a VolksCruiser of interest...

Not suspicious at all, making the case, and about the need for American flagged boats...

I've always had a soft spot for the bilge-keeled Westerly Centaur design by Laurent Giles and think it is one of the most underrated cruising boats around.

As it happens, there's a Centaur project boat in Gig Harbor looking for someone who'd appreciate it with $500 in hand and the wherewithal to sort out the needful.

From the looks of the pictures all the nasty stuff has already been done which would make the actual needed work something of a slam dunk.

If it were down here in  America's paradise I'd snap it up faster that you can say VolksCruiser.

Listening to Carla Morrison

So it goes...

An AS-29 for sale...

Something regarding water, an excellent educational post, and in the "Five Possible Reasons We Haven’t Been Visited By Aliens" department...

Speaking of boats for sale a reader dropped me a line with a link to an, shall we say, interesting, Bolger AS29 for sale.(the As-29 being the little sister to Loose Moose 2).

Those portlights certainly caught my attention. That said, there's nothing that a sheet of plywood, some fiberglass, and and a half-gallon of epoxy wouldn't set right.

 Listening to Sarah Jarosz

So it goes...

Some great cruising designs for free...

A new book from Dick Dorworth, some Caribbean fiction to check out, and a novel I need to read...

So, it just came to my attention that Duckworks is offering Yachting Monthy plans for free.  For those unacquainted with Yachting Monthly plans they include the Eventide 24 and 26, Riptide 31, Waterwitch, and Storm shoal draft designs by Maurice Griffiths.

Have I mentioned lately that I'm a huge fan of Maurice Griffiths?

As far as I'm concerned the Eventides, Storm, Riptide, and Waterwitch still make great cruising boats and well worth checking out.

Listening to Molly Tuttle

So it goes...

some scowish curiosity...

An apt use of lyrics, some math I'm having trouble with, and this really got to me...

So, here's a boat I've been coming back to for a long time.

Reuel Parker's Junk rigged Scow 33.

Part of the reason I like this design is it's mostly lumberyard materials. Formply is cheap as it gets these days and my exposure tests had it as good or better than marine ply and a whole lot better than pressure treated exterior ply. Down here in southern-most tRumpistan a 3/4" sheet of formply costs less than a 1/4" exterior which would be a huge cost savings when you're buying 80-sheets or more of plywood.

So yeah, this is going to be an affordable boat.

Another reason I like the boat is its rig. I've always thought that the junk rig communities' collective phobia with jibs is somewhat problematic to performance. Lastly, while I'm a big fan of free-standing masts, I've come around to the conclusion that a little rigging combined with a beefy spar makes all kinds of sense in terms of weight and cost.

The interior accommodation in the design is what I'd call very comfortable for a couple living aboard full time.

Truth be told, I pretty much just like everything about the design as drawn. The boat is easily built of affordable materials and I know enough about to boats to know it will float right side up and do the job.

So, why haven't bought the plans already (well that's a little too complicated for the moment) and why am I going on about the design again?

Well, Mr. Parker said something interesting on his website recently...

"Because so many people have shown interest in it, I have designed a new interior for the SCOW 33 design, and upgraded the Plans and Construction Notes."

Which means I'd like to know what Reuel Parker's new interior looks like. That said, I don't expect I'll like the new interior as much as the original but I'm opened minded so we'll just have to see what we see. 

Color me curious.

Listening to the Hadestown

So it goes...

An interesting design but will she schoon?

EBM reflects on a Covidiot, what madness is this, and in the "Lest we forget that medicine is more about profit than cure" department...

OK, I'll admit I'm a sucker for a schooner-rigged design. Especially a NEW schooner-rigged design. Throw in the fact that said boat also has shoal draft with bilge keels and you have a boat I'll be studying for a while. So, what does Francis Lebailly have for us in his Rasta 40?

I'm pretty sure she'll schoon just fine!

Lots to like about this boat and more than a few very interesting ideas to keep me busy for a while. More information about the design over at Voile & Moteur.

Listening to Desi Valentine

So it goes...

Today in the "Yep, that works just fine" department...

The logic of insanity, a promise of note, and in the always interesting but oh so depressing "Castrated Senators" department...

It seems that Sven Yrvind has his internal ballast sorted out.



Listening to Ride

So it goes...

A Lyle Hess design you may want to check out...

Regarding Puerto Rico, a bit of good news, and something you should keep in mind...

For a variety of reasons I've been looking at boats in the 25-30 foot range, thinking a lot about downsizing, and the bottom line where most bang for the buck can be found.

You'd be amazed at how many excellent cheap boats are out there.

For instance: did you know you can buy a Lyle Hess designed cruising boat that's trailerable with enough room for a couple to live on comfortably (providing they can deal with the headroom) with a working engine for less than $3000 if you shop around?

That's a lot of boat for very little money.

Did I mention the Balboa 26 is shoal with a draft of less than two feet?

Listening to Courtney Marie Andrews

So it goes...

Tom Cunliffe with a barge yacht project...

On selective empathy, some food for thought, and in the "Fucked up doesn't even begin to cover it" department...



Listening to Son Volt

So it goes...

on sharpie stability...

Harlan's no longer with us, some proof positive that the uber-rich are not like us, and in the "I believe 'Not good' is something of an understatement" department...

Chris Morejohn has something on sharpie stability that you might find of interest and worth checking out.

Listening to some Doug Sahm,the Gourds, and Spoon

So it goes...

As things spiral round the ceramic bowl...

Some needful advice, folks doing good, bad news regarding the USPS, and a madman dancing to war drums...

Dave Z is on something of a roll of the boxy barge and scow variety. You should go check it out.

Listening to Ranger Bob

So it goes...

Variations on a theme...

Time to pay attention to the situation, not surprising at all, and in the "Don't let that door hit you on the ass when you leave" department...

Tad riffing on the Laura Cove 32.

Listening to Laura Nyro & Labelle

So it goes...

A sharpie for Sunday...

A cynical, crass game, a job you might be interested in, and Michael Moore just released a teaser for his new film...

Here's a sweet ride.

More information over on Reuel Parker's website.


Listening to Cynthia Catania

So it goes...

Sharpie Sunday...

A quick austerity primer, a boat related blog post you need to read, and in the "irony bites" department...

Ted Brewer's Centennial...

A lot more info here.

What's not to love?

Listening to The Meters

So it goes...

The scow at Crystal River...

Needful reading, the Wisconsin idiocy spiral continues, and some seriously bizarre stuff concerning the "most progressive trade agreement in history"...

A cool scow...

Some more serious scow goodness to check out with your Sunday brunch...

Listening to Sons of Bill

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...

So, if a guy tells you your chosen rig sucks why listen to him about your keel?

Hitting the nail right smack dab on the head, thumbs on the scales of justice, and an apt comment...

There's a discussion over at the JRA forum discussing a possible junk rig sailboat design that I find rather irksome but it's a great reminder about how there is so much bad information floating around about how boats work.

Especially where shoal draft, forms of ballast, and lateral resistance are concerned...

I think what bothers me is junk rig advocates should know full well how much misinformation there is about their rig of choice and so it would seem they'd be a lot more cynical/skeptical about other areas of boat design or suchlike.

Which, I suspect, is why the junk rig is nowhere near as successful as it could be. They're not designing junk rig sailboats but adapting junk rigs to existing Bahamian sloop thinking and there's a difference.

A big difference...

Listening to Ben E. King

So it goes...

a chance missed...

Badtux has a bad dream, a Senator making sense, and in the "wonders never cease" department Sarah Palin says something I actually agree with...

Last year a friend mentioned to me that there was a stretched Herreshoff Meadowlark for sale up in Maryland...

A different Meadowlark but you get the idea...

I've always loved this particular design and the fact that it had been built by Allan Vaitses made it all the more attractive. Add in the fact that it was selling for less than the cost of the lead contained aboard as ballast made for a pretty unbeatable combination...

Of course to buy it I'd have had to jump on a plane and fly up to Maryland and I'd promised myself never to get on another commercial flight...

So, I hesitated and someone else got the boat. I'm pretty sure there's a lesson to be learned here somewhere...

Listening to Marcus Mumford & Justin Hayward-Young

So it goes...

a question you have to ask yourself...

About that triangle of doom, somewhat nervous making, and something happy making...

Way back when, I seriously considered building a Bahama Mama. It's a cool boat.

It's a pretty simple build and, at a cost of somewhere around $50K, it's a a lot of boat for the money as such things go.

Of course an older, classic plastic boat like a CAL 29 (this one for sale is a good example) pretty much ready to go would only cost you 20% of that...

Something to think about.

Sadly, these days, building a boat is really no longer a way to save money so, you have to ask yourself if the great pleasure and satisfaction of building your own boat from the keel up is worth the price.

Listening to Richard Thompson

So it goes...

Rodger Martin talks sharpie...

A must read from Dick Dorworth, all about single fins, and a book I'm looking forward to...

Rodger Martin is a full on member in good standing of the Sharpies-Make-Sense Club and, like most members, he's not shy about preaching the gospel when the opportunity arises. As it happens, this past year's IBEX had a talk on sharpies by Rodger and he's happy to share it with folks who read Boat Bits...


Rodger Martin IBEX from Boat Bits on Vimeo.

Listening to Bahamas

So it goes...

Just thinking...

A good cause, Dmitri Orlov is doing something interesting, and it may have escaped your attention but today is World Toilet Day...

This picture has me thinking...

But more about that soonish.

Listening to Sons of Bill

So it goes...