I’ve been reading “Building the Uqbar Dinghy” and it really is a great book for those who want to build a good dinghy in a weekend… Yes, really, a weekend. Fact is, I like the dinghies so much I’m pretty sure I’m going to build one in the very near future. The only problem being …
Jay Fitzgerald (whose book should be on every VolksCruisers bookshelf) has mentioned that boat size should reflect muscle power and as far he could figure that 1 to 50 was the ratio that made sense. Offhand, I expect he’s pretty close to being right on the money… So, what does that work out to in …
I recently was looking at dinghy designs and this designers blurb caught my eye because he called his boat the anti-RIB. I like this guy! The boat in question is called “OONAGH” and here’s something from the study plans… “In traditional boating circles, it is a long cherished tradition to rail against inflatables, and there …
How, apparently, I’m not alone in my feeling towards RIBs… Read More »
Obviously little boats are something of a mainstay in the VolksCruiser sailing away on a small budget world. “Little boats have little problems” and all that… The truth is a single person or a couple can live quite comfortably and voyage successfully in an incredibly small boat… But, what about a family? All of a …
TransPac CAL 20 Black Feathers I’ve always been a big fan of the Bill Lapworth CAL 20 design and since I linked to another of my favorite designs, the Muscadet, the other day it occurred to me how similar the two boats were… Muscadet LOA: 21.26′ / 6.48mLWL: 18.37′ / 5.60mBEAM: 7.41′ / 2.26mDRAFT: 2.46′ …
The carnage of the current Salty Dawg rally has given me a lot to think about the last couple of days… For instance, the various boating media coverage seems to think it is sorta/kinda normal for masts to fall down, rudders to fall off or break, and the fact that there are heroic Coast Guard …
What do you actually need from a cruising boat? It’s a hard question. Mostly because it varies greatly from person to person and further complicated by the fact that most folks these days never really learned the difference between need and want… Personally, where I’m concerned, comfort is a big part of the equation and …
I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for the Westerly Centaur… For one, it has that sort of clunky everyman thing going for it which is kind of refreshing. It’s not sleek, has zero pretensions, and looks just like you’d expect a budget sailboat for the masses to look. Which is some kind …
Over at Estrellita 5.10B (always a good read) they have a great post concerning fear and it got me thinking… As it happens, I was also trying to digest just why a thread about the possibility of a $15,000 bluewater cruiser over at Cruisers Forum irritated me so much. I’ve gone on record that I …
On money keeping you safe or keeping the riff raff out… Read More »
Here’s a simple boat. It’s a scow and it makes quite a bit of sense… Designed by Reuel Parker it’s a lot of bang for the buck and a very comfortable floating home… What’s not to like? Everything is simple, it’s easily put together, and as boats go, is not going to break the bank …
