Must be that time of the month...

A current dumpster diving trend, a good take on Crypto, and in the`"Just how stupid/greedy have we become?" department...+

I often tend to forget that most folks knowledge of how boats work is not based on any kind of study but simply what they think a boat should look like. Or, as our previous stable genius president opined, "I trust my gut". 

A lot of people who are motivated to write me don't like schooners, junk rigs, volkscruisers, free standing spars, extreme shoal draft, or scows.

I actually wonder why some of these folk bother to read Boat Bits at all. Maybe they're just addicted to outrage and BB is just low hanging fruit to stoke their rage in the morning.

I'll also add that the folks who take offense to Boat Bits also seem to be the loudest complainers when I miss a day... Obviously we live in a strange and getting stranger world these days.

As it happens, I have some ideas regarding semi-freestanding spars and junk rig that I'm sure will piss off just about everyone.

Soonish.

Listening to Kid Sistr

So it goes...

A worthwhile channel...

What people make up, an excellent question, and on the subject of Twitter/social media...

Far Reach Voyages is a channel that you might want to bookmark.

While you're at it you might also want to check out the website which is a cornucopia of great info on how to do a sensible bespoke refit and the blog which is excellent..

Listening to some Aquarium Drunkard suggestions

So it goes...

Some folks you'll want to bookmark...

A solution of sorts, my sentiments exactly, and in the "It takes a good man 377 cops with a gun to stop a bad man with a gun" department...

Dawn Treader is just about my favorite cruising couple currently doing their thing. They've made significant voyages on a boat they refit without much in the way of fuss. For me at least, their most appealing virtue is that they don't seem to know what a selfie is and only post articles and videos when they have something worthwhile to say.

Listening to Billy Iuso

So it goes...

a number that caught my attention...

Wendig with a must read on the subject of twitter, cutting back on meat in your diet, and in the "Made up money" department...

It’s funny how time just keeps moving on. For instance, when I sat down to write today’s post, the number 3500 was right there at the top of the page and that 3500 was a veritable shitload of posts. 

Some might say that shitload is an especially apt term, in fact.

Speaking of facts, there is not a day goes by when I’m writing this that I ask myself why I’m doing Boat Bits at all. Part of it is a habit, as it’s been something to do while I have my morning coffee. Though, these days, a single decaffeinated cup is hardly what it used to be.

The main reason I keep hammering on the keyboard has to do with the folks who keep reading my drivel. Since many regular readers have become friends. They’ve caught my typos, corrected links, shared experiences (both good and bad), and offered moral support when I’m depressed with the state of the world.

Fact is, thinking about it, I get a lot more from my readers than I can provide to them.

A lot of folks tell me I’d get a lot more readers if I gave up the passe format of blogging and migrate to something like Facebook or Twitter. While that may be true, I’m not in it for the numbers. Numbers, as a motivator, impede the sort of communication I want to do.

Which is a roundabout way of saying thank you to the folks who get what I do. And, since you’re still reading, post 3500 won’t be the last.

Listening to Wargirl

So it goes...

on getting stuff done...

Some way too interesting times, a bit of interesting news regarding those Orcas attacking boats, and in the "Who casts the longer shadow?" department...

Some times I sit at the keyboard trying to think of something to write. The funny thing is that yesterday while I was doing some reading, I said to myself…

"Ah, that will make a great post for tomorrow!"

Of course, today, for the life of me, the only thing I can remember was that it was brilliant and would make a great post but not a clue what it was. 

I’d blame it on being an old fart, but this sort of occurrence has been a factor from as far back as high school. You’d think by now that I’d have sorted out a way to save those elusive ideas.

Sure, I know I should always have a pencil and notebook ready at all times and in the past; it worked a treat. These days, I reach for a tablet or a computer instead, but I seldom actually input anything as the latest news story or daily silliness distracts me.

Sadly, it’s not just about the writing. The real culprit is that I should note ideas regarding boat tasks and needful fixes and projects. Last night, getting up to grab a bottle of water, I had an inspiration that I really needed to get with the program and work on the bilge pump. This morning, what with making pancakes, reading the news to see if we were at war with Russia, or being reminded that I really should check the water levels of the batteries. That I needed to sort something with the bilge pump drew a complete blank.

Yeah, I really have to get a few notebooks.

H/T to Six dollar shirts

Listening to Patty Griffin

So it goes...

a quiet day at anchor and stuff that needs doing...

Some excellent points on climate, the sort of film review we need more of, and in the "Can't ever get enough of Bo Diddley" department...

I had several emails this weekend wanting to discuss my Wharram/Bolger post. It seems that I failed at getting my point across as they missed the point of what I was trying to convey. Which is sorta/kinda depressing.

Maybe it's time to take a break, do some reading, get caught up on boat projects, and maybe do a bit of fishing. As it happens I have a new interesting rod and reel that I've been wanting to test and play with. Plus, I have a bunch of sailboat fishing kits to put together so it's not like I don't have a lot to keep me busy.

There's always something to do on a boat.

Listening to Todd Snider

So it goes...

about the state of tings...

Regarding a hypocritical politician, a lesson in tax avoidance, and something on Caste and COVID that I found riveting...

I’ve been doing research for a project that has a working title of  “17 Boats” and you might just expect it to be about boats of the VolksCruiser persuasion. Which is what it started as but once you start down a path you think you know, suddenly, you find yourself in a bewildering unexplored territory.

Which is where I am these days. Writing a book on an uncomplicated subject like sailboats in complicated times can become something of a unique thing altogether. Throw in a worldwide pandemic and you’re not in Kansas anymore.

Then again, I don’t really want to be in Kansas...

Listening to Rosanne Cash

So it goes...

Credit where credit is due...

Darwin2 making a point or three, banning books, and in the "What happens when you have an uninformed poorly educated population" department... 

One of the issues I seem to be having lately where sailing YouTube channels are concerned is a general lack of giving credit for content they seem to pilfer.

Maybe it's just me being cursed with an encyclopedic knowledge of a lifetime of sailing/cruising literature and films but I still find it somewhat irksome to see or read someone regurgitating information verbatim from folks like the Pardey's and other cruising pioneers as if it were some great knowledge they'd just discovered or invented.

Seriously, a little credit where credit is due, would be no bad thing.

Listening to some Billy Preston

So it goes...

When the pimpage outweighs the content...

Some honest to goodness voter fraud hijinks in Texas, a guy in a car making sense, and in the "Everything you need to know about stupidity" department...

A long time ago back in the 70's, I was told that the perfect cruising boat for a couple would sleep two, feed four and accommodate six for drinks. In general, it worked pretty well back then and still makes sense today.

Of course, there is one big difference in that these days, due to uncontrolled consumerism, folks tend to need a whole lot more space because of stuff.

Which leads me to believe that the biggest problem most people will encounter in getting into cruising mode is just dealing with stuff as it takes up precious space and is greatly problematic to the budget.

There's a blog I get on my RSS feed that purports to help newbie cruisers get into cruising which often talks about downsizing. At the same time it seems that every post by the author is pimping some bit of gear or other that one needs to get to go cruising and, it just happens, that you can buy it right here and now by using the handy affiliate link provided.

Over the last few years if I'd bought every selected needful item mentioned on the blog in question I'd be broke and in desperate need of renting a storage unit to put it all in. Luckily, I don't buy more crap for the boat unless it passes the need/want and cost/utility test but still the desire to get stuff I don't need is an ongoing battle made worse by folks pimping stuff to make money in the guise of sage advice.

Now, as it happens, I understand how much work goes into doing a blog or a video channel and the need to get some sort of support for your labor. I don't however truck with supporting the effort by becoming a shill for various products or sellers and pimping stuff folks don't really need. By all means I don't take issue with the various affiliate programs but I do have a problem with affiliate product led content.

Just sayin'

Listening to Slowdive

So it goes...

Regarding my recent absence...

More than you want to know about baby poop, Melvin Van Peebles is no longer with us, and a politician with a backbone as well as a moral compass...

Sorry for the lapse in posts but our internet provider has been down for the last week and still is. Hopefully things will sort themselves out soonish.

In the mean time I'm keeping a weather eye out on TS Sam which looks like it's going to be a fairly gnarly hurricane...

Listening to a bunch of French Beatle's covers

So it goes...

Some blogging issues...

Covid at the yacht club, a free class at MIT I'll be catching, and in the "The insanity just keeps coming" department. And yeah, I'm really tired of linking to Covid crap. Deal with it...

On the blogging front, my computer has developed an issue that, every once in awhile, deprives me of the ability to use the letters "T" and "Y". Which, as it happens, are two letters I seem to use a lot. The thing is, I actually like my computer so don't really want to replace it and then there's the fact that I'm cheap...

There is a sorta/kinda fix that works. So, when the T's and Y's go walkabout I have to shut down the computer, remove the battery, and push the power button for fifteen seconds. The problem with the fix is that it tends to be needed while I'm in the process of writing the blog and the whole turn-off-the-computer-remove-the-battery-push-the-button-for-15-seconds-replace-battery-turn-on-the-computer-and-hope-it-worked tends to leave me wondering just what the frell I was writing about. The fact that it is an issue that may recur a few times in the process of writing and needs to be repeated as needed pretty much has me a bit gun-shy where writing is concerned.

Now, hopefully, I'll sort out a real fix but in the meantime I'm considering going back to pencil and paper for the duration...

Listening to music from a very good year

So it goes...

something not about pocket cruisers...

A guitar auction of note, some interesting math, and in the "Poisonous nostalgia" department...

There are days when reading the news makes me wonder if I'm in the midst of an acid flashback on steroids. The problem is that my experience with drugs all those long years ago never came close to the madness that most take for granted as normal these days.

In short, it would seem that the new norm is pretty much batshit crazy.

Which, I might add, makes it fairly difficult to sit down and write something interesting on pocket cruisers or how to evolve your cruising riffs to suit the current world as we find it while, in the back of my mind, I'm wondering just how we got to the point where folks are refusing to take medical advice from doctors and scientists and, instead, getting it from some guy on the internet who heard from some guy who heard from someone else that taking horse dewormer would cure or prevent you from getting Covid.

Still, as the great doctor Thompson once said...

"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro"

Listening to Captain Beefheart

So it goes...

On the subject of a better toilet...

Something interesting about Cuttlefish, on the subject of essential workers, and a much missed Hunter S. Thompson discussing gonzo...

I recently noticed that Separett has recently introduced a non-composting toilet that makes a whole lot of sense and is getting a lot of buzz in cruising and van-living circles.

Tiny Installation from Separett on Vimeo.

As it's pretty much the same design as the toilet I built for "So It Goes" more than a decade ago, I'll vouch for the fact that the simple system works just fine. On the other hand, with a price tag of over $1000 it is way more expensive than it needs to be and, as such, brings P.T. Barnum's most famous quote to mind. 

Seriously, $1000.?

The basic system is just a bucket, a bottle, a means of separating the feces from the atmosphere, and a method of  diverting the urine into the bottle. which could all be put together for around $100 and the cost of whatever box you'd choose to house it all in,

As it happens, Sail Delmarva (always a good place for excellent information) has a great post on his new non-composting desiccating head which you really should check out.

Listening to Tenacious D

 

So it goes...

Speaking of Ericson 28s...

Which way the wind seems to be blowing, serfs up, and eleven reasons you may want to consider...

I've always had a soft spot for Bruce Kirby designs and in my current short list of boats to downsize to Kirby's Ericson 28 is pretty close to the top of the list.

 

As it happens the boat Blowin' in the Wind also happens to be an Ericson 28 and over at VolksCruiser there's an interview with the Blowin' in the Wind folks you might find interesting...

Listening to Marvin Gaye fifty years on.

So it goes...

Not a good idea in sight...

A sane reaction to the ongoing situation, someone's scared shitless, and in the "Just your usual rampant stupidity" department...

Some days I just don't know what to write. I mean, I had a couple of ideas when I sat down to do this post but neither of them seemed to pan out and mostly I've just been looking at this blank void on the computer, typing a word or two, and then erasing said words. Which is what I've been doing for the last hour or so.

It would appear my heads just not in it today...

So, here's a really great post on frugal cruising that I've wanted to link to for ages. It's so good it will make some folk's heads explode.

Listening to the Texas Tornados

So it goes...

on being sorta/kinda busy at the moment...

Norton Juster is no longer with us, a bit of surf history, and in the "She's just extremely confident about her ignorance and no one seems to have the heart to tell her she's an idiot" department...

The last couple of days I've been doing a lot of thinking about a new way of making a junk sail I've recently come across and adapting said ideas into something that might actually make sense for a VolkCruiserish type of boat.

I'm enjoying the process.

Which is a roundabout way of saying I haven't come up with the post I'd planned to write today as I've been talking to various sailmakers and gear heads on some junkish details and material availabilities.

Anyway, hopefully, more interesting stuff soon come.

Listening to some Rickie Lee Jones coverage

So it goes...

An anchor mod to check out...

Bernie makes a point, why you might want to rethink the six-foot/fifteen minute rule, and in the "Since it's Groundhog Day" department...

Steve of SV Panope (AKA That anchor test guy) has an interesting mod for those with Mantus anchors that you might want to check out.

Listening to a playlist for our times

So it goes...

a bit of work in progress...

A depressing (albeit fair) assessment of the situation, an apt resolution for 2021, and about the ongoing problems facing Puerto Rico...

So, yeah, it's 2021. 

Which has had me thinking about what I actually want to do with Boat Bits, VolksCruiser, Fishing Under Sail, and Island Gourmand. The current plan is to make a few changes, a couple of tweaks and add a venue for longer form content which a lot of readers keep requesting.

I've mostly thought of the blogs as being a "Hey, take a look at this!" sharing of ideas type of thing. When I point out an interesting (to me at least) sailboat design it's just that - an interesting boat design that you may find interesting or not but it might be worth a look at without me thinking there was actually a need to say more. Apparently a lot of people reading the blogs want more and a lot of the time I have set aside for the blogs gets taken up with with correspondence with readers asking me why and how a design is "interesting" or asking for more detail on the other various subjects I write about.

Throw in a pandemic with a lot of folks having an excess of time on their hands has increased my mail volume by about 300% which is good but has the downside of giving me even less time to write the blogs and especially writing longer content articles that a lot of people keep requesting.

Which has left me juggling this, that, and the other thing. The conclusion is that a bit of reorganization is needful and I pretty much think I've got it sorted out.

Now it's just a matter of putting the various pieces back in play and see where it goes.

Hopefully most of you will find the tweaks and changes bearable.

Listening to a great playlist

So it goes...

Feeling some changes coming on...

Some thinking on post-Covid urban design, Liz Clark on voting, and why you might want to reconsider the not social distancing or wearing a mask thing...

So, it seems Blogger is intent on foisting its new better worse interface on us folk who don't like it at all. Quite the bummer that.

As it happens, I've been thinking long and hard about whether or not I want to continue with Boat Bits in its current form. Having to put up with Google induced hassles in writing the blog is adding greatly to my desire to morph Boat Bits and the other blogs (VolksCruiser and Fishing Under Sail) into something altogether different while trying to keep what appeals to the current readers and hopefully being able to doing it in such a way that I'll be able to go into greater depth on subjects that are interesting to both myself and the readers.

Right now I'm sorta/kinda thinking in terms of a subscription based newsletter or zine of the monthly or bi-weekly sort.

Hopefully I can nail down the parameters sooner rather than later because it's more than time to improve things and working with the new Blogger interface just seriously sucks.

In the meantime I'd love to get any feedback folks might want to throw my way during the process. I thrive on input.

So, more info soon come.

Listening to a serious bass cover

So it goes...

a heads up...

Hardly surprising but seriously fucked up, EBM points out something incomprehensible, and coming to a polling place near you...

So, yeah, about Boat Bits. It would seem that I've been doing this Boat Bits thing for over fifteen years which, considering I'm no fan of social media, is a fairly surprising accomplishment of longevity. More importantly, it has been a mostly positive exercise and allowed me to meet and become friends with a lot of exceptional people. Sure, there were the folks who wrote in and hate pretty much everything I say but they're a fairly small minority and, I suspect, they just need to sort out their meds.

Still, fifteen years is a long time to be doing the same old thing and it's more than time to shake things up and stir things around a bit.

You might say I have a cunning plan.

This revolves, mostly, around giving me the freedom to do more long-form writing on the subjects of Boats, boat design, boat building, sailing, and cruising in the dystopian world we currently find ourselves in during these far too exciting times.

In the meantime, Boat Bits will continue for a while as normal until I have all the ducklings in a row but, as no one likes surprises these days, I'd thought I'd let you know that change is afoot.

Listening to El Chicano

So it goes...