SNAFU city...

One small step, follow the money, and some laws not in boatfolks best interest (you might be surprised just how many people equate living on a boat with being homeless)...

Today my boat's a disaster area.

It happens... trying to manage multiple projects will leave you in a serious SNAFU zone. As it happens right now the entire contents of my starbord cockpit locker is strewn hither and yon. There's a surplus-to-requirements stove and sink in the cockpit well and to top it off a mainsail I need to cut down and recut...

I won't even begin go into the current state of the clusterfuck that is the interior...

Of course, tomorrow it will be all sorted out (yeah sure) and we'll have a livable boat but today it's crazy making...

Got to get cracking.

Listening to Mr Big

So it goes...

A book is the answer to most questions...

This pretty much says it all, something to be aware of, and a safe bet formula wise...

Almost everything you need to know about boats can be found in a half-dozen or so books... It's as simple as that.

I mention this because the last couple of weeks I have been pondering why there is so much misinformation floating around. The possible conclusion I've come to are that folks don't really read anymore and prefer their information in dumbed down sound bites or forum posts. If they did read a book or article they skim/glance at pictures and use the internet as a sorta/kinda Cliff's Notes.

Last night while looking at some "reader" reviews of a few books I hold in high esteem made me wonder if the reviewers had actually in fact read the books...

For instance, this about Fred Bingham's "Boat Joinery & Cabinetmaking Simplified"

"The book is outdated as far as technique. I was expecting to learn the how and why of boat cabinetry, not just basic cabinetry that you would find in an ordinary house."  

Now, personally I simply do not see his point as cabinetry, whether for a boat or a house, is pretty much the same thing and Bingham gives you everything you need to know for where there actually is a difference. Face it, building an interior in a boat is simply building a lot of irregular sized boxes with odd angles here and there.

I have quite a lot of boatbuilding books and read and re-read them on a regular basis because they "talk" to me and, considering what project I'm currently working on, I get different insights. For instance, just the other day planning out a new boom for "So It Goes", I reread the relevent sections in Bingham's book as well as Reuel Parker's "The New Cold-Molded Boatbuilding" and "Buehler's Backyard Boatbuilding". Those, with a re-read of Russel Brown's "Epoxy Basics: Working with Epoxy Cleanly & Efficiently", have pretty much set the stage for what I hope to be a much improved and affordable boom that will do exactly what I need it to do.

Then again, I could have put the question to various forums and got a ton of verbage with very little veracity or practical content...

Books work for me.


Listening to Los Texmaniacs

So it goes...

taking things for granted...

How not to sell cookies, on modern policing methods, and, just maybe, the most appropriate headline of the week...

I suspect that, for most of us at least, the most dangerous thing we do on boats is to take things for granted. Truth be told, I do it all the time and, more often than not, I tend to find that it bites me on the ass when I do.

Not too long ago there were all those folks in Mexico who had their boats impounded and reading a lot of the reactions to the situation the recurring themes seemed to be "How could this happen?" and "How could the Mexican authorities be so stupid?". When maybe they should have been asking themselves "Why did I take it for granted that shit wouldn't happen?"

Now, call me paranoiac but I pretty much always expect stuff to get funky on a regular basis and, as it happens I am sadly seldom disappointed... Over the last few years I've mentioned that the USVI government keeps floating some new silly expensive fees for folks on boats as well as some draconian rules that, while not enacted yet, would make the USVI something of a no go place for most cruisers.

I expect when such rules and regulations come into play it will be a huge surprise to most who expect the same old same to remain in perpetuity. You'll be able to hear them screaming "How could this happen?" halfway across the Pacific...

Note to self: must get some earplugs. 

Listening to C,S,& N

So it goes...

Now that's some log...

An app that just might come in handy, a very scary picture, and where are the perp walks...

I need to get a new log for the boat as the current bidata speed/depth unit I have is more a mono-data sort of thing and in the nearly ten-years we've had it I don't think the log/speed function has worked more than 24 hours total. Which when you consider it's built by Raymarine is more than I actually expected. That said, I would be remiss if I did not mention that the sounder side of things works just great...

Now, what I'd really like to replace it with is the old model of the VDO Sumlog, a mechanical unit with a tiny little hard to foul prop turning an automotive cable that from my experience is bombproof, simple, and as a result, it simply does what it needs to do which is let you know your speed through the water and the distance covered. Which, by and large, is just the sort of information you need to know.

Being mechanical there is very little to go wrong and the weakest link, the cables, seem to last for a decade or so and replacement cables are a standard automotive part so non-problematic to pick up a spare. I suppose the downside is that it won't interface with your chart plotter or toaster oven... but, then again, my Raymarine does not talk to my chartplotter and I don't have a toaster oven so I don't exactly see the problem..

These days most everyone I know tends to use their chart plotters and the GPS derived speed over ground but speed over ground and speed through water are two very different beasts and they tell you very different things. Personally I'd like to know both but if I had to choose just one it would be speed through water.

So if you happen to come across the old style VDO Sumlog in your local yachtgrot maybe you could drop me a line?

Listening to Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul

So it goes...

Well at least someone understands the future of marine publishing...

Something of a conundrum, this is good, and tomorrow's a dark day in Riverdale...


Video Tablette Voile Mag by voile-magazine

Listening to Vanilla Fudge

So it goes...

a Dengue vaccine...

Talk about getting seriously screwed, a very good post, and an apt comment...

Since all of the crew of "So It Goes" have had the rather dire experience pleasure of getting up-close-and-personal experience of having to go through the Dengue thang... This is some really important reading.

Really...

Listening to Dr John

So it goes...

In which I make a prediction...

Skulduggery of the worst sort, needful reading, and just the same old same greedy bastards...

It's interesting how what's normal changes when you're not paying attention. For instance, back in the early 90's from my vantage point was that the average cruising boat actually cruising was somewhere around 30-feet and now 30-odd years later the average is somewhere around 45-feet. Of course, the change was gradual but since I was not paying attention it sure seems like it sorta/kinda happened overnight.

These days, as it happens, I am paying attention and it sure looks like the pendulum has changed direction and smaller/sensible/affordable (i.e. common sense) boats are regaining their hipness factor.

Which does not mean that the floating MacMansion will no longer be with us but they will be a waning influence...

Listening to Free

So it goes...

A very cool build..

Somewhat nervous making, G&T on a roll, and some truly impressive stupidity...

I don't know if you've been following the build of Yann Quenet's SKROWL but you really should as it's turning into a pretty awesome boat.

Gotta love the paint job...

Listening to Jesse & Joy

So it goes...

On running before we learn to crawl...

On having perfected the "shrug", an important point, and I suppose there's just no cure for stupid...

Yesterday I had a note to the blog from a guy who's decided he wants to go cruising and was interested in my opinion about the boat that he's decided to buy to sail off into the sunset on.

What was more interesting was he mentioned in his note he'd never gone sailing or even been on a sailboat...

The scary thing is this is not the first email of this sort I have received and, I suspect, it won't be the last one either.

Truth be told, I'm not sure how he took my reply that he might want to consider learning to sail and, just maybe, might be better off doing a bit of sailing on different boats before he takes the plunge but, I expect he thinks I'm an ass for raining on his parade.

Maybe one of the best sailing books I've ever read is "Solitaire Spirit" by Les Powles who not only built a boat to sail around the world on without knowing how to sail but pretty much set off on his voyage with just a couple of hours of instruction. That said, a lot of what makes the book so interesting is the whole "guy-running-with-scissors-accident-waiting-to-happen" vibe... To say Les made some mistakes as a result would be something of an understatement.

Les Powles is a special case and an exception as every guy who pulls it off like Les did there are hundreds who did not... Something we all should keep in mind.

Listening to Geoff & Maria Muldaur

So it goes...

another case for DIY...

Big money in death, a quick look at the scorecard, and a post worth thinking about...

There is a really excellent post over at the Marine Installers Rant about building an autopilot for not a lot of money and it is really a must read if you want to save money, need a system that you could actually repair when needful, and  just generally enjoy doing the DIY/geek thang.

Oh yeah, I expect it's the sort of article that makes the folks at Garmin and Raymarine pee in their pants so there's that as well.

Imagine a world where marine electronics are more affordable, user serviceable, and no longer disposable... Kind of takes your breath away.

The word for today is A-r-d-u-i-n-o...

Listening to Jesse Winchester

So it goes...