Wednesday, February 29, 2012

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...

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Getting back to basics...

Best quote this week in the "No, I don't know any poor people but a lot of my best friends own low income housing" department, what it's really like to be poor, and a book I'm really looking forward to...

I've just been reading "Wind and Tide: An Introduction to Cruising in Pure Sailing Craft"  by Jay Fitzgerald and I just have to say it is the best no-frills-bare-bones book on sailing I've ever come across. Something everyone should read whether you are just learning to sail or as a way to step back a little and rethink the whole how to sail ting...

Trust me, getting back to basics is something we all should do from time to time...

Listening to The Dustbowl Revival

So it goes...



Monday, February 27, 2012

A quick chat with Tad Roberts...

A long time ago, while we were building a Wharram Tiki on a tiny island on the Seine, I was reading an American sailing magazine and took notice of a small mention and a drawing of a neat little scow... The fact is, I was so impressed with the idea of the scow that I remember cutting the little blurb out of the magazine and sticking it into my neat boat stuff file. The design in question was the "Harry" and the designer was a guy in British Columbia by the name of Tad Roberts...

Now, a whole bunch of years later, Tad is still designing neat boats and I'm still finding his designs interesting and very buildable. When I first started Boat Bits one of the ideas was I'd be able to talk to folks like Tad and ask various designer questions that I wanted answers to... Life, as they say, is good!

 Hi Tad, what made you decide to become a NA?

These days I call myself a Boat Designer, Naval Architecture is part of what I do but I do other things as well: Art, Styling, Engineering, Social Commentary, Teaching, Lecturing and writing.

There really wasn't much choice, I knew what I was going to do at an early age, it just took a long time to figure out how to do it.  Both my grandfathers and my father designed and built boats for themselves, and most of my relatives are involved with boats so it started early.  I was drawing boats as soon as I could hold a pencil and just carried on, getting more sophisticated as I got older. Somehow I knew that seatime was required and so I spent many years crewing on anything I could get aboard, mostly commercial boats but also some sailing vessels. 

This experience using, building, and maintaining boats showed to me that there was huge opportunity for improved designs. And that's the real reason for doing this, to create better boats.  Boats can be prettier, easier to build, better performing, and simpler to use and maintain if those are set out as design goals. 
 
What would you say are your major influences design-wise.

My parents were early major influences. My mother is an artist and taught me about color, form, and balance, while my father is a pragmatist and was always talking about ways to make something better performing or easier to use or build. He also took me to sea for extended periods from a young age. This combination was particularly lucky for me.

Specific designers who have been influential include (in no particular order) L.F. Herreshoff, for design integrity. Maurice Griffiths, for good boats for average folks. Phil Bolger, for honesty in design, William Garden, for art, romance, and regional character. Billy and John Atkin, more good boats for average folks. Robert Harris, for personally encouraging me, and setting a seamanlike example in all types of designs. Dick Newick, simple and effective beautiful boats. Jay Benford, more buildable boats of strong character. 
Of course, having worked with Bruce King for 14 years he had considerable influence, mainly in the areas of aesthetics and engineering.  
Your first design which caught my attention, "Harry", was both a scow and a minimal envelope cruiser which seems odd as most young designers are so busy doing their version of the same old same... What was your thought process about "Harry"?


Pretty tough to recall what I was thinking 26 years ago!

Harry (the person) is my grandfather Harry Roberts.  He designed and built a number of boats (sailing and power) in the 1920's through the 60's here in BC.  In his late 80's he was still working on the design of an "Old Man's Boat" as he called it. Harry was born in the south of England and came to BC in 1900 at the age of 16. I have always been interested in Thames Sailing Barges and I thought a small, simple to build, version of that would make an interesting old man's boat.  I sold a few plans for Harry's and did some modified versions, but I have no idea if any were ever launched.
Harry's last boat, finished but never launched.  Vee bottom pram bow with raised deck great cabin and Chinese balanced Lug ketch rig.  

You also seem to think there is some market for small sailing cargo
carriers in the foreseeable future... How do you see your cargo schooner
designs coming into play?

In the early 1980's I belonged to an organization called SAILA (Sail Assist International Liaison Associates) intended to promote the use of auxiliary sailing vessels for all kinds of commercial work. I had experience fishing and carrying freight under sail and I still believe auxiliary sailing vessels make sense in many situations. In places like Kiribati where there is a tiny population spread over thousands of square miles of ocean, where air freight has just become too expensive and there are no harbours for even coaster sized container ships.  These are the opportunities for simply built and inexpensively operated sailing vessels.  The rig of these vessels must be simple, rugged, and versatile, high-tech masthead sloops will not work and are not possible given the minimal budget. Hard-chine vee bottom welded steel hulls fit the available skills and budgets. 
Currently we're seeing many small communities going to landing barge type freight movers.  The next step is sailing landing barges (or scow schooners) handling mini containers.  Water is the least expensive (greenest) method of transportation of freight, currently much infrastructure is against small freight on the water but that might change.  Harbours are expensive to build and maintain, therefore boats able to land or load freight anywhere should be able to compete if given a chance. 


As a home builder of boats myself, I find that a real issue I have with a lot of designers is that they are so concentrated on the existing retail market and current fashion that they often ignore the actual reasons someone chooses to build a boat rather than buy.

Such as filling a niche that is not available to buy like shoal draft or a real cruising
boat instead of something that fits into the bareboat/floating condo mode...  Care to jump into the fray?

I have no interest in doing a warmed up version of what’s already been done.  One of the big gulfs is that production weekenders bear no relation to boats that people could build for themselves and live aboard while cruising.  Yet the design business is focused on and judged by success in that production racer/cruiser market. IE you must be a “good” designer because Beneteau built 1,000 hulls to your design. 


And these production boats are not user friendly, all systems are cheaply done, inaccessible, and un-repairable.  The accommodation is designed around numerous berths and heads and no storage space.  And the deck arrangements provide no shelter for the crew and uncomfortable undersized cockpits.  One of my bigger beefs is the lack of any consideration of reasonable dinghy storage. And the rigs are ridiculously complex for the way they are used.


Today’s stock racer/cruiser is virtually identical to what was being offered 30 years ago except today’s boat is higher and wider with a smaller keel and different shaped windows.  Okay, I’m exaggerating a bit… But the only market area attracting interest (sales) is where there’s innovation, for instance in multihulls.  I think builders have missed innovation in cruising boats, rigs should be simpler and work better, draft should be shallower with moveable appendages, interiors should be friendlier and more useful, and decks should be safer.
 Ragsdale 36’ twin keel origami steel gaff schooner

Three words... Balanced Lug Rig...

I like lug rigs, one of my own boats (Ratty) is an unstayed partially-balanced standing lug cat ketch. This rig is totally forgiving and can be set up or taken out of the boat in a few minutes.  I’ve drawn a number of balanced Chinese (fully battened) lug rigs and I’ve sailed a 54’ Colvin pinky with big balanced lug sails.  The lack of sheet load was a huge revelation to me, also the lack of flapping and the instant power/depower.    

What designs that you are currently working on have you excited?

So many boats and so little time!  Currently the majority of my work is on powerboats and motorsailers, but pure sailing vessels remain a big interest.  The “Future Cruiser” series have been percolating on a back burner for over a year.  Without a client conceptual designs end up as a crusade for recognition and today I just have less time and energy for such undertakings. While that’s great for the stew pot, a designer has to push the new ideas out in the world. 
38' Future Cruiser
Another new design underway is a simple vee-bottom aluminum ketch rigged motorsailer.  The motorsailer has disappeared of late because virtually every sailing yacht is more than adequately powered.  This boat will be of PNW character with much of the accommodation in a large pilothouse.  

What do you feel your most successful sailboat design has been so far?

What’s “successful”?  If you mean mission wise I could say Tern, having fulfilled her intended mission over a number of years. She was successfully built by a group of neophytes who then safely sailed (and rowed) her to Alaska and back.  She continues to fill a role as a training vessel around Lopez Island, something which gives me great satisfaction.
Or, monetarily “successful”?  That would be the Hinckley Sou’wester 70, Five of these have been built bringing considerable money and work to the Hinckley yard.   

What's the design you've done that folks simply don't get or misunderstand?

That would be Ratty, my answer to what I thought was a need for a improved Drascombe boat that people could self-build. 

If you were not designing boats what do you think you'd be doing?

I design and theorize about other things, houses, transportation systems, etc.  I’m getting better at and enjoying writing more as I get older.  When I can’t see to draw any more I’ll paint full time, mostly abstract landscape.
Tiny Houses intended for earthquake victims in Haiti.

You were saying something the other day about a good method of home building as a
co-operative model, and as someone who has built two boats in a co-op situation, I personally can't understand why it has not caught on in North America as everyone we met building boats in Europe were in a co-op of one sort or another... Care to expand?

I first came across the idea 30 years ago and I have no idea why there aren’t more well known cooperatives.  I guess it’s part of the independent nature of do-it-your-selfers that they would ignore that kind of group undertaking.  We’ve (in North America) been taught independence, had it forced on us really from a young age.  There’s something wrong with you if you can’t go it alone.  But the internet (among other things) is changing that and people are finding others doing similar projects all across the globe, which is very cool. 


But I’ve also noticed a shift in the typical home builder.  20-30 years ago it was not unusual to find a lone guy building a 48’ ketch or a 42’ trimaran in his backyard and intending to sail off to the southseas.  Today home builders are working on 20-25’ fishing boats to go out on the weekend with their kids.  I agree it’s perhaps a more realistic concept, but I miss the run-away-from-it-all dreamers.

Listening to Great Big Sea

So it goes...

Sunday, February 26, 2012

More islands than cruisers...

In reference to some seriously crazy talk, clueless guy thinks he needs an apology, and Badtux the Friendly Penguin has a thought...


I've been talking to someone who lives near Cebu and has pointed out what a great place the Philippines is as a cruising ground...
"...the cruising is exceptional.  The PI has over 7000 islands.  Anchorages are uncrowded.  There are almost no foreign cruisers and few local ones.  From the far north (Luzon), one can short hop all the way to Phuket, Thailand, about 3000nm each way. The wind is not nearly as steady as in the Caribe, but it is monsoonal. You can ride a fair wind one way and 6 months later come back with the wind aft.

If you can handle a little more, Hong Kong is about a 450 nm and it is a gateway to Macau, SE China, Vietnam, E Thailand and Malaysia,  Indonesia,  Australia,  Vanuatu, the Solomons, Guam, Saipan, Japan..."
From where I sit the idea of 7000 islands and not a whole lot of cruisers certainly makes me sit up and take notice!

Listening to Buffy Sainte-Marie

So it goes...

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Firing up the need/want calculator...

Now here's a thought, something you might want to consider, and in the seems fair to me department...

I know I tend to go off on anti-consumerism rants from time to time but that does not mean that I don't actually admit that sometimes you just have to buy stuff...

The key is whether you are buying something you actually need or just want.

As it happens, aboard "So It Goes", we've been putting a couple of tools through the need/want calculator...

One tool I've been wanting for a while is a very small circular trim saw as my DeWalt is way past its sell by date. I've had something of a sea change regarding battery powered hand tools and since I have no working DeWalt batteries aboard and new batteries would cost more than a new corded saw, you can see why this saw is appealing....


Of course, with only a three-inch blade this saw is not the tool of choice for ripping 2" X 4" stock but it is hell-on-wheels for plywood of 7/8" on down... Better yet, the 3" blade is small enough that cutting curves of the sort found on dinghies, surfboards and general boat joinery is a cakewalk.

Lastly, it makes the whole stowage of most used power tools a lot less problematic. I can now fit my power tools in one medium sized bag which goes a long way to making things more accessible and, as a result, easier to actually do the needful work at hand.

So, when all is said and done, the new circular saw passes the need/want litmus test!

Another tool I really really want is a small bench grinder which would be incredibly handy for most of those stainless jobs that require fabrication and the requisite polishing in its aftermath... The problem is, even the smallest stationary tool becomes seriously problematic to the Nth degree as far as storing it away. When I add up the pros and cons, it becomes obvious that while I certainly want a grinder/polisher and it would be handy, I just would not use it enough to make it a worthwhile investment. My old angle grinder, sander, and electric drill pretty much do the needful so I don't actually need one... Bummer!

Listening to Sister Hazel

So it goes

Thursday, February 23, 2012

A very cool outboard motor...

Rewriting history, a very, very cool ride, and Dave Z is making a lot of good points...

I need a new outboard... and, yes, I've already put it through my need/want calculator. As much as I don't want a new outboard I really do need one.

Part of the reason we need a new outboard is the cost of gas just keeps going up and even though I've downsized to a 5HP a few years back I'd prefer to spend less rather than more in the gas department.

So we're thinking a 2.5 HP would be no bad thing. Four-stroke, of course, would nearly double up on the fuel savings and make me that little less guilty about the awful pollution that is part and parcel that running a two stroke brings to the equation.

One area I've been looking at since we're now in four-stroke land is trying to find a carburetor kit that would allow for using propane as well as gas as a fuel.. So far, not a whole lot of luck on that front.

Why propane?

Well, mostly it is a lot less polluting than a gasoline engine, fewer oil changes, and, right now where I sit in the Caribbean, propane is a bit cheaper than gasoline... So, you might say propane makes a whole lot of sense and you have to wonder why no one has bothered to build a propane only or multi-fuel outboard so far.

Speaking of the devil...


Now, does this make sense or what?

A 2.5 HP propane outboard!

While not a multi-fuel unit, it does have the good design sense to be able to use large 10# or 20# propane bottles as well as those handy (if silly expensive) 1# bottles so you can have a backup get home fuel source in the dinghy for when the big bottle runs out.

According to the specs, a 20# propane tank would give you 20 hours of use at full throttle... Not that I'm ever a full throttle kind of guy, but my guess is that this equates to being considerably more fuel efficient than a 2.5HP gasoline outboard.

Not much more expensive than a normal four-stroke outboard of the same horsepower, the added savings in fuel efficiency, lower cost of propane, and the savings in motor oil would be saving you some real money overall. As an added bonus, since almost all outboard problems are directly related to bad fuel it would save you money/time in a BIG way and be a lot more dependable as well!

Seems I may have found my next outboard! As it happens, for those who need more power, Lehr also makes a 5HP...

Listening to Laura Love

So it goes...



Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Another reason you may not want to anchor close...

Badtux the Snarky Penguin has a question, what about those future budgets, and Crooks & Liars make some good points...

I always wanted a Melobar guitar...

Now, for those not obsessed with weird and wonderful guitar trivia, the Melobar folks catered to a tiny niche market of folks who wanted a lap steel they could play standing up...


Some kind of cool, is it not? Sort of a Gibson Explorer colliding with a Ricky lap steel...

The problem with Melobars was they were way out of my price range and I could never justify spending that kind of serious money (the guitar above went for over a thousand dollars back in the early 80's) and as it is a serious collectable as only a handful were made... Well, like the man said when speaking of yachts, if you have to ask you can't afford it.

Now, here is a pretty cool guitar of the same ilk...


It's a Peavey, it sounds awesome, and it is very affordable. What's not to like!




Listening to Redbone

So it goes...

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Make that cunning cheap bastard...

Big fish little board, about those Checkered Whiptail lizards, and what passes for success in law enforcement these days in drugs and terror...

Just to beat some folks to the punch who will say "Yeah, but Bob at Boat Bits is just a cheap bastard, so of course he'd come up with a cunning plan to avoid haulout charges"...

Guilty as charged and proud of it!

So, we were talking about ways to cut down on those boatyard blues, and yes indeed you might say I have a plan. In point of fact, some might, dare I say it, call it cunning!

The great designer of motion picture cameras Andre Coutant once said that to design a silent motion picture camera it was best to start with a camera that was quiet. This, of course, seems rather obvious but at the time it was something of an earth shattering observation...

So, in light of the thought process of Mr Coutant and in honor of the Eclair NPR camera, we actually have the kernel of the plan...

Make the boat less prone to need haulouts. See, simple!

Which means we need a better paint or means of keeping the critters off. As 95% of the reason anyone actually hauls out is because of the need to replace expensive bottom paints. With this in mind, I've decided a belts and braces strategy is the way to go...

The belt, if you will, is a copper/epoxy bottom of the DIY variety. There are, of course, several commercial options for this but they are all rather expensive for something that is really just copper flake/powder (41 microns) mixed into a low viscosity epoxy (System3/West/Raka) with a thixotropic agent (colloidal silica) and, being something of a cheap bastard, what do you think I'm going to do?

The cost of the resulting epoxy/copper mix comes to less than any of the usual suspects that most of us currently use for antifouling paint and as the projected lifespan of a copper/epoxy system is around ten years... Well, my basic math skills tell me this equates to about 20% of what paint costs. Factor in the not having to haul every two years for painting the bottom and the savings just became seriously huge!

That said, there are some issues with copper/epoxy bottoms and they need to be buffed up with a green dish scrubber to expose a bit of copper from time to time but I've noticed most folks with antifouling paint need to do the same, so no real change there.

The folks building the Bob Oram (a longtime user of copper/epoxy antifouling) cat "Scrumble" have a post about doing one of their hulls...

As for the braces... Hard core Luddite's might want to skip this paragraph. I still think that electronic antifouling systems make a lot of sense and given some development are our best option, so we plan to install along with our copper/epoxy bottom job a couple of transducers to make the bottom just that little more of an unfavorable place for critters to hang out.

Now that we have less need to haul out on a regular basis, we need to address the need to come out of the water on an irregular basis. For that, we need to add some legs to the mix. Peter, over at Mostly About Boats, made some excellent legs of the semi-traditional sort for his Albin and over at Atom Voyages there is a less traditional but more stowable version that makes all kinds of sense.

Now with legs I won't have to be at the mercy of some silly priced yard if I need to service something below the waterline or other needful drying out maneuvers...

These projects along with the fact that we converted our mast to a deck-stepped tabernacle system means that 90% of normal haulouts are no longer needful for at least 8-10 years, which pretty much works for me.

Listening to Dr John and music from the first season of Treme (it is after all Fat Tuesday!)

So it goes...



Monday, February 20, 2012

doing the boatyard two step...

You have to admit 84% and no perp walks is some kind of impressive (who says crime doesn't pay?), musical chairs, and it appears Bruce has something to say...

Yesterday I spent quite a bit of time researching the costs involved for our next haulout and, to be honest, it was not fun reading.

Seriously, it's nuts when hauling my boat into a boatyard for a week costs about the same or more than going to an all-inclusive resort. Of course, where boatyards are concerned, it's impossible to use the words all-inclusive and boatyard in the same sentence...

Boatyard rates these days are so complicated with their various nickel and dime schemes/extras/minimums and restrictions you really need a Cray computer on steroids to figure out what a week on the hard is going to cost you.

One yard we've hauled at before gives you in and out and two free laydays for $450, but then, there is the cost of popping six jack stands under the boat, electricity, liveaboard fee, extra laydays, etc so by the end of the process a week on the hard doing all your own labor is costing you more like $1400. Ouch!

As for those two included "free" laydays, well, if past experience is anything to go by, they keep you waiting all day (as I recall be here by 8:00 sharp were the words used) but won't actually get you out of the water till the end of the business day you haul and will insist that they launch you somewhere around sunrise the day you go in... Pretty much making your two "free" laydays as useless as that aspirin between the knees that Santorum dude keeps going on about.

Once on the hard it does not get any better... Well, that is unless you actually enjoy wallowing in filth and toxic waste which seems to be something of a de riguer part of the whole hauling in the Virgin Islands experience.

I could go on about charging you as much as $150 a can for using your own paint and not buying it at the so called discount yard shop or the fact that the reversed polarity yard wiring may just eat your tools or give you a cardiac arrest (if the boatyard contract/quote had not already) but what's the point...

The thing is, there simply has to be a better way... Ya think?

More about that tomorrow...

Listening to Flogging Molly

So it goes...





Sunday, February 19, 2012

Something to bookmark...

About those tropical cocktails, the sheep grease advantage, and some good points about tasers/tasing...

For those in the find a small boat, rehab the sucker, and sail off into the sunset fraternity, a really good place to bookmark would be Atom Voyages, which just may be the best fix up an old boat site around.

James Baldwin has good ideas... I've mentioned his awesome solar tracker before, but there are any number of projects that anyone fixing up a boat would find interesting and helpful... For instance, check out his very cool outboard wells!

Baldwin's chops come from experience sailing around the world a couple of times on his sailboat Atom (a 28-foot Pearson Triton) so you might say he actually understands what someone preparing to go to sea and cruise in a small boat needs. So hardly surprising he makes a whole lot of sense.

His book "Across Islands and Oceans" is also something of a must read...

The funny thing is, while every Pearson person I run into seems to know all about Atom (with various projects on their boats attesting to it), Jame's work is not quite so well known outside the Pearson tribe even though it's just as helpful whether you have a CAL or a Bendytoy.

Like I said, a website you should be reading...

Listening to Rod Stewart

So it goes...

Friday, February 17, 2012

A book well worth reading...

About growing things on boats, this does not make me feel safe about flying, and a non-fiction graphic novel I'll be reading...

One of my favorite magazines is Mountain Gazette and I've been a reader for my entire adult life... Which, admittedly, dates both me and the magazine. I mention this because when I see in a press release or blurb for a book that an author has written for Mountain Gazette I'm pretty sure it is a book I'm going to want to read.

Case in point, "The Man Who Quit Money"...

I'd read Mark Sundeen in MG as well as a couple of other venues so knew he has some solid chops in the writing department.

"The Man Who Quit Money" is about a guy who walked away from his life savings...

OK, I'll admit, walking away from a life savings is something of a hook but not quite a slam dunk.

"In 2000, Daniel Suelo left his life savings-all thirty dollars of it-in a phone booth."

Yep, the fact that his life savings was a mere thirty dollars firmly set the hook... In my thinking, walking away from $30 is a lot harder than walking away from a fortune, as $30 is real money, your next meal, certainly more real than number on a bank statement.


Someone who walks away from it all and leaves it for some unsuspecting person who needs to make a phone call... Well now, that is someone I want to know more about.

Listening to The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

So it goes...



Thursday, February 16, 2012

Just my take on something in my RSS feed...

Why paying cash for coffee or gum might not be a good idea (to be filed in is-this-seriously-crazy-or-what department), Waves for Water doing something worthwhile in Afghanistan, and a film project to look forward to...

Over at Attainable Adventure Cruising they have apparently pulled the plug on the discussion of the Adventure 40/Model T Bluewater Cruiser because things were getting too negative... Pity really.

I'll admit I have some issues with the concept of a near $200K affordable cruiser but there were some seriously good ideas in the mix and the intellectual discussion on what it needed to be and what was needful to make it happen was, and is, well worth reading and discussing.

Off hand, I'm pretty sure my initial aversion to the actual concept was more about calling it a Model T than it was a about yet another boat design for well off people to go sailing on. One of the reasons the Model T was such a successful car design was that it was only about a quarter of the price of existing cars at the time and so affordable in fact, that folks who worked on the factory floor who built the cars could actually afford to buy one...

I know a few people who work for a paycheck and actually build boats on the shop floor. Even the best paid in that group are not going to be able to afford a near $200K boat. That's the irritant for me because the Model T comparison leads one to believe they can.

That said, it is ALWAYS a good thing when folks discuss how to build better and more affordable boats!

I've yet to read anything on Attainable Adventure Cruising about sailing or boats that did not make all kinds of sense... I might not always agree with everything they say but that does not mean I ever think that their way of doing something is wrong but simply that there are more ways to do something than some mythical "one true path".

Personally I'd still like to see the discussion continue and, if it does, I expect it will continue to be interesting and we all might learn something in the process...

Just saying...

Listening to Dan Bern

So it goes...



Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Did someone say bicycle?

Something to think about before you buy a candy bar, a reason or two to build a drone, and ZTC goes for a bike ride...

Speaking of bikes... ZTC makes a good point that folks on boats are either a bike person or a non-bike person. My experience with folks on boats who have been successful with bikes aboard are folks who rode bikes before they had a boat, so riding is already something that comes natural.

On the other hand, folks who buy bikes with the intention of getting into it without any prior experience are much more likely to be selling theirs sooner or later when the fact that they don't get used, rust, and take up space gets to be an issue.

It's just how it seems to work...

While we were in the Med our bikes got used all the time for shopping, making water runs, and exploring. Take my word for it nothing quite improves the ability to explore an area as having a means of getting to (and back from) anywhere in a fifty-mile radius with the added perk of being able to bring back the shopping as a day trip. Not to mention the advantage of the fact that in Europe trains are bike friendly so it is easy to bike to a train station, take a train (with your bike) to an area a hundred miles or so inland and then when you're there you have your bike to explore to your heart's content. Once you're ready to go back to the boat, your train will whisk you and your bikes back to your starting point...

Can you spell c-i-v-i-l-i-z-e-d?

As I've mentioned before here on the blog, I'm not generally big on bikes that come in substandard sizing or fold up but then again I'm 6'5" and think Sundays were made for the sole purpose of doing double centuries so I'm pretty much your full sized bike kind a guy... That said, Russ and Laura (currently touring New Zealand) make a compelling case for small wheel bikes that fold on their excellent blog The Path Less Pedaled!

Another excellent site on bikes and touring you might want to check out is here. They make a great case for touring on cheap (but good) thrift store bikes... What can I say, they are obviously my kind of folks and, for the record, reading them has made me rethink the new bikes for "So It Goes" in a big way... But, more about that later!

Listening to Mr Big

So it goes...




Tuesday, February 14, 2012

a tax here, a tax there...

Talk about tacky, funny how you don't hear that much about the homeless in the US media, and, uh yeah...

OddaSea joins the voices bemoaning the state of things in Tennessee for the home boatbuilder... He makes some good points!

The thing is, it is a much bigger problem than just some guy building a skiff for his son... For instance, if you own a cruising boat have you noticed just how hard it is these days to find a DIY friendly yard for a haul-out so you can do some basic maintenance and slap some bottom paint on?

Even if you do, can you believe some of the extra charges that are creeping in to the mix if you happen to have your own paint or epoxy?

Sadly, as a whole, boaters are looked upon by any number of people as cash cows. The folks who think that way are no longer content with extracting some money from us they want more...

It's not a big jump in logic to see how folks wanting to wring every single possible cent from the boating public are going to look at folks who build their own boats, do their own work, or refuse to pay silly expensive items when there are alternatives as warm and cuddly. Truth of the matter is, they want us gone because we are a bad influence and tend to inspire others to actually get involved with the needful upkeep of our boats while shining a light on just how silly most marine pricing is.

While we lived in France we belonged to a cooperative of boatbuilders by the name of the Unite Amateur. To be truthful, most all builders in France are members because of the UA group buying program and discounts on materials and gear which is no bad thing, but the other more important role of the organization was in education and the fact that it gave boatbuilders in France the political clout that enabled folks to build their boats, navigate the French bureaucratic spiderwebs, and keep out the sort of silliness that just happened in Tennessee.

"Don't agonize. Organize!" ... Florynce Kennedy
Listening to Ryan Bingham

So it goes...

Monday, February 13, 2012

A possible but maybe unlikely future project...

Soros makes a point, so does Orlov, and in the we've been waiting 27 years for our favorite Celtic Soul band to return department...

Over at the most excellent blog SV Let it Go they have been doing a great series on building/buying a watermaker and if you have been considering doing either, it really is a must read.

As I've mentioned before, building a watermaker always seems to be on the short list for us on "So It Goes" but we never quite get up to steam on the project. That said, I keep looking at those $200 on sale electric pressure washers and, one of these days, I may just do it.

In the meantime, a four-foot square bit of Sunbrella with a hose barb seems like the way to go...

Listening to Dexys Midnight Runners

So it goes...

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Today is a good day...

A quick reality check, this is not good, and just a normal American neighborhood...

It's Sunday, the weather is awesome, and after I finish waffles I get to glass the new dinghy... You might say I'm a happy camper!

The thing a lot of folks don't get about the whole DIY gig on boats is it's simply a very satisfying happy-making experience. Whether I'm building a new dinghy, doing a self steering gear, or rehabbing the galley, I'm enjoying myself...

So, the sitting at anchor building a new dinghy is not something that is taking a way from the fun, it's adding to it!

Then again, it's all about how you look at things I guess...

Listening to Mason & Capaldi

So it goes...

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Someone making some sense...

Dudley Dix gets political, a report some folks would rather have you not read, and so much for "safe and sane"...

I've been spending quite a bit of time over at the TriloBoat blog as Dave seems to be making a lot of sense these days and face it, folks who make sense are in short supply!


The Trilo Boat concept is sort of an Advanced sharpie meets raft/catamaran and, for the way 90% of people use cruising boats, it would work just fine... With the bonus that it would not take years of saving and work to get on the water. Like I said, it makes some sense!

Actually, of late, I've been thinking just how nice such a boat would be for hanging out in the Caribbean... Someone could hop on a airplane with a trunk of tools and the plans, then once here find someone with a backyard you could rent for a couple of months. Almost all of the needful materials could be found at the local lumberyard...


The resulting boat would be quite happy sailing from island to island and hanging out, sort of a movable condo/RV with a seafront view on a budget...


While you could safely sail such a boat over to the Med or someplace further if the urge set in and the Caribbean got boring (it does happen), but I'd consider just selling it and then fly to wherever I wanted to be and simply build another... Hell, you might even make a profit in the process!

I've been thinking (always a dangerous pastime) how cool a boat Dave Z's little B'Tugly (a riff on the old Bolger Super Brick) would be down here...


Makes all kinds of sense!

Listening to Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes

So it goes...

Friday, February 10, 2012

Apparently not exactly the case...

So much for perp walks and the rule of law, no rule of law no trust, and yet another reason there is a lack of respect or trust for those who should be upholding the rule of law...

"Something happening here..."  - Stephen Stills

Nobel prize winning economist Paul Krugman had an interesting post yesterday and it contained some surprising facts... Trust me, this will actually get around to boat stuff sooner or later.

One of those facts, that violent crime was way down, flies in the face of everything the media/politicians/etc are throwing at you as we are constantly being told we live in an unsafe world that is getting less safe everyday...


Which is apparently not the case.

You might want to pause and reflect on that for a moment or two...

I bring this up in a boat blog of all things because every time you open a sailing magazine you are confronted with a whole lot of hype that is all about selling you stuff and like a lot of things hype driven, it might not actually be true...

The thing about hype is that it is insidious and it creeps into the common knowledge base so even folks who should know better start taking for granted that it's real. Where blue water boats, related systems, and seaworthiness are concerned there is just so much hype and misinformation that it is nearly impossible to tell one from the other without stepping WAY  back and asking yourself some close to primal questions about how boats work and what makes a boat safe...

For instance, ask why deep draft is considered more seaworthy or safer than shoal or moderate draft and try and find some answers that are more than "Because". To quote Jack Webb (a guy who went to my high school), "Just the facts ma'am".

Personally, I'd like to see a sailing magazine that put some more effort into the education of its readers (WoodenBoat is a good example of a magazine that does so without pandering to its advertisers) and not only when it is convenient to help pimp advertising... To tell you the truth, I'm so tired of reading yet another "Cats are the Future of Cruising" article that are completely empty of facts or educational value except the ongoing message of Catamarans are hip and here are some you can buy...

Which, I might add, is coming from someone who really likes multihulls but who thinks the sailing community is ill served by hype rather than real hard info.

So next time around show me some graphs and some facts... Actually explain why the new flavor of the month cruising design deserves to be the flavor of the month. Is it because it is safer, easier to sail, has a Paisley paint job, or is it simply because they took two full pages of advertising in the current issue?

Of course, it is partly our fault as we don't ask the sort of questions we should be asking... You know, the why sort.

Rant over.

Listening to Bob Marley

So it goes...

Thursday, February 09, 2012

So, what exactly resides in our goop locker?

An obituary of note, in the poor baby department, and I agree 100% with this poll!

John Muir's "How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive: A Manual of Step-by-Step Procedures for the Compleat Idiot" has, over the years, been one of the most influential books in terms of sailing and cruising on my bookshelf... Which, considering it has bugger all boat content may surprise a few folks.

I mention this because a friend and I have been discussing such things as tools and the sort of repair materials that one should carry aboard at any given time. John Muir in his discussion of needful tools hit the nail on the head when he said something to the effect that he would not even consider a trip to the local liquor store without some serious tool inventory that to most folk would seem excessive.

On Loose Moose 2 we took a certain comfort that pretty much all of the tools used to build her were aboard when we sailed away from France. Truth is, having those tools both saved us a lot of money over the years but also allowed us to make money from time to time as well... No bad thing at all.

We feel the same about having a certain amount of glass fiber supplies onboard because you never know when you might want to build a new dinghy or repair a three foot hole when a frisky power boater has a lapse of common sense/attention while you sit happily at anchor...

,

Which is why at any given time aboard "So It Goes" you'll find at least three gallons of epoxy, five yards of 10 oz glass cloth, several full rolls of both Biax and normal woven glass tape (in 3", 6", 12" widths), various fillers (wood fiber, silica, micro spheres, carbon powder), as well as a moderate assortment of carbon tape, cloth, and roving/tow to add some real muscle to what I can build when needful.

The interesting fact is that all of that does not take up very much room, more or less about the same cubic area as a case of Racor filters and as I have electric propulsion, I certainly don't need a case of filters and assorted internal combustion spares so everything works out just fine.

Listening to The Volunteers

So it goes...

Wednesday, February 08, 2012

Some reading...

Zandar makes a point, rampant stupidity continues to be the big growth industry, and we call this a democracy...

I like to read.

When you think about it, the whole boat gig is a very reader-friendly environment with a lack of distractions that just lends itself to picking up a good book and getting into it. Face it, half the attraction of the cruising life is that I can sit on the foredeck and read to my heart's content!

A while back I read a book by Neil Gaiman and, for some reason or other, it keeps resonating in my thoughts so I'm really looking forward to reading it again. I'm sure there is something important I missed...

The other books I'm currently looking forward to reading is the latest in the Game of Thrones series and the new offering from Stephen King.

Life is good!

Listening to Ox

So it goes...

Tuesday, February 07, 2012

On publishing progress or something like it...

A scary thought, an idea, "walking for respect" whose time has come, and in the blindingly obvious department...

I keep getting these emails from Zinio and Cruising World telling me my subscription has run out and that I should get back with the program and reup ASAP so as not to miss a single issue...

Ain't going to happen!

Part of the reason for my not caring to resubscribe is the horrible service currently provided by Zinio... For those unaware of what Zinio is, they do e-book versions of magazines and for those of us on a boat where space is tight having several years of magazines on a hard drive makes way more sense than taking up space on your boat...

Well, that would be the case if you could actually read the magazines in question! In our case, Zinio kept tweaking their program until we were simply unable to read or download the magazines as their current program no longer supports our three-year old computer and its operating system.

Want to know what frustrating is? It's having over five years of magazines on your hard drive that you cannot read...

Zinio is well aware of the problem and every time we ask if the new version of the program is available yet we are told that they are working on it, how sorry they are, and here's a free year's subscription to a magazine (which I still can't read) to make up for it. Apparently all of their tech folks are busy working on the new emerging platforms (Android/iPad) and too busy to deal with folks who are long time customers and just have a laptop. The attitude I get is that the problem is actually ours for not upgrading computers every time they upgrade their programming.

Color me not exactly a happy camper...

Of course, I could still subscribe to Cruising World as a paper magazine but, really, why bother? All of the good content is simply recycled stuff they've done again and again and all the current stuff is either about gear or boats that only the wealthy can afford. Face it, the real business of a sailing magazine is not to write about sailing but maximize advertising revenue...

So, truth is, I don't think I'm going to miss Cruising World at all!

By the way, a couple of magazines I really would miss are WoodenBoat  and Latitude 38. Unlike most boat magazines these days, they are not pandering tabloids. Their electronic issues are delivered simply and easily as a PDF file, problem free and can be read on any computer (something the folks at Zinio should take a lesson from).

As it happens, I have several sailing magazines due to run out in the not too distant future and unless Zinio or Sail/PBO/Blue Water Sailing start doing something competent/interesting they will all go the way of Cruising World and lose another reader.

Listening to The Volunteers

So it goes...


Monday, February 06, 2012

Exploring options...

It's a whole new world out there, $6 a pound, and, is it just me, or does this news story need a Theremin in the soundtrack?

So, it appears that the new 90/180 tourist visas for Turkey are now a done deal and a lot of folks cruising the Med are going to have to look elsewhere for a place to hang out...

Italy with it's new tax on boats is starting to make the whole Med thing look problematic. With the already ingrained hassles of the Schengen Agreement/Treaty making Europe look less and less desirable as a cruising destination, it's time to start re-thinking our options...


Repeat after me...

Ushuaia



Kinda has a nice ring, does it not?

Listening to Ox

So it goes...

Sunday, February 05, 2012

Hell-on-wheels...

Dave over at TriloBoats has something to say, Lloyd Kahn has a new project (which includes boats), and, sadly, this sort of thing is no longer news...

Way back when I was a student at Virgil Jr High School, my orchestra teacher and sometimes mentor, John Deichman (a truly exceptional man and musician), threw a chop stick at me and told the rest of my fellow orchestral compatriots that I was a very dangerous man, and that they all should take note of folks like me who ask too many questions...

He was right. As it happens, I'm not so much the guy with answers but I'm hell-on-wheels in the question department.

Of course, around boats, asking questions, especially that one about why stuff costs so much, is often construed as a rather anti-social activity and not a way to win a popularity contest...

On the other hand, as a rule, most folks don't throw chop sticks at you either...

Listening to Jennifer O'Connor

So it goes...



Saturday, February 04, 2012

It's not all bunnies and ducks...

More on politicians and drug testing, OMG a politician with a conscious (I'm buying my season lift tickets for Hades!), and my favorite in the Mr Compassion sweepstakes...

Building a dinghy on a boat can be something of a, let's just say an interesting experience...

For a start, there's the lack of space to work on an eight-foot dinghy aboard a CAL 34. Once the hull gets stitched together the ventilation down below goes all to hell because two of the hatches become non-opening for the duration and getting to the front of the boat means doing a lateral limbo.

Then there is the ever present swell, which makes doing fillets something of a comedy routine from an old silent movie as the dinghy becomes something of a moving target as the swell has it gyrating within a four foot eccentric arc. Made even worse by the sports fishermen doing their best to launch you off the boat when they power through the anchorage at speed pulling a six-foot wake...

Fun stuff!

Anyway, yesterday I did the interior fillets and the skies were clear so I left the dinghy right side up to cure and just after midnight we got a bit of a squall which in the course of ten minutes seemed to put one hellacious amount of water in the dinghy. Trust me, nothing says fun like bailing a dinghy on your hands an knees with a four foot swell running and 30+ knots of wind...

Listening to The Wailin' Jennys

So it goes...



Friday, February 03, 2012

Quick question about where home is...

Something about our open government, you might want to send your Rep a note after reading this, and an important note for those with guitars on board...

It's interesting what/how people worry about moving aboard...

Most folks considering moving onto a boat have a lot of issues/worries with the whole living in a small space, lack of mod cons, and trying to bring their "normal" life along in the process. A lot of those folks write to Boat Bits from time to time and ask about those questions and mostly seem a little put off when I tell them it is not a problem and it will all work out... Apparently "No problem, mon" is not a sentence a lot of folks understand.

One advantage to hitting a certain age is that you have enough life experience to step back and see how things work and having watched lots of people move onto boats and cruise both successfully or having it become a clusterfuck, I've noted that the very act of moving onto that boat is such a sea change that it simply evolves you to a different level and things that you worried about are no longer an issue...

Of course, if you have not moved onto that boat you can't understand that. It's a leap of faith thing. I might add, that when I say moving aboard I mean something other than just the physical act of taking up residence on a boat and there are no half measures in the process.

Folks who decide to live aboard and cruise but want to keep their options open (translated as keeping their shore bound life in stasis or worse, keeping it in full tilt boogie and trying to jump between the two) are not going to get into that headspace needed for a successful transition because they simply have not made the leap of faith needful to evolve to that next level. Face it, it is hard to enjoy your life at anchor somewhere beautiful if you are worried about whether your lawn back "home" is getting watered enough.

Actually, "home" is the key word to a successful transition to life aboard as you simply don't start really living aboard until you think of your boat as your home and that, not whether or not you can live without a washer/dryer, is the key make or break issue.

Like the man said... "Home is where the heart is"

Listening to Mylene Farmer

So it goes...



Thursday, February 02, 2012

On being a cheap cruiser...

Just one link this morning as it's quite a chunk of very worthwhile reading...

Here in St Croix we have one of the worst chandlers and marinas I've had the displeasure of coming across in more than four decades of dealing with some pretty awful marine business concerns... Which, when you come to think of it, is actually pretty impressive.

It's not just the overly surly verging on openly hostile attitude, the heart attack inducing pricing structure, the overpriced fuel, or water that comes out of the hose looking like strong tea that keeps folks away because, sadly, that just seems the norm in the marine trades down here these days.

When they give you water that's brown you don't even bother to complain, we simply buy a better filter... Cruisers are, if anything, adaptive.

Nope, the reason we don't shop or spend our dollars there is simply that they don't want our business and as there are any number of folks who do, it's an easy decision as there are non-marine businesses, as well as West and Defender that actually care about keeping our business and have a clue.

One of the local bars on the waterfront sells water (for less) that actually comes out of the hose looking like water as opposed to industrial waste. While you are filling up the folks who work there are friendly, chat with you, and when you've filled up with water the general ambiance is just the sort that sitting down at the bar to have a beer or a slice of pizza seems like a good idea.

Of course, the clueless marina in question just thinks we are "cheap" cruisers and "boat scum" so simply do not have a clue as to why we no longer bother to spend our money with them. Which is really too bad as St Croix and the USVI just took a death dealing hit to the economy with the local refinery shutting down with a loss of nearly 2000 jobs. For those aware of what happens to a company town when the company shuts its gates you just know the blow back to every business on island is going to get hit hard...

The thing is, next time we come to St Croix I expect to find the marina in question either closed or under new ownership as its near the end of its downward spiral. On the other hand, I expect to be able to buy water and get a beer or pizza (maybe even all three) at a thriving business on the boardwalk... But, what the hell do I know? I'm just a cheap cruiser.

Listening to Renaud

So it Goes...



Wednesday, February 01, 2012

VolksCruiser musings...

In the "it's OK for them but not for us department" apparently drug testing and politicians is not a good mix, the victims of the Fukushima nuclear disaster you may not be aware of, and some pink classic plastic with a good cause...

While it makes all kinds of sense to find a used boat and rehab it, for some of us it also makes a lot of sense to build a boat from the keel up... In my case, the most important factor revolves around draft because there are simply bugger all used boats with real shoal draft in the for sale category.

Our first Loose Moose drew a foot, our second Loose Moose drew around 14" so you may understand why I don't think a boat with four-foot+ draft is really a shoal draft boat.

Plus there is shoal, as in "we can motor into places that are shallow if we are very, very careful" and shoal as in "we-can-sail-pretty-much-any-damn-where-we-please" variety and if you want the latter you're simply going to have to build it yourself.

Which in my mind is a pretty good reason to build a boat...

Speaking of boatbuilding, a friend of mine I mentioned some time ago is starting to make some real progress on his Wharram Tiki 38 project...


Listening to Lio

So it goes...