Guides
Troubleshooting and maintenance writing for people who do their own work on older boats. If you are looking for specs and service intervals for a specific engine, those live in the engine guides.
White, Black, or Blue: Diagnosing Exhaust Smoke on an Older Marine Diesel
Exhaust smoke is your diesel's only way of telling you what's wrong. Here's how to read white, black, and blue smoke on an older raw-water-cooled engine — and what to check first for each.
· 5 min readThe 20-Minute Pre-Passage Engine Checklist (And Why Each Item Earned Its Place)
The engine and systems walk-through to run before every passage on an older boat — what to check, why each one matters, and the failure mode behind it.
· 4 min readBarra de Navidad: A Cruiser's Guide to the Lagoon, the French Baker, and Provisioning
What to know before you sail into the Barra lagoon — the entrance, anchoring versus the marina, the bread boat, the water taxi, and where to actually buy groceries.
· 4 min read