It's election season...

Kareem making sense as usual, a little situational awareness, and just in case you haven't noticed we're living in the middle of an unprecedented extinction event...

It's election season and, like a lot of people, my thoughts have been all about Coroplast and cunning plans to use it on boats and suchlike.

Really!



For more about what you can do with Coroplast check out this article.

Listening to Dan Reeder

So it goes...

Just a thought...

A question about Iceland we should consider, a film folks should see, and somewhere out there if he/she exists God cries...

One thing that often surprises me is the general lack of real innovation in and around things related to boats.

That said, I get press releases every day that use words like "NEW", "INNOVATIVE", and "ADVANCED" to describe things that are simply the same old same dusted off and re-hyped as something new... It's depressing!

What little real innovation I see is not coming from the marine industry at all but from actual folks on boats who come up with clever answers to real problems and issues they encounter sailing and cruising...

Sadly, the truly innovative folks are seldom interested in going into business selling stuff but are more than content to simply doddle through life making things that work better for their own needs and those around them.

We so need a maker revolution in the cruising community!

Listening to the Lovin' Spoonful

So it goes...

a tax here, a tax there...

Talk about tacky, funny how you don't hear that much about the homeless in the US media, and, uh yeah...

OddaSea joins the voices bemoaning the state of things in Tennessee for the home boatbuilder... He makes some good points!

The thing is, it is a much bigger problem than just some guy building a skiff for his son... For instance, if you own a cruising boat have you noticed just how hard it is these days to find a DIY friendly yard for a haul-out so you can do some basic maintenance and slap some bottom paint on?

Even if you do, can you believe some of the extra charges that are creeping in to the mix if you happen to have your own paint or epoxy?

Sadly, as a whole, boaters are looked upon by any number of people as cash cows. The folks who think that way are no longer content with extracting some money from us they want more...

It's not a big jump in logic to see how folks wanting to wring every single possible cent from the boating public are going to look at folks who build their own boats, do their own work, or refuse to pay silly expensive items when there are alternatives as warm and cuddly. Truth of the matter is, they want us gone because we are a bad influence and tend to inspire others to actually get involved with the needful upkeep of our boats while shining a light on just how silly most marine pricing is.

While we lived in France we belonged to a cooperative of boatbuilders by the name of the Unite Amateur. To be truthful, most all builders in France are members because of the UA group buying program and discounts on materials and gear which is no bad thing, but the other more important role of the organization was in education and the fact that it gave boatbuilders in France the political clout that enabled folks to build their boats, navigate the French bureaucratic spiderwebs, and keep out the sort of silliness that just happened in Tennessee.

"Don't agonize. Organize!" ... Florynce Kennedy

Listening to Ryan Bingham

So it goes...

An ongoing primer for those who want to work while cruising...

Even for a law firm/foreclosure mill this sets a new standard for tacky, what the traders say, and, as a designer/builder of wind-vane self steering gears, I'm seriously interested in exactly how this perfectly lubricated wind-vane actually works...

Since we're on the subjects of wind-vanes, maybe we should talk about the whole idea of the concept of working as a "maker" while you cruise...

Actually building a product gets around all sorts of hassles and legal issues, where, for instance, if you were to do rigging work in some locations the homeboy rigging shop might find it in their best interests to mention the fact to the local powers that be that the guy on that boat anchored over there is breaking the law. The truth of the matter is, that the rigger shopping you to the police would be wearing the white hat and you, in fact, would be breaking the law and the villain.

It's made worse of course, by the fact that islands are very small places and the local coconut telegraph is well aware that the guy on the white boat with the blue sail covers is re-rigging the boat with the green sail covers even before said work actually commences... It's just the nature of things.

A quick aside on a related important subject... Morning cruiser nets are handy communication tools and places to share information but, apparently, a lot of cruisers don't seem to twig on the fact that locals (and that includes customs/immigration/local vendors) have VHFs too (and yes, dear reader, they all speak English on the French islands as well) and they DO LISTEN! So mentioning that you've over-stayed your visa, that you'll do someone's rigging for cheap, or how the women in immigration are nasty jerkette's has the distinct possibility of making your life way too interesting in an instant karma kind of way... There are no secrets on the VHF waves.

Which brings us back to making stuff... I can tie all the flies I want to on my boat, build surfboards (anyone interested in a Mini-Simmons?) till the cows come home, and build a plethora of self-steering gears and no one is going to get upset. Of course, if at some point down the line I might sell or trade some flies, the odd surfboard, or a self-steering gear no one's going to mind...

Which is not to say that you might not be fudging the letter of the law of some island nations in the process, but, if kept low key, stealthy, and greed kept out of the equation, it is doable...

So, rule number #1 in the stealth economy is...

"NEVER SCREW WITH LOCAL COMMERCE"!

Listening to Jefferson Airplane

So it goes...

DIY on steroids...

The reality of not leaving a clean wake, Zamboni Driver has a red blue letter day, and, hey, it's Banned Books Week!

A couple of folks have dropped emails to Boat Bits Central asking exactly what this so-called "Maker Revolution" is all about...

You might say it is just some folks doing DIY on steroids.

Truth is, it's not so much a revolution but a reawakening of a lot of values and skills that seem to have all but disappeared, which when combined with more accessible technology... Well, put like that it does get kind of revolutionary.

Mainly, it is a way of looking at things that means when you need something or need to repair something, you either do it yourself or go to a local (big emphasis on the word "local") maker in your community ("community" also being a key word here) and get it sorted out.

Imagine no longer being at the mercy of big companies with lousy products, inflated prices, and horrible after sales service... Kinda works for me!

The thing is boatfolk ("our" kind of boatfolk as opposed to the "other" kind) are already halfway to being full fledged makers as it is, and it won't take much to make the boating community a hive of maker industry... That's the good news. More good news is that as more products become available in an open market we will see some real product evolution that will deliver real innovation that is more about function than increased profit margin.

The bad news (well, actually only bad for some) is that as our economy shifts into a more sustainable model, the established marine related companies catering to cruisers and sailing folk will have to adapt and compete or find themselves doing the dinosaur two-step... and, dear readers, the music for that dance is just about to begin.

Oh yeah, being handy is just about to become the new black...

Listening to Great Big Sea

So it goes...

A fine day in the Caribbean...

Some very cool bikes, OddaSea with some very geeky Arduino goodness, and Obama does something VERY right!

Well, down here in the Caribbean with Ophelia and Phillipe no longer looking problematic life, as they say, is good...

By the way, you really should check out the link to OddaSea because it is a very good example of a cruiser coming up with a potential product for cruisers that could be done as a cottage industry on a boat anywhere that boat might happen to be. Keep an eye out because there is going to be a lot of this sort of thing as the Maker revolution gets some momentum and traction among us boatfolk.

Now, if you'll excuse me I have to go and make something...

Listening to Toadsuck Symphony

So it goes...