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 race of note and a luddite pleasing app...

A depressing note, EBM on  the subject of "hearts and minds" and in the  "racist, misogynist, bigoted cult of personality that worships Trump" department...

I'll admit I'm sorta/kinda looking forward to the upcoming Golden Globe race in the hopes that it will give a shot in the arm to the idea that seamanship actually matters. Plus, it really should be a pretty good race and is more or less accessible to folks who actually have to work for a living and not just the same old same money wins and rich folk behaving badly affair which seems what most racing has become these days.

On the subject of eroding seamanship skills I'm actually quite impressed with the newish FastSeas routing app as it seems to do the required job for an affordable price (or free) so you might want to add it to your tool set and check it out.

Listening to Fármacos

So it goes...

Brute force is seldom your friend where boats are concerned...

Penguin feathers, some depressing Gulf of Mexico news, and in the "It's way past time to be worried but if You Weren’t Worried Yet, You Can Start Now" department...

So, yesterday, I spent some time watching them try and salvage a catamaran.  It did not go well. Brute force is never the right option if there are other courses of action and resources available.

Which got me thinking (yet again) that if you're going to cruise and live on a boat you really need to be as self-sufficient as possible because, when all is said and done, most folks do not have your best interests at heart. Especially those in the marine trades.

It's your boat, your responsibility, and, as such, you really need to have a game plan for all the shit-hits-the-fan scenarios that boats and sailors fall prey to. Because if you don't, someone else will do it for you and, chances are it won't be pretty.

Do your homework.

Just something to ponder a bit...

Listening to River Whyless

So it goes...

another great moment in nautical escapades...

An interesting read, a sane voice from Texas, and Badtux on the 9th commandment...



WTF indeed.

Listening to Colvin & Earle

So it goes...

A very good book...

Scary stuff from NOAA, a little common sense, and in the "Is it hot enough for you?" department..

Very good and needful reading.

Listening to Shurman

So it goes...

Crossing the English Channel in an Optimist...

How socialism works in America, just another case of the wealthy stealing from the poor, and, apparently, someone thinks their dick's too small...

Folks wonder why the French seem to better sailors so here's a hint.



More about it here.

Listening to Johnny Hallyday

So it goes...

on hard work, smart sailing and how the two don't belong in the same sentence...

How mystery meat just became a whole lot more mysterious, a quick primer on inequality, and nope no problem here...

There's an opinion held by a great many that sailing is really hard work and judging by the way some people talk and outfit their boats you might even begin to believe it.

I don't.

The thing is, I'm the first to admit that I'm a pretty lazy guy. It's not so much that I'm against hard work in a good cause but hard work for the sake of hard work when it's not needful just isn't smart. Or to be a little bit clearer... Seriously dumb.

A well-designed boat should not involve a lot of hard work to sail it and, if you're having a hard time, there is a goodly chance that you have simply set the boat up badly, not sailing the boat correctly, or just doing something stupid.

By all means call me opinionated...

There is an excellent little video over at Off Center Harbor (you really do need to subscribe) showing a guy single handing his schooner in a no-muss-no-fuss-trauma-free fashion that shows just how easy sailing could be when you let the boat do most of the donkey work and keep things simple.

Listening to some Americana raga

So it goes...

an opportunity and it's FREE...

Some needful reading, does sixty-days seem a little light for stealing $230K, and in the "modern fascist movement driven almost entirely by racism, stupidity, and xenophobia" department...

I won't go into the many and varied reasons that it makes sense for folks sailing boats to have at least a working knowledge of basic navigation skills and that includes celestial.

Yeah, yeah I know I'm a Luddite dinosaur.

On the other hand, if you happen to feel that learning how to navigate your boat without the aid of prone to failure electronic systems and devices that you can neither repair or fix you're in luck. Vanderbilt University has an online class (that's FREE!) and looks to be very good.



Hard to argue with free.

Listening to Typhoon

So it goes...

a matter of seaworthiness...

In the "hardly surprising" department, this really says a lot, and some needful reading...

I was recently looking at the study plans for one of Reuel Parker's boats, a scow as it happens, and there was a comment by Reuel that got me thinking...

"Scows are not considered seaworthy types, although they can make coastal trips and island passages." 

The thing about seaworthiness is it's a pretty fluid concept at best and, in most cases, something of a gray area being dependant on many factors. Which means that one person's seaworthy vessel may seem like a floating death trap to another. Having crossed seas with an internally ballasted shoal draft sharpie that drew eighteen inches, I used to have this pointed out to me on a regular basis...

That said, scows of the traditional sort are not seaworthy in the same sense as a keel boat with external ballast. For starters internal ballast is not very good at righting a fully capsized hull and if that's going to be your main criteria of seaworthiness a scow may actually seem somewhat lacking...

Just like a modern catamaran. 

Seriously, if you applied the same thought process that makes a scow unseaworthy to just about any production cat currently being built today you'd have to come to the same conclusion... Catamarans are unseaworthy.

You might want to think about that for a moment or two...

Which does not mean that I think all modern production catamarans are unseaworthy (just some) or that a traditional scow is either. Just that they are both different in ways you should be aware of.

Like I said before, seaworthiness is a pretty slippery notion and depends much more on the person sailing a boat rather than the actual design. Sailing a traditional scow has a lot more in common with sailing a catamaran than it does with an externally ballasted monohull...

So, would I consider sailing Reuel Parker's scow across an ocean?

Sure I would. Then again, before I did I'd sail it a lot, practice deploying a parachute sea anchor/heavy weather tactics, and sort out the best way to hove to with the board up because I'm not real keen on surprises further offshore than I care to swim towards land. Of course, anybody considering a trans-oceanic passage would do the same no matter what sort of boat they intended to cross with.. 

Right?

Listening to She & Him

So it goes...

the ongoing anchoring conundrum...

L,G,&M asks a couple of questions, in the “It’s all about the experience, and less about the fluff,” department, and the phrase "harrowing future" sorta/kinda makes me nervous...

OK, so here's a question I find myself asking just about every week...

Why are people so frelling bad at anchoring?

Seriously, it keeps me up at night.

It's not like there's not a lot of good to excellent articles, blog posts, and even books on the subject... There's tons of good stuff out there.

So why does someone coming into a wide open nearly deserted anchorage and invariably decides to anchor in the worst possible place?

Think about that for a bit...

Listening to the Grateful Dead

So it goes...

So, just how did old school sailors in a hurry tack a dipping lug rig?

Just one thing you should read today...

This is just amazing.



Maybe it's time to reevaluate how we think old school sailors actually sailed?

Listening to some Neil Young covers

So it goes...

Situational awareness...

Something about an author you might want to read, Krugman with a year's end observation, and a little hindsight from the Vermont Sail Freight Project...

There's the classic line from some western I can't recall that goes something like this.

 First guy: It's quiet...

 Second guy: Yeah, it's too quiet...

Which is just about where an arrow is about to come out of nowhere and perforate the first guy.

I mention this because if there is one art to doing the whole sailing gig and not screwing up it is developing a highly tuned sense of situational awareness and knowing what the hell is going on around you.

Where boats are concerned my most attuned sense is hearing... That flogging sail, the odd expensive sound your engine starts making, that noise that sounds like surf breaking on a reef, or that shift in the sound of the water interacting with your boat are all aural messages you should be taking note of.

For instance, our boat sounds a certain way at four knots, somewhat different at five and so on until it starts to plane and then a whole different spectrum of sound comes into play.

Pretty much the same can be said for the wind in the rigging. At fifteen knots it sounds a certain way and when it gets to a bit over twenty it starts talking to you and telling you...

"it's about to time to put in a reef in"

... while at 25 knots it's saying... 

"IT'S TIME TO PUT A REEF IN"

All quite eloquent in its way. That time we got hit by the microburst all standing in Antigua I swear the wind in the rigging was saying...

"OhHolyFuckHoldOnOhShitIThinkIJustPissedMyself"

On second thought, it might have been me saying that at the time...

The thing is there is all sorts of information available through your senses but you have to pay attention.

Listening to the Pousette-Dart Band

So it goes...

Dated...

Somewhat nervous making, Liz Clark making a lot of sense, and this year's report from Project Censored...

The other day I read a review of Bruce Bingham's "The Sailor's Sketchbook" in which the reviewer called it "dated" and I'm having some real difficulty trying to get my head around that.

Now, I'll admit that it is an older book (published in 83 I think) but I can't seem to figure out what content exactly the reviewer finds at issue. More recent books of the same fix-up-your-old-boat-with-cool-and-clever-projects ilk seem to have the same sort of material quite a bit which seems cribbed directly from Bruce's book.

The funny thing is, I keep looking for new books about the various aspects of cruising and sailing but I'm not finding much out there. What there is just does not seem to compare to the stuff available thirty or forty years ago.

I suppose that dates me as well...

As it happens, I'm currently re-reading "Cruising Under Sail" by Eric Hiscock which is an excellent read and has held up extremely well over the years. I've yet to find anything within it that is not solid information well worth knowing for anyone considering going voyaging.

Sure, there are some things not covered because they did not exist or were impractical at the time (watermakers/GPS/chartplotters/AIS/microwave ovens & whatnot) but those are just "things" and have very little to do with the actual skills and knowledge needful to cruise and sail.

The more stuff we have and the associated tech involved these days has resulted in a lot of people who have pretty questionable sailing skills and understanding of what makes boats go. It's scary how little sea-sense a lot of people cruising actually seem to have and a small return to basics would be no bad thing for many.

Which is not to say that we should not take advantage of modern tech. I'm certainly not a Luddite, my mast is held up by high tech rope that's stronger than steel, we would not dream of cruising without AIS and GPS because it's good to be living in the future, and we'd be stupid to not take advantage where it makes sense. Then again, some time back I mentioned how I found that my chart plotter actually insulated me from sailing a better course and it is no bad thing to keep the tech input balanced with those from our senses.

Last time I looked, boats and the oceans were pretty much the same as they've been for ages...

Listening to Red Molly

So it goes...

About steering...

About those recent job numbers, something Mitt should read, and in the total BS department...

The really big thing people sailing sailboats need to keep in mind is that the best course is seldom the direct one. It actually bothers me to even mention it being such a basic premise and all but since I keep observing people bashing dead to windward under power that, just maybe, it deserves a mention from time to time.

Have you ever sat at anchor and just watched the wind? Wind is interesting and it is always shifting... I don't care if the weather report says it's blowing from the east (that's an average of course) it is seldom just blowing from the east. It moves, it shifts, and if you're not sensitive to its minor changes, you're not going to be sailing to your best advantage.

Since wind is a fluid thing, a course needs to be fluid as well to be able to get as much oomph as possible which is why you might not want to be slavish in following that heading to the next waypoint...

Which, as it happens, is why self-steering gears work so well. They track every little wind shift and keep you in the groove. Sure you might not be steering a perfect straight line on the chart but since the wind is not blowing a perfect course either it all works out for the better.

Autopilots on the other hand, unless integrated to your wind instruments, will force you to  sail a direct course but autopilots are idiots and, since most folks using them simply dial in a compass course, you're not going to be in sync with the wind...

Not so long ago I realized that my chart plotter had a problematic effect on my sailing ability. Seeing my current course as a graphical interface, while being neat and all, had a real tendency to distract me from the course I should be steering in favor of the subliminal desire to make for a straight line on the chart plotter. Put the cover on the chart plotter and, hey presto, all of a sudden I'm going faster towards where I want to go. Take the cover off the chart plotter and I'm losing a knot or more...

Kinda like Kryptonite for boat speed...

Which, I suppose, is why so many folks sailing from St Thomas to St Martin simply wind up motoring on a straight line course into the wind and swell as they're addicted to those nice straight lines on the chart plotter.

Listening to Ezra Furman & the Harpoons

So it goes...

What you really want is a SAFE boat...

Makes you kind of wonder how fucked up things are when guys like this are protecting you, some notes on Greece to keep in mind, and something worth reading...

There seems to be a lot of talk of late about a distinction I've never really been comfortable with... the whole Blue Water Cruiser thang seriously gets up my nose.

You see, I'm all for seaworthy boats, capable boats, and, most importantly, safe boats but I find the distinction between a "Blue Water" and a "Coastal" cruiser somewhat problematic because it somehow says that it's OK to go to sea (as long as you're not going "Blue water") in a boat that is less than safe or as seaworthy than it should/could be.

Let me put it like this... How far can you swim?

I don't know about you but sailing from Los Angeles to Hawaii (Blue Water) is just like sailing from Los Angeles to Catalina (Coastal) as soon as you're further off the beach than you can comfortably swim back, I don't see a lot of difference between drowning ten miles offshore or a thousand. The whole being dead thing is a state-of-affairs I'm making a point to avoid (so far so good).

By the way, I'm reliably informed that being dead sucks...

Anyway, the whole point of all this is whatever you plan to do with a boat, your choice should really reflect seaworthiness and safety. Truth is, making most so called "coastal" cruisers safer and more seaworthy is pretty easy and I can't think of a better guide to doing it than Dan Spurr's "Spurr's Guide to Upgrading Your Cruising Sailboat" which I find is still a very helpful and much used resource on my bookshelf.

Of course, whatever boat you have, the weak spot is always the crew. Not a bad idea to improve your own personal skills set "seamanship-wise" while you're upgrading the boat...

Listening to Dolapdere Big Gang

So it goes...

A new book on my shelf...

The new normal, is the sound of old Karl spinning like a top causing problems at Highgate cemetery, and Boat Bits readers might want to take a moment to sign this...

I'm a huge fan of the work of Tom Cunliffe so it's no real surprise that I'm looking forward to his new book "Expert Sailing Skills" because no matter how much I learn about this whole sailing gig there is always something more to learn or get better at...

The beauty of Tom Cunliffe's writing and teaching skills is that he makes it all common sensical and simple. Fact is, when I'm explaining just about any sail related concept to someone I ask myself "How would Cunliffe be saying this...?"




Listening to Glen Hansard

So it goes...

Shit does, after all, happen...

These days it is not just fans of "Firefly" that see the need to learn some Chinese, banks don't just get bail outs they're also caring, and Captain Fogg is even more depressed about things than I am (can you imagine?)...

Currently the cruising cyberworld is buzzing about a couple who are stranded someplace because the engine died on their sailboat and apparently they don't have the sailing chops to actually sail where they want to go.

Scary...

Every once in awhile when I see that the hate mail has slowed down to a trickle, I have the insane urge to write something about how folks sailing boats should have the skills set to be able to pick up a mooring, sail to windward to get into an anchorage or, just possibly, be able to figure out where they are if their electronics on board have a catastrophic clusterfuck. After all, shit does happen from time to time, but my pointing it out really does seem to piss people off...

The thing is, I applaud the couple in question because they have the courage to voice the fact that they simply are not prepared to go to sea. Hopefully this experience will also be the sort of thing that makes a few people think that spending a few days learning to actually sail and sorting out what is actually needful to go cruising is no bad thing...

Maybe someone will even give this couple a copy of "Sea-Steading" which, if they had actually taken the time to read it or something of similar ilk, they would not find themselves stranded...

Listening to Taj Mahal

So it goes...

Must be defective sailing gloves...

Face it, all of us who sail on boats have our personal collection of "days of shame" where we screwed up and looked foolish... It's all part of the gig. Then again, for a lot of sailing glove wearing bareboat captains, it would appear that screwing up "IS" the gig...

Now, a pair of hip sailing gloves will set you back between $20-40 so here's a thought... Get a book on how to sail instead and give it a read! Might help avoid looking like these guys...



Listening to Hot Bitch Arsenal

So it goes...

Accidents and their cause...

I read some news which got me thinking...

Over the last year or so, there have been quite a few "rescues" that have left a lot of people a bit puzzled as to the need or sense of people being rescued who appeared to be in less than dire consequences. That said, even in some instances of people really needing rescue, there have been no shortage of confusion of why some people found themselves in a situation which left them in dire straights.

The why and how of accidents is a needful thing...

In climbing, we have "Accidents in North American Mountaineering" which catalogs and details climbing accidents as to the cause or possible cause as a means of (hopefully) avoiding such accidents in the future.

Sadly, no such thing actually exists in the sailing or cruising world... Maybe it should.

A chance to go sailing and garbage...

I've been reading about the big garbage island in the Atlantic and while not as big as the ones in the Pacific it's only a matter of time I suppose... I could rant and moan about it all, but what's the use?

Speaking of the Atlantic... A buddy of mine will be sailing up to New York from down here on his Catalina 38 in a month or so and he has a couple of free berths for someone wanting to get a long ocean passage under their belt and learn about sailing by actually doing it. This is a great opportunity and if anyone is interested drop me a line...