This caught my attention, an interesting fact you might be unaware of about a sailing rally, and, speaking of sailing rallies, Attainable Adventure Cruising does the rant thang makes a LOT of sense...
Obviously a daysailer/weekender for protected waters but a hull form and rig that makes a lot more sense that a lot of people think. I bet Tad would love to design something along the same idea for real cruising...
While we lived in Paris, one of the designs on our short list for what was to become the first Loose Moose was a plywood 9-meter junk design by Dimitri Le Forestier and Jean-Pierre Villenave...
The new issue of Practical Boat Owner came out yesterday (I have a digital subscription) and, as usual, it made me wonder how much we don't get in the American yachting press...
For instance, when was the last time you came across an article in Cruising World or Sail about how to actually fix or build something? Or, for that matter, when did they test something with a real test and came to a conclusion that might have pissed off a sponsor?
The fact is, PBO is an expensive subscription as it costs more than Sail and Cruising World combined, but as far as I can see, it's the only cruising-oriented magazine I pay for that actually delivers value that is really useful.
It's been a while since I've had a note from Eric Henseval but he just dropped me a line with a few of his recent designs...
Now I admit I'm not a big fan of metal boats but I do know that if I were to get a metal boat the hull would be built by META using their Strongall aluminum method. Otherwise, why bother?
So, I was very interested to see that Eric's new Territoire 11.80 design is being built by META in Strongall...
What a bombproof Aluminum sailboat looks like under construction
Not a bad boat as you can see...
Eric has a lot more information on his site about the Territoire 11.80 and it is well worth reading whether you're looking for a go-anywhere aluminum boat or not.
The other day I overheard some advice from one guy to another that to be happy on a boat you need at least a 6KW genset and a 3KW inverter...
One of my current projects is ripping out a few no longer needed or used AC outlets and it got me thinking just how the electrical side of things on "So It Goes" has evolved.
For instance, we used to have a big 2000-watt inverter/charger which was heavy, expensive, and didn't work very well. Down the line when we realized we never ever ran anything anywhere near 2000 watts (the couple times we did I nearly fainted when I saw the numbers on our amp-meter) we replaced it with a better working, cheaper, and lighter 600-watt inverter and a separate charger which seemed to make a lot more sense.
We realized that it had been over a year since we even used the inverter. Other than tools which run off the generator, we seem to have evolved out of AC power use on the boat.
This does not mean we're camping and not using electronics or computers and suchlike, just that we've finally been able to get the various systems to work on 12-volts which is a much more boat-friendly voltage and gets away from the power loss of having to bump voltage up or down to make things work.
Of course, evolution is an ongoing affair. I'd like to add a couple of 50-watt solar panels (which would bring the grand total up to 350 watts of solar) which, with our frugal usage of power would make us 100% free of ever having to run the generator for shipboard and lifestyle systems.
That said, I'm still working on a cunning plan for the whole tool thang.
With T-Day just around the corner, it's way past time to start dropping hints to those folks who might buy presents to avoid the Xmas sweaters, socks, or worse, something N-A-U-T-I-C-A-L of the port and starboard salt & pepper shakers ilk!
Guild Thunderbird
Of course, I always tell people what I really want is a impossible to find Firebird or Thunderbird (the Guild Gumby guitar) 12 string because I can always use another guitar and I might actually get lucky.
That said, I always mention that there's always a few things of the stocking stuffer sort that would be oh so handy aboard "So It Goes"...
I don't know what it is about flashlights but they seem to go walkabout around here regularly so a flashlight is always a welcome gift. My experience is good cheap ones work nearly as well as good expensive ones but as both types go walkabout I'd rather have a six pack of good cheap ones than an expensive Mil-Spec Tactical sort. Something like this little Dorcy is just the ticket.
Rapala Bait Knife
Everyone needs some spare knives aboard a boat and the sort I recommend are both cheap and functional. I happen to love my Fury clone of the Myerchin and it is such a great knife that it's something of a no-brainer. It's cheap enough that you can buy a few Rapala Bait knives with the savings... Both knives in their own particular way are exceptional boat knives.
Everyone on a boat needs a decent jigsaw (though not everyone seems hip to that fact) and I'm still more than happy with my cheap Black & Decker. In the FYI department, a trick to get Bosch like performance out of a good cheaper jigsaw is to use Bosch blades. So, a selection of Bosch blades in the Xmas stocking is a very welcome addition to the tool arsenal that folks will be ecstatic about once they've had a chance to use them.
Something else one might want to hint about is working in and around boats means working with some evil nastiness on a regular basis and a little protection is no bad thing. For those of us who have facial hair, the Resp-O-Rator is definitely the way to go whether you're dealing with sanding bottom paint, exotic wood sawdust, or the epoxy fillers that you really don't want in your lungs.
I spend a lot of time thinking about surfboards and wondering why designers of boats (or folks who sail boats) don't pay a hell of a lot of attention to the body of knowledge that is just sitting there looking lonely.
One nice thing about surfboards is that it's easy to try stuff without a huge investment in materials and labor. Since it's cheap and easy to try stuff, people tend to do just that and, as a result, designs evolve a whole lot faster.
Which brings me around to the work of Bob Simmons whose design sense calls out in a very big way to someone who thinks sharpies are a better than good thing...
I'm never sure whether to describe myself as a film maker who sails or a sailor/boatbuilder who makes films...Either way I'm a pretty happy camper when all is said and done.
