News

How much does cruising REALLY cost?

Far too often we've heard from sailors who have been planning their cruise - and planning and planning - as they've tried to accumulate all the newest, biggest and best mechanical and electronic equipment they need, or think they need, before finally leaving. Some have even given up their dreams because the cost was just too daunting. A basic fact seems to have been forgotten - folks have been going to sea safely and enjoyably for generations before the arrival of electronic everything. You really don't need a bigger engine to power a generator to run an autopilot, a freezer, a sewing machine, and whatever else we're bombarded with in the latest ads in "sailing" magazines. David and Jaja Martin have written an excellent article in the November/December 2005 issue of "Good Old Boat" that describes the planning and decisions that permitted then to take their entire family cruising at a far lower cost than most people would believe possible - at little sacrifice of comfort, and none of safety. With their kind permission, and with the permission of Karen Larson of "Good Old Boat", you can download the PDF article "Setting Priorities" here.
Additional photos of the Martin family and their boats can be found on the Cal 25 and Chatham 33 pages.

"Electric Fever" - Jerry Hickson
(We had this listed as "To Sea In A High-Tech Boat - anonymous" for years, until Jerry contacted us in May of 2009 - thanks!)

I must go down to the sea again, in a modern high-tech boat,
And all I ask is electric, for comfort while afloat,
And alternators, and solar panels, and generators going,
And deep cycle batteries with many amperes flowing.

I must go down to the sea again, to the autopilot's ways,
And all I ask is a GPS, and a radar, and displays,
And a cell phone, and a weatherfax, and a shortwave radio,
And compact disks, computer games and TV videos.

I must go down to the sea again, with a freezer full of steaks,
And all I ask is a microwave, and a blender for milkshakes,
And a watermaker, air-conditioner, hot water in the sink,
And e-mail and a VHF to see what my buddies think.

I must go down to the sea again, with power-furling sails,
And chart displays of all the seas, and a bullhorn for loud hails,
And motors pulling anchor chains, and push-button sheets,
And programs which take full charge of tacking during beats.

I must go down to the sea again, and not leave friends behind,
And so they never get seasick we'll use the web online,
And all I ask is an Internet with satellites over me,
And beaming all the data up, my friends sail virtually.

I must go down to the sea again, record the humpback whales,
Compute until I decipher their language and their tales,
And learn to sing in harmony, converse beneath the waves,
And befriend the gentle giants as my synthesizer plays.

I must go down to the sea again, with RAM in gigabytes,
and teraflops of processing for hobbies that I like,
And software suiting all my wants, seated at my console
And pushing on the buttons which give me complete control.

I must go down to the sea again, my concept seems quite sound,
But when I simulate this boat, some problems I have found.
The cost is astronomical, repairs will never stop,
Instead of going sailing, I'll be shackled to the dock.

I must go down to the sea again, how can I get away?
Must I be locked in low-tech boats until my dying day?
Is there no cure for my complaint, no technologic fix?
Oh, I fear this electric fever is a habit I can't kick.

New 2006 Windvane Selfsteering DVD Available

We've updated our windvane DVD - if you'd like a FREE copy, use the "Contact Us" tab above, tell us what boat you have, and request the DVD. We'll mail it to you, and we'll include any mounting drawings and photos of your boat that we have on file.

Attention Scandinavian Customers!

As a general rule, Scanmar does not have local dealerships - selling factory-direct helps keep customer costs down. However, Hakan Sjogren, a close friend of Hans Bernwall (Scanmar's owner) has been our representative in Sweden for the last ten years. Scandinavian sailors can contact Hakan directly at:
Navotex
Gottskarsvagen 187
439 94 Onsala
Sweden
Phone: (country code 46) 300-398-50
Fax: (country code 46) 300-393-20
E-mail: hakan.navotex@telia.com

Monitor compared to Electric Autopilot by Solo-Sailing Legend Tony Gooch

Tony Gooch, who completed his non-stop circumnavigation in 2003, wrote an article in the January 2004 issue of Cruising World in which he compared the efficiency of mechanical windvane and electronic coursekeeping systems. Read his surprising results here, and look up pictures of "Taonui" in our Boats & Photos section. The article is in PDF format. Download the article.

Return to the Sea

Webb Chiles' new book describes his fourth circumnavigation - Boston, Portugal, Senegal, Brazil, Cape Town, Sydney and onward....
Some Exerpts:
From the Acknowledgements - "Hans Bernwall and the people at Scanmar Marine continue to provide personal service and support for their Monitor selfsteering gear unusual in our consolidated times."
Page 181 - THE HAWKE OF TUONELA was making six to seven knots under bare poles - and it can be stated categorically that if you can do seven knots under bare poles, you should be under bare poles - the Monitor steering."
Page 185 - "Partially blocked in the troughs, on the crests of the waves the wind, which on the last recording had been 59 knots, staggered me. I pulled myself aft to examine the Monitor, which is the most important piece of equipment on the boat. It seemed undamaged, the control lines unchaffed. Turning forward I checked the deck and rig. Nothing unusual."

Lessons from the ARC

In the April 2004 issue of 'Blue Water Sailing' author Greg Jones discusses windvanes in his article "Lessons fron the ARC", about the 2003 Atlantic Rally for Cruisers. After writing about the growing prevalence of generators and electronic systems on board current cruisers, he states "With the availability of ample power supplies there were more boats using autopilots than windvanes, at roughly a 4:1 ratio, but the windvane proponents were vocal in praise of their units, for the most part. As might be expected, the Monitor was the most common since there are simply more of them out there. Part of the affection people felt for their windvane was their pride in making it work right. "Once you get into it, it's easy," said one sailor of his windvane, and "That's our friend," were typical comments. Some, with both a windvane and an autopilot, used the windvanes until the apparent wind slacked: "Below two and a half knots of boat speed we went to the Autohelm system" [Note: "Autohelm" is an electric tillerpilot, "Auto-helm" is our auxiliary rudder windvane selfsteering system] said another windvane sailor.

The caption on an accompanying photo reads "Only 25 percent of the ARC fleet used windvanes and of those Monitors were the most common".

In the March 2004 issue of "Blue Water Sailing", author Ellen Mandeville describes her and her husband Mark's 23-day passage from Mexico to the Marquesas in "Gear To Make You Grin".

Here, with "Blue Water"s permission, is the text of the section about their Monitor windvane:

"Hurray, Helmsley. You're the best helmsman here," we cheered and clapped during our daily display of appreciation.
I cannot imagine an overnight let alone an ocean passage without our Monitor windvane, which we have affectionately named Helmsley. With only two people on board the off-watch person is generally asleep. The on-watch person needs to be able to make sail changes, download weatherfaxes, watch for squalls and ships, keep the boat on course, throw out a fishing line, make a cup of tea, listen to a favorite CD, sing with the dolphins and lear the mythology of constellations.
The on-watch person is definitely too busy to steer the boat.
Helmsley steers more consistently than we do without getting tired, grumpy or hungry. Thus, we almost never steer "Mandolin", even on daysails. If there was enough wind to sail, there was enough wind for Helmsley to steer, no matter what point of sail we were on. The harder the wind blew, the better Helmsley worked and kept working, day after day. He also doesn't use any battery power. We have had two electronic tiller pilots fail in normal operating conditions - calm wind, flat seas, little spray - even though they were rated for larger and heavier boats than "Mandolin". We don't really trust our autopilot but do use it when there is not enough wind for Helmsley to steer.