Wednesday, April 23, 2014

on the need to step back...

On the politics of solar energy, what's a fair profit, and in the "we've been lucky so far" department...

Whenever I mention junk rig (as I did in the last post) my email fills up with folks commenting both pro as well as con and it's quite illuminating because everyone seems to be looking too close.

Which is a lot like the old conundrum of not seeing the forest for the trees...

Now, I like the junk rig and it makes a lot of sense for some people but it is not a panacea or a religion that suits everyone's needs.

That said, a lot of people are attracted to the rig with a certain religious zeal and like most zealots their beliefs are based more on faith of supposed miracles rather than any sort of reality.

Which is funny as a goodly portion of the mail I receive on the subject (both pro and con) is from people who have never ever sailed a junk rig but are convinced of its wonderfulness/horribleness and serious true believers.

There are any number of excellent simple rigs that we should be looking at for cruising as an alternative to the same old same overly expensive, frail, and complicated Bermudian/Marconi rig other than the junk but the advantage of the junk rig is it is a popular rig of the minority sort and there are quite a few people proselytizing with a great amount of missionary zeal... So, it's easy to fall into and that's no bad thing.

Really.

Of course, jumping into a relationship with a new rig (think Las Vegas wedding) does not always make for a long and happy relationship which is why you might want to take a few steps back and think it through...

Listening to Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes

So it goes...