five minutes and change worth watching...

China getting it right, the reality of tRump's suicide cult, and regarding a book you won't need to read...

The ongoing Mini saga continues.



Listening to the Iron Leg radio show

So it goes...

Did someone say trebuchet mayhem?

Some new rule changes for our Bahamian neighbors now that they're climate refugees, starving killer whales, and in the "Just follow the money" department...

It's been far too long without some trebuchet content here at Boat Bits.



More about the Floating Arm Trebuchet and how to build one here. For those of the dumb and dangerous ilk you could always scale up the plans to better fit on your foredeck for some serious mayhem and mirth.

Listening to Puddles Pity Party cover Warren Zevon

So it goes...

R2AK...

Some good points being made, a little bit of hope, and a question I seem to be asking myself a lot lately...

Good stuff!

You're still here?

Listening to a Tim Buckley song

So it goes...

Fun stuff...

Stewardship gone wrong, Ian Welsh with a good point, and bringing coal jobs back BIGLY...


La Voie Du Pôle - SUEDE from Arnaud MANSAT on Vimeo.

Listening to some Talking Heads covers

So it goes...

Speaking of building stuff...

A little love for the USPS, now it's Ohio as well as Michigan, and in the "truer words" department...

As soon as I can get my list of ongoing projects put to bed and finished I'm building a new dinghy.

I can't really think of too many things more enjoyable than just building a dinghy...

The dinghy in question this time around is a Two-Paw from B & B design simply because its nested size at about 4' X 4' pretty much fits perfectly in the available space on my coach roof.

While I'm in dinghy building mode, I might just build a Fliptail folding dinghy as well since it would fit finestkind against the lifelines...

Talk about having some fun! 

Listening to Lilly Hiatt

So it goes...

It's not just about the money...

Something well worth reading, more on fiscal folly, and a bill that needs your support...

Everyone seems to get the concept of buying an old boat and fixing it up to save money but few seem to grok the concept of just how enjoyable working on a boat can be.

Sure, there are any number of icky jobs to do on boats  but, from where I sit, most tasks involved are not just enjoyable but deeply satisfying...

Today, for instance, I get to frame in and laminate a good portion of my cockpit/transom hack and I'm really looking forward to it. Of course, I have to do a bit of sanding to start things off (not really a big fan of sanding fiberglass) but the rest of the day is just fun work and I can even listen to French radio while I do it (the internet being a wonderful thing)... All in all, a very pleasant way to spend the day.

Afterwards I can jump over the side to get the dust off and, I expect, a cold beer on the foredeck (the cockpit currently being  a disaster area/work in progress) to top it off...

Even better, tomorrow I get to do more!

Listening to Jo Jo Gunne

So it goes...

Sunday...

It's a beautiful day...

The sun is shining, the water is like glass, and I'm taking a day off!

So it does go...

A very cool guitar idea... Voyage-Air Guitars

For those of us guitar addicts who can't get their heads around the "travel guitar" solution and find that a quiver of full sized guitars take up far too much space, there may be another option...

 Looks like a normal full sized Dreadnought... Right?

How cool is this? A folding guitar that fits into a case that can be carried on an airplane!

What's better, from all reports, it is far from being a gimmick and is showing up in the hands of some very solid and savvy guitar players... a real guitar that folds.

I'd love to be able to find the room for a couple more acoustics and this one might be just the thing for a take-it-to-the-beach sort of guitar... or maybe this one for cockpit duty... Apparently they also have a "Les-Paulish" P90 pickup solid body...

...and nothing says slide to me like P-90 pickups.

The only thing that I find lacking in the line is NO 12 STRINGS... but it's early days yet and just maybe Voyage-Air will do the right thing and start building one because "So It Goes" could always use another 12 String!

No boat content whatsoever...

Giving a whole new meaning to "Red-Neck"...

Guitars for the non-obsessed...

Not everyone is willing to devote as much space onboard to guitars and related mayhem and I'll be the first to admit that I really do need to get a bigger boat or find a way to do without the not so needful stuff like the sextant, charts and water tankage... Did you really think that less guitars onboard "So It Goes" is any kind of an option, now did you?

For those a bit more sane on the guitar front but who still want a guitar or two onboard you might consider a travel or backpacker type guitar...


I first came across the little Martin backpacker guitar when I was in the Canary Islands when another cruiser dragged me to a guitar store to check it out and tell him if it was indeed something one could learn to play on and actually make music. One look at the odd shape and size and I was all set to suggest maybe a cheap "real" guitar would be better when as the salesman handed me the guitar I sat down and found it actually was a real guitar. It even felt like one. The sound was much better than expected and had surprising projection for such a little sound box. Of course you really can't expect Martin to do anything bad...

For those who just can't get past the slightly odd looks of the Martin Backpacker (but then again it can do double duty as a dinghy paddle!) you might want to check out the Martin LX or Taylor Baby travel guitars which look just that little bit more like what a lot of people think a guitar is supposed to look like.

Me? Hell I'm still trying to sort out a cunning plan to get a Hammond B3 organ on the boat...

Have a happy Tiki 4th of July...

The 4th of July for me has always meant beach, surfboards and Tiki drinks...

When I was a kid, the whole Tiki bar thing was quite the rage and seriously hip. In these modern times the whole Tiki fad is looked down on by many as a pinnacle of kitsch but it was a LOT of fun, and I'll go on record as saying we could always use a whole lot more FUN!

Plus let's get real... What better place to have your very own movable Tiki Bar than an ocean-going sail boat?

Of course to do it right you need LOTS of RUM! Lucky for us that down here in the Caribbean you can buy a good rum for less than $4 a liter (and you'd be dumb-as-nails to use anything better for Tiki drinks) various fruit juices and some serious Tiki mugs...

I mean you really do need the Tiki mugs as they strike just the right note and the whole point of the excercise is striking the right note! Of course you can always use coconuts and hollowed out pineapples but for me Tiki mugs are the serious stuff (and who wants to waste good drinking time hollowing out a pineapple?).

Of course you need the recipes because, while most things on boats are not rocket science, mixology of the Tiki variety IS and before you are ready to come up with your own special signature Tiki/Boat drink it is best to spend a bit of time learning from the masters and working on the classics!

"Sipping Safari" is a great place to start but any of the Beachbum Berry books will do...

I would be remiss in not mentioning that for a proper on-board Tiki party that the old T-shirt is something of a faux pas and that at the least a real Aloha shirt is the minimum for Tiki chic (leis however are considered to be something of an over kill)!

Have a happy 4th...