Random thoughts and rants on boat design, boat building, and other boat bits for those in the 99%...
An antifouling for your toilet that saves water, a reasonable assumption, and what's going on in Alaska...
Watching history being made so, hopefully, some interesting boat stuff tomorrow.
Listening to the newest Iron Leg episode
So it goes
Some scary reading, even more scarier reading, and in the "Untold suffering" department...
For those who are looking at getting a decent boat-friendly guitar rig together. I just saw that Musicians Friend has the Quilter Labs MicroBlock 45 45W Guitar Amp Head which might be the smallest amplifier head around on sale today...
Add a small speaker cabinet or two and kick some ass.
Listening to an interesting playlist on a theme
So it goes...
A bit of needful reading, some scary Pacific climate news, and, I suspect, the NRA is not doing the Happy Dance...
Truth be told, I've never been a big fan of the cruising YouTubery genre and the narcissistic selfie filming style just makes my skin crawl. Which is not to say I don't admire good films on sailing and cruising but most of the YouTube stuff just does not make the grade.
That said, my respect for La Vagabonde just went up a bunch of notches when I heard they were giving Greta Thunberg a ride back to Europe.
Might even engender some good "It's not all about me" videos in the process.
Well, one can always hope...
Listening to Little Wings
So it goes...
Something from Dorworth, Rude Pundit saying what needs to be said, and the ongoing plight of billionaire snowflakes...
I'm pretty sure that the average cost of a new self-steering gear is somewhere around $4.5K all up these days.
That's really a lot of money for a piece of gear that is inherently simple. Especially when most of the designs around are easily reverse engineered, well suited for home building with readily available affordable materials.
Fact is, I'm sitting here contemplating building a couple of designs based on a clone of the Auto-Helm or the very basic Moitessier style Trismus design.
They both have a lot to offer, are well proven with countless ocean crossings, and will pretty much steer you wherever you want to go.
Mainly, I'm just trying to come up with the bottom line least expensive self-steering gear that does the job with the least downside.
Self-steering for the VolksCruiser budget and lifestyle if you will...
One other gear I'd really like to find, so I can test it in comparison of more modern gears, is the old John Adam designed version of the Windpilot vertical axis auxiliary rudder gear.
Now, this is all kinds of interesting, some serious batshit insanity, and in the "Well, then again, his lips were moving" department...
I'll be honest and say that I almost did not include the video due to it's cringeworthy production but, as it seems like a good idea, I thought it was worth sharing. More information is on its KickStarter page which never achieved its funding goal.
Another good idea of a similar sort worth checking out is the Sky Alert rescue kite which, with the addition of a small strobe, makes a lot of sense.
Listening to Chris Smither
So it goes...
Ms Thunberg makes a good point, a bit of situational awareness, and in the "stuff you should be really worried about" department...
Over at the Dashew's SetSail.com you might be interested to know that Offshore Cruising Encyclopedia, Practical Seamanship, Surviving the Storm, and Mariner’s Weather Handbook are all available for free download.
Every one, an excellent book.
Need I say more?
Listening to some excellent Mark Knofler/Dire Straights covers
So it goes...
Someone who still has doubts about penis size, regarding the continuing war against liveaboards in Florida, and in the "Wrong on so many levels" department...
Listening to some Falcon Ridge Folk Fest 2017 covers
So it goes
On the subject of endangered species, a bit of interesting reading, and an HST observation of note...
Bucket Head.
Something interesting/important about owls, a word you may be looking for, and in the "Did someone say sustainable surfboards?" department...
Roy McBride over at CKD has some needful information for anyone considering building a catamaran and looking for a plan.
Disaster capitalism, some worthwhile reading, and in the "Children don't learn very well when they're hungry" department...
