sheet to tiller self-steering...

Someone we should be paying attention to, an interesting read, and a little bit of history that explains a lot...

A guy making a lot of sense.



Listening to Jake McMullen

So it goes...

a chance missed...

Badtux has a bad dream, a Senator making sense, and in the "wonders never cease" department Sarah Palin says something I actually agree with...

Last year a friend mentioned to me that there was a stretched Herreshoff Meadowlark for sale up in Maryland...

A different Meadowlark but you get the idea...

I've always loved this particular design and the fact that it had been built by Allan Vaitses made it all the more attractive. Add in the fact that it was selling for less than the cost of the lead contained aboard as ballast made for a pretty unbeatable combination...

Of course to buy it I'd have had to jump on a plane and fly up to Maryland and I'd promised myself never to get on another commercial flight...

So, I hesitated and someone else got the boat. I'm pretty sure there's a lesson to be learned here somewhere...

Listening to Marcus Mumford & Justin Hayward-Young

So it goes...

Well, this bike certainly caught my attention....

Kind of a downer, some thought provoking stuff from Badtux, and today's word  is negationism...



Listening to Todo Mundo

So it goes...


                                       

a good cause...

It's not everyday you have a chance to help folks on boats help others so consider this your lucky day.

Do the right thing.

For those who need reminding there really is such a thing as karma...

a new tool you might want to check out...

Some scary reading regarding climate/weather, doing the math, and an explanation that makes some sense...

This is seriously neat...

Perfect for the dinghy or bike tool kit and it's cheap...

Lee Valley has all the info so check it out.

Listening to Dr Dog

So it goes...

Danger, danger Will Robinson someone has a cunning plan...

A whole lot of sense being made, about that 2013 word of the year, and today in the "bought and paid for" department...

Oh, oh... a new cunning plan!

I just mentioned over on VolksCruiser that one of my favorite designs is Harle's Tonic design and, in doing so, I realized that the only real way to improve on it is adding more stowage to the mix... I don't need more berths.t

So, what if you put the accommodation from say Harle's Tonic or Fantasia and installed it (without making it any bigger) in a 30 to 35 foot hull keeping the excess space as a dedicated cargo hold?

The advantages are many with few downsides...

Maybe I should be looking for an older fixer upper with a trashed interior to try out the concept with?

Listening to Kind of Like Spitting cover Elvis Costello

So it goes

Just a quick note...

To remind everyone that there's still time to help support a grand voyage!

Seriously, who can't use a really cool t-shirt?

regarding that frozen concoction...

Well worth a read/watch, just another day in the outsourcing game, and an apt question we should all be asking...

I just realized that today happens to be National Margarita Day... Not that folks on boats actually need much of an excuse to indulge in excessive recreational debauchery of the alcohol-related sort but, if you're so inclined, today you have a reason.

Listening to a variety of artists cover Fleetwood Mac's Tusk

So it goes...

A really good example of thinking outside the box...

Unintended environmental consequences, not exactly a surprise, and a "top priority" we'd be a lot better off without...

The other day rowing in to do some shopping I noticed that a boat that had anchored near us was a Reuel Parker design. This one as it happens...

Like all of Reuel's designs there is a lot interesting about it but the most exceptional thing in my view is what Parker has done with the head. It's in the cockpit.

Sort of a minimal little outhouse/shower nestled in the starboard corner of the cockpit right behind the helm. See it?

The logic of such an installation makes all kinds of sense and, as most cruisers tend to shower in the cockpit anyway, I'm amazed that no one has actually done this before.

Listening to the Ajax Diner Book Club podcast

So it goes...

a better cockpit shower...

This is really interesting, a hotel chain to avoid, and big (slimy murdering greedheads) tobacco is perturbed...

Over the years we've used a succession of cheap plastic pump-up pesticide sprayers for our cockpit shower, They used to work finestkind.

Not so much anymore as the spray heads don't last and the cost of the part you need to fix tends to cost about what an entire unit goes for. This does not make for happy camper mode...

Duckworks has had a sprayer for awhile that I've had my eye on. The downside is that it looked like the real deal online but the only way to know for sure is to stump up some money ($40!!!) and have one shipped down.

So I did...

The good news it's seriously better built and heavier industrial duty than the $20 Ace hardware variety we're all used to. Better yet it's black so it will heat up water a bit and be far less susceptible to becoming an algae garden.

Should have bought two...

Listening to a pretty good mixtape

So it goes...