Better than sliced bread...

I'm pretty sure "irrational" is something of an understatement, this is somewhat troubling, and here's a good question...

Some time back, I bought a couple of quart-sized paint can stirrer thingies and having used them for a time, I thought I'd tell you how they're working out.

They've changed my life...

I've always hated some associated tasks having to do with painting. I actually enjoy the preparation of paintable surfaces and the act of painting. However, the whole mixing paint, all that goes with it, and the cleanup afterwards really gets up my nose.

The Mixing Mate pretty much takes all those negatives away. As a result, painting becomes something I now do when needful as opposed to a much put off affair... For instance, yesterday I had a couple places I needed to paint so I grabbed the paint, gave it a stir, poured a tiny amount (all that was needed) of paint into a dixie cup, and had at it with a brush. The whole job took less than ten minutes start to finish.

Life is just so much better...

The one mistake I did make was not buying the Mixing Mate sized for gallon cans which would be all sorts of handy aboard...



A mistake I plan to fix ASAP.

Listening to Dolapdere Big Gang

So it goes...

Not exactly cooking with gas this morning...

So. why exactly do we pay more, about the secret to a happy, successful life of paranoia, and it was fifty years ago today yesterday...

We just ran out of propane an unusual occurrence as we have two 20-pound gas bottles so we usually have a full tank to change to... Usually.

Bummer.

No coffee = low brain cell activity = what the hell am I going to write about?

More hopefully caffeine enthused meanderings tomorrow.

Listening to Strangers in Paradise

So it goes...

The too big boat...

Way past dysfunctional, the only worthwhile "selfie" I've yet come across, and what's on the bottom of your boat...

A couple of days back I watched a boat anchored nearby get ready to leave and for a brief moment envied them the size of their boat. I thought how nice it would be to have a place on deck for a 12-foot dinghy and suchlike.

Then again, watching them go through the motions of taking off the motor and then putting said dinghy on the deck you could tell that it was hard work and they were not having fun. Not something one of them could do alone either...

Just offhand, I'm not a big fan of hard work.

A lot of folks try and get around the hard work component of a bigger boat with tech and the addition of powered winches, windlasses, and other aids but, Murphy's law being a very real thing around boats, things don't always work.

Not too long ago I recall a boat anchored near us calling the local boys in blue asking them to come out and ferry them in to clear because the electric windlass on their davits was not working so they were unable to launch their dinghy.

Which is why whenever I have one of those rare wouldn't it be nice to have a much bigger boat than one of us can comfortably work/sail alone thoughts, they never last long...

Listening to Jerry Riopelle

So it goes...

Two moments in time...

A guitar I lust for, Badtux is on a roll, and why you're not seeing middle-class affordable boats at the boat shows...

I read today that, fifty years ago on this date, the Beatles arrived in the USA. Something of a pivotal moment in time for folks of my generation.

I mention this because it got me thinking about things and events that alter the flow and change our lives in some fashion. Like how, on October 5, 1959, ABC ran the first episode of a TV show...

... that rocked a lot of people's worlds. Including my dad's who moved us lock, stock, and barrel to Catalina and pretty much ruined me for anything approaching a normal life.

The Beatles just finished the job...

Listening to Jerry Jeff Walker

So it goes...

Steampunk sailing...

This could use your support, some tiny rays of hope, and here's something you might find interesting...

Over at the Archdruid Report, today's post is entitled "The Steampunk Future" (a long but worthwhile read) where he mentions calling a slide rule a steampunk calculator and it got me thinking...

We'd all be better off with a bit more steampunk tech in our sailing lives.

Now, I really like my chartplotter, depth sounder/electronic log, and AIS but none of those items are what you'd call user repairable. Having something on the boat I can't fix makes me nervous without some sort of less techie user repairable backup system ready to take over when the need arises.

Steampunk tech if you will...

Fact of the matter is a lot of old serviceable sailing gear is already quite steampunky if you think about it... Logs with brass gears, brass sextants, and chronometers figure quite strongly in the makeup of out nautical sinews. Face it, if you've read your Jules Verne growing up you're already right next to the corner of Steam and Punk so you might as well embrace it.

Nemo had the right idea

Listening to Rebecca Pidgeon

So it goes...

a little mechanical advantage...

When the cure becomes the disease, hardly surprising, and this is just way cool...

There are a lot of tools I carry around that might surprise people... For instance, in each of my two main tool bags I have a short (12") crow bar...

... because sometimes you need some mechanical advantage. I've lost track of the number of times and ways these have been real problem solvers over the years.

Since sometimes you find you need even more of an advantage, there's also the bigger (36") wrecking bar I keep under the cockpit and, when that does not provide enough oomph, I have a pair of hydraulic bottle jacks that come in handy when you find it needful to rebed a keel or some such.

A new tool I'm going to mount on the underside of one of the cockpit locker lids is yet another variation on the same theme for emergency use when things go FUBAR...

Gotta love the name.


Listening to Great Big Sea

So it goes...

Here's a link to something needful...

Something scary about starfish in the Pacific, about that Coke ad, and on the subject of canaries and coal mines...

I'm in the midst of some projects, but here's a great post over at Simply Sailing Online that everybody should read and think about...

Really.

Listening to Beau Jocque and the Zydeco Hi-Rollers

So it goes...

Does making water make sense?

A letter from the real world, the need for better liars, and Mylène Paquette became the first North American woman to row solo across the North Atlantic Ocean...

A perennial thing jockeying for position on my need/want list is a watermaker. What can I say? It sorta/kinda seems like a needful system. So, every year I run it through my need/want mark three computer and it always comes up firmly in the something I want but not something I need category.

As it happens, this ad for a used watermaker came up yesterday and it does tell a story if you do the math...

"We are done cruising the Caribbean. Slightly used (50 hours) Village Marine Little Wonder Modular 200 Water Maker purchased 2008 asking $3000/BO plus shipping or pick up near Jacksonville, FL. New pressure vessel and membrane. 12 volt DC system rated for 8.3 gallons per hour. Complete with spares, rebuilt kit, custom SS motor mounting bracket, complete for your installation, etc..."

At first look it's not a bad price so it caught my interest but, once you read it a second time, it starts telling a story all its own...

For starters, since it's only been run for fifty hours the most the system has made is 415 gallons of water (8.3 X 50 = 415). Now for comparison, we pay 10 cents a gallon for water when needful in the Caribbean so 415 gallons would cost us less than $42. Which is hardly going to break the bank but what did water actually cost the guy who has the watermaker for sale?

Since the best price I can find on this particular watermaker new is around $5000 we'll use that as the operative number (and we'll forgo the higher mind numbing math inducing costs of shipping/installation/chemicals/repairs/custom bracket/spares/replacement parts which, I suspect are substantial) so the number we get is a little more than $12 for the cost per gallon.

Can you say OUCH?

Then again, since he's selling it for $3000 he might actually get the price down to something like $4 or $5 a gallon which is quite the improvement but still a helluva long way from the 10 cents we pay for water...

Which is not to say I've completely given up the idea of a super-frugal-less-than-$500-DIY-watermaker based on a cheap Harbor Freight pressure washer but still that's going to cost a lot more than 10 cents a gallon when all is said and done..

Listening to Doug and the Slugs

So it goes...

My new go to saw...

David Simon making a lot of sense, some stuff most of us knew all along, and King Tut has nothing on this guy...

I bought a new circular saw of the pizza cutter variety a while back but only just got a chance to actually use it in anger this past week. For anyone who's interested, it seriously rocks.

First off, I should mention that being a plunge, as opposed to a set blade, it does have a bit of a learning curve as I found I had a tendency to relax during a cut and so the blade would retract a bit which was bothersome but once you get the hang of it, it's non-problematic.

The good news is its light weight makes it very easy to use one-handed (a needful thing for a guy doing projects aboard a boat at anchor) and its thin blade and very powerful motor makes it slip through wood so easily that you wonder if you're actually cutting... Not unlike a hot knife through butter.

Another plus is the saw has a laser guide that actually works, makes sense, and was visible yesterday in full Caribbean sun while I was cutting out some backing pads in the unshaded cockpit.

The downside is the fact that a small pizza cutter blade does not have the depth to cut through thicker planks but for that I still have the 7 1/2" worm-drive saw stowed under the cockpit for such things.

All in all, it's the new go to saw aboard "So It Goes".

Listening to Sublime

So it goes...

Some good news for scow fans...

Not exactly a record to be proud of, some of my my worst fears confirmed, and something worthwhile from Dick Dorworth...

Some time back I mentioned the Musard 29 scow cruiser by Sabrosa Rain as a project in development and I'm happy to report that it's currently under construction at the "Etabli du marin" boatyard in France.

I sure love the way plywood boats go together fast...

Listening to Jerry Riopelle

So it goes...