Stories, guides, and case studies from the field.

The Storm That Started Everything

February 2016. A bomb cyclone. A 60-foot sailboat. Two people. The same storm that forced a 168,000-ton cruise ship to turn back. 13 days. Lunenburg to Antigua.

The Cherbourg Incident

A mainsail track gate fell overboard in Cherbourg. The machine shop quoted $800+ and weeks. The Core One L printed it in 8 hours.

Spirit of Yukoh: Engine Bay Restoration

Complete engine bay restoration on an Open 60 racing sailboat. One week. Every surface scraped, cleaned, and repainted by hand.

Pinners Pride: Catamaran Careening in Halifax

Dock damage repair and hull careening in Halifax harbour. Waterborne antifoul, environmental responsibility, affordable results.

636 Nautical Miles with a 3D Printer

A Prusa Core One L aboard S/V Osprey for the 120th Newport-Bermuda Race. The proof of concept for on-demand marine parts at sea.

What a Full Refit Actually Looks Like

The Challenger refit documented start to finish. Six months. Every system stripped and rebuilt. What it costs and what you get.

Marine-Grade Materials: A Technical Guide

ASA, PA-CF, PETG-CF, polycarbonate. Which material goes where on your vessel and why. Print settings and real-world testing data.

How IoT Monitoring Changed Vessel Management

ESP32 sensors, LoRa mesh, Starlink backhaul. What gets monitored and what it costs. Your vessel from your phone.

The JB-Welded Propeller: Five Crossings

Variable-pitch prop. Internal gears stripped. JB Weld, set screws, and it is now on its fifth Atlantic crossing. Still working.

Why I Founded 3D3D

23 yacht management companies. 10 marine 3D printing companies. 5 mobile service operations. None combine all three.

Category Zero: Offshore Safety

What Cat 0 means. The most stringent offshore racing safety category. Double redundancies on everything. Three vessels fitted.

Thailand: Lessons in Operations

$700K+ resort operation. Rock slinger to operations manager. Shipping containers, excavator, supplier network built from scratch.

CSM: 325,000 nm and a Printer

How a 1981 Ford F-150 called Norma led to a 10-year partnership with the 182nd solo circumnavigator.

Prusa Core One L: Why This Printer Goes to Sea

300x300x330mm. Enclosed. 290 degrees C. Why this specific printer was chosen for ocean crossings and field deployment.

ASA-CF vs PETG-CF vs PP-CF: Offshore Filament Showdown

Carbon fiber variants tested for offshore sailing. UV, salt spray, heat cycles, and vibration. Not lab conditions. Real ocean.

Discontinued Lewmar Parts: How to Find Them in 2026

Lewmar winch pawls, self-tailer arms, and sheet stoppers go discontinued without warning. The real sourcing guide and when to print.