S 48° 52.6' W 123° 23.6' ...

Somewhat spidey-sense inducing, a good cause, and in the "Where the hell are the perp-walks?" department...

The other day someone asked me where I'd like to sail off to.

Now, in a general way of thinking, I've always considered the best way to sail someplace was more of a that-a-way, yonder, or wherever the wind takes us sort of thing. Being also somewhat superstitious I never say we're sailing to Puerto Rico but 'towards' Puerto Rico because having the audacity to imply you have total control of a voyage is akin to tempting fate to prove you wrong.

I'll also add I never ever begin a passage on a Friday either.

The thing is, there actually is a place I want to sail to and it's not Fiji, it's not Greenland and it's not  an island, country, or continent. It's just a place in the Pacific known as Point Nemo.

I'll be honest and admit that I'd never actually set sail to Point Nemo but I just might set a course towards New Zealand that sorta/kinda might get up close and personal with a certain Lat & Long location of note.

Like I said, I'm somewhat superstitious.

Listening to Eva & the Vagabond Tales

So it goes...

Tom Cunliffe doing his thing...

On the subject of Spring, regarding sustainable boatbuilding, and in the "Pretty much says it all" department...

Tom Cunliffe with something interesting about charts.



Listening to a very good Elton John cover

So it goes...

Some interesting charts...

Responsible innovation, EBM with a good point, and in the "Well, I guess they need to get their exercise some way" department...

More about Marshall Islands navigational charts can be found at Kottke.org.

Listening to The Milk Carton Kids and Rose Cousins cover Cat Stevens

So it goes...

The list gets a little longer...

I've been looking at various sources of electronic and paper charts for the lower half of South America and Antarctica and a couple of things come to mind in a hurry... One, I have my work cut out to find all the needful charts, and two, I am going to have to build in some more chart stowage!

While I'm at it some hull insulation as well...

Cost of charts...

Practical Sailor has some needful info on developments in the chart world... Read "Your Nautical Chart Prices Just Doubled"

Geek city... The chart edition

Since we are going to be sailing over to the Med in the not too distant future, the "LIST" seems to continue to grow and includes some geeky stuff that is not the normal day to day projects that is the norm on "So It Goes"...

Charts are high on the list, and with the costs these days not a fun one. So I keep looking for deals of various sorts but not so many these days and I will be happy when the exodus of sailors coming from Europe arrive as hopefully we will be able to buy and trade the needful chart coverage. Failing that Belingham Chart Printers provides good quality copies of charts and we sailed the Med to the Caribbean using xeroxed charts before, but even so, the prices even on copies is painful!

Which brings us to the geeky stuff (don't worry I won't go all Panbo on you) and electronic charts. A chip containing the Med and Black sea charts is not so bad as the "street" price is just less than $290 (compared to the the same coverage in 2/3 sized xeroxed charts from Bellingham Chart Printers at nearly $2000!)

Of course you still need paper charts...

One interesting source or idea for a back up chart system is the charts available for the iPhone as the Navionics chart coverage for the Med costs less than $12. WTF? Of course, you need an iPhone and as I am phone-phobic and don't really want to own a phone (Globalstar does not count as it never works long enough to actually be problematic!) as people might call me and I'd have to talk to them...

Of course, what I'd really like to use is the iPod Touch but the Touch does not have GPS which is where the geek thing comes in... Apparently there is a hack that allows you to add GPS to a Touch and while maybe a bit clunky having an external GPS via BlueTooth, it is an option! This would also, I believe, allow most of the neat sailing applications (like SailMaster) for the iPhone to be used on the Touch... Cool!  I suppose the iPhone makes more sense for most folk but I do like having a Touch option!

Pilot charts and suchlike...

My friend who has been knee deep in projects getting ready to sail down to the Caribbean dropped me an email last night. He has now reached the actual point where it has become a reality and thoughts of the route, weather and the actual voyage details are coming into focus.

Progress is a good thing!

So this evening more than likely he will be studying the pilot charts to get a feel for just what to expect. Being a smart and frugal guy he also more than likely found them on the net for free! Life is good.

To save you the trouble of doing the search engine thing, pilot charts and sailing directions can be found over at "Adrift at Sea" (a pretty great blog) and Dan has links you'd need in downloadable form!

Free is good...