Stoked...

One of my favorite authors comes up with an excellent idea and offer, so much for free speech on campus 大象爆炸式的拉肚子, and the cure for a broken heart...

All day yesterday I kept thinking about shaping a mini-Simmons...


Sublime Experience from Flama Surf on Vimeo.

Listening to John Hiatt

So it goes...

A thought or two on our PFD decision...

More on the bogus Mr Zip crisis, why cops should be filmed, and an all too rare ray of hope...

We just got some new PFD's  and the choice to go back to foam over inflatable for our personal use was not an easy decision, but now that I actually have the new PFD's on board I'm reassured that it was the right decision.

Part of that decision was based on seeing various fabric glue bonds break down in the tropical climate, part on the catastrophic failure of our last inflatable vests when I inspected them and realized that for some time we had been wearing and depending on gear that while looking perfect would not hold air, and lastly on the fact that the upsurge in kayaking and kayak fishing has evolved foam PFD's to a point where they are now competitive with inflatables in terms of comfort and function.

While I have been known to seriously shave pennies from time to time, one area aboard "So It Goes" that money is never a consideration is on safety gear... Though, I will admit that the fact that foam life jackets are quite a bit cheaper is not an unappreciated bonus.

While the new PFD is already pretty close to what is needful for day to day use on a sailboat, I'll be doing just a little tweaking as I outfit it for passage making duties... So many cool bits of safety gear these days the trick is not to go nuts packing stuff on.

For a start I know I will be getting one of these for each PFD...

Listening to Warren Zevon

So it goes...

Some excellent customer service...

Resilient Manufacturing (well worth a read), why it might not be a good thing that our economy is now based on Wall Street, and as long as we're speaking of Wall Street...

So far, this morning has been akin to wifi hell... Well, not wifi hell exactly as we have a good signal strength, acceptable ping times and decent packet loss figures but when all is said and done no email or web access...

Aaarrrrggghhh...

So, we call the folks who provide the service and tell them they seem to have a problem and, as par for the course, he tells us everything is peachy keen and it must be "our" problem. When we point out that, in point of fact, it is not our system that seems to be at fault but theirs, he goes all passive aggressive and offers us a refund (which we'd take in a shot if there was another source of wifi on the island). Of course, now that the offer of a refund is on the table there is no longer any pretense that the company involved will make any effort to fix the problem as their company policy seems to be if you don't like crappy service simply go away...

I bring this up because it is not at all unlike dealing with a lot of marine industry business whose modus operandi when dealing with a client is concerned is...

1. It's always the client's fault.

2. If we say sorry that does not mean we have any intention of fixing the problem.

3. We'd rather have you go away then do our job.

Makes you kind of wonder how some folks stay in business...

Like a lot of boatfolk, I'm always researching new products for "So It Goes" (call it the perpetual upgrade syndrome) and it is surprising just how seldom an email to a company making electronics or other high-ticket boat gear gets answered or, if answered, having it be something useless like telling me to go check out their website (I should point this out because so many websites tell you to contact the company for more information so sending you back to the website is akin to a kind of infinite loop purgatory).

Which in a roundabout way brings me to paint...

One of my projects in the not too distant future is a new paint job for "So It Goes". Since I have some "special" plans (OK yes a CUNNING PLAN) to do something a whole lot different than the norm, I have some questions about paint, comparability, and methodology that I need answers to before I spent a small fortune on paint. Now, in these dire economic times, you'd expect that my mailbox would be overflowing in replies of helpful marine painting info and advice...

Yet, for some reason my paint file remains empty... Yep, that would be zero (nada, rien, 沒什麼) responses from folks I want to buy paint from (well, in truth, that would be from folks I DON"T want to buy stuff from now). Kinda makes you wonder if their sales force can be so inept how they do on the after-sales service... Ya think?

The thing is, every time I talk to someone in the marine industry I hear much moaning and gnashing of teeth about just how dire the current economic situation is but they simply do not get the fact that part of the problem happens to be of their own making...

Yesterday, I saw that a bike maker had used an interesting coating on their new bike model so dropped the shop a quick email and lo and behold a couple of hours later I got an answer to my question, some thoughts on why it is a great coating for bicycles but not so much for boats, and a link to the company that provided the coating material in case I might want to give it a try or research it further... Just imagine if I had asked them a question about buying a bike!

Now, for those not up on bikes and the cycling industry, I should point out that while most industries in the US of A are dying or in need of some serious life support, the cycling industry is in growth mode and doing just fine. I won't go into all of the reasons for this as there are simply too many but one of the most important factors is good customer service... Something the marine industry should take note of.

Rant over

Listening to Crazy Horse

So it goes...

My social lubrication of choice...

Dire portents from the EU, medical care in the real world, and a way to keep doors closed when needful.

The thing is, I like working on boats... I enjoy the fiddliness of boat systems and the ongoing quest to make them less of a kludge than what passes for "state-of-the-art".

Which is not to say that I don't bitch and moan in the process, as it is my firm belief that most boatwork (and many cruising situations) goes better with liberal doses of inspired profanity... But, hey, if you're reading this you already understand that.

Now, it has come to my attention that some folks actually DON'T like working on boats (我的媽和她的瘋狂的外甥都!), and while it is a sad fact that such twisted and depraved souls actually exist, it's OK, as, in a sense, this genetic failing is something of a boon to those of us who enjoy quiet uncrowded anchorages by keeping some of the riff-raff or 喝畜生雜交的髒貨 out.

The scary thing is, there still seems to be no shortage of 流口水的婊子和猴子的笨兒子people who hate working on boats and really like to spend money. These not only lower the general tone but they tend to fill up anchorages where they always seem to anchor way too close... Especially those 笨天生的一堆肉 on powerboats!


... and not really anything you can do about it except bitch and moan as the alternative, 跟猴子比丟屎, simply gets you nowhere.

Listening to Wilson Pickett

如此它去...

Money for nearly nothing...

Moosejaw is giving $10 coupons for a short survey. All you have to do is...

Complete a short Moosejaw Survey, receive a $10 Moosejaw coupon! Code will be revealed at the end of the survey.

DIY on steroids...

The reality of not leaving a clean wake, Zamboni Driver has a red blue letter day, and, hey, it's Banned Books Week!

A couple of folks have dropped emails to Boat Bits Central asking exactly what this so-called "Maker Revolution" is all about...

You might say it is just some folks doing DIY on steroids.

Truth is, it's not so much a revolution but a reawakening of a lot of values and skills that seem to have all but disappeared, which when combined with more accessible technology... Well, put like that it does get kind of revolutionary.

Mainly, it is a way of looking at things that means when you need something or need to repair something, you either do it yourself or go to a local (big emphasis on the word "local") maker in your community ("community" also being a key word here) and get it sorted out.

Imagine no longer being at the mercy of big companies with lousy products, inflated prices, and horrible after sales service... Kinda works for me!

The thing is boatfolk ("our" kind of boatfolk as opposed to the "other" kind) are already halfway to being full fledged makers as it is, and it won't take much to make the boating community a hive of maker industry... That's the good news. More good news is that as more products become available in an open market we will see some real product evolution that will deliver real innovation that is more about function than increased profit margin.

The bad news (well, actually only bad for some) is that as our economy shifts into a more sustainable model, the established marine related companies catering to cruisers and sailing folk will have to adapt and compete or find themselves doing the dinosaur two-step... and, dear readers, the music for that dance is just about to begin.

Oh yeah, being handy is just about to become the new black...

Listening to Great Big Sea

So it goes...

A fine day in the Caribbean...

Some very cool bikes, OddaSea with some very geeky Arduino goodness, and Obama does something VERY right!

Well, down here in the Caribbean with Ophelia and Phillipe no longer looking problematic life, as they say, is good...

By the way, you really should check out the link to OddaSea because it is a very good example of a cruiser coming up with a potential product for cruisers that could be done as a cottage industry on a boat anywhere that boat might happen to be. Keep an eye out because there is going to be a lot of this sort of thing as the Maker revolution gets some momentum and traction among us boatfolk.

Now, if you'll excuse me I have to go and make something...

Listening to Toadsuck Symphony

So it goes...

Hors piste...

Physicists get that earth might not be flat kinda feeling, the real deal on the class warfare gig, and Latitude 38 says something very interesting...

I've currently been researching a bunch of places we'd like to sail to when it comes time to leave the Caribbean and it's a lot harder than you'd expect. Having internet access and a cornucopia of information on the world at my fingertips you'd actually think it'd be a whole lot easier.

Part of the problem, of course, is we want to go off from the same old same destinations and there is surprisingly little information on routes and locations that are off the "normal" cruising routes simply because most cruisers don't go off the beaten track.

Those intrepid cruisers that do go places not served by such things as cruising rallies and suchlike don't seem to write about it very much in the yachting press (or, just maybe, the yachting press has no interest in printing such accounts because it is harder to tie in advertising sales to places that do not have bareboat fleets). On the other hand, maybe those cruisers who have gone hors piste simply think, if you want to sail the Ultima Thule, you're better off finding it yourself...

As a surfer and climber I understand the idea of keeping special places on the low down... A long time ago some friends and I did a pretty amazing alpine big wall climb that was so special that we never even considered writing it up for a climbing journal when asked, because, in some way or other, that would have made it that little less special.

Listening to the Bilge Pumps

So it goes...

Scary times...

Elizabeth Warren makes an excellent point, L,G,&M touches on the machinery of death, and someone building a Badger...

You know, the prospect of a zombie apocalypse keeps looking better all the time...


ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE (teaser) from Nick Lyon on Vimeo.

Listening to Crooked Fingers

So it goes...

It's the end of September and everyone has that 1000 yard stare...

So, I wake up this morning, put on the coffee, and check my RSS feeds to find "Opheila" (not to be confused with the song by The Band) on my desktop...

At this point of "H" season I'm at the point where fear is no longer part of the equation any longer and reacting to yet another storm is simply met with dogged checking off of the mental checklist of needful things to be done.

Then again, there is still a bit of anger for the disruption that Opheila will cause whether or not it actually comes close enough to do harm as I had hoped to begin testing the new wind generator project (bummer that) and some less fun projects that I really need to get moving on this weekend...

Listening to my favorite song by The Band

So it goes...

Rain day...

The worst idea in the world, still no bankers doing the perp walk shuffle, and fellow boat dude, Dmitry Orlov, is going to be speaking in Washington DC at the APSO (worth catching if you can).

It's raining, it's gray, and as a result my work list for the day is simply not going to happen... What's more is tomorrow (if it is not raining) will all depend on whatever Invest 98 looks like it will be doing...

So, just maybe, a little non-boat related reading, a bit of music, and an afternoon swim in the rain...

Listening to Neko Case

So it goes...

Just a thought...

A Senator makes some sense, a bit on the price of diesel/gas, and I am certainly looking forward to this...

Makeshift really does have a nice ring to it, does it not? So does "street level ingenuity".

In a world that is in need of some serious contraction and downsizing (whether we like it or not) it's a given that some big change come soon. The best we can all hope for is that the process of it all does not get any uglier or soul destroying than we can manage...

Not exactly what I signed up for either.

One of the things that stands out in my recent reading about barter and labor is that community is a central needful thread through it all, and how while reading that I found myself thinking that it's lucky for us that we actually have a cruising community of sorts.

And that, dear reader, actually allows me to sleep at night...

Just something to keep in mind.

Listening to Wade Bowen 

So it goes...

On how the words "need" and "want" are not really interchangeable...

An out of the box look at the jobs problem, GDP or GNH (I know which one gets my vote!), and has it really been forty-one years?

Several Boat Bits readers seem to be having trouble with my use of the English language and the words "need" and "want" in particular. So, it would seem, a bit of an English lesson is in order...

Let's start with the word "need". For instance, I often find myself saying to myself "I need this guitar".

For those astute observers of guitar awesomeness, yes it is a 1960 Les Paul Standard and, to steal a quote from old blue eyes, 1960 was a very, very good year... So good in fact, that if you'd like to buy this little puppy it will set you back $150,000.00 and change...

Like I said, I often find myself saying I "NEED" this guitar... Sigh.

Truth is, while I'd love to own this guitar and as much as I'd love to actually need it, I simply want and lust for it...

Of course, I really do need a six-string electric guitar but the one I happen to own and play does exactly what I need and while not exactly an inexpensive guitar as things go, it certainly is cheap in comparison to the wonderfulness that is the 1960 Les Paul Standard...

For those unfamiliar with Gumbyesque guitars, it is a Guild Thunderbird and kicks no small amount of ass... The thing is, when I take a step back for my purposes the Guild is a much better guitar than the 1960 Les Paul Standard because it is an awesome guitar in its own right and unlike the Les Paul I can actually play it... Face it, if I had a $150,000,00. guitar the last thing I'd do is play it... It would be in an armored glass case with a nitrogen atmosphere to protect it from even the possibility of a single scratch and, as such, hardly a guitar at all...

So, while I may "want" the 1960 Les Paul Standard, I certainly don't "need" it because the guitar I need is one that does the job that I can play...

The key words in all this is you "need" something that does the job and not something you "want".

It works the same in sailboat stuff as it does with guitars...

Just saying.

Listening to Balmorhea

So it goes...


PS. If you actually happen to need the 1960 Les Paul Standard you can buy it at Gruhn Guitars in Nashville...

If you're rich don't bother reading this...

An excellent post on the subject of money and barter, zombie preparedness in the news, and some serious Dory goodness...

I've been looking at the boats for sale on Craig's list recently... It helps if you use Craiggers  which allows you to search all of Craig's list rather than just one at a time... Anyway, there are a lot of good boats for cheap and cheap is no bad thing!

Of course, the boat market seldom has any real rhyme or reason and I have always believed that boat pricing is more often pulled out of a hat on a whim rather than something arrived at through much thought on a boat's real value, but when you think about it, this is an advantage as at least half the time folks are selling boats for far below their value.

For instance, there are currently a couple of Irwin 28's on Craig's List (one in NC and the other in California) going for $2500 and $4800... The Irwin 28 is an excellent and highly underrated shoal draft pocket cruiser and more than capable of crossing oceans in the pursuit of taking you wherever you want to go. Sure, it is a little boat but little boats don't cost a lot to keep going and a small boat has petite problems... There are lots of boats like this on Craig's List including a bakers dozen of CAL 34's  (sister ships to "So It Goes") ranging from $2600 to $20,000...

So many boats, so little time...

In this economy, what people are asking for a boat and what you have to pay (providing you have cash) are not quite the same thing, so it stands to reason you can get these boats for even less, maybe even a LOT less.

Then again, you could always wait till your ship comes in, win the lottery, take advantage of the email in your inbox from Nigeria, or have a rich aunt pass away and leave you her fortune so you can buy that new/hip/expensive boat the editors of Cruising World are all drooling about... Then again maybe your luck with such things is better than mine.

Go now, or maybe never... The choice is up to you.

Listening to the David LaFlamme Band

So it goes...

The need/want conundrum and enough juice to power a village...

A little father and son goodness, a daughter's tale, and, apparently, the sons and daughters of the rich and famous in China are not unlike their American counterparts...

Well, now that Mr Generator is purring away like a happy kitten, I have power tools that work and life is good... Do I hear an AMEN?

Speaking of things generator related makes me think of one of the big mistakes I made on the whole power-grid-on-a-boat thing and it has to do with inverters... I ignored the need/want directive.

Like a lot of American boatfolk, the whole bigger is better mindset is hard to avoid and looking at my previous electrical installation and others on friends' boats the proof is there for all to see. The thing is: do we actually need so much power?

For instance, like a lot of cruisers, I used to have a big inverter/charger sized to be able to run any of my power tools (or a small village) and it would appear a lot of folk use the same logic. The problem is the first time I plugged my circular saw into the inverter and saw the hellacious power drain on my batteries (your amp meter is there for a reason) the logic flew right out the window. The end result was that, in point of fact, that big expensive 2500 watt inverter/charger mostly wound up powering my iPod charger, a hand blender, or other less than 200 watt appliances. Not exactly a good fit now was it?

Made worse of course, because that big Xantrex inverter used a lot of power on its own, being akin to a Bram Stoker character of the electrical world and, as you'd expect, being Xantrex, it kinda sucked...

It also took up a lot of room and had sharp edges so being mounted on the bulkhead of the port quarter berth I'd find myself doing myself damage whenever I needed to access storage in the quarter berth area... Let me tell you, those deep scalp wounds really bleed!

Not content with simply sucking the batteries dry of life, or necessitating getting out the suture kit on a regular basis, the real problem with the too big inverter was the hum from hell which sounded like one of those fiendish machines from the "Bride of Frankenstein"... Actually, considering the whole Xantrex vibe, I wouldn't be surprised if most of their designs are based on leftover props from "BoF".

Now that we on "So It Goes" live in a happy Xantrex-free world, we have a small 600 watt inverter (well, two actually as they were so cheap, under $50, we thought why not have a spare) which runs all of our computers, various electronic needful things/toys, my hand blender and various small tools. It's mounted underneath a shelf so is frugal of precious small boat space, does not suck excess power, and has yet to open a wound that required stitches or involved arterial bleeding...

It does, though, have just that tiniest little fiendish hum...

Listening to Don Bern

So it goes...

and on the subject of bunnies and ducks...

What the religious right really believes about those sacred marriage vows, a new bike on my wish list, and how not to keep your wire cutters from getting ripped off...

I've got to take my generator apart today... Kind of a bummer but for some reason or other, the starting cord has hung up. I'd bitch and moan except it would not do any good and it is all part and parcel of the being on a boat gig.

Which is not to say I'm a real happy camper as instead of playing with my new rotary tool (just got it, it's sweet, and I have fishing lures to craft!) I'll be doing something I'd prefer not to... No one said it'd all be bunnies and ducks.

Welcome to the real world...

On the plus side, some of my best thinking is done while doing jobs I prefer not to... There is something about a disagreeable job that lets your mind float and focus on other things, so it all works for the better in the long run...

Listening to the Pouges

So it goes...

An evolving water system...

One of the reasons I no longer fly, another, and a sobering thought on an unrelated subject...

On all of our various boats we have what some might call a very simple low tech system where water is concerned (some might also say crude) which in essence is tankage consisting of Jerry cans, a short hose and a foot pump... Hmmm, it does seem a little crude when you put it that way, but it has worked for us with zero plumbing woes or trauma for a couple of decades now.

There is some method to our madness as years ago I found myself with seven other guys on a TransPac race halfway to Hawaii with only two jerry cans of drinkable water as somehow the boats ample tankage had become contaminated by diesel fuel. It made something of a lasting impression.

Over the years we have also cruised a lot of places where the only way to get water to your boat was by dinghy and Jerry can. So, water storage for the boat based on Jerry cans seems to make a certain amount of sense.

The thing is, I've always hated Jerry cans. Their size and shape, while fitting so well on the bumper of a Willys Jeep, do not exactly stow very well on any boat I've ever been around. While you could, of course, put them on deck like so many do, it falls way too close to the really-bad-idea category in general and, while un-seamanlike, it's also a great way to lose your water/Jerry cans/ stanchions in the process. Worse, at between five (44 pounds) to six gallons (52 pounds) a Jerry can is heavier than an evolved primate would care to lift on a regular basis!

So, over the years, I've been keeping an eye out for a variation on the theme of a Jerry can that would be a bit more boat and cruising friendly. A search, I might add, that has been not unlike the quest for the holy grail or an honest Congressman/Senator in Washington.

But, then again, miracles sometimes do happen!

The WaterBrick is a cross between a jerry can and a Lego brick which just may fit the bill.

The Lego side of things means they stack and stow well if you have a bunch of them... Anyone who has tried to dinghy four full Jerry cans through a surf line in a small dinghy knows that Jerry cans, as a rule, are somewhat less than docile cargo and just love to fall over or shift around without permission. A water container that actually stacks together makes all kinds of sense.

The WaterBrick is more compact than your run of the mill Jerry can which increases its stow-ability in and around a sailboat in a major way. Being a bit smaller they also weigh less when full and hold 3.5 gallons/13 liters (28+ pounds) which is a lot easier to carry from a village stand pipe, beach bar water source or humping up on deck from your dinghy.

I'll be picking up a six-pack of these and see how they work for the long term but for the moment color me seriously impressed.

Listening to The Flying Burrito Brothers

So it goes...

Batteries not included of course...

Robert Reich debunks some lies while making some sense, an interesting method to learn a language, and some seriously scary shit... when was the last time you inspected your rig?

Not too long ago I was discussing backup power scenarios with a boat friend who was trying to sort out a method to have a fail-safe system that in case his battery bank died, generator failed, solar cells blew off and his wind generator lost its blades, he'd still be able to keep his important 12-volt systems ticking over...

As I recall, many various and (mostly) expensive plans were floated from a spare genset to a completely separate and autonomous system.

Of course, the fear of being powerless is somewhat primal and I can certainly understand that having some sort of backup system makes sense and even allows one to sleep a bit better which is no bad thing.

My answer to the power backup system may not be for everyone but I'm pretty sure it will work for me. So, just in case you're interested, here's the key...

It's a battery holder for eight AA batteries which provides 12 volts...

Yowza!

It's not as cheap as I'd like (but nothing is, is it?) at $2.95, but for under $30 you can buy ten of them which, used with some thought, could run the needful stuff on most boats so you could get where you needed to. Adafruit has them if you feel like picking up a few...

Admittedly there is some cobbling that will need to be done to make it all work. I'll need to add Anderson Power Poles to the battery holders and the key systems I need to keep running but as I had been planning on using Power Poles on all instruments and important systems, this is no biggie. You'd also need some batteries and a AA charger (I'm thinking solar for this) but that is grist for another post...

Listening to the Isley Brothers

So it goes...

A bit of need/want and some dinghy goodness...

A reader recently asked if I were to buy my next dinghy instead of building it, what would I get and it got me thinking...

Back when we were living outside Paris and building our Wharram Tiki, the most ubiquitous dinghies around were the roll-up Bombard AX-1's and the Bic SportYak... My guess at their popularity was that they were the smallest and cheapest available dinghies on the market.

Come to think of it they still might be...

Of course, those were simpler times, we all had smaller boats so the size of the tender was a critical factor. The use of a tender was simply to take you from your boat to shore and carry you back again, maybe do a little exploring, or some fishing or diving...

Actually not all that different than people use dinghies today if maybe a little slower.

The thing is, since I've been thinking a lot about dinghies of late, it seems to me that both of those dinghies still make a whole lot of sense...

For starters, they don't take up a lot of room on deck and are light enough be manhandled by one person (both boats weigh in around 42 pounds which is less than a jerry can of water) without resorting to winches or group effort, they both row pretty well and neither of them cost a whole heck of a lot. If you were to need an outboard for either it would be a small one and, as such, frugal in terms of fuel.

So, either would provide the needful attributes of a tender...

On the other hand, neither of the tenders in question are big, go fast, or cost a lot of money to buy and operate. So if you want to have something big, fast, and expensive they would not be happy making.

For myself, I'd lean towards the BIC Sportyak as they hold up really well (there are a lot of these dinghies that are nearing their 40th birthdays still in use so a visit to Craig's list might get you one for very little) and the plastic toy boat vibe assures that no one is ever going to steal it...

What's not to like?

On the other hand, a stowable inflatable to use from time to time is no bad thing and I have been keeping my eye on the PVC (and yes, dear reader, I know Hypalon is better but for a dinghy that will live in the cockpit locker most of the time PVC is certainly not a deal breaker) Solstice I saw at West Marine for $399which looks very interesting...

Listening to Flogging Molly

So it goes...

If you're unhappy with the forecast kick a politician's ass...

Well, according to the current weather map Tropical Storm Maria is 111 miles away and looking out the hatch I see a very nice day... The only real noticeable difference is that we are pointed in the wrong direction. I wish all storms could be this nice...

Maria has been a stressful storm as it was pretty obvious that the collective weather science folks never quite got a handle on what it was going to do. As a result, we had big shifts in what the storm's path/intensity was going to be one forecast to the next. One moment it looked dire and we were ready to leave (and actually did at one point) for the greater safety of the mangroves, only to find that the next forecast downgraded the storm back down to a tropical depression or wave... Followed a few hours later by yet another forecast projecting it as a storm... Aaarrrggghhh!

Which is not to say I'm not a fan of meteorologists (though very lukewarm on amateur meteorologists and distrusting of so-called weather "gurus") and I certainly do not blame them for getting it wrong from time to time since they mostly get it right and in the process save our collective sailing/cruising asses from all sorts of weather-induced mayhem...

And sure, they could do better if they had more resources, but then to have more resources (which would equal better forecasts for us and in the long run save billions of dollars of taxpayer dollars) I suppose the folks in Washington playing the political game would have to get their heads out of their asses and write a few checks.

Just saying...

Listening to Reel Big Fish

So it goes...

How stupid do they think we are, ongoing...

I just spent the better part of my morning sorting out a cats cradle of anchor line under an acquaintance's boat and to quote the much missed Warren Zevon...

"and it ain't that pretty at all"

Made worse by the fact that he'd deployed a second anchor for Tropical Storm Irene and it has been tying itself in knots with his mooring for the duration, and to redeploy the anchor somewhere it might actually do him some good meant separating the rode from the mooring tackle on the bottom was something of a thankless task, but at least (for future reference I'm sure) it did give me the practice and knowledge that I could untie two and a half knots while threading a long rode through chain at a depth of twenty feet before I had to hit the surface for some air before doing it again, again, and yet again... After fifty free dives this morning I've got it down to something of a science.

So you might say that after spending my morning sorting out someone else's clusterfuck I'm not feeling particularly charitable with this morning's note on a new product from Colligo...

Now a while back, I pointed out that a certain sailing boutique was selling Dyneema sewn slings for daylight robbery prices and that folks might consider buying the same thing from other sources who are content with a reasonable profit and not gouging.

So you might understand why I'm not really impressed when someone comes out with a "grommet" (a spliced loop of rope in nautical parlance) with a trendy name of six-inch diameter in Dyneema for $37.33 when you can buy a sewn sling in Dyneema for less than ten bucks.

Of course, a sewn sling is is not exactly the same thing as a grommet... For example, a grommet should be less expensive and as it's a splice all you really need to do is to learn the splice, get some rope, make them yourself, and turn your back on silly prices forever.

Think about it...

Listening to Flogging Molly

So it goes...

Dealing with an itch...

L,G,&M reads  the best sailing book ever, the BBC talks about it, and a free song over at Here Comes the Flood...

So, as they say in these parts, big storm come... hopefully not all that big but I do have that feeling I get in the back of my neck when I should be someplace other than here...

So another cup of coffee, a few errands, catch the 11 AM forecast from NOAA, and I'm upping the anchor and getting someplace where I won't have that itch. The first rule of cruising is if you think it's time to leave it most certainly IS!

I expect there will be bugs though...

Listening to Streetlight Manifesto

So it goes...

A very cool type of boat...

NAS asks the question on everyone's lips these days..."Is this the new bow of yacht racing?"... and well they should!

The thing is though, the scow bow is hardly new. Let's just say it has simply languished in the memory hole and, if you were to ask me, a scow bow makes a whole bunch of sense for cruising, too...

I expect a lot of regular readers here are aware that our last boat, "Loose Moose 2" (featured in Phil Bolger's "Boats With an Open Mind"), was a scow-bowed sharpie and, in its travels, caused no end of consternation and scandalized anchorages on three continents.

As it happens, I really like scows and there is a pretty even chance that the next Loose Moose will, in fact, be a scow (if it is not a catamaran or proa).

I'm not exactly alone in the whole liking scows thing... Tad Roberts first came to my attention while I was living in France and just about to build our first Loose Moose (a Bolger Jessie Cooper design) and, if I had seen his Harry design just a little earlier, I'd most likely have built it...

While we were building our "Loose Moose 2" in Meaux, France, Reuel Parker included some drawings of a 44-foot scow cargo schooner stock plan in his book that has (in my opinion) set the standard for what a scow schooner should look like. Sadly this plan was something of a vaporware design (we tried to buy the plans just after we lost Loose Moose 2) and, while Reuel does have a couple of scows in his design portfolio, neither comes close to the 44-foot cargo schooner in his book. Well worth a look.


Willliam Garden, of course, is known to have designed an awesome scow or two and Tillicum certainly pops to mind...

Pete Culler was not adverse to the idea of a scow either...

What can I say... Pointy ends are so passé these days!

Listening to Bandits of the Acoustic Revolution 

So it goes...

Speaking of perfect dinghies...

Doing the big storm come two step...

A point that folks should remember, kids riding their bikes to school just might put their parents in jail, and if you only read one link this one is the one...

Meanwhile, I'm off to run all those "Big-storm-come-to-wreck-havoc-with-my-schedule" errands...

...and yes dear reader, it does get kinda old!

Listening to Big D and the Kids Table

So it goes...

I for one am looking forward to the new 15 hour work week...

Liz on "Swell" reflects on "raaou Tahiti", Alternate Brain uses the word "Comeuppance", and what better time to cut funding for the Hurricane Hunters?

Way back when I was in college and dinosaurs walked the avenues of Westwood, California I had a moment of clarity in an anthropology class...

The lecture involved the basic work week of stone age hunter-gatherers and I distinctly remember the fact that the number "15" was mentioned... It got my attention!

At that point in my life, being a full time starving film student and wannabe musician/composer, there were simply not enough hours in the day/week/month for me to earn enough money working several jobs to pay for my school expenses, study, and actually sleep. That said, I was a lot younger in those days and sleep did seem to be something of an elective activity...

So, you might say that in the bad old days of the stone age to find out that the average work week was akin to fifteen hours of labor was something of an eye opener to me... Truth is, it sort of rocked my world. Digging deeper into the whole subject of work weeks and history, one actually sees very quickly that the industrial revolution and its aftermath in regards to what became the norm for labor really was something of a bummer where leisure time was concerned and more than a bit of a con as well.

Even after the bleakest days of the dark ages, your basic baker/farmer/blacksmith only had to work fifteen hours a week to rebuild civilization while providing for his/her family, and I'll be honest, this leaves me with a warm fuzzy feeling... Being that I happen to be living in a world where the only viable future is going to be centered around a shrinking economy and simpler (though not stone age) ways of doing things...

The thing is, history is your friend. It would be no bad thing to read up on it from time to time as otherwise we wind up repeating the same mistakes over and over and over...

FYI... Two excellent books that may be of interest "Limited Wants, Unlimited Means: A Reader On Hunter-Gatherer Economics And The Environment" and "Stone Age Economics" are a really good place to start.

Listening to The Mighty, Mighty Bosstones!

So it goes...

Labor Day...

Brilliant at Breakfast pretty much says it all...

Have a happy Labor Day!

Just working on the boat today...

So why don't you really tell us how you feel about poor folks voting, people with wooden boats or Les Pauls might want to take note of this ongoing story, and cruising Argentina starts looking up...

I'm looking forward to spending the day plugged into my iPod and getting some boatwork stuff off the list...

You still here?

Listening to Save Ferris (Ska being great music to work on boats with)

So it goes...

My dinghy dilemma and the the quest for perfection...

Steal $50 you go to jail but defraud the government of 100 million and you get a fine, a note to the President, and, since it's Labor Day weekend in a 0% job growth month, something to think about while you eat your Hershey Kisses...

It really is a beautiful day down here in the Caribbean, we have the anchorage to ourselves, Hurricane Katia is someone else's problem, and I have a little boat work to do before going shopping... Life is good.

Of course, some say it could be better. Recently it has been pointed out to me that I don't have the perfect dinghy and the shame of such an affront to the cruising community hangs like a deep dark shadow over my usual good time...

I do, however, admit to being just a little confused, as while I have carried the shame for a couple of years now of not having the perfect dinghy, my understanding has been that if there was a certainty in life it was that a RIB with a 15HP engine was not a perfect dinghy "pour moi"! In my world view the perfect dinghy rows...

Face it, it really all depends on who you are and the style of cruising you choose to adopt that makes the whole idea of a "perfect" anything around boats a bit problematic. In my case, I'm not in a hurry to get anywhere so the need for a 15HP or larger motor instead of my 5HP is not exactly enticing and the amazing amount of money I've saved since swapping our 15HP for a 5HP non-gas-guzzling replacement has me thinking that a 3HP might be even better. A Mirage drive would be best of all if only someone would design the boat that could handle cruising loads to use it... a Deckster Grande if you will!

Then again, we have been doing this gig for so long that when we started lots of folks did not even have outboards and dinghies actually had oars (what a thought). Those who did, tended to have outboards akin to the Seagull (the internal combustion equivalent of Chinese water torture) so maybe that accounts for my non-motorhead mindset and bias.

Maybe not... maybe it's simply that not going fast or needing to is all part of the lifestyle I want cruising to be for me and I'm more than happy to leave jetting around the anchorage in a hurry to those guys in the "live slow, sail fast" t-shirts.

Listening to Leslie and the Badgers

So it goes...

A lazy (and cheap) guide to solving a rigging problem...

The only production catamaran I'd consider owning these days (because a reader asked), a pretty cool LED tie kit which might be of interest to very confused boat folk that actually still wear ties, and maybe it's just me, but does this send a message or what?

Being a lazy guy, I decided that it would be no bad thing to add another purchase to my mainsail halyard but finding just the right block to do it has been somewhat problematic, as most blocks were just a little too long for the small space between the head of the sail and the existing halyard sheave.

Lucky for me, serendipity is my friend and as I was looking for something else at an online chandler and scanned past a small soft snatch block that would do the job just fine...

Equiplite makes it, and while it does the job I need doing, it is a whole lot of expensive at around $300 for what is essentially just a sheave, a soft shackle, and a bit of velcro.

Maybe I should rephrase that opening statement...

Being a lazy and cheap guy.

Yeah, ain't no way this boy is spending $300 on a bit of rope and a sheave when I can buy the makings for a whole lot less...

How much less you ask?

Well, a soft shackle of the right size for this enterprise uses a kiss less than 38 inches of Amsteel or Dynex. If I bought the line at Defender today it would cost me a little over $9 for Dynex or a bit over $6 for the Amsteel. The sheave I could pick up from someone like Petzl  or Camp (climbing gear folks) who make rescue pulleys whose sheaves are just the right size for a project like this for maybe $10, throw in half hour of sweat equity to do the soft shackle splice and hey presto a reasonable facsimile of the Equiplite soft snatch block for less that $25... Seems to me we could all come up with a use for that $275 of savings...

Kind of makes you think.

As it happens, I'm not going to make my own snatch block because as I was perusing various rescue pulleys it made me realize that the Camp rescue pulley would work just as well as the soft snatch block for my purpose, if not better, and I could buy one for even less ($14!) than making my own. What do you think this melon farmer is going to do? Didn't I mention I'm a lazy guy?

Is not serendipity a wonderful thing?

Listening to Lee Rude

So it goes...

Thinking of a cafe with a water view...

A surfboard builder says something interesting, a "different" advantage of electric propulsion, and the Tao of the Ninja Mennonite continues...

I'm not sure how you feel, but the specter of Hurricane Katia currently heading directly towards "So It Goes" is a bit unsettling (that lower gray line is the storms current track)... Luckily, it is forecast to turn more north and give us a miss but right now it is lumbering in a direction I'd prefer it not to.

But, such is life in the Lesser Antilles during "H" season... The bummer is the season is not yet even half over and it will be more of the same for the foreseeable future.

That Pastis at a sidewalk cafe in Sete sure looks good right about now...

Listening to Les Rita Mitsouko

So it goes...