This and that...

Disaffected and it Feels So Good has something to say, Dave Z on a book well worth reading, and Kurt Hughes makes a point about keels/boards...

As it happens, reading the Kurt Hughes post on the advantages of boards over keels kept me up last night. Not that is was something I did not already know but it came at an opportune time so had a lot of impact on my thinking regarding the idea around the VolksCruiser, but more about that in the not too distant future I think.

On another front, I should mention that we are finally getting off the fence of which system to buy and getting an ultrasonic antifouling system for "So It Goes". Combined with a new faired bottom covered in copper loaded epoxy I have a fairly high expectation that it will work and, even if it does not, I'll learn something in the process... I can live with that.

Lots to do today so I'm outta here!

Listening to Jo Jo Gunne

So it goes...

Some need/want verbage...

As a UC grad myself may I just point out that this is just seriously bugfuck crazy, more on that recovery, and in the Dude do you know where I can score some cold medicine department...

So it would seem that Apple has a new iPad and by all accounts it seriously rocks. Yesterday I checked out the new specs and was suitably impressed as it is obviously an improvement on the model it is going to replace...

I know for a fact that a couple of my friends have already put in orders for their new iPads because they possess that gene that tells them they have to have the newest/best for whatever it costs. I'm sure you have friends of a similar disposition, so you know what I'm talking about.

So, am I going to buy an iPad 3?

Well, when the iPad first came out I ran it through the "So It Goes" need/want calculator and while it had some merit it just did not show that it would earn it's keep aboard, same with the iPad 2. Doing the same with the iPad 3 it was almost a close run but still wound up as a cool toy but not a needful one.

I'm pretty sure there are a few enterprising geeks out there who will come up with some software to make the iPad a much more needful tool for a sailor and I can see any number of ways it could be used with the right programming/hardware additions to become seriously needful, but until it happens I'm not going to go the iPad route.

That said, as we need another e-reader aboard (our Kindle has been a great success) I'm going to order a Nook because they don't make my model of Kindle anymore (I don't want 3g). I'd also like to try the Nook out because we can root it and turn it into an android pad/tablet which would make it a lot more compact than our Asus tablet and handy as a stick it in a daypack computer for the yacht charter business...

Listening to The Isley Brothers

So it goes...

A choice here a choice there...

Yeah, this makes all kinds of sense, out of the mind of a 7th grader (all of a sudden a whole lot of our country's problems become crystal clear), and a conundrum you might want to consider...

When you think about it, the whole sailing off into the sunset/sunrise gig, is the result of a plethora of decisions and most everyone of them a compromise of sorts.

Deciding what boat to get, how to fit it out, and which direction to point the boat in, are all complicated and often problematic decisions and, no matter how well you research, there really is no simply right way to go...

Here at Boat Bits Central, we get a lot of email asking stuff like the right choice of boat, which GPS to get, or where to go in the Caribbean...

I do realize that our answers seldom satisfy. It's not we don't want to help, it's just that we don't quite see stuff (in general) in those "what's best" sort of terms.

On the other hand,  just think for a moment how cool it is to be able to make choices all by yourself! Sure, you want a good boat but if you have to have the sort of boat that someone tells you to get... Well, not a whole lot of freedom in that decision is there?

Freedom's cool but it does come with a price tag...

Read a few books (the new book by Fatty Goodlander has an excellent section on buying a boat), do a little independent research, do a little sailing on other folks boats so you can make an informed decision and then hit Craiggers or the local dock and see what's available in your budget niche and go for it... Not really hard at all!

The thing is there are really very few wrong decisions you can make... Let's say you deciding whether to buy a Columbia 34 or a Flicka. Either boat will take you pretty much anywhere you would want to go in some comfort so go for it. Six months down the line, if you find the Flicka a bit cramped, sell it and buy something else... Hell, maybe the guy who bought the Columbia 34 has decided that he'd rather have a minimal envelope cruiser and what he'd really like would be a Flicka... Stranger things have happened!

The hard part of freedom is that  you always have a chance of getting it wrong, which is why, we tend to point people to cheaper rather than expensive options... Buy a Columbia 34 for $10K and a year later if you're unhappy with it you can sell it for around $10K, on the other hand if you'd spent $350K for a Bendytoy it's a whole different thing. Old boats have the advantage of already being depreciated to the Nth degree so they don't lose what value they have.

Listening to The Offspring

So it goes...

Just some stuff...

A Krugman speech you really should take the time to read, Kunstler continues to make sense, and Matthew Modine (awesome actor dude you might know from Wind or Cutthroat Island) has something to share...



According to Mr Zip we have a new spare 48V battery charger waiting at the post office. We can box up our 48V battery charger and send it back to the factory for a check up. We think there is an issue with the regulation as the charger works but it could be working better sort of thing. Anyway, considering it is the only problem we've had since switching over to electric propulsion years ago, it still puts us way ahead of having an internal combustion engine. Kinda cool that!

By the way, Daniel over at Odda Sea was nice enough to go out of his way and pick up said battery charger for us when he made a Sam's Club run and pop it in the mail... You know, there is a lot to be said for this community!

Listening to Les Rita Mitsouko

So it goes...

Stressed?

On the cost of drugs in some places, about that recovery, and yet another BS "war" on something or other ramping up...

My boat's a mess...

Seriously, we've hit the point where all the various projects seem to have hit roadblocks (it's raining as I write this) and my project list for the day (glass new dinghy interior, repair new kayak, and service the outboard) is simply not happening.

Our cockpit is full of "stuff" the coach roof has a partially completed dinghy on it, the side deck a kayak, the topsides needs new paint and we are rapidly taking on that "Grapes of Wrath" ambiance...

The interior is actually worse, as various interior projects have all stalled because the exterior projects have not been going to schedule.

It's stressful!

Lucky for me I have a well proven stress reliever...

Some folks have a compass rose inlaid in their chart table but for most of us this makes a whole lot more sense.

Listening to Streetlight Manifesto

So it goes...

Not just another day...

Very simple tautology, certainly worth a read, and one of these could come in handy...

It's a holiday of sorts here on "So It Goes" today so I'm taking the day off for some important holidaze activity...

More soon come!

Listening to John Sebastian

So it goes...

A book you may want to read...

Another day in GA and the US of A in the war against free speech, when cubicle-jockey’s become pirates, and what some people think...

Back in the days when I worked at a chandlers in St Thomas, Fatty Goodlander was a regular visitor. You'll note I did not use the word "client" as Fatty was never big on spending money...

Which is not to say, from time to time, he did not actually buy something or other but for the life of me I don't ever remember seeing him take out his wallet and pass money over the counter.

Which is why Fatty writing a book about getting a boat, outfitting, and sailing it makes all kinds of sense...

Fatty has considerable street cred on the subject... He's just finished his second circumnavigation on his Hughes 38' "Wild Card" (a hurricane damaged boat he bought for $3000 in the aftermath of Hurricane Hugo) so you might say he walks the talk.

For those looking for a well found boat, I should add that last I heard "Wild Card" is for sale and Fatty is asking just shy of $40K for it which puts rest to the idea that rehabbing an old plastic boat and sailing it off into the sunset (and two circumnavigations) is a money losing proposition.

While "Buy, Outfit, and Sail" is about putting together a cruising boat and cruising it on the cheap, it is not about "cheap" cruising as most people think of it. One thing I know about Fatty is he enjoys life and his creature comforts, just doesn't like to pay silly money to have them.

Need I say more?

Listening to Dwight Yoakam

So it goes...

The picture starts to come into focus...

Lefsetz says goodbye to Davy Jones and makes an important point in the process, about that "center", and the politics of food...

As it happens, I was reading the new Latitude 38 last night (available as a free download) and as usual it was well worth my time...

The article in this issue that is something of a must read is "Budget Cruising... On the other side of the world" which talks about cruising a section of Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand). It certainly had me thinking about raising the anchor and heading off into the sunrise.

On a semi-related subject, my friend in the Philippines just sent me a note with the current pricing of marine plywood in his neck of the woods and the only word that springs to mind is YOWZA! Even more attractive is WEST system epoxy is just about the same as stateside prices and there are local, less expensive options...

Sounds like a very good place to build a boat!

Do I detect a rather cunning plan in the offing?

Listening to Judee Sill

So it goes...

End games and new horizons...

Something that made me smile, news from the hardly surprising files, and this will drive you seriously nuts...

Over at the SSCA forum there was a thread entitled Cruising internationally: are we in the end game? and it's sorta/kinda worth a read...

I say sorta/kinda because it's more about opinion, knee jerk reaction and no small amount of snark factor, than actually answering the question. That said, it does clarify a couple of trends that is part and parcel of current cruising thought/culture.

From where I sit there are a lot of problematic issues that folks on boats need to deal with these days if you want to cruise. Worse, it is something of a changing game as those problems tend to mutate and morph faster than a lot of folks can keep up with. So cruising just may not be the right path for those who like a same-old-same-everything-is-logical-and-civilized sort of road trip tourism thing...

For those who like schedules and the same old same, may I suggest the wonders of train travel.

On the other hand, at least for us, cruising has never been simple or normal. There have always been places you could not go because of crime or war, countries that had less than logical visa requirements or catch 22 rules that made no sense, places too expensive to visit, and while these days it might not be hip to admit you're on a budget, I should point out that we have yet to meet a real cruiser that was not obsessed with the cost of stuff. Just a note, those not obsessed with budget are called tourists...

Go back and read some of the early Pardey books like "Serrafyns Oriental Adventure" or "Cruising in Seraffyn" for a taste of how it's all changed but not really changed at all.

Of course, a lot of those places Lin and Larry spent time in are now less than pristine cruising grounds, ruined by over development, commercialization, and hordes of bareboat bozos... But, you know, somewhere else out there is not so popular and just waiting for you to discover it. While it may be out of the way off the various milk runs, unserviced by a "cruisers rally", no bareboat-oriented cruisers guide for the area, or a full service marina/spa, but it's waiting for you and all you have to do is point the boat in a new direction...

For those slow on the uptake, new is the operative word.

Nomadic cultures stop being nomadic when they quit varying their wandering. The first sign of nomadic culture breakdown is when routes tend to become rigid... Just something you might want to keep in mind.

Listening to a David Bowie concert I attended way back when.

So it goes...

The downside of not having a captain aboard...

I guess the great state of Wyoming is no longer looking for an aircraft carrier to buy, today's phrase of interest is "retreat mining", and Dave Z over at Trilo Boat goes all power to the people on your ass...

In a political sense, we aboard "So It Goes" are something akin to a real democracy... Which, I might add, is not always considered a good thing on a boat as most folk are more comfortable with the whole Captain as God/Dictator model and the view that someone in charge who pees into a cup keeps stuff like this from happening...

Which, I might add, did not work in this "It was one of those freaky things,” case.

The thing is, while we do not always agree on stuff aboard "So It Goes", we have never ever ran up onto a known island at speed, so I'm thinking democracy sorta/kinda works.

That said, sometimes, especially in the democratic need/want discussions we have aboard, I find myself wishing that just for a little bit I had that power to play captain and just go out and do something really stupid and get something for the boat without running it through the often convoluted decision-making process that is the democratic way aboard "So It Goes"...

Case in point, in the ever growing musical arsenal aboard, I've felt the need to add a Theremin and the other day when I found a very, very cool Theremin and, in spite of my comrade crew being generally receptive to electronic musical instruments, I got voted down...

Bummer!

Makes you want to find a cup and start peeing into it...

Listening to The Bonzo Dog Band (played on a Theremin built into an artificial leg!)

So it goes...