and something from the gentrifation files...

Some unsurprising news, Todd Rundgren makes a point, and in the "What's a fair profit where drugs are concerned?" department...

A good article from KUOW on the subject of Pirates, gentrification, and the future of living aboard on Puget Sound.

Very much worth reading or listening to.

Listening to S.G. Goodman

So it goes...

just another day in paradise...

A film I'm really looking forward to seeing, rent control on the water, and in the "In case you haven't been paying attention of late" department... 

So, I've been told there's a boat show going on and that I should be all excited by the exhibition of over priced boats and gear that most of us can't afford or need.

Point taken.

As it happens today I'll be dismantling my generator to replace the starting cord as real life got in the way yesterday and I spent the day sitting around waiting for the phone to ring.

It never did.

Listening to A Hard Days Night worth of covers

So it goes...

a Schengen workaround of sorts...

Something good on the subject of fishponds, what we're up against, and in the "Where the money doesn't go" department...

Back when we lived in Paris, the place to buy a VW camper van was at the American Express office not too far from the Opera. The reason it was a good place to buy a van was simply that folks would fly to Europe, buy a van, and then travel around Europe till it was time to fly home and they needed to sell their van in a hurry.  So, they'd park in front of the American Express office with a for sale sign and the hope that someone would buy it before their flight.

I mention this because I was just thinking about how the Schengen treaty has made cruising in Europe all kinds of problematic for us non-Schengen residents. It's hard to see all of Europe and get out of the Schengen zone in a three-month period.

Now, our boat can stay within the Schengen area with no hassles but the crew can't and that's where the problem lies. While perusing various cunning plans and visa possibilities, it reminded me of those folks trying to sell their vans when they knew that sold or not they were going to be on a flight home at 10:00 AM the next morning.

Which got me thinking of how a small cruising boat like a Jeanneau  Sangria, with much greater livability than a VW van, could be bought for around $3K Euros, and might work out cheaper than the cost of hotels. You could fly in, buy the boat, cruise for a couple of months, then sell it or store it before flying out. If you stored it, you could return later (three months or longer) for another three months and repeat the process.

Since a large part of what we love about France is the French canals, I'd feel the need to modify the Sangria (or reasonable facsimile) by adding a tabernacle so I could lower or raise the mast easily to allow visiting the interior of France via canal.

It occurred to me that the idea would be even better if there were other folks involved with a joint ownership situation. That would allow the boat to be used and not stored, so while one crew is off waiting for the Schengen clock to rewind, another crew could be sailing in the Med doing the happy camper dance.

On the other hand, I expect that the wonders of the internet would allow one to sell the boat in a much easier method than parking in front of an American Express office with hope and a for sale sign.

Listening to France Gall

So it goes...

on not protecting your assets...

Just a few 47 bad apples people have to live with, a film I really need to see, and in the "I never thought I'd see an honest oil company ad" department...

In my morning news box I see that five people in Seattle were injured in three unrelated shootings which, by Seattle standards is not exactly surprising. Seattle, as things go in the US of A is a pretty safe place to live.

I mention this, partly because I used to live in Seattle so have a passing interest in what's going on there as well as that what passes for the norm  in terms of crime and violence in the US of A is of interest to me. 

As it happens, the Seattle news came to me at the same time as a current crime report from the Caribbean Safety and Security net had something about someone having their dinghy stolen in Aruba. The idea that someone stole an unlocked dinghy with an outboard was not exactly a surprise. Since outboard motors have become silly expensive and are easily sold (often to cruisers who seldom question a good deal on an outboard) but hardly a crime wave.

The fact remains that sailing and living on a boat in the Caribbean is, more than likely, a lot safer than living back where you came from. Fact of the matter is that most of the folks in the Caribbean inclined to villainy can be found in the local marine trades as there is just not enough profit in stealing your outboard.

That said, if it's unlocked and just sitting there, many will consider it fair game.

Listening to AJ Lee & Blue Summit

So it goes...

I've pretty much had it with "It's complicated"...

A crime of note, insanity/stupidity, and in the "Apparently math his not his strong suit and why is this fool making medical laws?" department...

OK, I'll admit that I ask a lot of questions. Whether it's about sailboat design, current politics, or just subjects I happen to find interesting. The thing is I'm finding the answer to just about everything these days is that

"It's complicated"

Most things are seldom overly complicated and the "It's complicated" answer is, more often than not, someone's way of avoiding answering the question for a variety of reasons. None of which have anything to do with complication. Well, maybe in the case involving the complication of pretending the answers are complicated because you don't like the answer or feel that you might piss somebody off applies.

Of course, being of a certain age I no longer care about pissing folks off and really don't give a fuck what folks think.

So yeah, world hunger, climate change, and the ecology? The answers are simple, well within our abilities, and known for decades. Why folks say the answers are complicated is because they'll really piss off some people in a big way requiring those in leadership to admit we live in a finite system and growth cannot be supported past what a finite system provides. The hard part is the powers that be need to become a bipedal organism with a backbone able to stand up to greedheads who simply don't give a shit past their insatiable need for more.

Same goes for what passes for most issues in our personal lives. Problems almost always have simple answers but we insist on complicating it all instead of just doing the needful. There's a big difference between "need" and "want". If you can't function in a reality-based environment enough to deal with required compromise because you want to have your cake and eat it too, you're just out of luck.

Oops, I sometimes forget this is a boatish blog so I'll point out if you're on a minimum wage income you really should not buy that $100K hurricane cat and would be a lot happier with a CAL or Catalina 25.  The same applies for getting any boat that exceeds what makes sense for your income.

Seriously, just do the math.

Listening to a party playlist

So it goes...

a thought that makes me smile...

Grotesque but not unsurprising, something from the greed files, and a needful read...

Imagine an intrepid yachtsman cruising into the Ultima Thule in a very expensive bespoke yacht coming to an anchorage only to find the anchorage already has a couple of boats sitting at anchor. 

Just for chuckles, let's say one of those boats is a Westerly Centaur.

That's got to hurt.

Listening to Rina Sawayama

So it goes...

that time of year again...

Jon Stewart with some choice words, something about Esperanto, and Thursday was Overshoot day...

We're sliding into the serious part of "H" season and I haven't even begun to sort out what all needs to be done. From the look of thing it would seem I'm not an exception.

Maybe it's the ongoing COVID pandemic and the fact that so many people seem to believe that if you don't like the current reality you can just replace it with one of your choosing mindset. Or, possibly, it's just a lot of folks are just so tired of the crazy that the idea of a hurricane coming along and blowing it all away is just a passive way of coping with what's going on.

Whatever it is it's starting to scare me and it's well past time to get to doing.

Listening to Pigeon Pit 

So it goes...

a path mostly untrodden...

An apt cartoon, what I'm not having for lunch, and in the "One man with a..." department...

The idea of a circumnavigation only appeals if it's a connected series of places I actually want to visit. Off hand, I can think of any number of places that I'm interested in seeing and experiencing so, the idea sorta/kinda makes sense.

Now, what would make the task more appealing is if one could avoid places I don't want to go. This is a bit more difficult as most milk run cruising locations are part and parcel of places I don't have much interest in. Which is a roundabout way of saying that avoiding the riff-raff could be somewhat problematic.

I suspect, the easiest way to avoid milk run locations is to take a more, shall we say, jaundiced view of most of the existing cruising advice. As I've always had issues with following the herd this is right up my alley.

The downside is that going your own way requires having to actually doing your homework. But, hey, planning and research can be pretty entertaining if your bent leans that way.

So far, so good.

Here's something even better! If you're researching and planning your own route you can leave out all the stuff you hate.

Like marinas! I really hate marinas and the idea of a marina-free circumnavigation makes me giddy with anticipation. We could call it the 2024 Marina Avoidance Tour and what a great T-shirt that would make.

So, to recap, a lazy man's frugal circumnavigation to interesting places while avoiding all the popular cruising locations with the express purpose of not staying in a marina while only anchoring is pretty much what I'm talking about.

I'm pretty sure that I'd have to harness my inner Phileas Fogg to do it but I'm sure it's doable.

I've got some homework to do...

Listening to a Strokes cover

So it goes...

thinking on a novel approach to a circumnavigation...

Sailing Anarchy saying the needful, some climate arithmetic you should check out, and in the "There's a difference between famous and infamous" department...

Everyone seems to want to have their fifteen minutes of fame with some Derring-Do feat that sets them apart from the crowd. You’re going to have to be real creative to come up with a “first” where boats and sailing are part of the equation.

Many sailing and cruising folk don’t have a lot of historical knowledge where sailing accomplishments are concerned. Pretty much all the firsts have already been done. Since someone’s already done it before, you’re mostly just following in their wake.

Of course, most folk seeking to be first are harvesting ideas from the “How stupid can you go?” files. Crossing an ocean in a three-foot sailboat might get me into the Darwin Awards for sure but don’t float my boat.

I’m really not adventurous but having a goal for a circumnavigation would be no bad thing. I’ve pondered on what would be a significant method of getting around the world. A method that folks would deem either impossible or doubtful of success yet little chance of becoming a statistic in the yearly USCG mortality at sea report.

What to do?

When you think about it, it’s an “Around the World in Eighty Days” sort of question. So, what would Phileas Fogg do?

Or, to be more precise, what would someone who is a bit anti-social and very frugal desire to do or do without in a seaborne circumnavigation?

More on that soonish…

Listening to Las Cafeteras

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...

an interview you'll want to check out...

Florida doubling down on hate, puke worthy in Ohio, and the stupidity from North Carolina it burns... 

The interview with Yann Quenet over at Voile et Voiliers just came out from behind the paywall so you might want to get it while the getting is good. Well worth reading!

It's also in English if you don't read French.

You're still here?

Listening to a good year for music

So it goes...

almost dumb and dangerous day...

A very good reason to get your flu shot this year, houseboats on the Nile, and in the "freedom of religion" department... 

Yep, another July 4th is just about to happen which, for someone on the water, has a lot in common with St Patrick's day and New Years in that it brings out all the waterborne amateur drinkers. As it happens it's also the maximum enforcement day for the USCG and various water cops.

A good day to just to sort out some boat projects and keep a low profile.

Listening to Raelyn Nelson

So it goes...

an errant thought or two...

A different take on space travel, a stupid man complains, and in the "Right wing alternative universe" department...

From time to time I play the what if game and wonder what my current life would be like if I'd zigged rather than zagged at various time line junctures. Most of which, I'll admit, have a lot to do with boats bought or built.

What if I'd bought that Sangria or the Wharram Tangaroa when I was looking for a boat instead of building a Bolger Jessie Cooper and Wharram Tiki?

One of my favorite John Stewart songs Strange Rivers says it a lot better than I can...

Did you ever turn the corner
And you wondered why you did
'Cause you haven't been that way, now
Since you were just a kid
And nothing really happened
But then you've got to say
That you wonder what would've happened
Had you gone the other way
There are strange rivers
Rivers that you can not see
And there are strange rivers
Who know our destiny
And there are strange rivers
And we're sailors
You and me

Listening to a couple of albums worth of Bowie coverage

So it goes...

a film worth watching...

A comic of note, John Scalzi reflecting on that post ten years on, and in the "Years of breathtakingly moronic decisions motivated by mindless greed, vicious partisan hatred, blind ideological dogmatism, and a total unwillingness to think about the long-term consequences of short-term decisions" department...

Best sailing film I've seen in ages.

Listening to Olivia Rodrigo covering No Doubt

So it goes...

If you're reading this you're not stupid...

Well worth a read/watch, about those mangroves, and in the "Free speech" department...

Arthur C. Clarke pretty much nailed it with this quote:

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." 

I was thinking about this when I read something about watermakers being a highly sophisticated system that anyone without copious and serious tech juju or deep pockets should avoid.

I'll go on record and say that's just bullshit. Making fresh and potable water from sea water is just simple plumbing that has nothing to do with high tech or magic. If the science behind how watermakers work exceeds your grasp, it is not because the science is difficult (it's not), it's because you're educationally and mechanically deprived.

I agree that folks on boats should understand the basic concepts of how things work where boats are concerned, and heartily recommend that they should not go to sea without such knowledge. However, I don't buy into the excuse that most sailing related skills are too technical for the average guy/gal to sort out because it's all pretty simple.

If you believe otherwise, someone has sold you a bill of goods and, more than likely, the sellers are doing it because there's a profit in fleecing you.

Seriously, if you're reading this there's no reason you can't manage a splice, tune your rig, or (dare I say it?) build and operate a watermaker.

You're not stupid.

If by chance your knowledge is a bit fuzzy on a subject, just do a little research and read a book. Like I said, you're not stupid and it's way past time to be letting an industry get away with telling that you are.

Rant over.

Listening to a whole lot of Stevie Wonder covers

So it goes...

worth a watch...

A nature film with a twist. education in decline, and in the "We need a new super plastic?" department...

 

We could use more sailing films like this one.

DANNY: An Introduction to Offshore Sailing from Benshi Creative on Vimeo.

Listening to The Suffers

So it goes...

On losing the background noise...

A job that appeals to me, some depressing news, and in the "Let's not forget corporate profits" department...

Being an older person living in the future is sometimes problematic. Especially where boats and cruising are concerned.

Right now I'm hearing a lot of discussion about Starlink and the hopes and wishes that it will evolve into a service that will give cruisers the ability to be online 24/7 anywhere in the world including when in mid-ocean doing a crossing.

Just the other day I heard someone say that as soon as Starlink kicks in they'll finally be able to do a trans-Atlantic cruise. Apparently, a voyage now is impossible without the ability to access their Twitter, Facebook, and  Netflix accounts.

Now, while I'm a huge fan of progress where thought and science are concerned, there's a point where I have to sit back and reconsider whether or not Ned Ludd was on to something.

For me, the most attractive part of crossing oceans, is that it gives one a chance to get away from what passes for civilization and all of the attached baggage included in the modern world. That crossing an ocean requires one to be out of touch for a given amount of time is a big part of its appeal rather than a bug in the system.

I'm certain that most of the best thinking I've done has been when on passage due to the clarity generated by cutting out most of the background noise that is part and parcel of this modern world we live in today. 

I can hear the emails now... 

But Safety...

Of course, not being a complete Luddite, I'll opt for a means of getting weather and the ability to send a note to folks to let them know we're OK as my mother did not raise a complete idiot.

The insight, growth, and occasional terror that an ocean crossing on a small boat provides is a wonderful thing and the idea that you need to insulate yourself from the very reasons I choose to sail is a very sad thing.

Listening to Sir Woman

So it goes...

a nightmare of note...

Florida bans math textbooks, an excellent example of form follows function, and in the "Just in case you haven't been paying attention" department...

I had a bad dream that woke me up this morning. It wasn't about COVID, climate change, or the Ukraine Russian war morphing into a nuclear debacle. All of which have been fodder for uncomfortable dreams of late.

It wasn't even about killer clowns either. It was a lot worse than that.

It was about... 

Marinas

Now, I'm pretty sure I've gone on record about my feeling regarding marinas and the soul deprived creatures that own and operate such hellish establishments. As an admittedly low budget cruiser I avoid marinas just like you'd avoid taking a walk in a cemetery at midnight, going down in the basement during a zombie outbreak with only a couple of matches to light your way, and going outside to check out a suspicious noise just after having sex on Elm street.

Which might tell you a lot about how the nightscape of my dream where everyone is forced to stay in marinas may have chilled me to the bone and found myself woken in a cold sweat.

So scary in fact that to get the images of "No Liveaboards or Wooden Boats" and "Outboard Powered Dinghies Only" out of my head that I had to read some Stephen King to cleanse the dark dank suppurating images from my mind.

Listening to Drive-by Truckers 

So it goes...

A certain lack of progress in some areas...

Tugboat labor issues, stealing gifts, and in the "It's about time" department...

A scowish moment.

Like it or not, if you're serious about winning there's a scow in your future. Sadly, in terms of historical experience we'll be seeing the first scow cruisers in America in or around 2035.

Listening to five good covers

So it goes...

I have to admit I'll miss Monique...

Polar bears, an alternative history game, and Scalzi making a whole lot of sense...

I just saw that Guirec Soudée is doing the 2024 Vendee Globe race albeit without Monique. Monique, who's getting on in years is in retirement with Guirec's family but, apparently, still laying eggs.

I'll admit I'm not a huge fan of high stakes, big money, yacht racing but Guirec Soudée with Monique has grown on me and I'll be watching his campaign closely and rooting for him to kick some ass in the process.

Listening to the Iron Leg Radio Show

So it goes...