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

So it goes...

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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

So it goes...

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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

So it goes...

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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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