playing catchup in a bad mood...

Interesting how Bonnie & Clyde popped up in Moscow, a bande dessinée which might be worth checking out, and in the "One wonders who'd back this sorry group of losers" department...

Maybe it's just me but my list of things to do on "So It Goes" is a lot longer than it should be. Made worse because hurricane season is breathing down my neck and then there's the whole Covid thing still going on.

I'm sure that last comment will engender more than a few emails telling me that Covid is all over but according to the Washington Post the daily average of deaths due to Covid is 260. Throw in that down here in paradise we have an after Carnival surge of cases because some idiots decided to kill the mask mandate right before a few thousand folks get together in an up-close-and-personal-sweaty bacchanalia.

Obviously, doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome ain't working.

Which leaves me in a very foul mood which is not how I like to  do needful boat work.

Stay safe.

Listening to Ida Mae

So it goes...

a couple of quick thoughts on boat kits...

This had me knocking my head against a bulkhead, the current trend in school health practices, and in the "Just another asshole" department...

I'm not a huge fan of building kit boats as the added cost of a "kit" seldom seems to save that much in terms of labor. Sure, those CNC cut panels are nifty but I find that  the lofting and cutting of wood is pretty easy and (dare I say it?) enjoyable.

Then again, if someone found a way to make the epoxy and glass work part of boat building superfluous I'd certainly consider changing my mind.

The one good point about boat building kits is not so much their labor saving but simply the fact that the idea of a boat in a box is a very attractive concept. Chasing down all of the required materials these days is a royal pain in the ass so at least there's that advantage.

Listening to Boz Scaggs

So it goes...

Books I've used in the last couple of weeks...

My kind of cat, regarding someone I admire, and in the "The importance of a reality based world" department...

It would appear that most folks these days, when confronted with a problem or issue with their boat, tend to go to their favorite forum or YouTube. Now, I've gone on record about my feelings for most forums and while advice freely given is, more often than not, worth exactly what you're paying for it. 

That said I do, every so often, visit a particular forum from time to time simply because the advice is so entertaining in its silliness and general lack knowledge purveyed.

YouTube is actually a lot better and there are a lot of excellent bits of video telling you how to do or fix stuff on sailboats. On the other hand, it's best to realize that for every one good bit of video there are a dozen or so that are just clueless.

For me I tend to find my best avenue of problem solving or good ideas is to be in books. 

Books work and happen to be an excellent investment. I've lost track of the number of times I've used Brion Toss's "The Riggers Apprentice", Fred Bingham's "Practical Yacht Joinery", Bruce Binghams "The Sailors Sketchbook", Dynamite Payson's "Build the New Instant Boats", and Dan Spurr's "Spurr's Guide to Upgrading Your Cruising Sailboat". I've never  kept track of how much money those various books have saved me but it would be a substantial amount far exceeding the cost paid for them.

There are a bunch more books I could list but those are the ones that I still use on a regular basis and have had the most impact where fixing up an old boat are concerned.

Listening to Drinking Boys And Girls Choir

So it goes...

New Years aftermath...

Regarding the unspecified value of together, about that dead whale, and in the "Well this blew my mind" department...

So, here I am on the first working day of the new year and it’s already depressing. It’s not that the world is rapidly going to hell in a turbo-charged wicker basket, or that apparently 30-40% of the population seems to believe a world picture that bears no discernible relationship to reality. Nope, it’s all about the fact that 2021 was a horrible year to get anything done. Which translates to how the frelling fuck did my to do list for 2022 become the list from hell when we’re only three days into the new year?

Take the new self-steering gear that is not, as planned, attached to my transom but currently a bunch of parts taking up room in the salon. Then there’s the rewiring project that is a bag of varied wire and electrical bits which have taken up residence in the starboard quarter berth. Let’s not forget the new bilge pumps which need to be installed....

The list appears to be endless.

I’ve never been one for the entire New Year’s resolution thing. Simply because I’ve never been up close and personal to anyone who’s been successful.

Just as I never sail to a distinct destination but towards and the idea I should make lists that include a schedule is simply asking for trouble in the world that I inhabit.

Still, I’d like to reclaim the table in the dinette, which has become just another horizontal surface that stuff waiting to be built is sitting on.

On the positive side, with the current state of the plague, a large part of the population having an IQ somewhere akin to the temperature of Cut Bank Montana, and having way too much stuff to do to get back into cruising mode, I still have a glimmer of hope, if only seen through tears, to sort things out doing the ad hoc two-step.

I’ll let you know how it goes.

Listening to the Iron Leg Radio show

So it goes...

Just to save fifteen minutes...

A needful read on the Value Theory of Labor, an excellent article on Lowell George, and a podcast with Lin Pardey that is well worth your time...

The other day while getting the old batteries into the dinghy in a rolly anchorage, I ran into a swell + wake moment which had me almost dropping the battery into the bottom of the dinghy; as a result, my back went into FUBAR mode.

Which has left me mostly horizontal and consuming Tylenol like it was popcorn. The worst part of the whole affair is I thought about using the boom and mainsheet to crane the batteries into the dinghy but decided that the extra fifteen minutes would take up too much time and went with the brute force method.

So, as a result of attempting to save fifteen minutes I'm wasting a week and a half of time I could be doing other needful things. The stupid it burns...

Listening to Michael Nesmith

So it goes...

Paying the price...

Regarding an American territory, Badtux on point, and in the "With Democrats like these who needs Republicans" department...

Being locked down for the pandemic, while allowing me to catch up on my reading, wasn't exactly all that good for maintenance and projects aboard "So It Goes". You might say that I've got a lot on my plate and playing catch up.

The thing with keeping up on the maintenance is that you do it now or do a whole lot more later. So, here I am paying the price for putting crap off because "Hey, there's a pandemic and we can't go anywhere anyway" mindset. 

On the plus side, I'm mostly enjoying getting caught up on things and it's a good excuse to make some improvements in the process.

Listening to some covers of Roxanne

So it goes...