On what I'm doing today...

A good read on climate cost, reason #1997 on why you might want to avoid Florida, and in the "A WTF solution to a Texas gun problem" department...

Being that COVID is still killing between 350 and 400 Americans each day, there are new scary variants popping up. As my mother did not raise an idiot, it seems like getting the current booster is a prudent decision. Especially as there are no longer any controls on diseased hordes of tourists coming to America's Paradise bringing the next wave of COVID along with their bad tattoos.

Better yet, since I can get a flu shot at the same time, I'd be stupid not to.

Which is why I'm off to get that booster and flu shot instead of writing today's bit of boat related drivel.. 

Just a thought, but getting your booster might just be the thing that keeps you or a loved one from being in that 350-400 a day club.

Just sayin'

Listening to Corey Ledet & His Zydeco Band

So it goes...

something on the Orca front...

A cartoon worth your time, an unexpected downside to AIS, and 12 Trillion reasons that make clean energy a smart choice...

I keep hearing about the Orca situation on the other side of the Atlantic but not so much about what's causing the problem or possible fixes. Well, at least until today.

Bateaux magazine has an interesting article on using Pingers developed for commercial fishermen to keep whales and dolphins out of nets to reduce bycatch.

Something like this...

While I have no idea whether they'll keep Orcas from frelling up your rudder but, with a street price of around $125, they might be well worth looking into. Especially if you have plans to be sailing in the vicinity of Atlantic France, Spain, and Portugal in the foreseeable future.

More information on Pingers can be found on the Future Oceans website.

Listening to the Honey Island Swamp Band

So it goes...

and in the "How long can you tread water?" department...

Depressing scary shit, a needful read on the CO₂ front, and in the "Too much information in the wrong hands" department...

Practical Sailor has an excellent post on PFDs that you really should try and read.

While I'm aware that for some, discussing PFDs can be a trigger or political subject. So all I'll say is that the article makes sense and if you rely on an inflatable PFD you really should manually check yours by inflating it to make sure that the bladder inflates and will hold air for longer than you care to tread water.

Just saying.

Listening to Daughn Gibson

So it goes...

a better PFD...

Co2 news, a manufactured crisis in aid of profits, and in the " A lawsuit waiting to happen for Georgia taxpayers to pay for" department...

While I still have issues with inflatable and self-inflating PFDs I have to admit that these really impressed me.

Listening to the Kinks

So it goes...

about your GPS...

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...

a common sense approach...

Some needful reading from a librarian, a problem with caffeine, and in the "Note to self time to buy some more N95 masks" department...

 

Kind of smart when you think about it.

Listening to the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain cover the Ramones

So it goes...

Do it today...

What passes for a sportsman these days, about those solar panels, and in the "Faltering medical system" department...

Just a quick note to tell you it's time to check your fire extinguishers.

Need I really say more?

Listening to some musical saw goodness

So it goes...

It's that time of year again...

The threat of coastal landfills, a very bad report card, and where COVID is concerned best to stay paranoid...

One of the sailing magazines who sends me email mentioned a slew of Christmas gifts for sailors and, as expected, it pissed me off as their choices were all high-ticket items.

So, to balance out things for the non-consumerist who read my drivel, here's what I'd suggest instead...

The first item on the list was a watch and they suggested two. One cost $1,850 and the other would set you back a measly $100-$250 or so. Way too expensive for my tastes. As an alternative I recommend the Casio F-91W. It is an excellent timepiece often used for celestial navigation (Starpath includes it as part of their GPS Backup Kit) and the watch costs less than 20 bucks.

The second item on their list was a PFD and tether. Which, in my opinion, is a horrible gift. PFDs in general are a very personal item and, if it does not sync with your tastes, it won't get worn. I've given up on inflatables and have come to the conclusion that the best bet for sailing folk are the inexpensive sort designed for kayak folk. As far as tethers go, I'd give the sailor in question some line, a couple of carabiners, and a link on how to make a Brummel splice.

The third item was a satellite communication device which is a lot more money than most of the people I know give as gifts. Nothing wrong with the item in question but how about an extra winch handle?

Seriously, everyone needs an extra winch handle.

The next item on the list was new foul weather gear. I've gone on record before that most of the foul weather gear available is pretty awful and not up to the job. These days the only foulies I recommend is the cheap stuff used by commercial fisherfolk which might not be as hip and fashionable but does allow you to work while wearing it and keep you dry. Since I'm ranting on this particular subject, whose bright idea was it to start doing BLACK foul weather gear?

The last item was a yacht charter. Now, as someone who actually has a charter business, you’d think I’d be all over that in a big way. The current price of bareboat charters down here in the Caribbean could buy someone a pretty nice, classic plastic sailboat. Which would you prefer: a week in paradise or a boat you could use all year?

Just sayin'...

Listening to some Christmas covers

So it goes...

Just to save fifteen minutes...

A needful read on the Value Theory of Labor, an excellent article on Lowell George, and a podcast with Lin Pardey that is well worth your time...

The other day while getting the old batteries into the dinghy in a rolly anchorage, I ran into a swell + wake moment which had me almost dropping the battery into the bottom of the dinghy; as a result, my back went into FUBAR mode.

Which has left me mostly horizontal and consuming Tylenol like it was popcorn. The worst part of the whole affair is I thought about using the boom and mainsheet to crane the batteries into the dinghy but decided that the extra fifteen minutes would take up too much time and went with the brute force method.

So, as a result of attempting to save fifteen minutes I'm wasting a week and a half of time I could be doing other needful things. The stupid it burns...

Listening to Michael Nesmith

So it goes...

A needful reminder...

On the subject of BS Kabuki, Ken burns makes some excellent points, and about those NOAA "H" season predictions...

Hisse et Oh (AKA HEO) is a great French sailing/cruising forum which is always one of the first places I check on the internet every morning. Unlike most forums they (along with the JRA forums) seem to avoid the narcissistic one-upmanship keyboard commando idiocy which most sailing forums fall victim to.

But I digress...

The reason I mentioned HEO is that there is an excellent thread on the subject of folks abandoning boats because of rudder loss or failures. It's well worth reading even if you have to resort to google translate to do it.

Long time readers of Boat Bits will acknowledge that not having an emergency rudder or a dedicated plan of action and the materials to make one is a pet peeve of mine. Especially since a emergency rudder or steering system is fairly easy to cobble together and not expensive at all when you consider the added safety margin it provides as well as the astronomical costs abandoning your boat or being towed might incur.

Then again, a lot of folks are about as intelligent as a bag of hammers as the current aversion to getting a simple life saving vaccination goes to show so, I guess, you just can't cure stupid.

For those readers who don't fall into the bag-of-hammers IQ zone you may want to check out a couple of cheap and simple emergency rudder solutions that make a whole lot of sense.

Listening to a Beach Boys cover

So it goes...

Still here...

A restless serfdom, EBM with an excellent point, and a movie I'm actually looking forward to...

So, it would seem, that we did not get hit by a big chunk of Chinese space junk last night. Not that I really expected to wake up with a rocket booster landing on my head but people win the lottery all the time so there's always a chance that despite the odds that stuff will/can happen.

It's why we have all that safety gear aboard... Right?

Listening to Mr Big

So it goes...

Just another FUBAR in paradise...

A needful read, on the new normal in terms of climate, and a great resource that deserves some support...

So, a bit of local Caribbean news.

Great weather, you're on your sailboat and you run out of fuel so you...

1. Put up the sails.
2. Sail to your destination.
3. Anchor when you get there and chill. 

or...

1. Don't put up sails because you don't know how.
2. Turn on the EPIRB because you can't find your flares.
3. Get towed to a marina because you don't know how to anchor.
4. Cost the powers that be a small fortune in taxpayer dollars for aviation and rescue costs.
   

Which makes me wonder whether I'll be seeing this sordid mess find its way to YouTube with some T & A click bait.

Listening to Seabird

So it goes...

a lifeboat/dinghy of choice...

Regarding weaponized stupidity, dealing with awkward numbers in Florida, and in the "A trail of Covid spikes in his wake" department...

Face it, where lifeboats are concerned,  you can't have too much positive flotation. While the two buoyancy/storage chambers combined with a wood hull assure that the Tortoise won't sink I think it's safe to say there's nothing wrong with a bit more positive flotation in the mix.

So, how best to accomplish that?

As it happens, Gig Harbor Boat Works makes and sells inflatable sponsons, otherwise known as Dinghy Dogs, which are pretty close to perfect for the purpose. The downside is they're, at $375, not exactly cheap.

Duckworks sells some inflatable Beach Rollers that, could be adapted for the purpose and has been used on Richard Wood's Duo nesting dinghy. Priced at about $150 for a pair they give a lot of extra flotation for not a lot of outlay. The downside is they're a little too big for use while sailing the Tortoise.

My personal choice for added flotation is a 52" x 4" pool noodle stuck inside a Sunbrella or reasonable facsimile sleeve which will add a Buoyant Force of 107.24 N Buoyant Force per side for a whole lot less and not interfere with sailing in the process. Better yet, they'd only cost around $20-$25 a pop.

Another advantage is they all make great dinghy fenders.

Listening to Marty Balin

So it goes

a lifeboat/dinghy of choice part 4...

Insanity in South Dakota, AJ on DIY gear, and a final wish... 

One thing that freaks people out with the Tortoise design is that the mast is not on the center-line. Instead Bolger drew it just inside the starboard hull side which opens up the interior of the dinghy which is an added benefit for its use in lifeboat mode. For those unacquainted with sailing a boat with an off-center mast there is very little, if any, disadvantage in sailing performance.

The rig of choice is a 38 square foot Lateen set on an eight foot mast. The yard (10'10") and the boom (8' 1") are a little problematic as they can't be stored in the boat. I'm still on the fence whether it's worth the trouble making the yard/boom/mast into two-piece spars for stowage purposes or just keep the rig assembled and rolled up to be stowed separately. 

The rudder and the off-center bilge/dagger board are non-problematic and will stow inside the Tortoise while on passage.

Lastly, some thought should be given to adding a couple of reefs to the sail as well.

Next up, a systematic approach to adding some more flotation...

Listening to some social distancing music.

So it goes... 

a lifeboat/dinghy of choice part 3...

Some seriously skewed/deranged logic, a depressing point well made, and in the "Anger is still the appropriate emotion" department...

Phil Bolger's Tortoise and Big Tortoise don't quite cover all the bases but do have the advantage that they are easy to build. give the most bang for the buck in terms of displacement, row easily, sail well, and are incredibly stable.

So, what do we have to do to make them better?

First of all as the basic design lends itself quite well to stitch and glue and I long ago adapted the Tortoises I've built to that construction method.

Secondly, I've also learned, after rowing hundreds of miles in Tortoises, that the side panels of the dinghy could use a bit of reinforcement by adding a pair of stringers (1" X 2") located at seat level to the side panels. These serve double-duty as they also provide a place to put transverse thwarts which will suit our purpose better than Bolger's longitudinal thwart.

The aft deck on the Tortoise (aft and foredeck on the Big Tortoise) are very important design features and it makes sense to turn them into buoyancy/storage chambers. Since I'll be building the smaller Tortoise I'll also be adding a second deck and buoyancy/storage chamber to the bow as well.

Otherwise the design remains pretty much the same as far as construction goes and most folk should be able to put one together in twelve to sixteen hours of actual labor and the expenditure of between $200 to $300 out of pocket for the row only version. 

Of course, we want a more dynamic lifeboat so we'll need a sensible sailing rig and I have a couple changes on that front which we'll get into next.

Listening to a whole lotta Caroline songs

So it goes... 

a lifeboat/dinghy of choice part 2...

Something worth reading, signs of the times, and how I'd like to see our talking heads take on politicians...

So, today's question is what do we actually need in a dinghy to make it do double duty as a lifeboat? 

Well, for starters, the dinghy has to be big enough but it also has to be stowable on deck and, to make matters even more complicated, able to be launched by one person without help.

Since we plan to use the dinghy as a lifeboat it also stands to reason that it has enough positive buoyancy to be considered unsinkable and big enough to carry a couple with enough stores, gear, and water to keep them alive till they're rescued or able to sail to safety.

Not asking a lot now are we?

Just for chuckles, let's remember that the dinghy also has to do its job of being a dinghy getting hard usage on a daily basis.

Which in simple term means we're looking for a small as possible with a biggish interior unsinkable dinghy that's as tough as we can make it, as well as being light enough for one person to manage and capable of daily hard use. 

Tomorrow we'll get into some specifics.

Listening to some covers from 1978

So it goes...

a lifeboat/dinghy of choice...

On the GIGO front, Sail Delmarva making a very good point, and a new citizen speaking out...

The other day a reader wrote asking for my opinion of the Portland Pudgy dinghy. The short form is that I think it's an excellent dinghy and when you consider that it can be used as a lifeboat as well it makes a whole lot of sense.

That said, like just about everything that floats on the water, it's a compromise but, as compromises go, it's better than most.

Which, sorta kinda, brings me to my next dinghy build which is going to be the tried and true Bolger Tortoise. The Tortoise and I go way back and over the years I've built quite a few and each one has has been a testbed of sorts as I tried to improve and refine what is just about the simplest and easiest to build dinghy design around.

 

This time around I plan to modify the overall design in favor of making it a better dinghy/lifeboat in the process. Which, I expect, will cause some folk to freak out with the idea of the lowly diminutive Tortoise doing double duty as a lifeboat. Of course, I should add that I've already crossed the Atlantic with a Tortoise as the designated lifeboat which shows I have some faith in the viability of the concept of using a dinghy as a lifeboat.

Admittedly, building a Tortoise or Big Tortoise as a dedicated dinghy/lifeboat requires a bit of compromise and a bit of rethinking but quite a bit less than you'd expect due to the overall simplicity of Bolger's design. 

Next up is the need/want list for the Dinghy/lifeboat and the thinking behind it.

Listening to five good covers

So it goes...

Looking for a better cat PFD...

An interesting climate backup plan, a blog post of note, and something on the subject of masks and social distancing...

Every once in a while I find myself looking for feline PFDs in the vain hope that someone might have actually come up with an improved one. Apparently, they still haven't.

On the other hand, PFDs of the canine sort seem to get better and better. Good examples are the Baydog Monterey Bay and Monterey Bay Offshore.

A quick look at the details shows that a lot of thought and work went into the creation of these life jackets.

Color me impressed.

Now, if someone could just do the same sort of vest in a feline-friendly version I'd be a much happier camper.

Listening to The Flying Burrito Brothers

So it goes

Maybe some boat stuff tomorrow...

Regarding habitat protections, something I should have linked to yesterday, and in the "Stupid things, people do have consequences" department...

Here's something you need to read about risk and safety in the current pandemic.

Really.

Listening to Jack Nitzsche

So it goes...

an affordable watermaker for the ditch bag...

An interview worth reading, some needful thought process from John Scalzi, and a new pandemic threat to worry about...

There's currently an Indiegogo campaign for an inexpensive manual watermaker by the name of QuenchSea that you might want to check out.

It's actually pretty cool as it fits into the niche that, up till now, only the Katadyn Survivor 06 filled bringing some much-needed competition into the mix.

So here are the points that caught my attention;

Water production for the QuenchSea is stated as two liters+ per hour while the Katadyn 06 claims one liter per hour (+-15%).

The fact that the Katadyn is a hand pump with very little mechanical advantage makes the pumping system on the QuenchSea a very definite step up.

Lastly, the price of the Katadyn 06 currently lists at $1295.00 (although I've seen it on sale for as low as $995.00) which makes the projected price of the QuenchSea at £80 GBP ($99 US) something of a mind-boggling but pleasant surprise. Factor in the fact that by taking advantage of their Indiegogo pre-order offers you can get your hands on one or more for even less.

Color me impressed.

Listening to Superbus

So it goes...