puzzle - ANSWER

The answer to the puzzle last week was...

The sailing master! The puzzle stated that they were sailing in a Japanese ship meaning the flag would look the same even if it was upside down.

Did you get it?!

Competition Time

Congratulations to our THREE winners from the April Competitions...

Ben Plows won the Virtual Mahina Offshore Cruising Seminar worth $249 from Mahina Sailing
Saphire Thraves won a Recycled Sterling Silver Tiny Whale Necklace from Jana Reinhardt's Jewellery collection worth £85
Elliot Schlegelmilch won a $25 Amazon gift card for answering the questionniare we sent out last month

If you are a brand or company that is interested in giving away a quality sailing or travel product or gift voucher, please leave your details here.