Category Archives: Hylas Sailboats

Passage Making Cruisers: Adopt These In-Port Bilge Pump Checks!

Hylas 54, Sabre 42, Tips & Tricks

By Rich

There are two fascinating difference between our prior boat, the Sabre 42 (and most similar coastal cruisers) and our current Hylas 54 from the standpoint of automatic bilge pumps. The first big difference: on our Sabre, a variety of sources would cause the (single) automatic bilge pump to run regularly quite apart from any leaks that would be alarming to the crew or a threat to the vessel. For example, rainwater would run down the center of the mast into the bilge which could cause the bilge pump to run periodically during rainy periods. Also, the Sabre’s air conditioning and refrigeration drained condensate directly to the bilge (neither of which were particularly desirable) which would trigger automated draining of the bilge by the pump. Whatever the cause, while aboard we regularly would hear the bilge pump run and therefore had an awareness that that the bilge pump worked.

Continue reading Passage Making Cruisers: Adopt These In-Port Bilge Pump Checks! →

Broken Down In Newport But Having a Ball

2021 New England Cruise, Hylas 54

By Rich

We had a smooth delivery north from Annapolis to Newport at the start of July, breaking up the trip with stops on the Delaware Bay and Cape May.

We somehow dodged this massive squall arriving at Cape May.
Continue reading Broken Down In Newport But Having a Ball →

2021 Cruising: Getting Ready!

Hylas 54

By Rich

We are beginning to shake off our winter slumber and get Rover ready for the 2021 cruising season! Brian has been working very hard cleaning & polishing the boat and managing a variety of contractors who have painted the bottom, made repairs to the plumbing in the forward holding tank, and repaired a variety of leaky hoses and other related items on the generator. Below is the dodgy repair I had to make last summer to keep a cracked cooling hose from failing; hoses like these have all been replaced along with a badly corroded heat exchanger. The contractor raised the generator off of its mounts to do the work – something I could not do while were still cruising and living aboard.

Continue reading 2021 Cruising: Getting Ready! →

Winterizing The Hylas 54 Is a BEAR

Hylas 54, Winter 2020 Hylas Projects

By Rich

Rover is hauled out for the winter here in Annapolis and I’ve spent essentially every free moment for the last two weeks getting her winterized. The process has been about what I expected, which is to say confirmation of why it’s easier to sail these boats 1,000 or more miles south to somewhere warm than to winterize them! Here’s a short list of the task list with some details on the methods I chose: Continue reading Winterizing The Hylas 54 Is a BEAR →

Hylas 54 Yacht Review!

Hylas 54, Yacht Reviews

By Rich

Our WordPress website data shows that over the last six years of blogging my yacht reviews are the most popular posts with our readers by a considerable margin. The data surprised me somewhat, since I am neither an industry nor sailing professional. No matter – I love writing them and people seem to love reading them so I’m going to keep them coming! Having covered thousands of miles aboard our own 2006 Hylas 54, Rover, and as crew aboard the 2015 Hylas 56 Odette, I thought it was high time I put my reflections on these yachts down on paper for the benefit of anyone who might be interested. Moving forward, I plan to segment my yacht reviews into the following sections:

  • Designer’s Intended Use (to put the review in context)
  • Design Characteristics
  • Performance Under Sail
  • Sailing Dynamics & Handling
  • Performance Under Power
  • Handling When Docking
  • Ground Tackle Fittings
  • Quality / Fit & Finish

Continue reading Hylas 54 Yacht Review! →

“You Work From The Boat Full Time? How’s That Going?”

Hylas 54, New England Cruise 2020

By Rich

We bet a lot of you wonder how it’s going with three of the four of us working day jobs from the boat. It’s an interesting question because while I have been working from boats for long periods full time for several seasons between Rover and our prior boat, Le Saberage, those experiences were very different in that the boats tended to stay in one marina for weeks at a time, most often at a slip. That meant marina-supplied WiFi, electrical power supplied from the marina, and a known cell phone signal strength.

Continue reading “You Work From The Boat Full Time? How’s That Going?” →

Hylas 54: Reflections On Ground Tackle

Hylas 54, New England Cruise 2020, Yacht Design

By Rich

Fortunately for each member of Team Rover, we are all aligned on preferring to be at anchor by far over moorings or slips. That’s a really good thing because the experience is considerably different for each of the three options. Slips and (in particular) moorings are more or less tie-up-and-forget-it affairs, whereas anchoring requires more diligence and skill in choosing the right spot and monitoring to be sure swing radiuses are appropriate and the boat is not dragging in stiff breezes. So far we’ve been anchored more than half or 3+ week trip and I have the following reflections to share about the experience so far: Continue reading Hylas 54: Reflections On Ground Tackle →

Paula’s First Post!

Hylas 54, New England Cruise 2020

By Paula

Greetings from Rover!  This entry covers almost 3 weeks of information on our stops to include site info, workout options and food.  Future posts will be shorter as I get into the groove of writing.  So, here we go…after 10 years of planning, we finally embarked on our “around the world” excursion on June 27, 2020 from Annapolis, MD.  Like everyone, we needed additional thoughtful planning to account for the new normal, “living with Covid.” More of that to come for sure. Continue reading Paula’s First Post! →

We Are Giving A Live Seminar This Sunday!

Hylas 54

By Rich

Join us this Sunday at 5PM! We are giving the first of a three part seminar for the Annapolis Yacht Club on our transition from inshore Bay racers to offshore passage making and cruising. Here are are the details, we look forward to seeing you there!

3-Part Cruising Webinar: Starts this Sunday – 4/26, 5PM
Part 1 (April 26) will be an introduction to the crew and will cover our preparation for the cruise. Part 2 (May 3) will focus on yacht selection and Part 3 (May 10) will be about what we’ve learned so far.
Join using this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82273152784?pwd=dS83NlhkNWE0NkgwZ1Y3Z1RaRlVodz09
Meeting ID: 822 7315 2784
Password: 251750