Just my take on something in my RSS feed...

Why paying cash for coffee or gum might not be a good idea (to be filed in is-this-seriously-crazy-or-what department), Waves for Water doing something worthwhile in Afghanistan, and a film project to look forward to...

Over at Attainable Adventure Cruising they have apparently pulled the plug on the discussion of the Adventure 40/Model T Bluewater Cruiser because things were getting too negative... Pity really.

I'll admit I have some issues with the concept of a near $200K affordable cruiser but there were some seriously good ideas in the mix and the intellectual discussion on what it needed to be and what was needful to make it happen was, and is, well worth reading and discussing.

Off hand, I'm pretty sure my initial aversion to the actual concept was more about calling it a Model T than it was a about yet another boat design for well off people to go sailing on. One of the reasons the Model T was such a successful car design was that it was only about a quarter of the price of existing cars at the time and so affordable in fact, that folks who worked on the factory floor who built the cars could actually afford to buy one...

I know a few people who work for a paycheck and actually build boats on the shop floor. Even the best paid in that group are not going to be able to afford a near $200K boat. That's the irritant for me because the Model T comparison leads one to believe they can.

That said, it is ALWAYS a good thing when folks discuss how to build better and more affordable boats!

I've yet to read anything on Attainable Adventure Cruising about sailing or boats that did not make all kinds of sense... I might not always agree with everything they say but that does not mean I ever think that their way of doing something is wrong but simply that there are more ways to do something than some mythical "one true path".

Personally I'd still like to see the discussion continue and, if it does, I expect it will continue to be interesting and we all might learn something in the process...

Just saying...

Listening to Dan Bern

So it goes...