Special Events

The diesel engine is a critically important piece of safety equipment aboard any cruising boat. Tech guru Nigel Calder, author of the best-selling Marine Diesel Engines (now in its third edition, and used as a text book in numerous diesel classes) brings his unique brand of humor to a seminar for boat owners, both power and sail, that want to get the most out of their time on the water. Distinguishing between contemporary and older diesels, Calder details often-overlooked critical installation issues, and takes a careful look at fuel, oil, cooling, airflow, and powertrain systems, describing in detail all normal maintenance procedures together with basic troubleshooting techniques for common diesel engine problems, defining what the untrained boat owner can reasonably be expected to do and what should not be attempted. You will come away from this seminar with an enhanced understanding of your engine and the confidence to carry out routine maintenance, which alone will save you the price of admission. No previous experience is required.

Nigel Calder is best known for his Boatowner’s Mechanical and Electrical Manual and Marine Diesel Engines, both considered definitive works. In addition to hundreds of magazine articles, he has also authored A Cruising Guide to the Northwest Caribbean, Cuba: A Cruising Guide, Nigel Calder’s Cruising Handbook: A Compendium for Coastal and Offshore Sailors and How to Read a Nautical Chart. He recently released a memoir, Shakedown Cruise, details his family’s first extended cruise from New Orleans to Venezuela, via the West Indies, and back. Nigel was the technical director of a European Union-funded investigation of marine hybrid systems. He has been a longtime member of the American Boat and Yacht Council’s Electrical Project Technical Committee. Nigel is a freelance consultant on marine energy issues. He and his wife, Terrie, spend several months every year aboard their Malo 46, Nada. Over the past 35 years they have cruised and written about the East Coast of North America and the Bahamas, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom and points as far north as the Faroe Islands and Scandinavia and as far south as Portugal.

Electrical systems are now the number one cause of problems on boats that have anything more than rudimentary electronics. Most problems can be traced to inadequate design and/or poor installation. Tech guru Nigel Calder, author of the best-selling Boatowner’s Mechanical and Electrical Manual (now in its fourth edition) will begin with a description of key design criteria that must be met if a DC system is to meet the needs of the boat owner. In the process, he will reference some of the newer technologies that are likely to transform the performance of electrical systems in coming years. Then he will delve into basic installation requirements that comply with boatbuilding and safety standards, but which unfortunately are often not met; Nigel has numerous examples from brand-new boats! This includes the important and often neglected provision of adequate over-current protection. We will round out the day by looking at simple multimeter troubleshooting techniques that can be safely conducted by any boat owner. This seminar is designed for the inexperienced and requires no prior knowledge, although it will be challenging for some. It will help you understand your own electrical systems and to nip many common problems in the bud. Attendees will come away with an understanding of core design and installation requirements, and the ability to perform simple troubleshooting techniques that will enable the majority of electrical problems to be rapidly identified. The overarching goal is to raise the confidence levels of boat owners with today’s increasingly electrically-loaded and complicated boats.

Nigel Calder is best known for his Boatowner’s Mechanical and Electrical Manual and Marine Diesel Engines, both considered definitive works. In addition to hundreds of magazine articles, he has also authored A Cruising Guide to the Northwest Caribbean, Cuba: A Cruising Guide, Nigel Calder’s Cruising Handbook: A Compendium for Coastal and Offshore Sailors and How to Read a Nautical Chart. He recently released a memoir, Shakedown Cruise, details his family’s first extended cruise from New Orleans to Venezuela, via the West Indies, and back. Nigel was the technical director of a European Union-funded investigation of marine hybrid systems. He has been a longtime member of the American Boat and Yacht Council’s Electrical Project Technical Committee. Nigel is a freelance consultant on marine energy issues. He and his wife, Terrie, spend several months every year aboard their Malo 46, Nada. Over the past 35 years they have cruised and written about the East Coast of North America and the Bahamas, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom and points as far north as the Faroe Islands and Scandinavia and as far south as Portugal.

Can you top up your ‘freedom chips’ by sharing your cruising life with others? No matter what format you use, it all starts with storytelling. But how do you make your story stand out from the rest? 
Lin Pardey will share tips and ideas on what nautical readers and viewers want to know. You’ll learn ways to ensure your photos, diagrams and video footage add information to your stories and attract attention. For those interested in selling articles to print and online magazines, she’ll show how to get noticed by editors, ways to present work that sells and ideas for expanding your markets. 
Book creation and publishing will be covered, including the realities of self-publishing vs traditional publishing.
The nuts and bolts of blogging, podcasting and producing your own YouTube channel will be covered with up-to-date information provided by guest speakers via video. Desiree and Jordan of Sailing Atticus who have a quarter million followers provide helpful information, and the lessons they learned as they built their channel. The crew of Expedition Evans, relative newcomers with only 100,000 YouTube subscribers, will add their experiences.
Included is a discussion of the time investment, financial return, and pleasures you can expect along with the pitfalls and the practicalities of adding writing, blogging, photography and video to your cruising life. 

A special extra is offered with the Port Townsend course – each attendee can arrange for a 30-minute personal one-on-one discussion of their potential projects with Lin Pardey, either during the course of the festival or by phone.

You have the dream, you have the boat, you’ve explored your home waters, maybe you’ve even cruised beyond Desolation Sound or down the Pacific coast. Now, how do you prepare yourself for stepping beyond coastal cruising? How do you know you are actually ready to go offshore? Lin will discuss vital topics to help you feel confident crossing oceans. Storm tactics and preparing for storms will be covered, along with the attitudes, preparation, and gear you’ll need to ensure failures don’t derail your plans. Discussions of often-overlooked aspects of offshore voyaging, like ensuring you and your crew can get enough sleep, will provide plenty of food for thought. This course will encourage you to make that leap so you can experience the adventure of crossing oceans.

The seminar is divided into three sections:

• Ensuring you are ready to transition from coastal cruising to crossing oceans
• Making your boat unstoppable
• Preparing for and handling storms at sea