Rupert's Thoughts

Planning Your Trip South This Winter?

As the end of hurricane season approaches, many boat owners begin looking south toward the Bahamas and Caribbean. For many, it’s a return to their favorite winter cruising grounds, for those making the trip for the first time or with a new boat the offshore journey can feel like a big step.

Aquamarine Delivery Service can help make that journey easier.

With extensive experience on sailboats on the East Coast, Bahamas, and Caribbean aboard a variety of vessels, Aquamarine provides professional yacht delivery, relocation, acquaints and onboard instruction in meteorology, navigation, sail tuning, boat maintenance etc. Our goal is to help you and your boat arrive safely and with increased knowledge how to operate and maintain your boat!

Considering an Organized Rally?
Traveling with other boats can add a social element to your journey and provide opportunities to connect with fellow cruisers. Boat owners planning a trip south may want to explore organizations such as:

Salty Dawg Sailing Association — Offers organized rallies from the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic to the Bahamas and Caribbean.

Caribbean Sailing Association — Offers organized Caribbean sailing rallies and cruising opportunities.

Whether you choose to join a rally or make the trip on your own, Aquamarine Delivery Service is available to help you get where you're going.

If you're thinking about heading south this winter, let's talk about your boat, your route, and how Aquamarine can assist.

Fair winds and safe travels!

Learn More

Set off from Annapolis to Puerto Rico - via. Bermuda - on a beautiful 2017 Jeanneau 58’

Probably 10 days at sea.
As you know from my previous posts - I’ll be closely studying the weather and listening carefully to my two shore-based meteorologist buddies who support me on offshore work.
Although it's the middle of hurricane season, each offshore leg is no more than 5 days and with the quality of offshore forecasting these days, risks can be reduced to an acceptable level for transit.

Drop me a line if I can assist you moving a sailboat anywhere on the east coast between St Lawrence Seaway to Central America!

Rupert

#delivery skipper #boat captain #sailboat captain

Learn More

Ensure you have a comprehensive Lightning Protection System.

Lightning (yes – again!)
This week I was supposed to be sailing a beautiful Leopard 44’ north with the new owners. Tragically, it was struck by lightning alongside in Charleston just 4hrs after they signed the final papers. Although insurance is now involved – this was terrible luck, and a sad start to their sailing life.

As I understand it – there are no proven ways to completely’ shrug off’ a lightning strike, so I’m covering here the basics of avoidance and ‘minimization of damage’ from lightning, and using Word pages below for improved formatting.

As ever, if I can assist you with moving your boat, either accompanied/acquaint or unaccompanied, on the East Coast from Canada to South America - please give me a ring and I look forward to the discussion!
Rupert F-B

Ensure you have a comprehensive Lightning Protection System.

Provide a path with as little resistance as possible that conducts a lightning strike to the water.

Lightning conductor at the top of the mast Heavy gauge continuous wire running from the masthead to the water A large underwater external grounding plate (Dynaplate) or metal hull. Bonding System: All major metal objects (engine, shrouds, chainplates, large appliances) should be electrically tied together.

Storm Precautions as lightning approaches:

Try and get away from it – seek shelter: marina, cove. Avoid open water. Disconnect appliances and electrical systems where possible Use microwave or galley oven as a Faraday Cage for as many handheld devices as you can fit into it Stay below decks in cabin, away from metal objects like engine, shrouds, stanchions etc.

‘Bottle brush’-type lightning dissipators are claimed by sellers to make a boat invisible to lightning by bleeding off static electrical charge as it builds up.

The theory rests upon the concept that charged electrons from the surface of the earth can be made to congregate on a metal point, where the physical constraints caused by the geometry of the point will result in electrons being pushed off into the surrounding atmosphere via a ‘lightning dissipator’ that has not just one point, but many points.

It is worth noting that the concept has met with a storm of derision from many leading academics who have argued that the magnitude of the charge that can be dissipated by such a device is insignificant compared to that of both a cloud and individual lightning strikes.

This is a short introduction to Lightning Protection. There is more to it than described here and I recommend:

Learn More

3 Motor Yachts this week

Another great week on the water helping three new motor yacht owners gain confidence with their vessels!

While much of our work has traditionally focused on sailboat deliveries, it's incredibly rewarding to work alongside new owners as they learn the capabilities of their boats and develop the skills needed for safe, enjoyable cruising.

Whether you need a yacht delivery, owner orientation, onboard training, or an accompanied voyage, Aquamarine Delivery Service is here to help. Our goal is to ensure you feel comfortable, confident, and prepared every time you leave the dock.

Ready to get underway? Contact us today to discuss your boating needs.

Learn More

Deltaville VA to Newport RI

Maine 30’ catamaran

Another successful delivery! Three and a half days from Deltaville VA to Newport RI (through NY City) in a Maine 30’ catamaran. We had to route through NY City to avoid some easterlies...which gave us some great sightseeing!

I wish the new owner many years of fun and exploration in this very-quick and fun cat!

As ever - if you’d like to discuss my helping you with your sailboat moving requirements anywhere between E Canada to Central America, please get in touch for a chat!

Rupert

Bocas Del Toro ( Panama) to Beaufort SC

Just setting out from Bocas Del Toro ( Panama) for Beaufort SC in a very well-appointed 2023 Bali 42' with the owners - should be about 12 or 13 days in all!

Let me know if I can help you with your boat move East Coast USA, Caribbean and Central America!

(Any one spot the sloth in the tree outside my room?!)

Arriving in Charleston from Turks & Caicos

We made it back safely to Charleston from the Turks & Caicos!
It's an interesting trip for meteorological reasons in that: the Low systems on the east coast USA tend to spin up routinely every week or so. The larger Lows affect wind directions all the way down to the Bahamas and even Ts and Cs. So....a 6 day delivery from Turks & Caicos can just about squeeze in between two such Low systems and have a clean sweep of good winds all the way through!

We were lucky on this delivery - and took just 6 days to complete the 920nm, departing as the effects of a Low left the islands, and arriving in Charleston just before this giant Low hit the Holy City an icy blast!! We even managed to fit in a quick snorkel at my 'Happy Place': Highborne Cay in the Exumas!

Thank you to the owners of the beautiful 2016 Fontaine Pajot 40' LUCIA Owners Version for once again asking me to support their dreams! They also kindly added a comment to my testimonial library.

The boat is in fabulous condition - and is now for sale in Charleston with my friends at The Multihull Company should you like to view her!

Departing Turks & Caicos for Charleston

Departing The Turks & Caicos this morning for Charleston with some old friends in their 2016 Fontaine Pajot Lucia 40’ (owners edition).

The boat is in the most splendid condition, admirably maintained for the last 8 years as the owners lived on board traveling the Caribbean
Hoping for a smooth sail back home!

The boat is very well equipped and (sadly - for the owners!) goes up for sale when we arrive at Charleston - in case anyone might be interested!!

Looking Ahead to a Great Sailing Season in 2026

Happy New Year to all boat owners—and to those dreaming of getting out on the water in 2026!

It’s been a true winter this year. Here in South Carolina, we’re experiencing a rare freeze with temperatures around 20 degrees and even a few inches of snow this morning. Much of the country is feeling this cold snap as well, and many have it far worse than we do. Here’s hoping that warmer days, steady winds, and a fantastic sailing season are right around the corner.

Despite the cold, I’ve recently completed two long-distance deliveries that included snow and winter conditions. While I’ll admit there’s a certain challenge I enjoy about cold-weather sailing, I’m certainly ready to welcome spring.

If you’re planning to move a sailboat in the coming months and would like to discuss professional skippered delivery, I’d be happy to talk through your plans. Give me a call anytime, and we can start organizing a safe, efficient passage—ideally with much less snow involved.

Wishing you fair winds and a great year ahead,

Rupert

Favorite Sailing Apps

Part 3 of a 3 part series

Posted December 2025

Having already covered 1: Weather Apps and 2: Navigation Apps – I’m going to run through the other Apps that I use to plan and execute my sailing deliveries.

As with the other Apps I’ve covered – there are plenty to choose from, and more often than not – they will all use the same source data.

These are the guide lines that I use to decide what Apps I rely on:

Must be straight forward to use and preferably a ‘single use’ App. I saw this year that refrigerators you buy today can talk to you, build a shopping list and provide recipes!! I just want the fridge to chill food and drink….that’s all! You get the drift
Credible data source
Free (outside of ‘Weather’ and ‘Navigation’ – I believe all the other data is available free of charge)
Global Reach….if possible

Tides:
As a Hydrographic Surveyor – this is pretty important to me! Tidal prediction is a purely mathematical process, and therefore perfectly suited to computers. If you pull up a graph of ‘real tidal height experienced’ it is not a sine wave – but distorted by many real-world factors. Simple, cheap (free!) App-based predictions may only use 10 or 11 of the hundreds of mathematical constituents available – resulting in a simple sine wave prediction. NOAA generally uses 37 mathematical constituents.

Here’s the important bit: Its just a prediction and the tide you experience can vary from predicted greatly because of

atmospheric pressure
wind direction
local coastline shape
seafloor depth
and river runoff.

Unless you have access to the real height of tide as you approach a shallow area, be aware that the predicted depth can be in error by as much as three feet!

I have been using ‘Tides Near Me’ for years now as it conforms to the guide lines set out above. Simple. Free. Credible. Global (ish).

Anchoring:
Most Chart Plotters have an anchoring function with an alarm. Set it up when you anchor! However, if you want to retire to your cabin and catch some sleep – it’s worth setting one up on your phone too so you can have it right by your ear!

I use ‘Anchor Pro’ – for all the same reasons as usual. It’s excellent – and VERY loud when it goes off!

Tip: When in bed at anchor….I also run ‘Navionics’ on my phone – with positions recording to show me where the boat has been while at anchor. By watching this too – you’ll quickly see 1) if the anchor is dragging even before the alarm sounds 2) if the wind/tidal stream has changed since you went to bed.

Hurricane Prediction:
Most weather Apps will show you any hurricanes or storms around….but for simplicity (and total credibility) I generally use ‘Hurricane Tracker’. Its put together by NOAA and gives you a quick way to access hurricane predictions, with fascinating articles written to explain their likely development.

AIS
Pretty much every Chart Plotter has AIS now which you should use for general awareness at sea and as a tool in your bag to contribute to your decision making process for collision prevention.

Occasionally though, I have need to pull up the whereabouts of a vessel (if its AIS equipped). The free version of ‘Marine Traffic’ only gives you slightly old data….and it therefore not at all useful in a live situation for collision prevention, but it is useful for hunting down a vessel with its search function. Clearly, the paid-up version of the App would be useful for real time use….but I haven’t ever gone down that route.

“What weather Apps do you use to support your sailing?”

Part 2 of a 3 part series

Posted November 2025

I covered ‘Weather’ Apps in my last post. I was intending to do all the rest in this post, but when writing it quickly realized that the Navigation App is worth dwelling on, so this post is just for Navigation Apps and why I have chosen the one that I have.

If you Google ‘best sailboat navigation App’ you will find many articles covering all the other Apps.

I appreciate that this topic is one of the old chestnuts of sailor’s discussions and many will argue for other platforms. That’s fine – I keep watching the competition too and present my thoughts below!

Navigation Apps:
There are now plenty to choose from but from my 20yr professional background driving warships in the Royal Navy and as a Hydrographic Surveyor I look for:

Credible source data,
Appearance that matches the printed nautical chart,
Update availability,
Regional chart area procurement,
Global reach
Logical user interface with sufficient functionality ie; routes/route storage, chart notes, tides, currents, ephemeral data, send/receive routes from others etc
Active Captain – crowd-sourced data. Useful, but dangerous as its unverified by an accredited Hydrographic Office. A post like “this marina no longer sells diesel” is one thing, but “I saw 9’ of water here last week although only 4’ is charted” is obviously very risky!

So, putting all these considerations together, I use Navionics. As Garmin have recently bought it, the annul charges have spiraled and many sailors online are jumping ship to other platforms. I sympathize – but have not yet had time to sit down for an afternoon and really analyze and judge the rising competition against the considerations above. At present, I understand that Navionics is still the most popular nav’ App globally.

Aqua-Maps – is certainly a platform I will shortly study as it displays more hydrographic source data through a contoured presentation that users find more appealing in the ICW and shallow waterways of the East coast USA. This appears to be a unique feature of this App.

My final (3rd) post on Apps will cover ‘All the rest’…anchoring, hurricane tracking, tides, AIS etc

“What weather Apps do you use to support your sailing?”

Part 1 of a 3 part series

Posted October 2025

A lot of people as me “What weather Apps do you use to support your sailing?”
It’s a good question, and I definitely have favored Apps which I’ll quickly run through here.
It important to remember though that:

most Apps use the same source information. When people talk about an App “…not reliable in weather forecasting…” (for instance), it’s not the Apps fault….it’s the source data, and the same errors would have been seen across all Apps using that same source data.
Additionally, once you are used to a particular Apps software user interface, you would state (naturally!) that you prefer that App…as it’s the one you are able to use without fuss.

Weather Forecasting: Without a doubt I prefer Windy to other Apps. It has a choice of 6 data sources. I use ECMWF (European) data on advice from two very experienced professional meteorologists. The free version is amazing and the ‘Pro’ level ($20/yr?) adds a little more that occasionally comes in handy. It has continued to develop over the years into a broad GIS platform that can take you down many fascinating data rabbit holes but….the most important thing it does for me is excellent route planning: On phone or laptop you can plan a route quickly, set how fast you will be going, and it shows you the weather along the route. I always use it for voyage planning and then constantly while at sea (assuming internet access at sea) to re-evaluate the route.

In addition to Windy…I also use the free ‘Marine Forecast’ App which gives you the verbatim NOAA forecasts by area. Very easy to use.

I also use a local TV stations weather tool ‘5 First Alert’ for land-based weather and accurate wind direction changes (think: ‘when is the front coming through’)

Drop me a line if you have any questions about these…or any other Apps.
I’ll cover other Apps that I use in a follow-up post shortly!

Navigation
Tides & Currents
Anchoring
Hurricane tracking
Automated Route Planning (sailing advice to allow for winds & conditions)
AIS Marine Traffic
Marina Berth reservations

Do you use the Cape Index?

Posted August 2025

We have so many tools to assist us nowadays as we sail offshore and make decisions every 15mins or so - on every voyage!

Despite spending my life at sea, I’m not much of a meteorologist and rely on those more skilled for the deep insights (thank you Glenn Chave & Chris Newman!) but… instinctively we sailors all know that it gets hot, humid and aggressively stormy off Florida/Bhs/tropics.

In the summer especially - we are always looking over our shoulder for the next squall.

Only recently was I guided to study and understand the ‘CAPE’ index to better plan storm and lightning risk mitigation. This index puts hard numbers onto those ‘instincts’ that we sailors have. I’m not going to explain it all here as others can do it much better than I can…. and I’d advise those who currently don’t use CAPE to study the NOAA NWS explanation of it. (link below).

‘Learning how to sail better’ is a never ending topic, and this is just another tool in the bag for those striving to understand weather better, minimize risk, and maximize everyone’s enjoyment!

https://www.weather.gov/ilx/swop-severetopics-cape

TECHNICAL COURSES

Posted September 2025

I help a lot of people move their new (to them) boats from the brokers to their home. People
bring me on to get their boat home safely and to brush up their sailing skills…but also to
introduce and educate them on how to manage and maintain the many systems onboard
during the passage; mechanical, electrical, fiberglass, teak, rigging, fresh water, sewage, air-
conditioning etc.

I love doing this – as these new friends I make are highly motivated to learn all about their new boat and how to get the most out of it!

Once you own a boat, repairs and planned maintenance can be extremely expensive for those
unused to this environment if you have to bring in people to do it, and many people ask me what sort of formal course might they take prior to moving on to a boat, to really boost their technical knowledge and minimize expensive bills and ‘down-time’ using 3rd party support.

I have always therefore encouraged people to check local technical and community colleges in your area for marine engineering technology programs that will ideally incorporate American Boat & Yacht Council (ABYC) standards. To find a specific course visit the ABYC website.

To get into a more specialized hands-on sailboat marine engine course, ‘Mack Boring & Parts’ (Newport RI) have a huge range of excellent courses including a 2 Day Diesel Engine Training for Power and Sail Boat Owners. At about $995…this will quickly pay for itself.

The new owner of the boat I left just a couple of days back seriously impressed me with extraordinarily deep and broad technical knowledge which he had gained on a 6 month (!!!) Marine Systems course at the IYRS School of Technology & Trades – also in Newport RI. Again – the financial cost and time invested will quickly pay itself back through his abilities to diagnose
and repair pretty much any issues on board his 2012 Lagoon 40’ catamaran.

So….as you think about getting into boat ownership, it’s worth remembering that; Any courses
you take will reduce your down time and financial costs, and increase the reward of just being
able to fix your own stuff!

Aquamarine Yacht Delivery Service

A Professional Yacht Delivery Service, Beaufort,SC

Rupert's Thoughts

Planning Your Trip South This Winter?

Set off from Annapolis to Puerto Rico - via. Bermuda - on a beautiful 2017 Jeanneau 58’

Ensure you have a comprehensive Lightning Protection System.

3 Motor Yachts this week

Deltaville VA to Newport RI

Bocas Del Toro ( Panama) to Beaufort SC

Arriving in Charleston from Turks & Caicos

Departing Turks & Caicos for Charleston

Departing The Turks & Caicos this morning for Charleston with some old friends in their 2016 Fontaine Pajot Lucia 40’ (owners edition).

Looking Ahead to a Great Sailing Season in 2026

Favorite Sailing Apps

Posted December 2025

“What weather Apps do you use to support your sailing?”

“What weather Apps do you use to support your sailing?”

Do you use the Cape Index?

TECHNICAL COURSES

About Aquamarine Yacht Delivery Service