Robert Reich with a needful point, something about sand, and the best boat oriented blog post I've read in ages...
Sailing Anarchy has a really excellent piece on the current state of sailing in the US of A and it got me thinking about why I've been in a bad mood since reading this years Pittman Awards in the new Sail magazine.
It's all about the winch...
Well, really, it's a little more complicated than that. For one, Sail happens to be the only mainstream sailing magazine I still subscribe to as its TATBID (thrown-against-bulkhead-in-disgust) factor is much lower than say, CW whose only use I can find these days is driving me to excessive drinking and copious profanity as I don't have a bird cage to line. Anyway, I actually like Sail magazine and the Pittman awards are something I really look forward to because they seem to understand what the definition of the word "i-n-n-o-v-a-t-i-o-n" means when talking about sailboats.
Or so I thought till I read about the EWincher...
Insert sounds of Sail Magazine hitting the bulkhead, profuse profanity, cat hissing, and the pouring of cheap as we can find rum...
The thing is, a winch of even modest size multiplies power in a big way. Even a wimpy guy or someone way past their prime (like me) can tear sails apart, rip hardware out of the deck, and just generally do all sorts of mayhem that would impress the Incredible Hulk. Add in the fact that most sailboats are already overwinched and have BFWs (spelled BIG FRELLING WINCHES) which are more than capable of pulling the frelling mast down. So, imagine my surprise to find out that what we've all been needing is a smartphone-programmable, $3100 Ewincher. I guess trimming sheets is just too difficult and physically taxing for the average sailor to handle these days.
Truth be told, I think what really pisses me off is that, for the most part, they're probably right and the average sailor needs all the help available because the physical exertions of even the most simple sailing tasks are beyond them.
Which is just all sorts of depressing.
Listening to a Zombie cover of note
So it goes...
