in defense of simple...

Looks like somebody did their math, what you might learn in church, and in the "Sounds about right" department...

I really don't get it.

Folks often ask me simple questions about boats, rigs, and refits but, apparently, desire complicated answers instead of simple ones.

Seriously, what's that all about? Now, as far as my desires for answers to problems I'll go with what's simple 99% of the time. Simple also tends to be easier as well as less expensive which sits quite well with the fact that I'm a fairly lazy and cheap fellow.

As far as I'm concerned overly complicated solutions to simple problems are just stop signs on the roads I like to travel. 

I rest my case.

Listening to Bite Me Bambi

So it goes...

Books I've used in the last couple of weeks...

My kind of cat, regarding someone I admire, and in the "The importance of a reality based world" department...

It would appear that most folks these days, when confronted with a problem or issue with their boat, tend to go to their favorite forum or YouTube. Now, I've gone on record about my feelings for most forums and while advice freely given is, more often than not, worth exactly what you're paying for it. 

That said I do, every so often, visit a particular forum from time to time simply because the advice is so entertaining in its silliness and general lack knowledge purveyed.

YouTube is actually a lot better and there are a lot of excellent bits of video telling you how to do or fix stuff on sailboats. On the other hand, it's best to realize that for every one good bit of video there are a dozen or so that are just clueless.

For me I tend to find my best avenue of problem solving or good ideas is to be in books. 

Books work and happen to be an excellent investment. I've lost track of the number of times I've used Brion Toss's "The Riggers Apprentice", Fred Bingham's "Practical Yacht Joinery", Bruce Binghams "The Sailors Sketchbook", Dynamite Payson's "Build the New Instant Boats", and Dan Spurr's "Spurr's Guide to Upgrading Your Cruising Sailboat". I've never  kept track of how much money those various books have saved me but it would be a substantial amount far exceeding the cost paid for them.

There are a bunch more books I could list but those are the ones that I still use on a regular basis and have had the most impact where fixing up an old boat are concerned.

Listening to Drinking Boys And Girls Choir

So it goes...

Hurricane boats...

Someone's acquired a new boat, transporting baby salmon, and in the "I hear Home Depot has some good deals on pitchforks" department...

I rarely ever look at boats on ebay. Partly because I find Craigslist a much better source for finding used boats and partly because the ebay environment seems to have become overly expensive as well as hostile. But, as it happens, I found myself looking for something and took a glance at sailboats for sale.

Where I found a 2005 Bendytoy 343 with a Buy It Now price of $24,997.00.

The reason it's so cheap is that it's a hurricane boat and being sold off by the insurance company which acquired it when they paid out to the insured party as a total loss.

So, at best, we're actually talking about someone selling a $5-10K boat for $24,997.00.

Let's get back to that phrase TOTAL LOSS for a moment and consider what that actually means.

I'll go on record that buying a storm damaged boat for cheap and rehabbing it is not a bad way to go for someone with some serious frugal boat building and repair experience can result in a great boat. I'll even go so far as say that depending on the boats total loss condition, a cheap enough selling price and availability of a place to move said boat for little rent I might even consider such a boat.

Of course, I'd never ever pay almost $25K for such a project because that would be stupid. Considering I can find the same model for around $70-$85K and I can't see spending less $35K in materials, another $5-10K in expenses, and the cost of three to six months of my full time labor to get it done.

Then again, if you were able to buy the total loss wreck for $5K, had a yard to put it in, a whole lot of free time, and some wizardly boat building skills it might actually be a viable project.

In general though the best advice I can give someone considering this sort of hurricane boat project is to avoid it with prejudice.

On the other hand if someone gets it and does a YouTube channel of the rehab it will be fun to watch in a dark comedy of errors vein.

Listening to a playlist from 1987

So it goes...

Paying the price...

Regarding an American territory, Badtux on point, and in the "With Democrats like these who needs Republicans" department...

Being locked down for the pandemic, while allowing me to catch up on my reading, wasn't exactly all that good for maintenance and projects aboard "So It Goes". You might say that I've got a lot on my plate and playing catch up.

The thing with keeping up on the maintenance is that you do it now or do a whole lot more later. So, here I am paying the price for putting crap off because "Hey, there's a pandemic and we can't go anywhere anyway" mindset. 

On the plus side, I'm mostly enjoying getting caught up on things and it's a good excuse to make some improvements in the process.

Listening to some covers of Roxanne

So it goes...

It's old, it's beat, and it's for sale cheap...

Badtux getting it right, some good reasons to hang on to that mask, and in the "It's all about profit" department...

The other day I noticed a boat for sale in the local Craigslist.

Recognize it?

For those who don't here's a couple of hints...

• It's a Bill Lapworth design
• It's the first design that Jensen Marine built
• It's the design Robin Lee Graham named "Dove" and chose for his circumnavigation.

I'm pretty sure all of you know by now but for those who don't it is a Cal 24 which Jensen Marine built 184 boats of the design from 1957 through 1965.

As it happens, some years back I had a couple of Boat Bits readers ask me if I knew of the whereabouts of Robin Lee Graham's Dove as they had heard that it wound up in the USVI and they were trying to chase it down. I asked around at the time and I heard from several sources that it indeed had wound up in America's Paradise but as to its actual whereabouts no one seemed to know if it was still around, sailed on to some other place, or become part of St Thomas landfill as a casualty of a hurricane.

Which is not to say that this particular Cal 24 is "Dove" but it could be...

Now, if it were not "H" season (I noticed this morning we already have our first named storm Ana) and I was not busy getting the boat ready to get the hell out of Dodge ASAP I'd be all over this boat doing a proper refit because well what better project could there be?

Most folks my age got into sailing/cruising because of of Robin Lee Grahams exploits aboard Dove and, for me at least, the CAL 34 embodies a whole lot more than just a cool sailboat design.

Listening to a whole bunch of Dylan cover albums

So it goes...

A mantra of note...

Not really a thing I'd brag about, simply shameless, and something new from the "Doubling down on dumb" files...

An excellent comment on a thread over at a Sailing Anarchy forum on whether to refit an Ericson 32 or not.

"Get it functional and safe, get it on the water. Doesn’t need to be pretty."

Makes all the sense in the world.

Listening to a great 70s mixtape

So it goes...

an old lust revisisted...

About that application, on why infrastructure is important, and it would appear that GMC/Hummer have completely missed the point of sustainable vehicles...

A couple of weeks ago I came across a Herreshoff 31 Cat Ketch for sale up in St Paul Minnesota. For those unacquainted with the Halsey Herreshoff cat ketch design here's the plan.

Back in the early 80's I seriously lusted for this boat as it was as close to the picture I had in my head at the time in what would make a near perfect cruising boat. If the draft had been a foot or so less it would have been perfect.

The fact that the boat for sale up in St Paul had an asking price of only $1300, had me looking at airfares and wondering about the cost of yard space...

The other tempting factor is the idea of fixing up a boat and then getting it to the sea via the Mississippi river.

Listening to the Iron Leg Radio Show

So it goes...

a YouTube series I keep forgetting to link to...

A good point about common sense, some needful reading, and in the "Vile murderous idiots" department...

An excellent rehab of a CAL 40.

 

Listening to the Sons of Champlin

So it goes...

Is a trigger warning really needed?

A failing infrastructure, something about that plague state, and in the "Not the right question" department...

The other day over on VolksCruiser I wrote something on the subject of "Free Boats" and I got quite a bit of push back as a result. Apparently, the words 'free' and 'boat' used in conjunction is something of a trigger phrase for some folks.

Now, where I come from, the whole idea of taking something that has no or a negative value and recycling it into something that has a purpose and value is no bad thing and I truly admire those folk who take on such projects and are successful in their endeavors. 

Offhand I'd really love to find a free boat without a mast so I could test some cunning plans I have regarding affordable rigs and rigging but every time I find such a beast they are in someplace far away. That said, If a free C&C 35 without a mast appeals you might want to check out Craig's List up in NYC...

Listening to Siouxsie and the Banshees

So it goes...

Anyone looking for a Westsnail?

When companies become quasi governments, a whole lot of Mars wonderfulness, and why you shouldn't really be eating out these days...

There's a hurricane boat for sale over on St John that's a good example of a great opportunity for someone or the boat project from hell for someone else.

In short it's a Westsail 32 with very little information except that it has a mast and boom (condition unclear), it's beat up so needs lots of work, and the seller is asking $1k for it.

 

Now, I'm not a huge fan where Westsails are concerned but, if it were closer to me, I'd be very interested in taking a serious look at the boat as a fix it up and sell it sort of project. Considering what I know about Westsails in general I expect it would be a reasonably profitable project to take on.

Well, providing I just fixed it, sorted out the cosmetics, and not decide to try and turn it into something it's not.

The positive side of a project like this is that the Westsail is a pretty simple boat, they're real tough, and most anything you'd need to replace you can get cheap or build yourself. My guesstimate is that unless there is major damage that's not being shown or mentioned a basic rehab would end up costing somewhere between $3K to $5K and a month or two of serious sweat equity. If there were major damage that would entail more work/money than it's worth I simply would not bother with it.

On the other hand, the same project could easily cost someone $100k or more if you want to turn it into a pristine example of yacht construction conspicuous consumption and you'd still wind up with a boat that's only worth $25K-$50K. 

A great resource for those interested in Westsails is the Westsail Owners Association. Actually it's a great resource for folks not interested in Westsails as well.

Listening to the Drive-By Truckers

So it goes...

on a general lack of a plan...

What passes for justice with wealthy drug dealers, somewhat depressing news from the Bahamas, and something for the last day of the official 2020 hurricane season...

Over the weekend I checked out a lot of the "Hey, we're buying a boat and thought you'd be interested in watching us spend lots of money turning it into the perfect cruising boat" YouTube fodder. Which was, for lack of a better term, depressing.

For starters, I always find folks throwing money at things generally off-putting. More so when they're throwing money around to fix or replace things that don't actually need fixing or replacing. 

Of course, most of my thoughts on rehabbing a boat tend to focus on getting rid of most of the superfluous bits and pieces masquerading as indispensable requirements.

Anyway, it did get my thought process focused on the idea that anyone who's building, rehabbing, or outfitting a cruising boat really needs a plan and a firm budget going into such a project as well as the fortitude to stick to that plan and budget to avoid the dreaded mission creep.

More on the subject of mission creep soonish...

Listening to Tricky

So it goes...

a channel you should be watching...

A first for Scientific American, an apt punishment for anti-maskers, and in the "Would not surprise me at all" department...

Atom Voyager is the one YouTube channel I actually look forward to on the subject of making good boats better.

Color me still impressed.

Listening to Western Terrestrials.

So it goes...