What's on my mind...

Some scary numbers, more bad news, and proving beyond a shadow of a doubt they're a class act...

I was watching a video over at Off Center Harbor about a super simple water system and a phrase that was used has been circling in my thoughts ever since.

�Trailing edge technology�

It makes a lot of sense...

Of course, not so much if you're obsessed with having the best, newest, fashionable, and hip cutting edge stuff but, for those of us who want simple, reliable, and not expensive, it's something to keep in mind so deserves some serious thought.

Which, I suspect, is why I seem to be looking more and more to the past for answers to my future endevours. The more I think about it, I keep finding cutting edge seems to be something of a dead end.

The other phrase/quote that has been right at the forefront of my thoughts this week is something Lin and Larry said...

"If you can't fix it then it probably shouldn't be on the boat"

Listening to Great Big Sea

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A couple of easy to build and inexpensive dinghies...

The old healthy babies or profits conundrum (but hey, profits are profits right?), hopefully a positive development, and some news from the real world...

This is a very cool dinghy from Atom Voyages...



Plus, there's a newish book "Building the Uqbar Dinghy" on dinghy building of the same ilk I'm looking forward to reading.

So many great dinghy designs and so little time...

Listening to Sons of Bill

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Sewing machine dreams...

Dan Rather getting it right, Badtux asks a needful question, in the wouldn't it be nice if we were treated like rational adults department, and really, are we all bugfuck insane in the US of A or what...

This morning in my email there was a thing from Sailrite about free shipping so I meandered over and took a look. As it happens, the free shipping did not include those of us in the USVI but as long as I was on the site I spent some time looking at sewing machines because I seriously lust after the Ultrafeed LSZ-1.

Of course, we already have a good but somewhat long-in-the-tooth Yachtsman sewing machine made by Sailrite but it would be nice to trade up so I keep an eye out for  a too-good-to-pass-up deal on the LSZ-1.

I may be waiting for some time as the Sailrite machines are pretty fairly priced without the sort of silly profit margin that lends itself to the sort of 50% off sales that are commonplace in the marine trades...

Listening to Richard Thompson

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Something you really should know...

A good point being made, G&T on quasi-fascist sucking up, and sometimes you really should be worried...

There's a guy selling Amsteel on a forum and it got me thinking about what stuff costs.

Now, I don't know about you but when someone is selling something used or surplus to requirements I normally expect them to sell it at a substantial discount... Don't you?

Now in this case the guy is selling some 1/4" Amsteel for 90 cents a foot. which is pretty much full retail but just to be sure I checked the store (LFS Marine) I buy Amsteel from and their normal price per foot was 90 cents a foot.

So not exactly a deal...

Then again, it got me curious about what the more consumerist marine stores were selling Amsteel for and I find West sells 1/4" Amsteel for $1.68 a foot, Defender (who everyone is always telling me is the cheapest around) is selling it for $1.44 a foot, and APS (who everyone tells me is the most expensive) at $1.65 a foot.

I'm pretty sure you can do the math...

Listening to Old Crow Medicine Show

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a worthwhile project...

Water, water everywhere, how greed can cost you a win, and a book you  just might want to get...

Something you may want to be watching...



Listening to Jerry Riopelle

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Just another day in August...

What the FRACK dude, something you should be aware of, and in the department marked rich greedy bastards...

So, it's a day for doing the big-storm-might-come-two-step which involves putting down a couple more anchors and battening down the boat. It is, after all just part of the gig.

Actually, invest 96L does not look to be a very serious threat but it is trundling towards us and storms often tend to surprise people by developing earlier rather than later... Hence me doing the two-step.

The worrisome part is, I expect, I may actually be the only guy doing said two-step and in the event of shit coming to fruition it will be more about dodging boats gone walkabout rather than being a storm problem.

Listening to the Kopecky Family Band

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In the ongoing quest for sharp tools...

Nope, no climate change here so best to move on, not your same old same axe, and an insightful slam-dunk from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar...

My dad always used to say that you can tell a lot about a man from looking at his tools and, like a lot of the stuff my dad used to say, he was right.

Truth be told, I'd be embarrassed to have my dad see the current state of of my chisels...

The thing is, working on boats is hard on tools. Chisels and  other wood cutting tools were never designed with glass fiber, hybrid composite structure, and epoxy glue in mind and it takes its toll.

Which is why I perked up when I saw this...

It's a smallish affordable sharpening station by Dremel which looks to be just the thing to get those chisels (plane blades, drill bits, scissors, knives, etc) back to the standard they aspire to...

The concept of no longer being ashamed of my tool bag really does appeal.

Listening to Jason Isbell

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This is handy...

John Oliver making some sense, SeaWorld collecting on its karma account, and if you'd like to read about something seriously nuts...

Something tasty from Antal.

They call it "the Hook".

Listening to Trampled by Turtles

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Half a million give or take a few...

This is seriously scary, a rather astute riff on the game being rigged, and today's award for Kafkaesque shenagigans...

It's come to my attention that some time today someone will have the rather questionable honor of becoming the 500,000th visitor to Boat Bits... Kind of boggles the mind.

So, I'm going to take  a break today and maybe have a beer...

Tomorrow it will be back to the same old same Selfie-free, somewhat contrarian, and anti-consumerist Boat Bits grind. Thing is, I think I'm getting the hang of this gig and might even get it right by one million visitors... Well, one can always hope.

Thanks for visiting and actually reading what I write from time to time.

Really, Thank you.

Listening to Rebelution
 
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Something that works on boats...

Badtux making sense, Ian Welsh on the long suck/deep dive, and this sure sounds like deserved Karma to me...

I really hate cigarette type plugs... They're cheap, cheesy, and dangerous. I remove them from various 12-volt objects that come with them and replace with Anderson Power Pole connectors which happen to work finestkind but are still cheap and not inclined to melt or cause a fire aboard like the aforementioned cigarette plug.

They really are pretty awesome.

A natural progression is using Anderson poles for power distribution...

Do I really need to tell you just how awesome and useful something like this would be aboard a boat?

Listening to Emily Portman

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Something you'll want to read...

Just another example of greed run amuck, Charles Doane makes a good point about shipwrecks/Cruisers Forum, and about those "False balance" blues...

PBO just released their September issue and it's well worth reading.

Lots and lots of great stuff within but maybe the best article is a "test" comparing two near identical boats sporting junk and Bermudian rigs. Really a must read for anyone who's interested in junk rig.

Do yourself a favor and give it a read...

Listening to San Fermin

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just the same old same conundrum...

Something well worth your time, another side of drought, and giving a whole new meaning to the phrase "Throws like a girl..."

I'm currently jumping through a bunch of mental hoops trying to sort out which dinghy to build. The fact is there are any number of great dinghies out there but the problem is finding a design that will stow in the allotted space as well as being the sort of workhorse that can put up with the loads and abuse I regularly subject it to.

Nesting dinghies make a lot of sense and I have plans for Danny Greene's Chameleon, the B&B Spindrift, and Wood's new Duo but when nested they all seem to seriously impair the view forward while sailing...

The Wooden Widget folding designs make a lot of sense but, being skin boats, they are less than perfect for throwing 75' of chain, 100' of warp, and a forty-pound anchor in the bottom when needing to row out and set extra anchors to windward when a big storm threatens. That said, stowed in front of my hard dodger you'd have great view forward while sailing...

Fact is, any hard dinghy on the coachroof is going to be problematic and there is no other space aboard to place a dinghy that makes any sense so just about anything you do is a bigger compromise than I actually care to make.

Bummer.

Tad Roberts has the right idea in his Future Cruiser series where he designs in proper dinghy stowage..

"The cockpit is huge by modern standards as it's the place you spend the most time. Options for protection are considered, dodger and higher coamings forward. Transom door and outboard rudder/tiller simplify access and self steering. No holes in the boat's bottom. I have a idea the solid pram dinghy will sit in the cockpit (becoming the cockpit footwell) in these boats, perhaps under a solid flush cover in the larger boats."

Which would sort out the problem finestkind.

Listening to Guy Clark

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the wonderment of ink on paper...

Somewhat dire, when did the "new" American spirit include death threats, and is this nuts or what...

I just replaced my copy of Parker's "The New Cold-Molded Boatbuilding" (When will I ever learn not to loan books I don't want to lose?) and my bookshelf is now complete again.

I like reading books on boat building... For one, they make me a better craftsman but, more importantly, they make me think and grow. Way back when I was building Loose Moose 2 Parker's book seriously rocked my world but all these years later I still find that just about every time I pick it up I still take away something new.

How great is that?

Listening to Tropical Popsicle

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a new fridge...

Troubling, some needful reading, and in the "we're all really screwed" department...

We recently replaced our our old fridge for a slightly larger one. Partly because a little more volume would be no bad thing and partly because the one we had started to behave a bit oddly performing somewhat less than optimum.

The initial idea was to sort out whatever was causing the old fridge to misbehave and then use it as a dedicated freezer. You can file that into the seemed-like-a-good-idea-at-the-time drawer as we simply do not have the room for a dedicated freezer and, as we've somehow managed to survive/thrive for thirty years without such a beast, why bother since a trip to the local marine consignment shop is a lot less work than major surgery to the boat to make space... Kind of a no-brainer decision.

The new fridge is performing way above expectations and the lemonade aboard "So It Goes" is almost painfully cold. The little bit of extra volume makes for a a simpler life and when something perishable is on sale (like $1.99 a pound pork chops) I can double up which alone will probably pay for the cost of the new fridge within a couple of years...

Doing the happy dance!

Listening to Lucius

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How to get that great boat for less...

A rough beast slouching toward cataclysm, not exactly paying their fair share, and a bass guitar of note...  

The story about the Danelectro (built of masonite) bass hot-rodded by Dan Armstrong fits in very well with my thoughts that the easiest way to get a really great boat on a budget is to start with a good boat that's cheap and just make it that needful bit better.

Nuff said... 

Listening to Ray Wylie Hubbard

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close, but not that close...

Badtux on "Peak Stupid", in the "nobody's stupid enough to let things get out-of-hand" department, and not really stupid at all...

So, I can cross Bertha off the list.

Today I can relax and pick up the extra couple of anchors and tackle I put down. Fun stuff.

Next comes Cristobal...

Listening to Renaud

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