Random thoughts and rants on boat design, boat building, and other boat bits for those in the 99%...
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...
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:
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...
A very important question, hardly a surprise but still, and in the "Priorities priorities!" department...
I'm currently in the middle of some electrical work on the boat and I can't think of a better way of enforcing the KISS program on the boat systems front.
The idea of adding such things as air-conditioning, electronics that don't earn their keep, and replacing perfectly good instruments with newer more complicated versions that are even more prone to failure is just insane.
That said, judging from the current CPAC crap fest there's no shortage of bat-shit crazy floating about these days.
Listening to some 60s girl groups coverage
So it goes...
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...
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...
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...
Some thoughts on compassion, a case of interest, and Randy gets into Tango mode...
Yesterday our propane bottle ran out of propane, which was a non-problematic affair. The good news being that our spare tank was full, so changing over took only a few minutes. The bad news was that it was raining, so I got wet. That said, there was nothing on the stove cooking where a momentary pause might create havoc.
The 20 pound bottle lasted 96 days, providing most of the meals consumed in that time period at a cost of only $0.26 dollars a day.
I’ve been trying to get my head around the idea of induction cook-tops on boats. Researching induction cooking on boats is problematic as most info is about how great having an all-electric-boat with scant discussion on how it really works.
Some say I’m way behind in terms of tech, and my life would be better with an induction stove. Mostly citing the price of propane as I could run an induction stove on solar.
While I suspect some can run an induction stove on solar, it requires more solar panels and a larger battery bank.
I love solar panels and readily admit they are a needful addition to any cruising boat. Still one only has enough room to deploy them, which limits the number of watts available.
The scary part for me is the god-awful amp draw of the induction cooker combined with an inverter. One test I’ve seen boiling just enough water to make one cup of coffee came out at eight amp-hours.
With that sort of draw, I shudder to imagine what sort of mayhem a large pot of chili will impact on my battery levels. Combine that thought with the time it takes my solar panels to replace that amount of energy and I get nervous.
Worse yet, I’ve had bad luck where inverters are concerned. As an inverter is a needful chunk of an induction system, I’d feel the need to have at least a spare inverter as a backup. The same might go for the actual induction cooker as well, since longevity of home electronics aboard cruising boats can be a dicey affair.
Suddenly, the whole idea of an induction cooker looks a lot less like the best thing since sliced bread anymore.
At least for the moment I'll be sticking with my ENO propane cooker as it does everything I want at $0.26 dollars a day.
Listening to the Iron Leg Radio Show
So it goes...
Exploitation for profit, a needful read on masks/mandates, and in the "It's just slumlord culture" department...
Pretty much every day someone sends me something about a new bit of boat bling that I should buy. Today it was an integrated modular instrumentation solution that would, if the included material is believed, will make my life all warm and fuzzy.
The thing is I already have a semi-integrated instrument system that works just fine. That the idea of replacing it with a newer, hipper, and more stylish system that actually costs more than the boat I'd be installing it in sorta/kinda appeals to me has me questioning my sanity.
Such is the power of consumerism and its attached hype that even I feel the siren call of buying new stuff I don't need and can't afford on a regular basis.
I keep having to remind myself that I already have excellent gear that would have cost an unattainable fortune back when I was crossing oceans with a compass, trailing log, and plastic sextant. Gear that worked then and will, if needful work just as well today. While I now have GPS, chart plotters (yes plural!) an incredible depth sounder/fishfinder, and AIS I still consider them luxuries and depend on the basic compass/log/sextant as the fail-safe core of getting from one place to the next.
That being the case, I don't feel like the seductive lure of consumerist boat bling is a problem I can't resist... Well, at least until they come up with a modular instrument system that include an espresso machine and bacon fryer as part of the integrated package.
A man can only be so strong.
Listening to Bedouin Burger
So it goes...
Some good points on the subject of accountability, a ski/climate artwork that says it all, and in the "Just how stupid can you get" department...
Every once in a while I get the urge to try something I think is pretty stupid and I’m sure I’m not alone in this.
For instance, take the all-electric sailboat as an example. At first glance, it makes sense. I’d love to get rid of fossil fuels aboard “So It Goes”. The idea of being able to generate all the required energy with solar is the stuff of dreams I’ve had for decades.
I follow just about everything I can get on various schemes and tech that makes the idea of an all-electric boat doable.
The problem I keep running into is that a lot of the folks doing the all-electric boat gig keep their actual power use compared to power harvested information to themselves. Add in sorting your way through various instruments, refrigeration, stoves, inverters, watermakers, washing machines, appliances, and other bits of electrical draw consume in the real world.
Concerning efficiency of devices, there is very little information available. Electrical systems suffer from the ‘death of a thousand cuts’ syndrome, where a system that should work fails when a surplus of minor losses combine and result in unplanned for loads which can cause failure.
Which is a roundabout way saying that what I'd like is a whole lot more information and some serious studies on how, for instance, a modern electric stove would compare to either an alcohol, kerosene, diesel, or propane stove. The same goes for pretty much any system that one is considering to add or replace with an electric alternative. Anybody seen such a beast?
Some more thoughts on electrical systems soonish...
Listening to David Byrne and Yo Le Tengo cover a Yoko Ono song
So it goes...
A thing about language, a suggestion from EBM, and about that gas in your dinghy...
It's come to the point where I have to replace the batteries aboard "So It Goes" and I've been doing a lot of research on what to replace them with.
Just about everyone is telling me that I should go with Lithium and their talking points seem to have merit and at first glance they are somewhat compelling. According to just about everyone Lithium has twice the usable energy, charges faster, and when the overall life of the battery is factored in less expensive than lead-acid.
Almost too good to be true.
A resource I follow where lithium batteries are concerned regularly tears down commercial lithium batteries and far too often the build quality appears to be somewhat problematic. Another resource who is big on harvesting surplus cells has been something of an eye opener as the whole act of harvesting cells is based on batteries that, for one reason or another, have failed.
Throw in the fact that while companies producing (or just rebranding) batteries have warranties that don't quite reflect the longevity they're claiming.
Warranties tend to say a lot about how good a product actually is so I take them quite seriously. Then again I recently had a couple of "Lifetime Guaranteed" solar panels which failed and the vendor refused to replace them because the company that built them was no longer in business. Which makes me wonder how many of the lithium battery sellers of today will still be around in five or ten years.
I'll also point out that the battery in the computer I'm writing this on is no longer accepting a full charge and cuts out on a regular basis and it's only a couple of months old. Fact is, battery failure on this computer has been an ongoing issue and I don't think a single battery has made it to the end of a warranty cycle. As it is, I'm replacing the computer battery about twice a year which does not give me a warm and fuzzy feeling where lithium batteries are concerned.
My current 400+ amp hour battery bank has lasted six years nine months and is still working albeit in a tired and grumpy manner. While we could get by for another year it makes sense to replace them now where I can get a good price on new batteries in a place where the old bank will be recycled and not just dumped in a landfill.
The decision to buy lead acid golf cart batteries is mainly about the fact that I have experience with lead acid and know they will work for the next six years or so without any issues as they're simple and don't have a lot to go wrong. Lithium, on the other hand, has complicated circuits (BMS) which can fail and are not user repairable. Several people I know advised that installing a second lead-acid bank as a back up to a lithium bank would be no bad thing which does not exactly fill me with confidence.
But what about the cost? The new bank (four six-volt golf cart batteries) is going to cost $732, including free delivery. Using the current bank as a model means I should expect to get around eighty-one months of service and the cost to the budget will come to about $9.04 a month.
I suspect, that eighty-one months from now when it's time to replace the new batteries, there will be a newer, hipper, and better battery chemistries that do not require rare-earth materials to build while lithium will have become passe.
I'm looking forward to seeing what the future brings...
Listening to Petite Amie
So it goes...
Too little too late, regarding 'sustainably' caught fish, and a ski film that made me smile...
I've been thinking lately of adding an AIS transponder to the mix for "So It Goes". An AIS transponder pretty much is a slam dunk where the Need/Want test goes where it is less so is the budget side of things so I've mostly been researching more frugal options.
One of those options is this one.
It's an Onwa KP-38A GPS chartplotter and AIS transponder. As it happens the street price just shy of $400 and if you factor in shipping still quite a bit less than $500.
I don't know about you but I haven't seen any AIS Transponders at that price point have you?
Doing some due diligence it would seem that Onwa has a pretty good reputation and word of mouth has been very good the their chart plotter AIS transponder combos and their is a lot of excitement where their new GPS Chartplotter/Fishfinder/AIS transponder/Radar KP-1299X combo is concerned.
So, I'll continue my research, talk to some folks who actually have one, and sort out whether Onwa is going to be coming out with anything new in five to seven inch screen versions of the KP-1299X sort (12 inches is just too frelling big for my nav area).
I'll let you know what turns up.
Listening to the Old Crow Medicine Show
So it goes...
A new low for Florida, what you might not know about the beef in your burger, and in the "Interesting and important but not exactly surprising" department...
Talking with a friend about various strategies for evolving the electrical system aboard "So It Goes" it seemed that just about all of the various sources of information seem to have vested interests in what they're talking about.
Especially where batteries and power storage are concerned.
The more I look into the whole conundrum of various battery chemistries and real world usage of said batteries I find very little real information and a whole lot of hype.
It's frustrating.
But more on this subject soonish as I have some thankfully simple rigging work to do.
Listening to Tim Bluhm & the Coffis Brothers
So it goes...
A must read article on the subject of diesel engines, an excellent choice for the BLM, and in the "Just dumb as a bag of hammers" files...
This morning I had a few emails asking why I did not include a lead line in my post yesterday. Well, I really should have one on the boat somewhere but since I never use it, I simply spaced it. But, yeah, it really would be handy.
Which, sorta/kinda brings us to depth sounders. On So It Goes we have two. One, a Fishfinder/chart plotter and two, another cheap (I think I bought it on sale for $60.) portable fishfinder set up to be used in the dinghy. The thing about fishfinders instead of depth sounders sold for sailboats is that the fishfinders provide a lot more information in terms of bottom features and type, plus they're quite a bit cheaper. Which, when you consider it, is very much a win/win.
As I mentioned one of the depth sounders is a chart plotter as well and it is a Raymarine Dragonfly 5PRO which I also bought on sale. It unsurprisingly outperforms most sailboat-oriented chart plotters at a fraction of the price.
What's even better about the Dragonfly is that it has a WIFI channel so will broadcast to your tablet, phone, or computer.
Designed for open boats and kayaks it's more than up to the rigors of being installed in the hard dodger which is pretty much all I need in the cockpit. The only other instrument in the cockpit is the VDO Sumlog.
Pricing on Dragonflys is all over the place. I've seen them selling for as low as $199 to as high as $599. As it is an old model, I'd hold out for something around the $200 dollar price mark or less. The only downside I've found with the Dragonfly is it is annoying that the icon for your location is a power boat.
We also have a Humminbird 785c2i chart plotter which is mounted inside the boat next next to our dinette/navigation table. Again, bought on sale for a fraction of its list price.
For our VHS we have a Standard Horizon radio which also has GPS and AIS receivers. We took advantage of the Defender sale which had a great price as well as a big rebate from Standard Horizon. Plus we thought that the RAM4 remote access mike which plugs into hard dodger gives us better communications and AIS monitoring in the cockpit.
On the radio front, we also have a couple of inexpensive handheld VHFs.
That's pretty much it in terms of electronics. Obviously there's a lot of redundancy on show with three stand alone GPS units, two separate depth sounders and three VHFs,
As far as new gear goes, the only thing I'm on the lookout for is an AIS transceiver but only when the price comes down a bit more and someone puts them on deep discount.
Listening to some best of April covers
So it goes...
Walkabout containers, a book I'm looking forward to reading, and some situational threat assessment...
Yachting Monthly (a magazine I no longer subscribe to) has an online article "How to get the latest boat electronics – on a budget".Which, me being Mr Cheapseats, caught my eye and I thought to myself "Maybe YM is back on track?".
Well, not so much.
First of all budgets are always a tricky subject and, in this case it begins with spending around over $7000+. on various components. Then another $500+ or so in hardware/software to let the various components play nice with each other and send WIFI to your tablets.
Now, I'm sure the author of the article could have spent a whole lot more money to do the same thing but, I'm also pretty sure one could put together a reasonable facsimile for a whole lot less. The thing is that if you're going to publish an article that is proclaiming it for folks on a budget it really makes sense to define what sort of budget you're actually talking about.
That said, I'd love some input on how to improve a very basic (spelled all the needful things) instrument/electronics that makes sense for folks on real budget for folks who blanche at the thought of spending over $7K on such things.
I'll be talking about what works for us in terms of need/want next...
Listening to a great cover
So it goes...
Jim Gaffigan making sense, yet another reason to boycott Facebook, and a little good news in this mess we call 2020...
Nautalytics with some needful educational content.
A distinction of note, an important question, and in the "It is what it is" department...
Atom Voyager installs and tests the Pelagic Autopilot.
Listening to Chris Thile and friends cover the Beach Boys
So it goes...
Illinois citizens have a reason to be proud, something worth watching, and in the "Are we angry enough to make this sort of shit stop yet?" department...
I recently came across an excellent article over at Nordkyn Design on the subject of Ultrasonic Antifouling that makes a lot of sense.
Might want to check it out:
Raising the bar on assholery, the word for today is d-i-s-j-u-n-c-i-o-n, and in the "Are space pirates really a thing?" department...
An interesting and affordable AIS PLB worth checking out.
Listening to Patti Smith cover Midnight Oil
So it goes...
Zandar making sense, some needful advice, and a very good piece on Burning Man...
Panbo has some important news and information if you have LED lighting aboard and use VHF or AIS. Check it out.
Listening to an album of DEVO covers
So it goes...
An important find in Native American cartography, some needful reading, and still more bad news regarding plastic...
So, yeah. what does an AIS transponder go for these days?
How does $105. sound?
