a good read...

An interview regarding education, a man of courage, some timely advice from EBM, and in the "This sure sends the wrong fucking message" department...

A book you might want to check out.

Good stuff.

Listening to an album's worth of Elton John covers

So it goes...

Something important regarding a possible sustainable future...

This pretty much says it all, an interesting article regarding a favorite author/novel of mine, and in the "worst possible guy to run NOAA so let your Senators know how you'll be really, really pissed off" department...

A simple solution to sustainable fishing that, sadly, omits the greed induced stupidity factor.



Sigh.

That said, get rid of the greedheads and, just maybe, common sense might prevail.

Listening to the Dollyrots

So it goes...

Affordable safety...

Raising the bar on assholery, the word for today is d-i-s-j-u-n-c-i-o-n, and in the "Are space pirates really a thing?" department...



An interesting and affordable AIS PLB worth checking out.

Listening to Patti Smith cover Midnight Oil

So it goes...

something of import on the safety front...

A question of some importance, an obvious solution, and in the "Where there's a will there's a way" department...

PANBO (a site so needful I have it bookmarked) has stuff you need to know about what's up in the eVDSD department that you really should check out.

You're still here?

Listening to Steve Earle sing a Guy Clark song

So it goes...

a thought or two about boat buying in the tRumpian universe...

A bit of depressing reading, something on the measles outbreak, and over in the "amateur president with authoritarian instincts" department...

Of late I've been looking at various small sailboats in the twenty-eight foot and under zone and it has been somewhat enlightening on a couple of levels.

First of all, it's apparent that there are some very nice boats going for what I consider giveaway prices pretty much everywhere. So many, in fact, that it's kept me up nights wondering why. Maybe I'm just a sucker for conundrums...

Looking for clues in the topography of what passes for the sailing/cruising world on one hand makes the picture clearer but, at the same time, tends to confuse. Smaller boats are obviously no longer hip, cool, or even worthy of consideration as a cruising option. The sheer amount of negative pressure about suggests that deciding to cruise on a (let's say a Bristol/Sailstar 26) is a ticket to becoming a social pariah.

The fact that a Bristol 26 is both a capable boat and more than a few have successfully crossed oceans (I know of at least one that has circumnavigated) you'd think the design might just garner some respect rather than disdain. Then again, you most likely can pick up a one for less than $1.5K (I know of one going for $800 at the moment) and in the age of million dollar cruising boats that puts you seriously in cheap seats land.

Some time ago, a reader of this blog, wrote to tell me that I really should not write or promote fixing up older boats for cruising as it was just impossible to cruise on anything less than a $100K boat. He went on to say that anyone cruising on less than $5K a month was going to come to grief of one sort or another.

In our current tRumpian universe it is apparently all-important to show others you have lots and lots of money or, at least- this being a tRumpian universe- to pretend you have lots and lots of money. The fact that appearances are more important than reality being the current bottom line.

The sad part behind the bottomed out resale value of small cruising sailboats is that the main cause seems to be the adoption by the many of the cult of willful ignorance which has deeper repercussions than just the price of boats. Which I'll readily admit is all kinds of depressing.

That said, for someone with an IQ higher than room temperature, there are lots of good deals you can take advantage of.


Listening to Buffy Sainte-Marie

So it goes...

A film you may be on the lookout for...

A bit of needful reading, some bold/timely proposals, and a tipping point of note...

Wolfgang Fischer has a new film.



Listening to a whole bunch of Joni Mitchell covers

So it goes

Seems to me that a Class 40 scow makes all kinds of sense...

Bad news from Antarctica, making money putting children in cages, and something of interest about hurricanes...

Something new from David Raison

 YOWZA!

Listening to PK Dwyer

A Lyle Hess design you may want to check out...

Regarding Puerto Rico, a bit of good news, and something you should keep in mind...

For a variety of reasons I've been looking at boats in the 25-30 foot range, thinking a lot about downsizing, and the bottom line where most bang for the buck can be found.

You'd be amazed at how many excellent cheap boats are out there.

For instance: did you know you can buy a Lyle Hess designed cruising boat that's trailerable with enough room for a couple to live on comfortably (providing they can deal with the headroom) with a working engine for less than $3000 if you shop around?

That's a lot of boat for very little money.

Did I mention the Balboa 26 is shoal with a draft of less than two feet?

Listening to Courtney Marie Andrews

So it goes...

regarding the new issue of my favorite sailing rag...

Some situational awareness, an interesting conversation, and a far too close to home riff on the Kubler-Ross five stages of grief theme...

The new Latitude 38 has an excellent article on wood boats and other stuff that is well worth checking out and, since it's free, you might as well download or pick up a copy.

Listening to the Blind Suns who have a righteous drippy reverb surf guitar thing going.

So it goes...

a white whale of a spy story...

A quick primer on how tariffs work, not exactly a surprise, and in the "They're both too frelling old to do the job" department...



Listening to Steeleye Span

So it goes...