Boat Life Outfitters

  For us, cruising is a way to spend more time on and near the water. We've always lived close to the ocean, and our first liveaboard boat was purchased because we realized that it was silly to own a home and dream of the few days each month we got to spend on the water. Why not combine the two?   We've been paddling enthusiasts for decades. Matt got his first Ocean Kayak in California back in 1991. Since then, we've gone through a steady stream of paddle-powered craft, some have served us well, and some have been terrible.  Our purpose here is to share what we believe are essential considerations for paddling craft for cruising boaters. Most boats we see, especially those in popular cruising spots like the Chesapeake or The Bahamas, carry some form of fun paddle craft.  Overall, the four primary considerations for selecting the best kayak or paddleboard for a boater are: 1. Ease of storage. Where are you going to put it on your boat? Will it be in the way, or unsightly, mo

  A Complete Guide to Finding the Perfect Sailboat or Motorboat Dinghy For a full-time liveaboard cruiser, picking you dinghy is one of the most critical choices. If you're lucky, your boat's previous owner will have done a good job, and you'll get a good dink with your boat. Why is that lucky, you ask? For one thing, you'll basically get it for free. Hopefully, it's set up for the boat and more or less sized correctly. If you have to pick your dinghy, you've got some deep soul searching to do. Some folks seldom stay at anchor and just need a boat for rare outings to the beach. Some people have dogs and need to get to shore quickly and often. Aboard Dulcinea, we are dinghy connoisseurs. We love our dinghy. For most of the year, it is our primary car. It gets us to shore in all sorts of weather and conditions. It carries us and our stuff on adventures. We like adventures, and we like getting off the boat. Sometimes, we'll go on ten-mile adventures through man

  Last updated June 24, 2020 There are three main choices of companies when you travel to The Bahamas. The company you choose will depend on your access to a store to buy the SIM card, and how you want to use the connection.  We have always found the Bahamian cell phone companies to have better customer service and be easier to access, setup, and cheaper to use (at least for data) than any company in the US.  What Do You Need? If you're looking to get your smartphone online and make some calls, all you need is a local SIM card, pop it in, and you're good to go. If you want to get your computer online, too, you have two options. You can use your phone in hotspot mode, which will allow it to share its internet connection with your computer. You can connect the two via wifi, Bluetooth, or USB cable. This is called "tethering." If you're going to go this route, you need to make sure your cell phone is unlocked. Most of the US companies "lock" their phones to

  June 24, 2020 Lucy and I work online from our boat and need constant, good access to the internet. Having found that only two networks have reliable coverage in some parts of North Carolina and the Chesapeake, we are always on the lookout for a good deal when it comes to internet service.  Both companies that provide coverage in these areas are way too expensive for us, and they have restrictions on them that are entirely non-starters for our lifestyle. Contracts? Not going to happen? Throttling of high-speed data? No, you can keep that.  As a result, we're always shopping around for MVNOs that meet our needs. They lease time from AT&T or Verizon and sell it to us lowly consumers much cheaper than we can get it from AT&T or Verizon.  AT&T Network on Finally Wifi AT&T is undoubtedly the best network to have. Unfortunately, they aren't into playing the MVNO game. We use an unlimited and unthrottled hotspot on the AT&T network for all of our work and internet

  Updated June 22, 2020 Nearly two years ago, we installed an Airhead Composting marine toilet on our sailboat. We have lived on board full-time since then and have traveled several thousand miles. We don’t pretend to be experts, but we’ve learned a thing or two about this contraption. The choice for a composting toilet was not something we rushed into. We seldom rush into any boat-based or life-based decisions, actually. Lucy and I tend to research things to death before picking. We both trend towards decision paralysis–impulsive is not our style. Part of that mindset means that we’re also continually reevaluating our choices. So, how do we feel about our Airhead after constant use? What problems have we had? Hopefully, we can help others make informed decisions about composters. How Does a Composting Toilet Work on a Boat? A regular marine head works much like a home toilet. It takes water (usually seawater, but sometimes freshwater) and flushes the waste into a holding tank. In the