Something worth watching...

Some needful reading, a sad story involving a man with penis/manhood issues, and in the "I didn't really need anything else to worry about department"...

A video a reader turned me on to he thought other Boat Bits readers would like...


Gyrecraft from Studio Swine on Vimeo.

Listening to The Lone Bellow

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about that fear factor...

Some more folks on sailboats who happen to be Firefly fans, the Rude Pundit making some sense, and something about two 14-year olds lost at sea...

Chuck Wendig (an author well worth reading) has a very good take on fear that you really should read and, while not so much about boats, cruising, and suchlike, it really does have everything to do with boats, cruising, and suchlike.

Go read it.

Listening to Tracy Bonham

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OK, I admit I'm at a loss...

An island of interest, a question of justice, and in the "outrageous" department...

Has anyone seen a really clever (dare I say cunning?) method of stowing a pair of bikes on a sub forty-foot sailboat?

If so, care to share?

Listening to a bunch of Rolling Stones covers

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Some Saturday surf...

A most excellent reply to a guy with some serious issues, just another unhinged lunatic, and a fact you might want to consider...


"LEMONYIP LIVIN" Official Film 2014 from Owen Milne Media on Vimeo.

Listening to Have Gun, Will Travel

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a shift away from solitude...

The rewards of being a drug dealer, what the clothes you wear actually cost, and if this does not set off your Spidey sense to 11 you might want to go see a doctor...

Things keep changing.

I suppose that's just a fact of life and at a certain age one does tend to view change in a negative light but still... I'm just not seeing this as a positive trend in cruising.

Listening to Fishbone

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Note to self: need to get some popcorn...

Orlov's on a roll, something very interesting, and the same old same yacht racing stupidity from a race that I expect better of...

A film you might want to keep an eye out for.



Listening to Ben Bullington

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On the subject of expansion in a contracting world...

A question, apparently, that needed asking, real numbers seldom lie, and something you may need to think about...

Listening to the Governor of the USVI on the radio this morning talking about local economics and turning St Thomas into a big shopping mall was quite interesting and got me thinking long and hard about how a lot of what some people think is just seriously batshit crazy.

And we're not talking the good kind of batshit crazy.

On the other hand, maybe it's me who's a few sanwiches short of a picnic and  the best way to get out of crippling debt is to borrow more rather than live within one's means.

Listening to PK Dwyer

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TFH

This may make you sick to your stomach, a question of note, and it's hard being a clown these days...

Some time ago (20-30 years or so I suspect) I saw a clever idea in Practical Boat Owner for a boarding step that hooked over your toerail that you could make with some scrap plywood. It was a good idea, easy/quick to build, and wouldn't set you back much more than $10 in today's world.

So, it was with some interest I saw that in the new Cruising World they had a blurb about a "new" product that was a simple boarding step that hooked over your toerail and looked not a whole lot different than the PBO DIY sort...

Of course, the difference is that the one Cruising World is pimping costs $299. Think about that for a moment or two.

OK, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and admit that aluminum costs more than some plywood scrap you have laying around but looking at my favorite purveyor of metal for boat projects, Online Metal Supply, I find that the needful square tube, channel, and plate would cost me around $20... Throw in another $10 for fastenings, a couple of hours with a hacksaw/drill, and hey presto you have yourself a reasonable facsimile of a "$299 boarding step".

That said, I'd go with the cheaper plywood version... Wouldn't you?

I don't really need a boarding step but I mention this because it's just another example of people making products and pricing them, apparently, using the "People who buy stuff for their boats are stupid and we can jack the price sky high" equation. So, today's mantra is...



"Too Fucking High"

Listening to Gene Jr and the Family

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a quick thought on tools and toys...

A cost of bad policing, something you need to read, and NASA doing it right...

The other day I was looking at the interior of a nice yacht with a lot of beautiful interior wood, lush fabrics, and a lust inspiring media center focused around a 66" ultra-HD 4K video screen and it inspired two cascading thoughts...

"Boy, I'd love to hang out in this boat"

and...

"What a horridly unseamanlike interior for a cruising boat"

Sadly, I find this is pretty much my reactions to most newer designs I look at these days which all seem great on comfort to the Nth degree but are sadly lacking in the practical needs of someone cruising in the real world.

Maybe it's the fact that today cruising boats are thought of as toys rather than tools while a generation ago it was all about being a tool and not a toy...

Listening to Lydia Loveless

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Some seriously good news...

There be bigots assholes in Dent County Missouri, just some welfare for rich folks, and I'm not quite sure the military and I share the same definition of the word humane...

I've never been a big fan of carrying around a lot of pyrotechnics as things designed to explode/burn on a boat just make me nervous. A feeling underlined over the years by a too large number of incidents where flares became part of the problem rather than the solution.

Truth be told, flares scare me.

Then there's the ongoing need to replace your flares every couple of years... Yeah, I know flares have a three year lifespan but, try as I may, whenever I find myself needing to buy flares I only seem to be able to find flares with eighteen months or so validity.

Have I mentioned that flares are silly expensive?

So, in the "it's about frelling time" department...

... Finally an electric flare that is USCG approved (and yes I know it looks like a man-overboard light).

The good news is from here on this is the only night signal you need to carry and combined with a distress flag as your day signal (which comes with the Sirius flare) it's all you need to be 100% street legal with the USCG and other powers that be.

But wait... It gets better!

The Sirius electric flare is not "dated" with an expiry date which means the only thing you need to replace is the c-cell batteries when needful. That said, if you lose or screw it up you can order a replacement and get it shipped to you by the US Mail or something similar.

Of course I saved the best for last... It only costs $99!

Doing the happy dance...

Listening to Chuck Johnson

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A surfboard for Saturday...

Henry Rollins making a whole lot of sense, something of a needful read, and just in case you were wondering why Wall Street crooks don't go to jail...




Listening to Whitey Morgan & the 78's

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A significant accomplishment...

Nice truck/nice neighborhood but not so much the neighbors, a little bit of good news, and, just maybe, a serious contender for the worst person in the US of A...

The Eco Sailing project with, I believe, the first electric propulsion sailboat through the Panama canal.



Listening to JJ Grey & Mofro

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This would make sense in your pocket...

Dick Dorworth talking about a book of interest, in the "white and wealthy" department, and someone making a lot of sense...

This...



 ...is just very smart

Listening to Jerry Jeff Walker

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A quick look at some numbers...

Krugman asks a question, news that will make you want to repeatedly bash your head against a bulkhead, and in the "things that glow in the dark department"...

The other day I was looking at the changes of population in the Caribbean and it was/is depressing reading.

For instance, here's the population stats for the USVI but if you bother to look into the rest of the Caribbean you're going to see the same story played out...

Year	Pop.	�%
1901	30,527	�
1911	27,086	-11.3%
1917	26,051	-3.8%
1930	22,012	-15.5%
1940	24,889	+13.1%
1950	26,665	+7.1%
1960	32,099	+20.4%
1970	62,468	+94.6%
1980	96,569	+54.6%
1990	101,809	+5.4%
2000	108,612	+6.7%
2010	106,405	-2.0%

Scary numbers when you think about it. An even scarier number is that in 2008 the population density was measured at 162 people per square kilometer.

The increased population combined with a unsustainable economy, an infrastructure way past its sell-by date, and a total lack of anyone in power actually doing anything remotely constructive to fix things does not a pretty picture make.

Or, to put it in common parlance, it's all going to hell in a turbo charged wicker basket. So, if you plan to visit and cruise down here I'd do it sooner rather than later...

Listening to Greg Trooper

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Dumb and dangerous...

This sort of leaves a nasty aftertaste, about those boat people, and just how do you lampoon this sort of shit...

It's the D&D day again... So, try not to blow up, burn down, or otherwise let things get out of hand while listening to our founding fathers spin like tops in their graves.

Listening to Caleb Caudle

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Why you might want to dust off your sextant...

A piece of the puzzle, an interesting discussion, and in the "not spontaneous combustion" department...

Over at Just an Earth Bound Misfit ( a blog you should really be reading) there's an interesting bit about the return of LightSquared to the playing field that you need to read and check out the provided links.

Since soulless greed has an annoying habit of trumping common sense these days you might want to work on your celestial navigation skills... Just in case.



Listening to Your Heart Breaks

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