Hurricane Earl aftermath...

While Earl (you remember Earl?) did not do much in the way of damage to the USVI it did not go without a couple of exciting moments...

One being that for a moment I thought we were out of coffee (Yes, a fate worse than death!) and thoughts of having to swim ashore (too rough for the dinghy) and finding some coffee on shore when everything was closed and there was a curfew... Maybe I've said more than I should on that subject.

The other bit of excitement was when an unattended charter cat broke off its second mooring of the day and came to visit. Luckily no damage was done but for a while it was needful to fend off with feet and fenders till we could place our dinghy between the boats as a fender and sort out a rescue crew to come out by finding the boat's  contact info on the internet and then calling the owner (who was in California) ... Well at least it was not boring!

Today things are in drying out mode and attention is now on Fiona...

Listening to Babylon by Jo Jo Gunne

So it goes...

Not so pretty...

It's odd sitting at anchor in the outer bands of hurricane Earl and getting internet! More than likely the power folks on St Croix will be cutting the power in the not too distant future but for the moment we be connected!

Everything that can be done has been done and all decisions made and now it is simply riding Earl out as it passes by... Something of a relief actually!

We've had some nice emails from folks who read the blog and they are much appreciated. A couple people asked why we are spending the storm on board and the short answer is we have cats (Buffy and Willow) and the hurricane shelters here don't allow pets nor do the hotels...

Luckily, we should not see any hurricane force winds and hopefully less rather than more storm force but pretty assured of a wet, windy, and not so pretty day...

Listening to Noises For The Leg by the Bonzo Dog Band

So it goes 

a couple of hurricane notes... GIGO

So, as this morning's 8:00 AM forecast was just a "kiss" better (though the sort of chaste kiss you get from your awful aunt) we decided to take the intervening time between that forecast and the 11:00 and stock up on fuel and suchlike with plenty of time after to get to our chosen hidey hole.

Of course, the rule for getting anything done on an island the day before a hurricane is somewhat iffy and we had quite a hike to get to the gas station etc (as the one we were going to was closed (the owner no doubt nailing up those plywood sheets at home). While we waited for a pump to open, an older gent told us that the newest forecast was out and that St Croix would be receiving a direct hit with the eye passing directly over us at 3:00 PM tomorrow....

That made our run to the hole a certainty and we huffed five gallons of gas back to the boat, got out and just took a moment to re-hydrate (it is 97 degrees and not a breath of wind here), only to find that the newest forecast was far from being a direct hit and was even a bit better than the 8:00 AM forecast. Not wanting to think the gent was full of shit, we also checked NOAA and Wunderground and they also showed a better situation developing.

Now we are back at the odd quandary of running to an uncertain welcome with many bozos dumping boats on top of you and threats of violence or simple bad seamanship that would cause even a light storm to be problematic OR stay right where we are, throw down a couple more anchors and hopefully keep the yahoos away from our boat... Truth be told, I am still just a little on the edge between the two but will have to make the decision within the next hour one way or another.

But, that is not the point... The point is (about time right?) that information you receive from helpful folks whether they be Coasties/Rangers/Folks with Local Knowledge or whomever, when bad storm shit is coming at you all information except from someone like NOAA is highly suspect and in my experience 99% WRONG. My  few years in the marine trade has many examples of people coming into the store spouting stuff that was just plain wrong and then having to spend the rest of the day explaining to others the real situation by showing them the current forecasts and storm position. We even had to explain to the Coast Guard and local law enforcement that the day-old forecast they looked at was no longer accurate.

The cake was taken by the idiot guy who ran the morning NET in St Martin. For a couple of weeks he was reading the weather for Hawaii (WTF?!) and no one caught on until he came on the NET frothing at the mouth about the killer storm about to hit us and mentioned its name and all of sudden we all realized that the storm in question had the wrong name! I'd go on as well about certain weather gurus who everyone raves about and quote as gospel but after having listened to them for many years, have detected both a certain lack of accuracy more often than not, and worse, a cavalier thought process about the actual mechanics and what is possible on a sailboat as telling someone to leave port in a howling gale to catch some maybe better winds out there five days later simply shows a lack of understanding about cruising.

Secondary plans...

One thing you learn pretty quickly is to try and keep your options open and simply roll with the flow when you find things changing...

 Hurricane prediction is pretty good these days but projected paths have a way of shifting a bit. Sometimes its in your favor and sometimes not so much. In the case of "Earl" I'll be the first to admit that my initial plan for this year's hurricane season (that of being in the Med sipping Pastis) is sure looking like the path I should have followed.

We have been through a bunch of hurricanes and the worst part is not so much the storms but the unpredictable actions of other boaters who for whatever reason put their boats in situations where they are not only a hazard to themselves, but every other boat in an anchorage. Bareboat companies come to mind, as their last minute placing of boats in hurricane holes with no regard to proper anchoring make for so many boat bombs just waiting to wreck havoc...

So unless the track for TS Earl does some serious shucking and jiving before morning we be out of here to a more protected and hopefully bareboat-free anchorage.

So it goes...

Listening to (Odin) Spirit Of The Water - John Stewart

I heard the news today...

Just about everyone I knew had a crush on Penny from Sky King and I'm pretty sure a lot of us never quite got over it...

Gloria Winters, Perky Star of Wholesome ‘Sky King’, Dies

Pressure drop...

The stressful part of being hunkered down in the hurricane zone through hurricane season is not, so much, dealing with a storm like Earl which looks to be passing us just a kiss to the north but the fact that there is always something else coming... In this case Invest 97L.

So it goes...

Listening to Pressure Drop by Toots and the Maytals

What a thought...

Crooks and Liars makes a lot of sense...

Dancing with disaster...

A couple days back I read how Helium is in short supply and if we are not careful that dire consequences await...

Bummer! Looks like little Johnny won't have those balloons for his birthday and doing the funny voice thing will be a thing of the past! Jokes aside, Helium is a very needful thing (my fridge would not work without it) and running out of it not good at all.

If anyone should get it, folks who go to sea on small boats know all about finite resources and while peak oil is the rock star of those things we are running out of just maybe it is past time to take notice of what else we use that is in finite supply...

Interesting times indeed!

The downside of electric propulsion...

Over at Cruisers Forum, Captain Mike (yes, Mike is a real live Captain and I know this because he pees in a cup from time to time)  of BiankaBlog infamy, is fighting the good fight of electric propulsion vs the great unwashed and uneducated hordes in the thread sadly entitled Electric VS Diesel... and I'm pretty sure that right about now he needs a big hug and a stiff drink! Show the man some love...

I use the word "sadly" because there is no reason whatsoever that electric propulsion and internal combustion systems should always be dealt with as a winner-take-all WWF smack down... I, for one, do not have any anti-diesel feelings and most of my fellow users of electric propulsion don't either. While I'll bet that there are many varied reasons why we adopted electric propulsion, no one I know went electric because they were of the "electric GOOD diesel BAD" mindset.

For me, the choice involved the WTF moment when I got a quote for a diesel Atomic 4 replacement for my well past its prime CAL 34 and saw that I could go electric and save about $8000... Truth be told, I was at the point of deciding to take out the Atomic 4 and just going engineless as dropping a $10,000 engine in a $3000 boat just did not make sense in my Mr Cheapseats view of the world. Putting together an electric drive for less than $1000 gives me the ability to maneuver into anchorages, etc. My other choice was an outboard so it was really quite an easy decision.

Once installed, the electric propulsion worked much better than I had ever expected it to and while my DIY approach and the then current state-of-the-art electric drives were still in the fishing with clubs point of its evolution, it was obvious from the get go that electric propulsion was something of a winner.

The simple fact that electric propulsion works does not negate the fact that diesel works as well and if done right, very well... For me and the way I sail, electric propulsion is a much better fit. Demonizing diesel would be akin to deciding since I like the Beatles then I must hate the Rolling Stones or Beach Boys.... Now wouldn't that be silly?

But in areas of nautical discussion, demonizing is sadly par for the course as my mailbag shows anytime I mention that I LOVE schooner rigs... What is worse, most of those telling me that schooner rigs or electric propulsion don't work and I'm stupid for suggesting they might, have never actually sailed a schooner rig or used electric propulsion... So it would seem to go!

Of course, If you really think that the Rolling Stones suck, it is never a bad thing to have come to that conclusion after listening to them as "Tumbling Dice" just might surprise you...

Some DIY goodness of the vacuum sort...

Small vacuum pumps have all sorts of handy uses aboard a boat. Anything from changing oil to molding composite bits for the mast using epoxy and carbon fiber... Like I said handy!

In looking for an affordable vacuum pump I recently came across a couple of cool DIY guides over at Instructables which have boat friendly written all over them.

Turning a manual bike pump into a vacuum pump makes all kinds of sense and I'm really surprised I had never thought of it but this one "make a manual vacuum pump for under $20 by converting a bicycle pump" just got added to my job jar!

Every time I visit the local Cost-U-Less I have found myself looking at the cheap 12 volt tire-inflators with thoughts of maybe it could be adapted into a mini hookah system for cleaning the bottom or some other semi-cunning plan... "convert a tire inflator-type air compressor into a vacuum pump" sure fits the bill... Does it not?

I can take Brazil off the must go to list...

I'm not sure why Giannini guitars quit selling in the US market but for us 12 string junkies they have been missed! More than likely you may have seen a Giannini or two with one of the pirate bands as they are quite popular with the Ren-Faire crowd...

The Giannini, with its boat friendly lute sort of shape is easier to stow than the average guitar (well, I keep telling myself that). The real reason for picking up a Giannini, of course, is not for their looks or stowability but the awesome sound that they have. Over the years I have played a bunch of their 12 strings and they all sound... right. Throw in the fact that they actually know how to make a 12 string... A thing most folks don't.

Lucky for us, the Giannini is back selling in the US of A (you can even find them on Amazon!) and from what I hear sounding just as good as ever and with a price point that made me check whether there was a mistake... There wasn't! Can you spell H-A-P-P-Y-C-A-M-P-E-R?

Nice to know I'm not alone...

Over at the John Scalzi blogstead Whatever, guest blogger Kate Baker deals with some home truths... Your Plan for the Zombie Apocalypse

A little crazy but I like it...

I have something of a love/hate relationship with multitools and while I know a leatherman is always the wrong tool for every job, I also have to admit that there is just something so cool about the way they stuff all those tools into such a small and neat package... If only they worked half as well as they fold up!

Now, the better multitools (and yes, I say that knowing full well of the contradiction in terms) are some kind of pricey and far beyond what a Mr Cheapseats is willing to spend (my multitools always come from the $10 or less sale table) but if I were really rich how would I scratch that transformer itch?

Maybe a boat...

That becomes a plane?

PBO has more of the story...

Ditch bags and staying safe...

Everyone on a boat, more than likely, has a ditch bag and has put some serious thought into what it contains and the various reasons they may have to find themselves using it... The ditch bag is simply a good measure of common sense for those of us who know that in life (especially at sea), well, shit happens.

Back when I taught skiing it was (again) simply common sense to have an emergency kit in the trunk of the car as winter storms, sub-freezing temperatures, avalanches and mountain roads made for the very real possibility that driving down the mountain to do some shopping could very well become a survival experience and being prepared could spell the difference between surviving or becoming one of those nasty surprises found by some unsuspecting hiker come the spring thaw...

As much as I wish there was some place you could hang out where there was not some sort of disaster waiting to happen, when you look at the big picture... anywhere you go has some sort of disaster (either man made or natural) in the waiting. Whether it be hurricane, earthquake, or even the dreaded zombie holocaust, there is no place out there that is not some potential shit hitting the fan scenario just waiting to happen... Hey, it's a scary world!

Which brings us to the book I just finished reading... "Bug Out" by Scott B. Williams. Scott is a guy a lot of you may already know from his excellent "Scott's Boat Pages" and his equally impressive "Bug-Out Survival" blogs...

You can think of "Bug Out" as the definitive ditch bag foundation for land bound folks as Scott puts it all together in a simple, organized and thoughtful way that avoids the whole frothing at the mouth lunacy that most people associate with survival issues.

To say this is a good book would be something of an understatement and for the record it simply sets a whole new standard for books of this ilk and sets the bar at an impressive height. Other than that, I'll simply add that it and the information it contains make it a needful book...

Wishful thinking... or why the phobic will inherit the earth!

We all have fears where our boats and cruising plans are concerned... Some of us fear sinking, others collision at sea, still others storms with names and yes, dear reader, some like myself fear zombies!

That said, fear is no bad thing as it keeps you alert and on your toes. Fear, after all, is a key survival trait that is there to help you survive and it is smart to embrace your fears and live with them as long as you do not become a slave to them.

On the other hand, a state of mind that is NOT a survival trait at all is wishful thinking... More to the point, wishful thinking is something of a made to order gene cleansing program. For instance, the guy who fears sinking will be up close and personal with all of his many bilge pumps and keep an eye on his thru-hulls and hoses as well as making sure his stuffing box is adjusted properly... Not to mention the back up plans we phobic folk are constantly thinking about... You get the point!

On the other hand, practitioners of wishful thinking would simply do the odd positive thinking that all those things that could sink their boat would not happen and when all hell breaks loose are more than likely thinking positive thoughts rather than bailing.

Wishful thinkers are often unhappy as they find themselves disappointed more than phobic folks. I know that when we arrive in a foreign place that there will be problems either with paperwork, VHF license, where to clear in, or some such hassle (maybe the customs guy had a fight with his wife that morning over breakfast) as it is simply part of the gig .

I often read about people complaining bitterly that when they tried to clear in to the wrong port with the wrong paperwork they had all sorts of problems and how awful it all was but they never quite understand it was their fault. I remember trying to explain to someone about clearance procedures for a destination and they simply ignored anything that they thought was a hassle and went into wishful thinking mode and could not understand why they were refused entry at the border since they did not have a visa.

Wishful thinking is sadly not confined to the sailing and cruising world, as it would seem that most economic decisions these days are at best of the wishful thinking mode going full tilt boogie. I don't know about you, but wishful thinking by those in power is the sort of thing that keeps me up at night almost as much as zombie hordes!

Some stuff that works...

Since I went on a "BEST" rant yesterday, I've had no end of requests about things that work...

Most folk would not understand the importance of finding a clothespin that actually works! Clothespins are sort of a one-is-just-like-another until you move on a boat and then it becomes obvious (in a hurry) that all clothespins are not created equal. Most are not strong enough to deal with the odd squall that will blow through and, unless you actually enjoy diving the anchorage in search of your underwear and favorite towel, strong clothespins are a needful thing. So are clothespins that do not rust as it is no fun having your favorite shirt ruined with big drips of rust from those metal springs and, have I ranted yet about clothespins that biodegrade in the sun in short order?

We found these clothespins at K-Mart and they have lasted over a year, are strong, and UV resistant. While they cost a few bucks more than the ones that fall apart and don't hold your clothes to the lifelines, trust me they are well worth the splurge...

I've touched on knives from time to time here on the blog and like any "guy" I really admire and respect a good blade. One of the best working things on "So It Goes" are the knives we use for deck work that we have scattered in various might-need-a-knife-here-in-a-hurry locations (cockpit, bow, stern and mast). I think we bought a set of six around ten years ago at a dollar store for about three dollars... Yeah, cheap-ass steak knives!

Even now, as rusty and beat up as they are, the serrated blades still cut through nylon, polyester and Spectra like butter which is more than I can say for some expensive "sailing knives" I've bought in the past...

What's not to like about our Barient winches? Installed on So It Goes back in 1969 they still have plenty of power to deal with any sail I'd want to put on the boat and, while they are not self-tailing (IMHO no one NEEDS self-tailing winches), what would be the point of replacing them with something newer?

Since we are talking things winchy, I really should add that our Simpson Lawrence Anchorman manual windlass is both bombproof, foolproof, and makes getting the anchor in both facile and painless (plus it makes a great pillow for Willow the Wondercat) and as it cost us a whole $100, it makes Mr Cheapseats one happy camper!

Hung up on the "best"...

We get quite a few emails here at Boat Bits central and not so surprisingly (after deleting the copious right wing rants and Nigerian money scams) what's left mostly tends to be of the "How do I..." and "What is the best..." nature.

As far as the "How do I" thing goes... Well, that all depends, and I'm not going to address that as what I really want to talk about is the silly idea that there is really a "BEST" anything...

Now, it's only my opinion, but there is simply no BEST blue-water boat, BEST rig, BEST winch, BEST anchor or BEST anything and the quest to possess such a thing will simply drive you insane and you will be reduced to drooling and writing right wing rants to Boat Bits or coming up with Nigerian money scams to try and afford that BEST monkey residing on your back...

Which is not to say that there are things that work and things that don't (and things that should work but will only drive you bat-shit crazy but that is grist for another day).

There is also having the RIGHT thing... Which is a whole lot different than that "BEST" thing... As in "I want to go cruising and I have a Columbia 29 but really feel I need a Hallberg-Rassy 62 because it is the BEST!" Of course, I'd be lying through my teeth if I did not admit that Hallberg-Rassy makes a seriously sweet ride and that the 62 makes me get all hot and bothered (in a good Barry White kinda way) but the truth is the HR62 is not a BEST boat (though mighty fine IS a phrase that springs to mind) it is a fantasy and the sort of aspiration that assures your dream will remain just that...

As for the Columbia 29... It is a sweet ride as well, and for a couple not into silly consumerism quite capable and able to take them cruising for a summer, a year, or around the world at a price that you'd pay to buy a sail for the HR62 which in my mind makes the Columbia 29 a heck of a lot closer to BEST when all is said and done...

Cruising is a different mindset and BEST just does not factor into it at all. Cruising is more of a what works and what does not work world. So, if you can't get your head around that perhaps you'd best take up golf or melon farming...

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A better and safer paint system?

I've been less than happy with the way my topsides paint and boot top have held up this time around and have been researching various paint alternatives for the next haul out...

Back in my starving student days, one of my part-time jobs was spray painting linear polyurethanes in, shall we say, less than user-friendly conditions and as a result am very nervous about any sort of exposure to linear polyurethanes and related solvents/reducers. I am sure I have used up any luck I might have had spraying evil cancer-causing chemicals without the aid of even the most basic safety gear for minimum wage. Seeing how most yards down here in the Caribbean work and handle dangerous chemicals and suchlike, I am even less inclined to let someone else making minimum wage down here possibly ruin their health or kill themselves so I can avoid exposure to myself.

Which kinda of leaves me in one-part paint land but I have noticed that one-part paints seem to hold up less well than they used to. It used to be that using one-part paints seemed to give up to four to five years before needing to be redone but now it seems the longevity is more like two to three... What's a poor boy to do?

I am seriously considering the paint being sold by System Three (bespoke epoxy folks) as it is able to be thinned with water! WR-LPU, while a linear polyurethane, appears to be a whole lot more user friendly than anything else on the market with a big emphasis on being a whole lot safer to use than whatever else is out there on the market. Throw in the fact that it is affordable... What's not to like?

Of course, the true test of any paint system is how it looks and holds up over time and I'll be very interested in seeing what a few cans of WR-LPU do to "So It Goes" in terms of looks and how it holds up (especially in the splash zone).

I'm sure I'll have a whole lot more to say on the subject next haul out!

a quick thought on cruising rallies...

I've never been a big fan of the cruising rally thing for a variety of reasons but I'll be the first to admit they seem to fulfill a need for some folks. A while back, a friend asked me that if I didn't like the idea of any of the plethora of cruising rallies, then what sort of rally would appeal to me.

It's funny how some ideas or questions will gnaw about the edge of your thoughts and the whole what sort of rally would appeal to someone-who-is-not-really-very-social has been one of them. Over the course of the last year or so I have come up with something of a shortlist of rally scenarios that seem to appeal or at least seem somewhat less odious (to me) than what is out there at the moment...

For instance, something historical comes to mind... I've always enjoyed books like Thor Heyerdahl's "Kon Tiki", as well as Tim Severin's "The Sinbad Voyage", and "Brendan Voyage" (as well as his others) but, then again, maybe recreating some famous voyage is better left to a single boat as getting into the head of some ancient navigator just does not seem like a group gig.

Of course, there is the cheap seats element which might interest me as sort of a classic-plastic-your-boat-has-to-cost-less-than-$10,000 sort of rally might have a certain appeal... Especially if it could run along side the sort of rally that looks down its nose at anyone with less than a Swan. Beating the consumer yachting kids at their own game would be a serious inducement for me to get into the rally spirit! But, after a second thought, while the daydream of a rally based on revenge is fun, actually doing such a thing, is just way too much karmic damage as well as hard work for me to seriously consider it.

Lately, a new sort of rally, the pirate alley boondoggle sort, has come into the picture which in my mind is highly suspect... if I were a pirate, the idea of a bunch of slow-moving wealthy (by third world standards) yachts in a group spells P-R-E-Y with a bow on it, and not Danger-Danger-Will-Robinson to my somewhat pyratical mind. On the other hand, said slow moving convoy with a couple of gunboats would be a whole different kettle of fish and actually make some sense...

Which leaves what? To be truthful, I think the sort of rally that would appeal to me would be a round the world geo-caching treasure hunt of some sort with a lot of really difficult mysteries/riddles to solve in the process...

Yeah, I'd like that!

Gunshots, panicked cats and a great Med cruising resource

There is something to be said about a pair of panicked cats jumping through the forehatch over your head as you wake up to the sound of gunfire way too up-close-and-personal for comfort...

WTF!

Over the years I've been no stranger to the sound of gunfire and its resulting carnage as my job as a cameraman has taken me to all sorts of places where Kevlar had nothing to do with boatbuilding and the first local phrase committed to memory was always "Don't shoot me I'm a journalist".

St Croix, like the other USVI islands, is very big on guns and folks here (like their mainland fellow citizens) seem to feel the need to exercise their right to bear arms... Of course, it's not as bad as Arizona (is anyplace as screwed up as Arizona one has to wonder?) but when some yahoo on the beach less than a hundred yards away decides to empty his Glock, it does tend to focus one's mind on saner shores...

Which, in fact, brings us to Rod Heikell's new website... Rod, you may remember already has the most excellent Tell-Tales site and is author to many excellent cruising guides (and not the sort targeted to clueless bare-boaters) such as the "Mediterranean Cruising Handbook". His new site aptly entitled "Mediterraneo" looks to be exactly what one would expect from someone who knows the Med like the back of his hand and is well worth a visit!

Late breaking news department... The gunshots that woke us up were in the news this morning... Man swims to safety after being shot in argument!

We got no short of ugly ridin' in on us...

I'm currently in that no man's land of having a bunch of projects I really need to do but finding myself spending more time watching the slow-motion-train-wreck of the US economy unfold which is, to put it simply, much more riveting than installing new chainplates...

Not that I can do anything about the train wreck in progress (not even sure if anyone can do anything about it to be honest) but it is great theatre, and way more interesting than mucking with 5200 and drilling holes in stainless steel. Then again, watching old reruns of the Partridge Family is more interesting than mucking with 5200 and drilling holes in stainless steel, which, when it comes down to it, just may be the root of the problem.

Some jobs on boats are boring and tedious. Some jobs on boats are nasty... and more often than we'd like, some are all of the above. So it goes!

The trick for me is to put the iPod on skull splitting and simply get to doing but some times that initial "get" in the "to doing" is a whole lot harder when there is bugger all in the momentum department.

Now if I can just find my drill bits...

Just maybe the lock I've been searching for...

I've been searching for a boat friendly lock for a whole bunch of years but until recently finding the right lock for my companionway hatch has been akin to finding an honest man in the Senate...

Part of the problem is that locks and related hardware are simply not designed for boats and the ones that are won't even keep honest folk honest as the saying goes... If I'm someplace where I'm locking the boat I want it to stay locked!

The other thing is that keys are simply not boat friendly and for most boat folk combination locks are the way to go but finding a decent combo lock for a hatch is kinda like finding an honest banker from Wall Street throwing snowballs in hell... Not going to happen!

Then again, with global warming and all, maybe Hades is a winter wonderland!

We'll see how this one from Combi works out...

A simple and cheap boom brake...

Some time back I mentioned various ways to deal with boom brakes and how a simple figure eight descender/belay device works just fine... Over at Sail-World they have a great article showing you how to do it.

I'll add that instead of rigging it as they describe with one end of the sheet dead ended to a chainplate it is better to have both tails of the sheet come back to the cockpit so you can put equal pressure on the system and gain a lot in the way of control at the cost of an extra block and a couple of shackles. We've done it both ways and the twin tail system works a whole lot better!

An interesting article about LED's...

Voiles et Voiliers, the French sailing magazine, really knows how to put sailboats and products through their paces (real tests with no concern about advertising revenue) and their recent testing of LED lighting is no exception... Check it out!

For those Boat Bits readers who don't read French may I suggest you use Babel Fish...

Horse's Mouth make a valid point...

Horse's Mouth (always a good read) points us to an important truth...

Support your local shaper!

A change is gonna come...

“To be truly challenging, a voyage, like a life, must rest on a firm foundation of financial unrest. Otherwise you are doomed to a routine traverse, the kind known to yachtsmen, who play with their boats at sea - "cruising," it is called. Voyaging belongs to seamen, and to the wanderers of the world who cannot, or will not, fit in. If you are contemplating a voyage and you have the means, abandon the venture until your fortunes change. Only then will you know what the sea is all about.”

- Sterling Hayden

"Change" is an interesting word, is it not?

Well, maybe also a scary word (or the term terrifying does come to mind) and while so many these days are change adverse, change is still a constant and it is needful to take its presence into account when making plans these days.

Another word of some import these days is "contraction" as in things expand and things contract. Contraction though is a much more friendly word than collapse... Collapse being not fun at all!

Going to sea in a boat for most of us is actually all about change and, in fact, it's all about the embracing of that change which, while maybe still a little scary, is not a bad thing at all.

A great opportunity down there in OZ... Scrumble Project!

Most folks are pretty aware that I am a big fan of Bob Oram and his multihull designs. I can't think of a better example of seeing how one of his boats goes together than on the blog Scrumble Project which is a font of spot-on, how-to goodness with an emphasis in composite.

The Scrumble folk are looking for someone to give them a hand and learn by doing, in sort of a Boat Building 101...

"Want to understand how composites go together?
Want to spend a good length of time watching, listening, doing and learning?
This would not be formal, but you could learn hands on whilst assisting with a build.
We maybe would not provide you with all the knowledge needed, but we assure you that it would be a bloody good start. With the benefit of hind sight, I wish we had been given this opportunity when we started.

If you could give us time as our guest, you would gain knowledge, and we would gain assistance to complete our project. At this stage all aspects of the build may be dealt with, from basic structure, to surface finish and systems fit-out..."

Having built a bunch of boats myself, I know just how valuable this sort of experience can be for someone who wants to build their own boat. Nothing teaches you faster than a real project.

Check it out!

Still waiting on Walking Dead #12...

It's out and I don't have my copy yet!

Night surfing anyone?

You have to see the logic behind a surfboard designed for surfing at night...

The "Night Stalker" from Bill Stewart of Stewart Surfboards has two 700 lumen headlights and LED embedded side fins to put a little light on the subject.

This board will be on display at the ASR trade show on August 13 and 14 at Billabong's Art of Shaping display. All the boards on display will be auctioned off on the 14th at 6:30pm. All proceeds from the auction will go to the 2010 SIMA Humanitarian Fund. You can own a nice little piece of surfing history and support a great cause!

Very cool board and a good cause what's not to like?

A pretty awesome blog... Bicycle-Pacific-NW

It's been a while since we had some bicycle content here at Boat Bits but for those who understand the bike/sailboat meld there is a lot in the pipeline... I just have not been able to collate it down to a manageable stream yet!

In the meantime here is a most excellent bike touring blog that may shed some light as to why we are such bike junkies aboard "So It Goes"!

Bicycle-Pacific-NW

Snake oil for the modern cruiser... anchor wars and a lesson from Eric Clapton

I've had more than a few emails requesting that I do more anchor reviews and I guess I should address that issue...

NO...

First, there is already too much talk about anchors in print and on the web plus anything that I'd add to the equation would simply piss most people off. Trust me, you don't want to hear my views on new anchor designs...

That said, I will point out that at some point in time if you anchor you will drag as it is all part of the gig and whatever new anchor is the "hip" thing will not prevent it. You may, of course, get better at anchoring and this will make the act of dragging less likely, but at some point in time you WILL drag. Again, it is just part of the gig and you will have to learn to live with it.

Of course, if you do drag all the time you might want to pay attention to how others anchor (well those who do not drag all the time) as more than likely they are doing it better than you... Do not, however, run out and buy whatever anchor they are using as successful anchoring is 99% technique and only 1% technology.

Don't believe me? We all know that the CQR is a pretty funky and ill-advised anchor yet hundreds of boats still use it successfully day in and day out, in dead calm and raging storm, without apparent problem... So they must be on to something, and just maybe, you should pay attention next time a cruiser with a CQR anchors near you on just how they go about it.

Do I think the CQR is a good anchor? No, but it can be used well. Maybe a musical example will make it clearer. Eric Clapton can still rock the house with a crappy Walmart guitar but don't expect a crappy guitar player to become an Eric Clapton simply because he has access to a Fender custom shop Strat!

Sadly, these days we seem obsessed with technology and everyone feels they have to have the newest/hippest/shiniest bit of gear whether it is an anchor or a chart plotter as a panacea for all that ails. When in reality, the answer lies somewhere closer to simply having a better understanding of how to do stuff!

For those in the real world...

Paul Krugman voices the question that keeps me up at night while Crooks and Liars points to  a timely study and Brilliant at Breakfast gives us a glimpse of the foreseeable future...

Sounds like the perfect time to dust off those sailing-off-into-the-sunset-dreams and get to doing!

Stuff to do and a blog of note... Bumfuzzle

As it looks like Tropical storm Colin has ceased to be a contender in the "make-my-life-difficult" category, I will hopefully be able to get back to a few needful projects as soon as I sort out the 48V charger that no longer charges...

Not that I am bitching, as without a steady stream of things to do, conundrums to solve and cunning plans to devise, life would get rather boring rather quickly. Luckily for us on a boat there is never any shortage of stuff to do!

Speaking of stuff to do... The folks who brought you Bumfuzzle are back  on the water and blogging away at they bring their talents to bear on a new boat (a monohull this time) and as yet unspecified new adventures! Just for the record, I am a big fan of their various exploits (I mean how can you not approve of folks who dig VW vans?) and while they apparently got up the noses of some vocal and dock bound idiots stationary cruisers, all you really need to know is most of their critics are still on the dock and the Bumfuzzle folks have circled the world, done some serious driving and begun a family!

No rest for the wicked...

It's funny how what I want to do, project wise,  on "So It Goes" is seldom what I actually do. Today's case in point is I wanted to work on the new dinghy, emulate an upgrade to the bilge pump situation and remount a solar panel...

What I seem to be doing is trouble shooting and sorting out why my 48V charger for the electric propulsion battery bank is not working...

So it goes!

For those without temperamental battery chargers you may want to check out this bilge pump goodness!

All warm and fuzzy...

Living on a boat is not for everyone and while we do OK, it is not without the occasional "wouldn't it be nice to live in the real world" moments...

Like a garden would be nice and as much as we try and sort out various cunning plans to have even the most minimal onboard source of produce, the best we can do seems to be sprouts... Not knocking sprouts, but it sure would be nice to have an onboard source of tomatoes and zucchini that made sense.

Then there is the constant struggle to make things fit... Sure the guitars are hassle making but trying to make accessible room for a pair of bikes and professional film equipment on a 34-foot boat that is workable is just plain crazy making! While I'm all for simplifying, there really is a point where doing without starts eroding the quality of life. And make no mistake about it the whole basis of the live aboard lifestyle is all about quality of life... Just something to keep in mind.

Then again... If it was easy everybody would be doing it!

Sadly, life is very seldom easy and worthwhile stuff even less so. So every once in awhile it is needful to point out this whole living-on-boat-and-cruising-gig is not just cute kittens, tropical breezes and awesome sunsets. It's just life and like all things there are messy bits.