on getting into more earth friendly materials...

EBM with a question that I've been asking myself  lately, not the news you want to hear, and in the "Climate change just keeps on giving" department...

For awhile now I find myself being somewhat put off with the amount of plastic that's found itself into my life. Not only is my life besieged by needless plastic packaging but it seems that just about everything is based on plastic parts.

Hell, most of the lures in my fishing gear are plastic (more about that soonish over on Fishing Under Sail). 

Yeah, and then there's the amount of plastic in my boat building materials locker, in spite of trying to use more earth friendly resins, goops, and materials. Even so, the bottom line still seems to say they're, at best, just less bad than other alternatives. Sure plastic derived from vegetable sources are better than those based on oil but in the end they're all just plastics.

There's got to be a better way and I'll be working on some alternatives in upcoming posts.

Listening to the Sinseers

So it goes...

A couple of climatic thoughts...

EBM with a very good question, some new USPS fuckery, and in the "more politics than sport" department...

It just occurred to me that I have not driven a car, truck, or motorcycle in over forty years which. to me at least, was something of a surprise.

Even more surprising is that not driving was actually trauma free. When I mention to folks that I don't drive most tend to react like I'd had a double amputation and cannot conceive of how anyone could possibly survive without burning copious amounts of fuel to go to the corner store or drive to the park so they can ride their bikes.

Now I'll admit to the fact that I quit driving when I lived in Paris and there was little reason to drive because the bus, metro and train system was excellent and took me pretty much anywhere I wanted to go quickly and cheaply. Visiting elsewhere in Europe was pretty much the same so why would I even think of saddling myself with the cost and hassle of owning a car?

Of course, the US of A is different and not having lived in the states for over forty years I have been spared the poor transit situation where a car is a needful part of the everyday work day. Still, I have worked on various films throughout the US and found that most of the places I worked that not driving was still pretty much a non-problematic affair. Then again, I like to walk, bike, and I actually enjoy taking buses, subways, and trains.

Which has bugger all to do with sailing or cruising but the whole fossil fuel thing is a serious problem and as someone who has managed to keep a very low carbon footprint I thought it would not hurt to point out that using less fossil fuels is a lot easier than you might think and can actually improves your day to day life. 

I didn't quit driving for a climatic or political reason but just found that not driving was just a better way to live for me. On the other hand, your mileage might vary...

Listening to an album's worth of Go-Go's covers

So it goes...

Some positive news where rope is concerned...

Capitalism at it's best or something very much unlike it, a not unexpected result, and in the "I don't know whether to laugh or cry" department...

I really like Dyneema. Seriously, what's not to like as it's stronger than steel, light enough to float, and doesn't stretch or creep if you choose the right diameter for your needs. Pretty much the  perfect rope except for that little issue of being fossil fuel-based.

Then again, a lot of the stuff we use on boats is based on fossil fuels and plays havoc with our carbon footprint. We might like where some of that stuff comes from but it's not like we have a lot of choice in the matter or alternative materials to work with.

As it happens, Marlow is now making Bio-Based Dyneema. Bio-based Dyneema has identical technical characteristics and performance as conventional Dyneema but uses waste from the pulp and timber industry as its primary raw material.

Better yet, every ton of Bio-based Dyneema Marlow uses, reduces carbon emissions by 5 tons compared with a ton of conventional Dyneema. The comparison with generic HMPE is even starker as 1 ton of Bio-based Dyneema produces 29 tons less CO2 than 1 ton of generic HMPE.  Which is equivalent to charging 3.7m Smartphones or the same CO2 offset by 480 tree saplings over 10 years.

All in all some very good news and here's hoping all of the rope companies will be following Marlow and transitioning to Bio-Based Dyneemas as well.

Listening to Lost in Society

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...

An alternative sustainable fuel source?

A thing to think about, an unfair situation, and a quick reality check on space...

They had me at coffee grounds!

Listening to some Marty Balin (who is no longer with us) covers.

So it goes...

In the "Quit sucking" department...

Ongoing blowback in tRumpistan, some needful reading, and not just words on a wall...

Strawless in Seattle.



Listening to some covers I need to catch up on.

So it goes...

Not just another day on a planet with finite resources...

I suppose this sort of study might begin to explain the whole sailboat/motorboat animus, in the not soon enough department, and why checking the math is so important...

Hey, it's Earth Day!




Need I say more?

Listening to Jill Andrew

So it goes...

A little pragmatic thinking...

Much of what Americans think they know about illegal immigration is wrong, Christians against Tolerance, Equality and Awareness show what they're made of, apparently Wall Street is a NO PERP WALK zone, and just another "Protect & Serve" story from the Sunshine State...

I haven't read Cruising World in a while but have been reading the current issue...

Apparently there is something of a tempest in a teapot as some readers, apparently, would prefer their sailing periodicals free of articles of a "Green" nature and the letters to the editor reflect the various views.

Which has nothing and everything to do with the fact that I'm sitting in the Caribbean during hurricane season without being panicked.

I've done my homework. Now, I mention this because in dealing with the whole hanging out in a hurricane zone during hurricane season seems to involve three very different mindsets...

I simply don't want to know...

The ostrich approach is that you simply ignore or put in the memory hole any fact or information that would suggest that you might, in fact, get hit by a named storm. Folks who follow this methodology are quite interesting AFTER a storm because they will steadfastly intone that the storm in question was a fluke, no one could have seen it coming, and someone should have given them better weather predictions... Which is interesting as in most cases all of the weather predictions were of the "big storm coming run and hide" sort.

I want a pony...

This is the cherry picker group who do follow the weather but simply ignore anything that they don't like. So, if Jeff Masters says that such and such a storm has a good chance of getting too up close and personal they simply find someone else (including the village idiot) who will say something more along the lines of what they want to hear. They are actually more of a subset of the ostrich folks but with the important difference that they think they can somehow make wishes real and, like most spoiled children, throw a tantrum when they discover the world does not orbit around the orifice they sit on.

The pragmatists...

Luckily, most of the folks I know subscribe to the third group who watch the weather and find as much real information about weather systems as possible so that they can make an informed decision about where to hunker down or run to in the event of a storm happening...

Which brings us back to those letters in Cruising World. It would seem that the I want a pony brigade and the ostrich clan don't like their sailing magazines with talk of climate change or green subjects that might make a small bit of difference for the common good. Personally, I'm all for someone writing into Cruising World with some REAL information based on FACTS that adds something to the whole climate/global warming/green discussion but then, I suppose that would be too much to ask for...

On the plus side, the ostriches and the I want a pony folks are on the Darwin express outbound. On the negative side, they really do seem to want our company on their slippery slide to oblivion and as such don't have yours or my best interests at heart. Which is something best kept in mind when things are of a serious nature.

When in doubt be pragmatic...

Listening to Guy Clark

So it goes...

Mommy's alright, daddy's alright...

They just seem a little weird...

I've become somewhat obsessed by a fish...

I went diving this weekend (lobster being on the menu) and both dive sites were heavily infested with Lion Fish. Lion Fish are sort of the evil mother-in-law of the fish world as once they get a foothold they simply won't go away.

They are kinda pretty though in an evil-don't-touch kind of way... But pretty as they are, they are spreading like cancer through the Caribbean and as they have no natural enemies things are looking somewhat dark. Sort of a weapon of mass destruction with fins/spines for reef life as we know it...

On the plus side... They taste good and can be excellent as Sushi or sub for any white fleshed fish in your normal fish recipes.


Making Lionfish Safe to Prepare from Marine Resources on Vimeo.

Need I say more?

Listening to Ox cover Cheap Trick...

So it goes...

Water, water everywhere redux...

As today is Blog action day 2010 and the subject is clean water, I'd thought a repeat of this post would be no bad thing...

One of the first things that living on a small boat teaches you is your place in the eco-system... Unlike most land dwellers, you know exactly how much stuff you consume, how much waste you generate, how much electricity you use and how many hours of sun/wind or generator used to replace it. In other words, living on a boat gives you a clue (which I guess makes most land-dwellers clueless?).

Water for most newbies on boats is something of a panic-attack inducing conundrum as the wasteful practices ingrained in the resource wasting land dwelling model is very hard to break and trying to make these ingrained bad habits work on a cruising boat... Well, that way lies madness!

On the other hand, water IS serious stuff. We need water to live so it is something that does need to be factored in terms of how much you use, how much you actually need, how to obtain it, and how to keep it.

Throwing money at the situation with something like a watermaker or turning your boat into a sailing tanker truck seems to be the two most popular initial answers to the problem of having enough water. The real answer is getting in touch with the need/want equation and begin using what you need, rather than what you want or think you need or, in other words, get smart and waste less...


Speaking of waste and water, here is a great presentation on a perfect example of silly waste/being dumb where water is concerned and a great example on how what we think is true, simply is not.

Earth Day...

Hmmm...

I noticed that my email today had no shortage of "Earth Day" come-ons of a nautical nature as Cruising Compass and others ran some content of a "green" nature... Well, if you can call running a couple ads touting sort of green stuff as content. The one bit of content which really was content was of the simplistic don't-throw-stuff-overboard sort of thing.

Of course, anyone dependent on advertising is not going to be doing any "get-in-your-face-don't-consume-more-than-you-need" hard hitting journalism or editorials, as that would fly in the face of selling you stuff and that, my friends, is what journalism is all about these days... getting you to buy stuff.

Getting you to buy stuff to be green is sort of... well, the words COUNTER PRODUCTIVE spring to mind.

If you really want to be green and do something good for old Mother Nature, try not replacing anything on your boat that does not need replacing... and by needing to be replaced means it no longer works and is really, really needed.

Yeah, I know that means you will have to have a GPS that does not also work as a DVD player, a VHF that does not keep phone numbers in memory, or that bigger display for the radar that doubles as a 3D entertainment center or whatever...

This whole sailing gig is not about buying stuff and consumption... Or at least it should not be. Some time ago, MadMariner/NavaGear did an article about good blogs to read and he included Boat Bits which I found both pleasing and depressing. The fact that he included me as a "boating gear blog" has made me re-examine what Boat Bits has been doing and to tell you the truth depressed me as the last thing Boat Bits wants to be is just another "go-buy-this-gear" sort of place to hang out. We can do better than that...

We need to do better than that.

The sad fact is that considering the sorry state of the world and the clusterfuck of problems facing us that we should be doing a whole lot more than rolling out the "don't throw stuff overboard", "use bio-degradeable soap",  and "use our advertisers folding prop" articles once a year on Earth Day and then pimping non essential gear and practices the rest of the 364 days of the year...

As the great Sam Cooke often sang, "A Change is Gonna Come" ... and things won't be the same old same down the line. If you think that we can all continue to have our cake and eat it too, I have a steel tower for sale in Paris you might be interested in.

On the other hand, if you are not as dumb as nails, get smarter about the very real problems and do the right thing.

Rant over for the moment...

Now we're talking... fuel cells start making sense!

As an electric propulsion guy I've been following various fuel cell systems but so far they have been expensive with a high kludge factor and either too big or too small to make sense on a boat...

Oorja Protonics, has a methanol model set to hit the streets in a few months that looks very interesting being no bigger than a comparable marine gen set (5KW) and with a rumoured price of less than $15,000.

Do I hear an AMEN?

Sea Shepard boat run down by whalers...

The Sea Shepherd vessel "Ady Gil" was rammed by a Japanese Whaler... For more info

Conundrum... Is building new green?

I've been having a lot of deep thought on (forgive the expression) the "Green" of things...

Having built several boats from the keel up, my first reaction to the problem of a bigger boat is always to build. Hell I like building boats!

Throw in the fact that I don't really think a lot of production boats solve the real problems of the voyaging family that lives aboard full time and want to not be camping or having to make decisions of the what we have to give away and do without scenario.

So building a new boat makes all kind of sense but I can't quite shake the niggling feeling that it might not be the right thing...

And as Spike Lee once said, "Do the right thing..." Spike Lee always makes a lot of sense!

There is a way of having your cake and eating it too... and the last couple of days my mind has been gnawing on the idea of not just rehabbing an older boat but the idea of really doing a radical re-design in the process. Throw out the old rig and gut the interior and simply rebuild it as something more suited to current needs and wants.

The Phoenix option if you will...

This approach would be no bad thing. Lord knows there are hundreds of cheap boats available that deserve a new lease on life and and a fate better than land-fill. The cost of doing a radical rebuild/redesign I'm thinking, would be no less costly at worst and more than likely, if done in a sensible and smart way (spelled cunning plan), could even be less expensive by a large factor.

The argument against, of course, is that you are only going to save the materials used in the hull (a few trees) and ballast but truth be told you are saving more than that when you think of it and the whole all or nothing idiocy we find ourselves in, where if you can't be 100% green, non-polluting, whatever you might as well go whole hog in the other direction just does not make a whole lot of sense. Right now we find ourselves in a world that needs all the help it can get and if you can't do a lot maybe you might as well do a little... It ALL adds up in the end.

So anyone know of a mastless CAL 40 in a field anywhere?