Wilderness Cruising | Nautitech Open 40 blog

What chain hook do you use? This is one of those eternal boating questions among cruisers. It's almost like asking for an anchor recommendation, except that more sailors can agree on anchors. Chain hooks are a problem because there isn't a bullet proof, simple, and generally recognised answer.   People want three things out of their chain hook. 1.       Simple to operate, easy to put on and take off 2.       Reliable, it must be secure, and do its job when conditions worsen 3.       Marinized equipment, it must be robust, and stand up to a harsh environment   In a old poll on Cruisers Forum 13 chain hooks are compared.  https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/f118/anchor-chain-hook-poll-95248.html   Eye Grab Hook 37 Rolling hitch knot 20 Other 15 Mantus Chain Hook 12 ABI Chain Grabb...

This is our spinnaker, and how we sailed across the Pacific. When we bought the boat we didn't really know how to sail, we hadn't taken our day skipper, and were very much still beginner's. I have one video when we were still a light boat doing 10kts in the Solent. I turn to Fung and say " 10kts! We'll cross the Atlantic like this ".  It turns out we did cross the Atlantic, but not like that. We were the last boat in the final rally organised by Jimmy Cornell, we arrived dead last, and were so slow that our fellow cruisers wondered what happened to us. It didn't look that way when we departed Mindelo. After our first 36 hrs we were on for 200nm days. It wasn't to be, and after the katabatic winds left us we wound up almost a day behind the fleet. We didn't realise it at the time, but the boat was not yet ready for down wind sailing! As a catamaran, downwind should be what we excel at, and we do, but the thing that caught us out was lig...