Bummer...

I have to admit it is kind of a bummer waking up to the news that Tony Curtis passed away... Which made me wonder why on earth I don't have a copy of "Operation Petticoat" in our DVD collection which has always been a big favorite of mine.

Sadly, they don't make films like that anymore...

Just something to think about...

Yesterday we helped a boat that had managed to get stuck on a reef... One of the local dive operators came out to pull them off but it was hard going as the couple were in shock, exhausted, stressed, and not quite firing on all cylinders.

Often cruisers (and various yachting writers) will go on about disaster plans and the needfulness of being prepared and suchlike but most don't account for the simple fact that more than likely when the shit-hits-the-fan you won't be in top form and a simple act like tying a shoe or cleating off a line becomes something akin to rocket science.

Maybe. just something you may want to factor in...

Living in the future... or, it's not the same old same world if you'd bother to open your eyes and focus

It's curious, sitting here at anchor watching a host of world changing events and accessible new technologies coming to fruition and hardly anyone seems excited...

Now, I'm not talking about the newest snake-oil next-gen anchor designed not so much for it's holding power but more as an extractor of money from your wallet or Bendytoy's new joystick control system that purportedly gives the buyer the ability to dock in a marina with no unpleasant bending or skill...

Nope, I'm talking about life and society changing kickass leaps into the future and why the embracing of such wonderfulness is considered akin to being in the chess or AV club in high school.

So what does this have to do with boats?

Well, it all depends but for those with just a little bit of vision... Everything.

Way back when we first set out, we had an early laptop and an acoustic coupler which allowed us to do a certain amount of work while cruising (as well as get weather faxes and suchlike). Every year since, great strides have continued so now from mid-Atlantic we are able to sell DVD's and charters, blog and otherwise take care of business as easily (more or less) as we do from anchor or a dock now... How cool is that? Of course, this level of living in the future is really only doing the same old same with a little less effort, a lot more convenience, and hardly a great leap or giant step...

For instance, in the not too distant future (like the day after tomorrow) if you design a bit for a boat you'll be able to have a 3D desktop printer that will actually make it a reality and making a small product (or parts for a product) will be as simple as loading in the raw material and then pushing the print icon on your computer.

YOWZA!

Actually, the technology is already here, already available, and the prices are already coming down to seriously affordable... It's a whole new world! Of course that is a big part of the problem as the whole "new world" thing. It is often problematic for those who make big profits and run the show in the "old world" as the whole new world thing tends to impact on their profits in a negative manner. Much as the biggest critics of electric propulsion tend to be in the ranks of those who repair diesel engines as electric propulsion will impact their bottom line and they be some kind of nervous much as those who depended for their living on shoeing horses when the first automobiles came on the scene!

Take a look at the MakerBot "Thing-O-Matic" for a glimpse of the future which is not about yet bigger factories overseas with low paid labor but tiny factories on desktops in peoples homes just down the street and (yes dear reader) boats at anchor...

Back to the need/want thought process...

I've been spending a lot of my time recently looking at our VHF (a Uniden Solara) which is currently sitting here not connected to anything and taking up space...

The problem is that sitting here, it takes up space so installing it somewhere else will get it out of the space it currently is taking up but then will take up space somewhere else and apparently only god knows where it should go and he/she is not talking! The other thing about our VHF is we never use it or turn it on as our VHF needs are well met by our Uniden handheld.

I have, in the past, expressed interest in the AIS/VHF radio by Standard Communications that has an integrated AIS but as we already have two NASA AIS receivers it is hardly needful. While it is affordable for what it is, it does cost more than I'd like to spend. Standard also makes a version of this radio without the AIS unit but with the AIS display so we could use our current AIS unit with it but then again, that is a couple of hundred dollars I'd rather put towards a new 12 string and, as I said earlier, our Uniden handheld is really all of the VHF we need...

So the real question is, do I even want to bother keeping this VHF on the boat as it is simply not pulling it's weight in the grand scheme of things or does it join the Sat phone as nautical flea market fodder for the first guy who offers $25?

It all depends...

I recently came across an article by someone who cautioned new to cruising folk that it costs a lot more than you'd think...

They made the case (using themselves as an example of just plain frugal and simple folk with simple tastes) who had planned to cruise on $35,000 a year but have discovered that in reality that their outgoing expenses are around double that (which is higher than the average household income in the US of A)...

I write this for a couple of reasons. One, being that a few regular letter writers to Boat Bits will send me copies of said article with a flourish and an "aha" to let me know yet again that frugal cruising is just not possible in today's world, and secondly to point out that you simply can't compare apples and oranges!

The couple in question (though frugal and simple folk) have great taste in boats and chose a new boat which more than likely set them back $500,000 or more and change before they added the needful stuff to sustain that frugal and simple lifestyle. Of course, being over fifty feet, haul-outs and marina visits become somewhat painful to the pocketbook as do the various systems that a boat like theirs seem to acquire, as well as the insurance etc.

The point is, I'm not knocking these people for their lifestyle decisions and boat choice (I think their choice of boat is one of the best boats in the world) but I do think it is important to look at just how much the choice of boat affects everything that falls in it's wake. When you come down to it, their advice is most likely dead on for people who buy half-million dollar boats but in terms of cruising costs have little or no relevance to someone who is sailing on a 35-foot sailboat built in the mid 70's... Sort of like comparing costs of upkeep on a 72 VW bug and a Rolls Royce.

It slices it dices...

Machetes make a lot of sense for various jobs on a boat (splitting lobsters, dealing with coconuts, repelling zombie hordes, etc) and having one or two on board is no bad thing...

Which is why I took special notice of this machete from Gerber...

Not only does it sport Gerber steel which is a cut and a half above what most machete makers use but the back side of the blade is a saw, which when you think about it makes all sorts of sense! Very cool indeed!

Thinking through a rigging problem...

I'd be dishonest if I were to say I don't like Wichard products, but here in the US of A it is somewhat pricier than it could be and often no better than lesser priced competitors. On the other hand, when Wichard comes out with a new product I often take note as more often than not they come up with solid ideas...

Wichard's new MX shackle incorporates a dumb sheave into the mix and at first glance it certainly is a winner as a bombproof means of getting a little extra purchase into a main halyard or running backstay in a less is more sort of thing... Kinda cool, huh?

Well, actually when you take a look at the pricing, the kind of cool sort of pales real quick when confronted with its price point of $80 for 10mm(3/8") line... Fact is a simple shackle and a real block (as opposed to a dumb sheave with its much higher friction) would be cheaper...

So what would Mr Cheapseats do?

or...

Being lazy, I'd more than likely simply go with a real block and a soft shackle but since we have been sorting out the rigging for the new rig on "So It Goes", the appeal of dumb sheaves is not lost on me, especially when mixed with Dynex Dux or other synthetic rigging material. All of a sudden a simple round high-strength thimble with the addition of a little rope in the form of a Dynex shackle or tail becomes a static block, part of a cascade or whatever you want it to be... Now, how cool is that?

Both Precourt and Colligo do round thimbles and enhanced thimbles for various rigging purposes (as well as providing all manner of Dynex and rigging goodness) and using synthetics can trim some serious weight over something like the Wichard MX at a fraction of the cost providing you do your own splicing... No unpleasant bending involved!



Listening to Mr Apollo by The Bonzo Dog Band

So it goes...

A bespoke New England cruise...

A while back I wrote about Wanderbird and thought some of the Boat Bits readers would be interested that Captain Rick wrote to us recently to let us know of Wanderbird's special cruise offering...

Join us on an old fashioned "Steamer Cruise" November 8-15, 2010 Eight days starting Monday,  November 8th through Tuesday, November 15th This is a tentative schedule, weather permitting: DAY 1: Depart Belfast, Maine to Boothbay Harbor, Maine DAY 2: To Gloucester, Maine DAY 3: To Provincetown, Maine DAY 4: To Cape Cod Canal and Newport, Rhode Island DAY 5: To Block Island, Rhode Island DAY 6: To Greenport, Long Island NY DAY 7: To New York City, NY DAY 8: To New York City, Dockside

The Tariff (all inclusive shipboard) $999/person

What a wonderful way to cruise the Coast of New England. The WANDERBIRD is well suited for this coastal cruise with heated cabins and toasty heated mattress pads along with our coach house woodstove to keep the Fall Chills outside where they belong! This coastal voyage calls at many famous New England villages AND crosses Stellwen Bank for a good opportunity whale and pelagic seabird sightings!! The air is clear and cool and the scenery never ends on this coastal voyage! We will also offer coastal navigation and watchkeeping lessons to those who are interested.

Captain Rick expects Wanderbird's Steamer Cruise to book up quickly so contact us ASAP for your bunk to adventure!

Wanderbird will be also be chartering in the Caribbean this winter out of Culebra, Spanish Virgin Islands.

Around the web...

Scott over at Scott's Boat Pages has an update and pictures of Reuel Parker's Ibis which is one seriously tasty boat... De Clarke has what looks like a very promising resource for junk rig folks over at the Home port of SV Taz and BilgeMunky reviews a rum!

On the gear front, Tim at Navagear admires the new Wichard very-cool-but-seriously-pricey MX shackle (I'll have a more affordable alternative in tomorrow's post for those on a budget)... Panbo continues to entice with electronic gear I can't afford and don't need... and Bianka Blog says "let there be light"!

Last, but not least, everyone's favorite pirate-zombie band "Widow's Bane" do their thang...

Good news of the Velocitek sort...

Velocitek, who makes some seriously cool stuff is now Mac friendly and no longer just for those folks using second rate computer gear...

This is so cool!

There is also a new model coming in October the SC-2. Just in time to become a possible stocking stuffer of choice here on "So It Goes" but the SpeedPuck is still on the want list...

Listening to Viva Terado by El Chicano

So it goes...

Can do in a can't do world...

In a world where everyone has an excuse for not doing stuff it's important to take a moment and remind ourselves that if we want something enough we can do it... Quadruple amputee swims the Channel.

Talking like a pirate is one thing but beware of those who walk the talk

I guess I should mention that it is indeed "Talk Like A Pirate Day" and while adding the odd "ARRRHHH" or "Avast" to  sentences can be somewhat entertaining, it does make me think of other things...



Sadly, the real language of piracy these days is that used by folks in Somalia and other third world areas. For a variety of reasons, real up-close-and-personal piracy is something of a growth industry. It would, of course, be prudent to add that words of a piratical nature are also common parlance in those of a political bent (whichever party they may belong to it is always best to keep in mind that most fly the skull and bones) as well as those working in the corporate world and best not to forget that behind every great fortune lies a great crime. Lastly, it would be unwise to forget those who travail in the marine trades who just may be the scurviest examples of a rather scurvy lot...

Listening to "Prelude to Mutiny" by Captain Bogg & Salty

So it goes... 

Not insane... Or, we are all Bozos on this bus

Reading over the various political blogs and day after quarterbacking from the recent spate of primaries, it would seem the only thing that the Democrats have going for them is the fact that they are not quite as bad as the other guys... "Yeah, we suck but those Republicans are worse" does not make for a good campaign platform or over-brimming confidence in the future.

I don't know how you folks feel, but when the current political reality winds up being weirder than a Firesign theatre sketch on acid, I think it is time to start thinking seriously about circling the wagons or getting the flock out of Dodge.

Lifeboat stations...

Considering that the Firesign Theatre seems to be a step and a half ahead of most political pundits on what is actually going down, it would be no bad thing to pop a CD ("I Think We're All Bozos On This Bus", "Not Insane" or "How Can You Be In Two Places At Once When You're Not Anywhere At All?" would be good ones to start with) into the player and give them a listen...

Makes a lot more sense and certainly more entertaining than the spoutings of an anti-masturbation cum senate candidate.

Smart DIY watermaker...

It has not escaped my notice that most pressure washers available for not a whole lot of money contain the lion's share of the needful parts that go into a really-way-more-expensive-than-I-want-to-spend watermaker...

No surprise then, that Mr Cheapseats has a cunning plan where watermakers are concerned and it has just been the need to research various pressure washers that has been keeping me from getting the watermaker project up and running.

Lucky for me then that I came across a guy in Europe who not only thinks like I do but has already done a cheap pressure washer into watermaker project and it WORKS!

For all sorts of great DIY watermaker goodness... Check it out!

Life, as they say, is peachy keen!

Hurricane Igor is now someone else's problem and some serious zombie goodness hits the shelves...



Life is good!

Frazzled and confused...

You can color me just a little bit frazzled as the category 4 Hurricane Igor keeps getting closer and, even though I have faith in modern weather forecasting and do believe it will turn north, having a big, bad, and seriously kickass storm coming right at me makes one just a little bit nervous... The current mantra aboard "So It Goes" is GO NORTH!

I also made the mistake this weekend of reading too much news (or what passes for it) and hearing Newt and all the other talking heads spout the same old drivel makes me want to find some island where the words tea and party actually mean a social soiree where tea is the beverage of choice (as opposed to a racist hate-fest)! That said, there was a bright spot when I read about a guy with a skateboard doing the right thing...

Sadly these days, a person doing the right thing is getting to be something of a rare event and as James Howard Kunstler's view of the future unfolds around us with uncanny accuracy something that should be cherished when found...


That said... It's not all doom and gloom on "So It Goes".  I just took a look at the hurricane frequencies graph and we are now on the the downslope...

  

 

... Plus, I took the "What are your chances of surviving a zombie holocaust" test and...

... Now, how cool is that?  I'm not resting on my laurels but I think this book is going to be a big help in getting my ranking into the next percentile!


Listening to Tell Mama by Savoy Brown


So it goes...

Some smart words relating to anchor swivels...

Attainable Adventure Cruising tells us "Just say NO!" where anchor swivels are concerned...

Excellent advice!

I'm so frelling big I don't have to keep watch...

Not so far from where we are moored, there is a channel that is well marked and a few times a week gets some big barge and tug traffic... Most of it at night or in the very early hours. Over the months we have been here we have lost track of cruisers who have anchored right in the middle of the of the channel... Scary that.

I guess they figure the folks on the tug and barge are going to keep an eye out for them because they expect folks to be anchoring in the middle of a channel... Then again maybe it is just the gene pool cleansing itself.

For proof of just the sort of watch-keeping you might expect from some professional mariners you might want to check out The Old Salt Blog...

Seriously scary shit!

A galley and a cunning plan...

Way back when, I decided we needed a cunning plan to get a settee seat across from the "booth/dinette"... To get said settee the galley had to be moved which resulted in the loss of a quarter berth which has caused all sorts of problems with accessing storage with an ongoing series of cunning plans to sort out the galley/under cockpit storage and so on...

BEWARE of CUNNING PLANS!

The worst part of the whole affair is that when the dust settled the settee never really got used and became a horizontal surface that collected "stuff". On the rare occasion that you might actually want to sit on the settee you could not because of the stuff... So it does go!

The current thinking is to move the galley back to its original location, replace the stove (with a new Camp Chef), recover the quarter berth and since we are deep in wood butchery land by this time, add a water tank or two (as we have that trans-Atlantic passage coming up) and swap the location of the 48V battery bank to make for a bit easier access... More soon come as the plan develops!

Always something to do on a boat...

Listening to Gasoline Alley...

So it goes.

Why not indeed...

Free Pursuits asks twelve important questions...

On what it all costs...

Follow The Boat hits a home run in their "Boo Hoo! India Is So Expensive!" and it's something of a must read...

Speaking of scows... Does anyone know anything about this boat?

This design is from a long ago Cruising World and I've written Cruising World several times trying to find a little more info on the design, designer and whether the boat was actually built buat apparently the folks at CW either don't know or are not telling (more than likely too busy doing yet another catamaran or charter special issues to answer mail)...

If any of the readers of Boat Bits has any information on this design I'd love to hear from them...

Listening to Price of The Fire by John Stewart

A very cool scow...

I've always liked scows and especially scow-schooners but sadly not too many boat designers have the same feeling, and the few who have designed the odd scow don't quite jive with what I think they should look like.

Tad Roberts, up there in British Columbia, on the other hand knows exactly what sort of scow makes me go "Ooh" and "Ahh"...

What's not to like about "Harry"? Shoal draft, all the comforts of home in 26 feet and seriously shippy to boot?

I'd love to see Mr Roberts do a bigger schooner along the same lines...

A whole new world waiting in the wings... Big Storm Coming

Just about everyone I know is either nervous or in denial and those of us on boats are no exception. Of course, denial is a lot easier if you are anchored in some tropical postcard setting but even so it is difficult not to catch the whiff of panic mixed with full tilt insanity coming from the mainland.

A phrase heard far too often this time of year in the Caribbean, "Big storm coming", is something of a catchall phrase and can denote a real storm, an angry wife or a world spinning out of control and about to embark on a pinball course of unknown velocity... Yeah, in short, seriously scary shit.

Just between us, dear readers. I'm too old to want to deal with the upcoming clusterfuck waiting in the wings but the lure of denial just does not work (short of copious amounts of rum) and I find myself somewhat mesmerized by the unfolding slow motion train wreck of unchecked greed.

Such are the thoughts at anchor on Labor Day 2010...

Listening to Do You Want My Job by Little Village

So it goes...

Some thoughts on snake oil...

Every day I find all sorts of fun and frolic in my inbox of a scammy and spammy variety and while most of it is so idiotic (I'm dying and have decided to give you 26 million dollars because I liked the sound of your email address) I do have to remind myself that folks would not be doing the scams if people were not falling for them...

Of course, scams come in all sorts of types and sizes but when all is said and done, they all share the same "too-good-to-be-true" essence whether it be an electric drive that promises more than is possible in a world governed by physics, an anchor that promises performance in excess of common sense or anything that simply seems too good to be true just may have that whiff of... Snake oil.

And, dear readers, snake oil is not a good thing to have on a boat!

Nuff said...

Listening to Mr Bad Example by the late and great Warren Zevon
(apt music to buy anchors by)

Hurricanes and Uncertainty...

Tim over at Navagear dropped me a neat link regarding weather and things hurricane... Hurricanes and Uncertainty .

Good stuff!

Not any mooring in a storm...

The catamaran that visited us during Earl left behind a mooring when it did and I took the opportunity to dive on it and take a look.

 The mooring ball looks peachy-keen and while the line is a little frayed there is nothing that would make anyone nervous. Underneath the story is a whole lot different as the rope/chain is connected to a pair of bent sand screws that are no longer screwed into the bottom...

This, of course, is not going to hold anyone but I'd seriously doubt that anyone is going to be inspecting any of these moorings till after hurricane season if at all. So in the meantime it is an accident waiting to happen.

Last time we were in the BVI I dived on a couple of moorings and noticed they had serious corrosion issues with shackles worn more than 50% through... Again an accident waiting to happen.

A prudent sailor could do a lot worse than to treat all moorings and ground tackle that they have not installed personally with a healthy dose of suspicion and as a possible accident-waiting-to-happen. Sadly we are now being forced more and more often to use moorings here in the Caribbean as moorings-for-profit has become something of a growth industry (albeit wrapped up in the sheepskin of protecting our environment) and like most for-profit industries profit is the name of the game and upkeep on moorings cuts into profits...

Hurricanes are so boring...

Fiona has passed on by but we have Gaston coming along just a little too up close and personal for comfort and yet another "maybe" in the line-up...

A whole new fight or flight set of decisions to be made and no relief to the stress level in sight this side of Halloween.

Such is late summer in the Caribbean!

Listening to Mr Slater's Parrot by the Bonzo Dog Band.

So It Goes

Dudley Dix has a new cat...

Over the last few years I have found myself going through something of a sea-change regarding multihull designs for cruising... I used to think they made lots of sense for cruising but these days, well not so much.

Which does not mean I do not think cats and tris don't make a lot of sense in some areas but simply where cruising and voyaging is concerned catamarans are not the way to go. I'll make a correction to that overly general statement and say that multihulls along the lines of the Wharram/Jim Brown philosophy can make a lot of sense but I'll go into all of that at some other time.

On the other hand, if you want to go into charter Dudley Dix may just have exactly what you are looking for in the Gunboatesque DH55 and new Dix 470 which are both very cool boats.

Dix certainly has a way with plywood and I am a huge fan of his DIDI series of monohulls (which have never quit being on my short list for the next boat I build). Unlike so many designers Mr Dix actually seems to have a feel for how to build a boat as well, which is not all that surprising since he has built boats himself in the same situation and conditions that his home building clients would encounter. This, in my opinion, is a great part of his success as he simply understands his clients needs.