Franc's Page

After growing up in the Western Med and taking the time to cruise the area extensively, I realized I always end up recommending the same favorite waypoints to fellow cruisers. Most of them are not even on guides but were recommended to us by others. Others we simply stumbled upon. Now I am sharing my list with you below (click on the coordinates for a map view). If you are in the… Continue

Is the iPad the future of marine electronics? Well, now I'm convinced it is.

When I heard that the folks at Outback Marine Australia had come up with a way to transform Apple's iPad into an integral helm panel instrument I realized that we're only a couple of steps away from turning it into the actual…

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Thought this was fitting for those of us in the US this week!

-FROM THE YESTERDAY'S NEW YORK TIMES-



By RON LIEBER

In the last month or so, it has become much harder to take out our wallets without feeling guilty.



No single authority figure has told us not to spend. But people are scared, and that fear is showing up in lower sales on all sorts of big-ticket items, from autos to electronics.



Homeowners had already been feeling poorer, and the devastating investment losses have made thrift a necessity for… Continue

I know, I know, you read this headline and you immediately think about masked robbers on an open boat with machine guns causing trouble by the Statue Liberty. Well, not so fast, my Captain! The pirate we encountered in the NY Harbor may not fit that description but if it wasn't for some quick and clever detective work it could have cost us hundreds of dollars anyway. Here's the story:



A few weeks ago we were due for maintenance on our engine and since it's still under warranty we… Continue