Not that I expected anyone to do the right thing...

Zandar makes all the right points, drug dealers making out, and the current whether or not a war is just question...

One of my favorite purveyors of  things bicycle is selling t-shirts and suchlike to raise money for Ukraine. and in 48-hours have managed to raise at least $10K already. If you need a bespoke t-shirt I highly recommend getting a couple.

Milwaukee’s Lakefront Brewery is selling one quart crowlers for $15 with $10 from each can going to the National Bank of Ukraine’s fund for refugees. The limited run of one thousand cans with the "Putin is a dick" labels is expected to raise $10K.

Doing the right thing isn't exactly rocket science but rest assured that If I'm buying bike parts or looking to stock up on beer I know where I'll be going first to get them.

Of course, you'd think that some sailing oriented businesses might do something similar but I'm not seeing anything. If anyone knows of anyone in the marine trades doing something similar please tell me about them and I'll help pass the word along.

The idea that a small business in California can raise $10K in 48-hours has me wondering just how much could be raised by some marine behemoth like West Marine or Defender. 

Maybe you should ask them?

Listening to Garland Jeffreys

So it goes...

and did someone actually say "Thou"?

An excellent riff on a Paul Simon song, a very good point, and in the "Made a list and checked it twice" department... 

It's Boxing Day and in some ways it's my favorite day of the plethora of days in the Holidaze season. Mainly, because it's not about buying stuff, but in giving.

This morning, someone pointed out to me that on the Duckworks facebook site, a post was deleted and the member banned because they had posted something about the impact of Typhoon Odette on fishermen and commercial boats.

Eden Lida Canning asked a question

12 hrs  ·

There are thousands of small fishing boats destroyed here in Southern Leyte. Additionally there are many dive boats totally destroyed belonging to our friends. My husband is an aid worker and was a member of this group for 2 years. He is also a customer of Duckworks. Why did one of your moderators block him from this group for showing the devistation here in Maasin City? We have lost our restaurant, but he chose to show other's damage instead. Is there no compassion here. His was the only post here on Typhoon Rai and yoi deleted it and blocked him.

8 Comments

Mikkel Gredvig

https://www.rappler.com/.../typhoon-odette-death-toll.../

RAPPLER.COM

Typhoon Odette death toll in Southern Leyte climbs to 21

Michael Khan Lee

That doesn’t sound right . Admin! What’s up?

Jack McDaniel

I have compassion for your situation and wish you the best. However, is this really the group for disaster / humanitarian relief? The admin is simply moderating as he should to keep on point for the group. Thou should not criticize or judge . It is his group. Move on.

________________

Now, as a social media page devoted to boats, boaters, and boatbuilders, I think that boaters in dire straights IS on point and, as it is Boxing Day, maybe it would be no bad thing to consider how one could help those fellow boaters and boatbuilders.

 

I'd love to have someone send me a link for anyone that is organizing the sort of aid that would help those afflicted. Having been through my share of hurricanes, I know just how hard it is to get the tools and needful materials to repair or replace boats in the aftermath of a major disaster. 

I suspect that if Port Townsend was hit by a tidal wave (and just for the record I was up close and personal with the 75-foot tidal wave of 1964 in Smith River which decimated the PNW fishing community), the Duckworks facebook page would be all about helping the boat and boatbuilding community.

 

One of my most vivid memories of the 1964 tidal wave was how boat builders from France, Norway, and Germany traveled to the PNW on their own dime and worked shoulder to shoulder with the local crews to help rebuild the PNW fishing fleet. A pivotal event in my upbringing as a primer of how to build boats with a large dash of empathy.

So, yeah, send me a link to where to send aid.

Listening to Strand of Oaks

So it goes...

a cause worth supporting...

A must read on the subject of curiosity, stuff you need to know about the oil industry, and Webb Chiles makes a point...

Some familiar faces want you to support a good cause... 

More about what you can do to help on the MOcean crowdfunding page.

Listening to Coverville

So it goes...

A film I've been waiting for...

An excellent post on the subject of marinas, good point being made, and in the "So this is what thoughts and prayers accomplish" department... 

What I'll be watching tonight.

Listening to five good covers  

So it goes...

A very good cause...

Some unsurprising insanity, regarding the price of Revlimid, and in the "Not exactly the October surprise they were planning on" department...

Off Center Harbor is raising money for the Rocking the Boat organization and has a matching program that doubles your donation. It's a very worthwhile cause.

Need I say more?

20 years of Rocking the Boat from rocking the boat on Vimeo.

Listening to a weekend's worth of covers

So it goes...

A very good cause...

Some bad news, a poisonous plant, and in the "This poll speaks volumes" department...

Listening to some Prince covers

So it goes...

Who is and isn't doing the right thing?

Ongoing bad news,  a good article on the subject of tactical urbanism, and yeah, maybe it is time to defund the police...

So, Patagonia, North Face, REI, and Adventure Journal have all joined the #Stophateforprofit boycott.

Anyone know of any marine industry companies or publications fighting the good fight?

Color me curious.

Listening to the Ramones

So it goes...

A little good advice...

EBM getting it right, a Christian billionaire's empathy/greed issue, and a story about protecting drug dealers...

Doctor Who with the needful.



Listening to Bob Marley and the Wailers

So it goes...

A better search engine?

Stephens Waring Yacht Design talks sustainability, some  excellent advice, and in the "Maybe I should vote for Bloomberg?" department...

I'll admit that, in a world where greenwashing is a thing, that my first reaction to this ad was somewhat negative. That said, if it actually helps, it would be no bad thing as , pretty much, every search engine make their money from ads and selling off your user information. Whatever, it's got to be better than the "G" folks.



Something to think about. More about Ocean Hero here.

Listening to Black Pumas

So it goes...

A cause worth supporting

An important reminder, something on the current state of affairs regarding Puerto Rico, and in the "Just in case you haven't been paying attention" department...

Feel like doing something good for people and you happen to need a calendar? As it happens the hip calendar this year is Le Panthéon de la Mini featuring Skippers from the most recent Mini-Transat.

We're talking some serious eye candy!

Better yet, the profits from the calendar support SOS MEDITERRANEE which is a very good cause.



Buy the calendar, you know it's the right thing to do, but do it soon as it's a limited edition!

Listening to Spanglish Fly

So it goes...

No sailing content today...

Regarding some history of note, some fun facts, and in the "Seems like a good time to quit eating meat" files...

A Colorado politician, Andrew Romanoff actually gets it.




Listening to a Louisiana themed play list

So it goes...

Something you may want to watch...

A cause worthy of your support, some needful science, and proof positive that men are not as smart as women...

I've mentioned Chuffed Adventures in the past as a YouTube channel doing good work and deserves your attention and support.



Need I say more?

Listening to Versus

So it goes...

Greta hitches a ride...

A bit of needful reading, some scary Pacific climate news, and, I suspect, the NRA is not doing the Happy Dance...

Truth be told, I've never been a big fan of the cruising YouTubery genre and the narcissistic selfie filming style just makes my skin crawl. Which is not to say I don't admire good films on sailing and cruising but most of the YouTube stuff just does not make the grade.

That said, my respect for La Vagabonde just went up a bunch of notches when I heard they were giving Greta Thunberg a ride back to Europe.

Might even engender some good "It's not all about me"  videos in the process.

Well, one can always hope...

Listening to Little Wings

So it goes...

Protect, restore, and fund...

Greta still telling it like it is, a very apt point being made, and in the "read it and weep" department...

Some sense being made.



Listening to Rhiannon Giddens

So it goes...

a voyage of note...

The latest U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services assholery, some needful reading, and a bit of good news...

Listening to a great Tedeschi Trucks Band concert

So it goes...

A good channel/cause...

A world without ice, some needful reading, and a whole lot of oil...

Here's a YouTube channel you should be watching which deserves some support.



Enough said.

Listening to Ley Line

So it goes...

A project worth supporting...

Greta Thunberg making sense, a quick future reality check, and while the climate is going to hell take comfort that someone is going to make a profit on it...

David Reece dropped me a line regarding a kids boatbuilding project he was working on which is all kinds of cool but could use a little love and support. Truth be told, he had me at "kids building boats" and the fact that it's a Bolger boat they're building is just icing on the proverbial cake.

So, I'll let David tell you all about it...

Bob was kind enough to let me write a post on his blog so that I can let you all know about an exciting new boat building project of my own.

Several months ago, after a stint abroad with my wife and young kids, I was back home in the mountains of Southwest Virginia, looking for a job.  A friend tipped me off to an extraordinary private middle/high school called “Springhouse Community School.” Under the umbrella of the organization Reimagining Education, this school seemed to be doing just that.

They didn't have a position open for me, but when I told them about my experiences building boats with school kids in the past, I was hired on to run a semester-long boatbuilding program that I have dubbed “SpringShip.”  In SpringShip, I serve two roles. Two days a week, I lead a group of students in building a yet unnamed boat, hopefully the first in a series. The rest of the week, I co-teach a class that teaches Math and Science through the lens of boat building and sailing, with a touch of nautical culture thrown in by literature and the singing of sea shanties.

The program will culminate in a camping/sailing trip to the Chesapeake Bay in May.

The Class

In the class, we use sailing and sailboats as a lens on math and science.

In our exploration of scale and proportion, we had the students practice scaling boat plans down to cardboard models, one measurement at at time.

For a little geometry practice, the students built fully functioning sails to match their boats.



Just so they could see the boats in action and learn a little bit about aerodynamics, I built them a carousel to attach them to.  We took it outside and put the models through their paces.

The Shop

We didn't have a build space, so we had to convert on bay of an old dairy barn (the one they used to scoop the manure out of with a loader) to a heated boat shop, basically by building a plastic room.

The Boat

For a boat, we chose a scaled-up version of a Phil Bolger design called, Pirate Racer.
 
After adding side air boxes and a couple more masts to keep our “pirate crew” of teens busy, we have a unique, but serviceable design. 

The Benefits for Students

I never would have guessed it, but these kids are taking to boat building like seagulls to a bag of cheetos. For those of you who love boats and sailing, you know how rare and rewarding it is when the younger generation gets excited about those things, too. Here is a group of kids from a tiny rural town in the mountains, willingly learning about boats, boat design, sailing, construction, woodworking, and nautical life. 
 
The kind of skills they are learning are beyond my expectations.  Not only manual skills, but highly transferable skills like problem solving and cooperation, resilience and creativity. When problems arise, these students confront them with the same determination and grit that you would expect from adults. This is going to be transformative for them.

The Problem

The only catch is that the school hasn't been able to raise enough money to complete the project. Therefore we have started a Kickstarter campaign, hoping to make up the shortfall.

If you could make a donation, however small, it would go a long way toward passing on the love we all share for “Simply messing about in boats.” 

Thanks again to Bob for giving me the space on his great publication to spread the word.
-David Reece

   ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You know you want to do the right thing.

Listening to the Beach Boys

So it goes...

SSCA...

A little good news, an interview worth reading, and someone's in denial...

The SSCA is currently having a membership drive and if you're not a member they are offering $10 off new memberships.

Listening to The Hu

So it goes...

some well needed clean-up...

L,G,& M saying something important, NIKE getting it right, and in the "complicit weasel pretty much sums it up" department...

Now here's something from the good works category.

Listening to Jim's son covering Jim

So it goes...

a song you should listen to...

Murder most foul, proof positive, and some reading on a piratical theme...

Lauren Hoffman was in Charlottesville (she's from there) last year for the tiki torch fuckery and, as a result, she wrote a song.You'll want to check it out.

Listening to Chris Hillman & Herb Pedersen

So it goes...