I suppose it was just a matter of time...

Just plain barbaric, how clean air is not as important as profits, and, if you happen to need some wedding photography, you might want to check out these folks...

Till someone came up with a nautical version of Jam in the Van...


Boating with Clyde Episode #1: Peanut Buzzers and Jammin' with Angelo Spencer et Les Hauts Sommets from Do it for the girls on Vimeo.

Listening to the guy in the boat

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Because we need more people asking why/how...

Why you might want to avoid having a stroke in Virginia, some interesting thoughts regarding Fox news, a man making a whole lot of sense, and an important message to businesses running Memorial Day sales...

One blog with an inquisitive nature I follow regularly had a very interesting post today and you really should read it. While you're over there you might want to pour yourself a cup of coffee and check out some of the other posts as there is a lot of good stuff to read.

You're still here?

Listening to Adrian Duff & the Mayo Brothers

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Some cheapseats goodness...

A reflection of sorts on Liberty ships, in the "Oh Jesus" department, and a very short essay...

So, Sailing Anarchy got a letter and they printed it on the blog. Might not hurt to go over and read it.

That said, Boat Bits has been saying that the cheapseats are where it's at for going on for ten-years...

Listening to Paolo Nutini

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A new blog on the block...

How survival of the fittest might not be what you think it means, a good cause, and this is interesting...

Dmitri Orlov has a new blog with the moniker of Quidnon and he's getting into VolksCruiser territory. I expect some good things...

Definitely something you might want to bookmark.

Listening to the Turtles

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A pretty good idea...

You might need a strong drink after reading this, now this, on the other hand, should scare some politicians shitless, and over here, some sense being made...

Here's a good idea and Kickstarter campaign that you might want to support...



Nuff said.

Listening to the Texas Tornados

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OK, it's a given I'm not big on change...

A little needful historical perspective, some depressing reading, and something you may want to keep in mind...

On a food blog I read on a regular basis they were pimping some products in the guise of a contest and, being both cheap and enamoured of good food, I thought I'd enter. Of course, there was a hitch (isn't there always?) in that you had to have a Facebook account and you had to "Like" the company to enter.

I don't do Facebook...

But, I'm sure that the company in question will get a lot of "Likes" for their products from people who have never ever actually used or tasted them and down the line folks will buy the products on the basis of how many people "like" the products even though those "likes" are not really based on any sort of merit.

Kind of depressing really when you think about it...

I'm actually mentioning this because one reader regularly writes in complaining that I don't use twitter and how it would be in my best interest to morph Boat Bits into a Facebook page because blogging is no longer hip and all the cool kids are on Facebook.

Let me just check and see how I feel about that...

What can I say... I've just never been "cool kids" material.

Listening to Joe Jackson

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an office with a view...

Looking for John Coltrane and finding Kenny G, heartbreaking on so many levels, and some seriously ass-backwards shit...

Webb Chiles and his Moore 24 safe and sound in New Zealand with maybe the best quote ever to use when comparing tiller pilots and windvane self-steering...

"I was hand steering because all four of my tiller pilots had died.  One had been repaired and died twice, so that really makes five."

I'm pretty sure I can see a trend...

Listening to Joe Bonamassa

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Some blogs worth reading...

C&L makes a very valid reference to scripture, can't point this out enough, and some very needful reading...

The other day someone asked me what blogs I follow...

Well, I really like Graduating to a Smaller Boat because it just nails the minimalist vibe so perfectly and always puts things into perspective.

Small Boat Projects is another site I keep an eye on because it republishes great posts from some blog I'd never find on my own... For instance, the current article about "Dock Box Carpentry" is truly excellent and one anyone who works on their boat should devour.

I'm not really big on cruising blogs as a rule but a few I keep my eye on are Yacht Mollymawk, Cruising with the Zartman Family, and Sailing Totem because they're excellent and not the same old same...

Jeff Master's weather blog is always the first feed I check and the last one I look at before I turn off my computer...

Listening to St Paul & the Broken Bones

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Some needful reading...

Some good advice, not the deal of the century, and Webb Chiles keeping us up to date...

I'm really not a big fan of electronics for boats.

Not that I'm a Luddite or anything but I do feel marine electronics took something of a wrong turn somewhere along the line (I suspect about the same time most catamarans quit being boats and morphed into something else entirely) and, in most cases, have become something less than seaworthy.

I mention this because it might surprise many that a couple of my favorite blogs are devoted to marine electronics. What can I say, not liking the current state of affairs in marine electronics does not mean I don't keep abreast of what's going on with them.

Anyway... The Marine Installer's Rant has a really awesome post which has pretty much zero to do with marine electronics which everyone should read...

You still here?

Listening to Billy Bragg

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Someone you should be reading...

This is entertaining/important, something that should be of interest, and a good cause worth supporting...

It seems every time I do a project on the boat, sooner or later I'll pick up "Boat Joinery & Cabinetmaking Simplified" because it always focuses the mind, suggests an alternative way of doing something that will strike a chord, and is always a great catalyst in helping me sort out what I actually want to do. On the other hand, I never go to the internet (especially forums) because instead of enlightenment I just find a vortex of half-assed ideas and confusion or worse.

Which brings me to a blog I read on a pretty regular basis because it is neither half-assed or confusing and tends to clarify rather than confuse. Their most recent post is one everyone should read as a matter of fact...

Listening to Dr John

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a sure cure for boredom...

Another wake-up call no one is going to take notice of, all in the name of profit, and "rudderless bunch of idiots" pretty much says it all...

I've been putting together a bunch of questions for another series of interviews with designers of boats I admire which, hopefully, means that we'll have some more interviews in Boat Bits some time soonish. In the process, I've been giving a lot of thought to the future of Boat Bits and, as I've been churning these posts out for almost nine years, it's more than time to turn the knobs up to eleven, shake things up, and really piss some people off make some radical changes.

Change is a goodly thing...

Listening to Baby Huey

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on simpilfying my reading list...

Maybe a ray of hope, a guitar builder to keep an eye on, and aren't you glad you don't have to live in North Dakota...

So, my computer kicked the bucket and I now have a brand spanking new replacement without a zillion bookmarks to various sail and cruising oriented blogs. In one way it is kind of frustrating but on the other hand I'm happy to cull a lot of dead wood that wasn't bringing anything to the party.

The ones I'm happiest not to replace are those that paint a picture of cruising as an endless adventure of repairing, replacing, and spending lots of money on overly complicated systems.

Which does not mean I don't enjoy working on boats or reading about working on boats and their systems but that I've simply reached a point where I'm not really interested unless someone can tell me how to do more with less rather than the accepted standard of how to do less with more.

In other words, simplicity.

Speaking of which, you might want to check out this article on the whole bringing all your lines back to the cockpit thang... It makes a lot of sense.  

Listening to Dan Bern

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a quick thought...

Orlov sniffing witches, Ian Welsh talking about Mongol hordes, and something from back before the security theater...

I read Kurt (ace multihull designer) Hughes blog from time to time and, from time to time, he is well worth reading. Like this post the other day where he makes a couple very good points about design.

Don't worry, I'll wait while you check it out...

Having spoken to far too many marketing types in my life, I'm still surprised how 99% of them always seem to have no real understanding of the products they pimp. The fact that they are often listened to more than actual designers who do is still an inscrutable mystery to me.

Listening to the Watson Twins

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looking for empathy in all the wrong places...

Orange jumpsuits might be just the thing, tricky bastards, and a passing of note...

I was reading an old post yesterday by Antonio Dias that made a lot of sense. Dias happens to be a boat designer I admire and author of "Designer & Client: Eight Boat Design Commissions, from Kayak to Cruiser".

It was a great post...

The last couple of weeks I've suffered from a certain malaise of spirit regarding the whole living on a boat and cruising gig brought on by an overabundance of input from the Rebel Heart brouhaha which underlined the fact that there are a lot of people flying the sailor/cruiser flag that are, for want of a better description, just not very nice people.

I'm not a stupid man and, as a firm believer in Sturgeons Law, it's not like I have any great faith that folks are inherently good but, like a lot of people, I do willfully ignore the facts and tend to give folks the benefit of the doubt more often than not.

The result is I get depressed when, yet again, folks prove to me that human nature is not warm and fuzzy in the least...

Which brings me to another post by Antonio Dias that made me vibrate like a tuning fork the first time I read it because it spoke to my dreams, doubts, and reservations while addressing the love/hate battle going on in my head where sailing/cruising was concerned.

Maybe you should read it as well...

Listening to Quicksilver Messenger Service

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