Independence and dependence...

 

Right up there with a burning bag of dog shit left on someone's porch, just in case you haven't been paying attention, and in the "About that guy thing" department... 

I recently had a conversation with someone wanting to get into cruising and it seemed that his main goal had a lot to do with achieving a certain level of independence. 

Sound familiar?

For me, the best way to achieve a reasonable amount of independence is to simplify and live within one's means. Which, I'll admit, becomes somewhat problematic in a society fueled by consumerism.

For instance, a great way to simplify your boat search is to reject any boats that are bigger than one can manage on your own. The reasoning being that if you have to have systems on your to assist in physical tasks you become dependent on those systems. Over the years I've seen far too many examples of various boat systems not working for any number of reasons to feel comfortable depending  things I can't fix or do without.

A couple, some years back, anchored behind us during the night. In the morning they had some sort of electric problem and they were unable to launch their dinghy which used an electric winch. Luckily they had a handheld VHF and were able to get someone to give them a ride to customs so they could check in.

Once back on their boat they decided to go in to the marina but their anchor windlass would not work either so they wound up being marooned in the anchorage until someone could come and fix their electrical issues for them.

At the time, I promised myself that when I reach an age where I can't launch my dinghy, pick up an anchor or unable to fix simple issues aboard my boat I'll trade down to a smaller simpler boat that I can.

The scary part is I now see a lot of folks in their prime buying boats that are too big, with tackle too heavy, and systems they can't repair because they think independence is gained by buying stuff. Sure, having an electric winch for your RIB with a big motor might seem like a good idea but it's just another thing that you're going to be dependent on and as we all know shit happens.

“A designer knows, he has achieved, perfection not when, not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away”
― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Listening to Marineros

So it goes...

Comparing a few pumps...

Some battery tech of interest, Badtux on twitter, and in the "Just how stupid are we? department...

A while back, I needed to get a new water pump for the galley of the manual sort. My first choice where manual galley pumps has always been Fynspray and I really love this pump...

Which I'm sure you'll agree is a seriously cool bit of plumbing. The problem is that the current price of $369.99 is way more than I'm inclined to spend. That's just silly expensive. So I looked at a less expensive Fynspray which I've had before that worked just fine...

 

Obviously not as sexy as the handsome bronze one but it is an excellent pump albeit with a price tag of $148 which is still too expensive considering how simple a pump it is. So I checked out this one...

The Whale V pump ($86) that I've had good luck with in the past would be OK except it tends to need service fairly often and Whale spares ($21) are, shall we say, highway robbery or something akin to it.

So, what's a poor boy going to do?

Here's the pump I've been using for the last six months with nary a problem. It works just as well or better than any of the pumps mentioned so far...

 

With quality as good as the Fynspray and better than the Whale,                                             I'm a pretty happy camper. So much so that I bought an extra one just in case. The $10 price tag makes me smile every time I find myself pumping a glass of water.

Need I say more?

Listening to a whole lot of covers

So it goes...

A DIY article to check out...

Imagine 40% of Americans think this clown should be in office, some needful reading, and in the "Just another scam for witless boat owners" department...

 

48° North has an excellent article on DIYing a dodger using plexiglass that costs out somewhere short of $500. Considering that a Sailrite dodger kit and their dodger frame kit will cost you over $1600 or so, that amounts to a significant savings.

Of course, my go to method for dodgers is stitch and glue plywood construction which costs a whole lot less and is strong enough to stand on when the need arises. 

Still, the plexi dodger sure looks sweet and 48° North is free as always so well worth checking out.

Listening to Preoccupations

So it goes...

guess what I found...

The current daily death count, a film you may want to keep an eye out for, and in the "A cartoon pretty much says it all" department...

I just came across an electronic anti-fouling kit for a boat up to eight meters that is surplus to requirements. So if anyone has fond memories of those Heathkit days drop me a line.

Listening to a great cover of Mad World

So it goes...

a drone I actually like...

Insanity on display, 167 Theremins, and in the "Well of course she did" department...

A drone that actually interests me.

More info can be  found at the company's website.

Listening to some holidaze coverage of sorts

So it goes...

Approaching art...

Stolen raccoons, exploding whales, and in the "Milk with Dignity" department...

Atom Voyager has taken the whole outboard conversion process to a level approaching art and there is a lot to be learned by following along while an artist works his magic.

Color me impressed.

Listening to Arny Margret

So it goes...

in defense of simple...

Looks like somebody did their math, what you might learn in church, and in the "Sounds about right" department...

I really don't get it.

Folks often ask me simple questions about boats, rigs, and refits but, apparently, desire complicated answers instead of simple ones.

Seriously, what's that all about? Now, as far as my desires for answers to problems I'll go with what's simple 99% of the time. Simple also tends to be easier as well as less expensive which sits quite well with the fact that I'm a fairly lazy and cheap fellow.

As far as I'm concerned overly complicated solutions to simple problems are just stop signs on the roads I like to travel. 

I rest my case.

Listening to Bite Me Bambi

So it goes...

Living in the future...

Some notes on Puerto Rico, snow crabs, and in the "Where there's a will there's a way" department...

The generator pull cord is now all sorted out and I'm left with a feeling of accomplishment and the sour taste of how designers just don't design stuff to be fixed or serviced anymore.

I've lost track of how many bits of gear that we've bought and had fail only to be replaced rather than fixed which makes you wonder about the sanity of our current economic model. Buy something from Amazon or Walmart and if it does not work they'll just send you another. Most of the time they don't even want the old one back.

A while back our Karcher that we use for our watermaker had a small issue with a connector so, as it was under warranty, we asked if we could get the $10 widget to the replace the faulty one. Karcher just sent us a new pressure washer instead. Now, I'm not adverse to having a spare pressure pump for the boat but it does take up a lot of room and Karcher lost a chunk of money the deal.

That said, I guess it's better that the old days where getting a new Autohelm tiller pilot replaced or fixed was nigh on impossible due to the company's various anti-consumer policies that pretty much made their warranty worthless.

Listening to my favorite Zappa composition

So it goes...

Not what I wanted to be doing today...

About that mini ice age, today's word for the day is d-r-o-u-g-h-t, and in the "Maybe the best podcast I listen to" department...

The pull-cord on my generator broke and it needs to be replaced. Not a job that should be overly problematic. 

Well in a world where wishes were fishes...

The reality, of course; is that to replace a couple feet of cord I'll have to completely disassemble the entire generator which will take most of the day and is crazy-making.

Oh well, at least I get to play the "How many screws/bits will I have leftover when it's all put back together?" game.

Listening to some Paul McCartney coverage

So it goes...

What a gallon of water costs...

Some very scary reading, a quick bit on masking, and in the "Quest for a better battery" department...

So, I just realized that I've been currently using our watermaker twice a week for the last five years and still producing water with a PPM of somewhere between 80 and 100. A fact that I actually find quite impressive.

What's more impressive is that I've spent a big fat zero in pressure pump maintenance and that the Karcher pressure washer works so well.

Admittedly, I've had some issues with booster pumps but have now settled on a cheap 12 volt ($22 dollar) fountain pump that works just as well if not better than the expensive ($400 dollar) 120V pump I replaced the supplied Harbor Freight pump with.

Sometimes I really need to take my own advice.

Anyway, the main cost of running the water maker is just the gas it takes for the generator which works out to about $0.17 a gallon and the very occasional replacement of a 20 mill of 5 mill filter. I'm guessing that might boost the running cost of water to maybe $0.20 a gallon.

As far as the membrane goes, it's still working finest kind and when it does come time to replace it the extra $150 won't exactly break the bank and only add a penny or so the the cost per gallon over its lifetime.

Listening to a whole lot of Beach Boys coverage

So it goes...

on buying used gear...

Some good news, something interesting about Dolphins, and in the "Another banned book" department...

I'm a firm believer in recycling where boat gear is concerned for a variety of reasons. Some of which might surprise you.

For most, the main reason to buy used gear is just simple economics. Recycling older gear is less expensive than new and that alone makes it a good thing. That said, looking at older gear on eBay often finds the cost of old gear is as expensive as new, and what's up with that?

A lot of second hand gear, especially electronics if still working, just might last forever while the exact same model new from WEST or their ilk might not work at all. Electronics are funny that way.

As someone who has worked in the marine consignment business, I quickly learned that for the most part, the main reasons folks brought stuff to us was that it did not work, they did not need it, or that they simply wanted something newer and shiny to keep up with the "cool" kids.

Then there's the element of mystery. Why is someone selling the object in question? There's almost always a story behind why someone is selling something that sometimes is surprisingly interesting. Or, to paraphrase Rod Stewart... 

Every boat bit has a story. 

Some of those stories can be quite compelling.

Romantic musings aside, I do have some rules in buying used gear. In general, they are:

• the item needs to be working or fixable, 
• the object is something that's needful rather than just something that was cheap,
• they should cost no more than 50% (but preferably less) of the product when new.

I've noticed a trend in folks pricing their gear at 90% of new. It might work for them since there is no shortage of idiots with boats these days, but if you want to actually get rid of unneeded gear, you'll find that 50% of new is the sweet spot, and I have a lot of consignment experience to back that up. Which is a roundabout way of saying it pays not to be greedy.

Listening to some Jethro Tull coverage

So it goes...

Better than Blue Sea?

Regarding profit, not just another war story, and in the "a living wage" department...

They had me at trouble lights for failed fuses.

Also, the fact that they are quite a bit cheaper than Blue Sea is happy making.

Listening to Sweet Crude

So it goes...

about that pump...

On the subject of climate change solutions, gun profits being the bottom line, and in the "Going mobile" department... 

A while back I wrote about getting a $22 pump to use with my watermaker. instead of the $400+ booster pump we've been using. 

So far so good and it works finest kind. Better yet it's tiny, uses a fraction of the electricity that the old one does, and it's near silent. What's not to like?

Since shit does happen I bought an extra one as a backup. Still, that's saved me about $400 and change over replacing with the previous one.

In a year or so I'll give an update on whether it's still working or not.

Listening to Joan Shelley

So it goes...

from the cockpit test lab...

Something about the real cost of gas, a big black hole, and in the "Way past time" department...

The whole problem with doing stuff on the cheap is not so much about money but finding good products to replace the overpriced crap we find ourselves having to use from the Marine trades.

For instance, I need a new booster pump for my watermaker as the one I've been using has been doing an intermittent impression of a brick. Which is not what I expect to find in a $400+ piece of gear. Doing my research I've found numerous pumps sporting the same specs that cost a whole lot less. The conundrum of various items sporting the same specs over a price spread from $20 to $800 cries out to be researched. 

So, my project for today is to test a $22 dollar pump. Which, if it works will make me a very happy camper.

I'll let you know how it goes...

Listening to Boulevards

So it goes...

on the subject of 12 volt working just fine.

This gave me a nightmare, mainstream bat-shit crazy viewed from abroad, and in the "Just what we don't need or want" department...

Some while back, I had a couple of 50-watt solar panels fail. What can I say but shit happens. As the seller of the solar panels refused to honor their warranty as, apparently, they defined "Lifetime Warranty" as being until the panels died. 

I'm still pissed off.

Anyway, since I planned to try and fix the panels but never quite got around to doing it, our electrical budget has been a bit compromised. Not an overly problematic state of affairs as we just cut back a kiss on our consumption.

Which, I'll point out, is not all that hard. We've been doing the boat ting since the days before solar panels when 99% of our power aboard was produced by an Ampair Aquair water/air unit like this.

It worked just fine.

That said, in those days we didn't have anything electrical on board except for instruments, a few meager interior lights, and navigation lights. Our VHF radio and our RDF at the time operated on AA batteries. Still, it worked pretty well while sailing in the Med, Africa and over to the Caribbean.

These days, we're still a 12-volt boat where electrics are concerned. I'll admit we do have an immersion blender that operates with a 300-watt inverter  but I think it's been about five years since it's been used. Which, I suppose, makes me the last person anyone should seek guidance from on an integrated solar/diesel system that would power a large village or a couple on a catamaran who wants to be comfortable and sail with all mod cons.

I mention all this as the next up project is redoing the solar mounting aboard "So It Goes" and part of that is to redo some of the wiring into a more cohesive (dare I say elegant?) loom. Hopefully it will make a bit more sense than the ad hoc assemblage that has somehow grown into a 10-gauge spiderweb which lays in wait for the unprepared.

The thing is, that 12 volts makes sense for folks who don't want to complicate their lives to the extent that it gets in the way of the simpler life some of us were hoping to find in sailing.

Oh yeah, if anyone sees an Aquair in good shape selling for cheap drop me a line...

Listening to St. Paul & The Broken Bones

So it goes...

What I'm currently thinking about...

Some chess related life advice, murder most foul, and a needful read for surfers...

I've been thinking a lot about various self-steering systems, evolution, and performance lately. So much so, that I really need to spend a couple of days working through those thoughts and ideas to come to some sort of conclusion that makes sense.

More on that thought process soonish.

Listening to Marah

So it goes...

Just more stuff I don't need to buy...

Wendig with a good cause, some UFO stuff, and an evil that has no limits...

The other day I found a new Hamilton Marine catalog in my PO box. I'll also add that it's now the only marine catalog on the boat, partly because it's more grounded than the West or Defender ones as they don't just market to pleasure boat folks, and partly because they just have a better catalog in my opinion.

Still, I could not be bothered to look past the first couple of pages and filed it on one of the shelves near my various boat design and building books.

Way back when, receiving just about any boat oriented catalog would result in a great amount of study and comparison of how to integrate new must-have products into the boat. So many hours wasted in the pursuit of buying stuff I really did not need.

We all need to buy stuff from time to time and having the catalog on the shelf is a handy reference when I actually need something. Which is a pretty positive state of affairs when all is said and done.

Listening to something new from Pink Floyd

So it goes...

Something interesting from PredictWind...

Cory Booker made my day, more book censorship, and in the "Why would I be surprised?" department...

This just might make some sense. 

Listening to some Bernie Taupin and Elton John coverage

So it goes...

about your GPS...

Dorworth writing about a friend too long dead, 2-wheels vs 18, and a very important question...

Voile et Voiliers has a really good article about what's going on with the Russians jamming and spoofing of  GPS. It's well worth reading and Voile et Voiliers now has your choice of language so non-French readers can dial in their language of choice. However, the translations are fairly crude which results in a lot of jumbled sentence structure but, with a little work, you can get it to make sense.

Anyway, back to GPS and the fact that there are many possible scenarios these days where your GPS might not work when you need it to. Having a back up GPS system does not do you any good if someone turns off GPS access or the GPS data stream becomes corrupted.

I know I've become tiresome on the subject but good navigation practices and a back up system in place is just prudent seamanship.

Listening to Rufus Wainright

So it goes...

Do it today...

What passes for a sportsman these days, about those solar panels, and in the "Faltering medical system" department...

Just a quick note to tell you it's time to check your fire extinguishers.

Need I really say more?

Listening to some musical saw goodness

So it goes...