My kind of sailboat ad...

An interview of note, another AIS issue, and in the "Not really a bad idea when you think it through" department...

A Westerly Tiger going for nada. I have an excellent memory of being rafted next to a Tiger in Honfleur and having a spirited conversation over tea with about eight people aboard and being very impressed with the overall quality of construction as well.

Looks like an excellent project for the right person...

Listening to Link Wray

So it goes...

something on the Orca front...

A cartoon worth your time, an unexpected downside to AIS, and 12 Trillion reasons that make clean energy a smart choice...

I keep hearing about the Orca situation on the other side of the Atlantic but not so much about what's causing the problem or possible fixes. Well, at least until today.

Bateaux magazine has an interesting article on using Pingers developed for commercial fishermen to keep whales and dolphins out of nets to reduce bycatch.

Something like this...

While I have no idea whether they'll keep Orcas from frelling up your rudder but, with a street price of around $125, they might be well worth looking into. Especially if you have plans to be sailing in the vicinity of Atlantic France, Spain, and Portugal in the foreseeable future.

More information on Pingers can be found on the Future Oceans website.

Listening to the Honey Island Swamp Band

So it goes...

not so much marine quality...

A bit of "H" season news, something on the subject of the Patagonia ting, and in the "Unsung heroes" department... 

The other day I had to buy some hose clamps and noticed a couple of things. First that the prices were nuts. Made worse as the quality of said "stainless steel" hose clamps was rather shoddy and included components that were not stainless steel.

So much for Marine Quality.

Listening to Medicine Singers

So it goes...

A Bolger boat worth taking a look at...

Some excellent solar thinking, regarding a specious argument of note, and in the "Seemed like just yesterday" department...

I just saw that Tomboy the Bolger Jessie Cooper that Chuck Merrell built is currently up for sale in the PNW. I expect it's well worth a look.

Back when I was building our Jessie Cooper (Loose Moose) at the old Charles de Gaulle airport just outside of Paris Chuck was building his in Seattle and we kept in touch as we did our respective builds. Sadly, Chuck is no longer with us and he is still missed.

Over the years I've written quite a bit about my love for the Jessie Cooper and still think it is one of Phil's best designs.

Yeah, well worth checking out.

Listening to an album's worth of covers

So it goes...

a great article...

Practical Sailor has an excellent article you should read.

Still waiting on new computer...

computer hiatus...

My  computer keyboard is no longer working so I'll be taking a (hopefully short) hiatus until I can source a new one.

So it goes...

a couple of quotes...

 

Stupidity at work, wordle, and in"the no semi about it" department...

Two of my favorite quotes pretty much nails my thoughts relating to boats.

“Make everything as simple as possible, but no simpler.”

- Albert Einstein

Perfection is attained, not when no more can be added, but when no more can be removed.

- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Pretty much says it all.

Listening to ADG7

So it goes...

on buying used gear...

Some good news, something interesting about Dolphins, and in the "Another banned book" department...

I'm a firm believer in recycling where boat gear is concerned for a variety of reasons. Some of which might surprise you.

For most, the main reason to buy used gear is just simple economics. Recycling older gear is less expensive than new and that alone makes it a good thing. That said, looking at older gear on eBay often finds the cost of old gear is as expensive as new, and what's up with that?

A lot of second hand gear, especially electronics if still working, just might last forever while the exact same model new from WEST or their ilk might not work at all. Electronics are funny that way.

As someone who has worked in the marine consignment business, I quickly learned that for the most part, the main reasons folks brought stuff to us was that it did not work, they did not need it, or that they simply wanted something newer and shiny to keep up with the "cool" kids.

Then there's the element of mystery. Why is someone selling the object in question? There's almost always a story behind why someone is selling something that sometimes is surprisingly interesting. Or, to paraphrase Rod Stewart... 

Every boat bit has a story. 

Some of those stories can be quite compelling.

Romantic musings aside, I do have some rules in buying used gear. In general, they are:

• the item needs to be working or fixable, 
• the object is something that's needful rather than just something that was cheap,
• they should cost no more than 50% (but preferably less) of the product when new.

I've noticed a trend in folks pricing their gear at 90% of new. It might work for them since there is no shortage of idiots with boats these days, but if you want to actually get rid of unneeded gear, you'll find that 50% of new is the sweet spot, and I have a lot of consignment experience to back that up. Which is a roundabout way of saying it pays not to be greedy.

Listening to some Jethro Tull coverage

So it goes...

a not unsurprising turn of events...

Some hellish thinking,  wood skyscrapers, and Webb Chiles with some thought on the current round-the-world race norm...

It's really that time of year again.

Yesterday, I was considering getting started on another dinghy and a new hard dodger but not so trustful on what the weather will be like come the weekend.

As I've said before, the best place to be during "H" season is at sidewalk cafe drinking Pastis in the south of France.

I'm really looking forward to that new dinghy and dodger as I've never been fully satisfied with the looks of the current dodger and since I just bought a new to me Cruise n' Carry outboard, a dinghy with an outboard-friendly transom would be no bad thing.

Not that I plan to quit rowing but it will be nice to have the option of the motor from time to time.

I suspect that today's tasks will be sorting out the mooring and checking out the ground tackle, as it's that time of year again.

Listening to Killer Whale

So it goes...

a quick note on price disparity...

A bicycle story of note, an incredibly bad idea, and Scalzi making sense...

One thing I keep noticing in the used sailboat market is that there's bugger all sense in the asking prices. It's whatever the owner thinks he can get away with.

Which is why you can have a bunch of Catalina 27s selling between $500 and $22,000 in the same area. FYI the current average price for a Catalina in good condition appears to be hovering between $2.5K and $3.5K.

I'll say it again and remind you that doing your research on the market makes all kinds of sense.

Listening to a couple of albums or so worth of Kate Bush coverage

So it goes...