thinking in cubic feet...

Some EV vehicle issues, a run that sounds like fun (all in aid of a good cause), and L,G, & M getting it right...

There are a lot of ways to think about stuff but the two measures I tend to use mostly is weight and cubic space. That said, I mostly tend to think in cubic space rather than weight because figuring what stuff weighs hurts my brain.

Which leaves me with cubic space and in particular cubic feet.

As it happens, today I got rid of a small shopvac which was, more or less, taking up a cubic foot of space aboard "So It Goes".  It felt really good to get it off the boat.

Fact is, it felt so good that I'm trying to jettison a cubic foot of excess stuff that is not earning it's keep every day for the next week or so. You'd be surprised how easy it is to get rid of clutter and needless stuff in one cubic foot portions.

Kinda sounds like a plan.

Listening to the Iron Leg radio Show

So it goes...

On losing the background noise...

A job that appeals to me, some depressing news, and in the "Let's not forget corporate profits" department...

Being an older person living in the future is sometimes problematic. Especially where boats and cruising are concerned.

Right now I'm hearing a lot of discussion about Starlink and the hopes and wishes that it will evolve into a service that will give cruisers the ability to be online 24/7 anywhere in the world including when in mid-ocean doing a crossing.

Just the other day I heard someone say that as soon as Starlink kicks in they'll finally be able to do a trans-Atlantic cruise. Apparently, a voyage now is impossible without the ability to access their Twitter, Facebook, and  Netflix accounts.

Now, while I'm a huge fan of progress where thought and science are concerned, there's a point where I have to sit back and reconsider whether or not Ned Ludd was on to something.

For me, the most attractive part of crossing oceans, is that it gives one a chance to get away from what passes for civilization and all of the attached baggage included in the modern world. That crossing an ocean requires one to be out of touch for a given amount of time is a big part of its appeal rather than a bug in the system.

I'm certain that most of the best thinking I've done has been when on passage due to the clarity generated by cutting out most of the background noise that is part and parcel of this modern world we live in today. 

I can hear the emails now... 

But Safety...

Of course, not being a complete Luddite, I'll opt for a means of getting weather and the ability to send a note to folks to let them know we're OK as my mother did not raise a complete idiot.

The insight, growth, and occasional terror that an ocean crossing on a small boat provides is a wonderful thing and the idea that you need to insulate yourself from the very reasons I choose to sail is a very sad thing.

Listening to Sir Woman

So it goes...

on resisting seductive boat bling...

Exploitation for profit, a needful read on masks/mandates, and in the "It's just slumlord culture" department...

Pretty much every day someone sends me something about a new bit of boat bling that I should buy. Today it was an integrated modular instrumentation solution that would, if the included material is believed, will make my life all warm and fuzzy. 

The thing is I already have a semi-integrated instrument system that works just fine. That the idea of replacing it with a newer, hipper, and more stylish system that actually costs more than the boat I'd be installing it in sorta/kinda appeals to me has me questioning my sanity.  

Such is the power of consumerism and its attached hype that even I feel the siren call of buying new stuff I don't need and can't afford on a regular basis.

I keep having to remind myself that I already have excellent gear that would have cost an unattainable fortune back when I was crossing oceans with a compass, trailing log, and plastic sextant. Gear that worked then and will, if needful work just as well today. While I now have GPS, chart plotters (yes plural!) an incredible depth sounder/fishfinder, and AIS I still consider them luxuries and depend on the basic compass/log/sextant as the fail-safe core of getting from one place to the next.

That being the case, I don't feel like the seductive lure of consumerist boat bling is a problem I can't resist... Well, at least until they come up with a modular instrument system that include an espresso machine and bacon fryer as part of the integrated package.

A man can only be so strong.

Listening to Bedouin Burger

So it goes...

Purge...

A minor planet of interest, how Covid-19 is still a factor, and a country divided...

One of this weeks project is to purge all the things that are not earning their keep aboard "So It Goes" which at best is a problematic exercise and worse, it is always somewhat traumatic.

Part of the problem is I detest waste. Throwing away something that that could be useful to someone just seems wrong and there really should be someway to recycle stuff like off cuts of stainless, odd bits of boat gear, and the variety of things that find their was aboard as if by magic and have no earthly use to me at all but are too good to throw away and would make someones day if I were able to connect with them. 

The other thing is that invariably, once I've thrown away some stainless leftovers from building some chain plates or bits left over from building a self-steering gear or a guitar, is that I'll find myself up close and personal with someone who actually needs such things for some needful repair or project aboard their boat.

For instance, I have about a dozen 10mm sockets and a big hole where the 8mm sockets should go. Now I wouldn't be surprised at all if there were someone reading this who has somehow accumulated  a bunch of extra 8mm sockets and has no 10mm sockets at all. Which is why the whole idea of just throwing away those excess 10mm sockets seems... Wrong.

Such is life aboard small boats...

Anyway, I expect I'll be getting rid of a lot of stuff and we'll see how it goes.

Listening to something fifty-years old

So it goes...

Really?

At the corner of Greed and Profit, an excellent point, and over in the "So much for the dollar being the universal money standard" department...

To be honest I'm not sure if I should be laughing or crying.



Listening to Handmade Moments

So it goes...