12/10/2025 Topic: 12V panel replacement Dick	Hi Tim, Are you planning to do the works yourself? Putting in a 12v panel with breakers can be pretty straightforward, but I wonder whether your concern is undoing what sounds like an unusual electrical design that causes regular problems. It is not easy, and probably unwise, to work on a boat’s electrical system without schematics. I would start by developing a schematic for your present DC system and then move on to designing your new 12v system with breakers. Schematics allow you to do the bulk of the thinking work ahead of time and will save many hours in the long run. While doing so read a couple of the excellent books on marine electrical design and work practices. Both are excellent winter projects. But, in particular, get a copy of ABYC’s standards (they have a reduced rate for boat owners) or the EU equivalent. My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy Come back with any specific questions.
14/10/2025 Topic: Social Media for nostalgics (SSB) Dick	Hi Simon, A wonderfully written appreciation: thanks for sharing. Alchemy’s passage -making has often been made to feel less isolated by our SSB skeds with other vessels going a similar direction. It should be noted that some of the nets, particularly some of the weather nets, are done on SSB Amateur (Ham) radio frequencies (at least the last time I paid attention) the license for which is very much easier to obtain now that Morse Code proficiency is greatly reduced. My best, Dick Stevenson, KC2HKW, WCZ7717
26/10/2025 Topic: Chesapeake to UK Spring 2026 Dick	Hi Chris and Phillip, A few words on the Northern route below; The route you are contemplating has a wealth of suggestions as it is so commonly done: I believe I used Jimmy Cornell’s World Passage book along with articles on the subject. There is a lot out there. The big question is how early to leave and still ensure (or make least likely) having a hurricane join you. The best advice we received was not to treat the Azores as just a “fuel depot” mid-ocean. So, we spent the season crossing and spent 6 weeks in Bermuda, almost 3 months in the Azores visiting 8 of the 9 islands (just fabulous) before fetching up in Portugal in late September or so. Feel free to come back with questions. My best, Dick Stevenson. s/v Alchemy The Atlantic Canadian Maritimes are, indeed, wonderful cruising. An alternative: a west>east Northern route to Europe (CA, Greenland, Iceland, Faroes, Scotland/Europe) is covered in the new “CCA Essential Passage Guide to the Viking Route” (as is the more commonly accomplished east>west Viking route) along with a wealth of guidance on sailing northern waters. There is also a new edition of the CCA’s cruising guide to Newfoundland as well as updates/new editions in the works or accomplished to CCA guides to the Canadian Maritime waters (Nova Scotia, Labrador, the Gulf of St. Lawrence). Over 3-4 years, I spent 4+ months each season cruising this area and did the Viking route on a return to North America in 2017.
02/11/2025 Topic: Messenger line hack Dick	Hi all, A winter mast-up messenger line hack: Removing one’s running rigging lines and replacing with messenger lines for the winter if your mast is left up is just wise. I looked at my messenger lines waving in the breeze with some trepidation for years wondering how they would fare over a long and windy winter. And then, some random comment, led me to wrap the messenger lines multiple times spiral-like around whatever stay, shroud or rf foil was handy. This kept them well behaved, unlikely to chafe or to jump out of the sheave, etc. and much less likely to break with all the problems that follow from that. My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy
03/11/2025 Topic: observation on flooding the cockpit Dick	Hi all, an observation: There is always concern about getting pooped. And, one might make a case for canoe sterns being more vulnerable as there is less reserve buoyancy so the stern might not rise to get above a following wave as a wider stern would. In numerous miles in boisterous conditions and large seas from the stern, Alchemy (a Valiant 42) has never taken a drop of water into the cockpit from the stern. But it has happened twice in my memory that we have had substantial (~~70+% filled) water flood the cockpit. Both times we were going fast on a beam-ish reach in moderate winds and swell and things lined up so we rolled into a wave which came sweeping down the leeward deck pretty much filling the cockpit. I now consider this event statistically likely in those sailing conditions. Had we not had a seat-level bridgedeck, significant water would have sluiced below decks making for a big salty mess, but not anything dangerous. With the bridgedeck, the foot well was filled and we received a nice demo of the time it takes for the water to drain out. No water found its way below. As an under-way habit all cockpit lockers are secured with a clip and, the latch being secured also compresses the gasket a bit. My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy
21/11/2025 Topic: Chesapeake to UK Spring 2026 Dick	Hi Ken, I suspect you are aware of the newly published CCA Essential Guide to the Viking Route. I was part of the group who wrote it. My wife and I did the VR from Europe to North America in 2017. Had the VR guide existed, it would have saved us well over a hundred hours in preparatory research in the year before we left and answered many of the questions that were difficult to get information on. It was a great way to get across the Atlantic. We were not in “delivery mode” and spent most of the season in the crossing cruising the Faroes, Iceland and Greenland, before fetching up in Newfoundland: and then falling so in love that we stayed in the Canadian Maritimes for the next 3 years. Come back with questions. My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy
21/11/2025 Topic: Chesapeake to UK Spring 2026 Dick	Ken, Sorry for the redundancy, I just noticed that I had already replied to this stream. Dick
29/12/2025 Topic: Shetland Light Dues Dick	Hi Lisa, Understood. Sometimes it is just better to up-anchor and move on. Is there any mechanism within the OCC to explore and try to understand this seemingly random and arbitrary invocation of a fee? Perhaps the Shetland Island’s PO could explore. My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy
13 days ago Topic: fuel filters: A note for skippers going to sea for Dick	A note for those going to sea for the first time (or it has been a while): Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy 01-26 An often-ignored preparation for boats going to seas is to be ready for an event that is actually fairly hard to ensure will not occur. The best preparation is to have the skipper, boat and supplies ready to react: somewhat like being prepared for a flooding event. I am referring to the boat’s primary fuel filters becoming clogged and stalling the engine. Many of us have casual habits around our fuel and their tank(s) (and this can occur even with diligent habits). We pride ourselves on sailing everywhere thereby not using our fuel up and letting it sit for long periods. We do not “polish” our fuel, generally. And we are not religious about the fuel treatments that contribute to our fuel staying clean. The above may be fine in coastal cruising, but open ocean passage-making is just an exponential increase in boat movement (hard to imagine until experienced), especially if boisterous conditions are encountered. What happens is that the agitated fuel in the tanks get thrown at the walls of the tank where “bad stuff” (technical term) loosely adheres and all gets stirred up eventually finding its way to the primary fuel filter. Enough “yuck” and the primary slows fuel delivery to the engine and it slows and eventually stalls. I am not convinced that fuel polishing/cleaning operations actually get (or can get) to the walls of the tank to scour them and ensure clean fuel. The best we as skippers can do is prepare for the possibility of a clogged primary filter. To this end changing a filter on the fly is good to plan for and practice. Changing primary filters on the fly is made far easier by the installation of a dual filter assembly such as the dual Racor filter assembly.* This assembly makes the changing of filters a mere flip of a valve. This isolates the clogged filter making it easy and far less messy to change. In addition, the dual Racor filter assembly has a vacuum gauge which can give early warning of a clogging filter.** Some assemblies also provide an option of early warning of water accumulation in the fuel. Finally, there is little down-side at carrying a lot of filters. When Alchemy left for extended cruising, we carried 10+ primary filters*** * A dual Racor fuel filter assembly (from memory mine is a 500MA using 2010TM 10 micron filters) and looks just like this: https://www.go2marine.com/75500MAX30-Marine-500-Turbine-Fuel-Filter-WS-Shielded-Bowl-30-Micron_2?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21119200762&gbraid=0AAAAAD_v3nHU-bjxSZ2Cs6yMieBtMktqt&gclid=Cj0KCQjwoZbBBhDCARIsAOqMEZWkSL1iZG3_RriYLFnPDp1osVPcYrdzbkW-tRGWlXEzF7sYTXNqdVsaApfLEALw_wcB **A vacuum gauge is also recommended for vessels with a single primary fuel filter just by placing one in the fuel line for its ability to provide early warning. Descriptions of its use and guidance for installation can be found at Steve D’Antonio’s web site (https://stevedmarineconsulting.com/) and search for the articles (among many other useful articles) in his E-Magazine. One of the observations made about vacuum gauges is that one can change filters when there is shown to be a rise in pressure indicating that the filter is loading up. I have never done this (or needed to) and tend to change to a new filter once a year which, when cruising full time, often had me using a filter for 250 up to 500 hours. I am not sure whether there is a “recommended” interval as there is for oil filters: hard to do with the quality of fuel potentially varying widely. Because I “polish” my fuel regularly, my filters emerge pretty clean with no build-up of yuck and not even overly darkened element. *** My Racor primary filter uses 2010TM filters which are easier to store (as much smaller) than spin on filters and are less expensive. They are smaller and take up less space: important as for widely wandering boats who might get bad fuel have lots of spare filters can be crucial. I carried ten when cruising remote areas, in part for the fuel quality when we purchased diesel from 55g steel tanks that were often rusty and old.

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