Hugh Howey making sense, some scary space mirrors, and today in the “never truer words” department… I’ve always been enamored of the sheer simpleness of the Moitessier-style wind vane self-steering gear. Especially as exhibited at its evolutionary peak on the Trismus design. A simple vane can be seen here. That said, it’s a little less …
Some mad science stuff, a great cover, and over in the “hot enough for you?” department… I recently saw a used Sea Swing stove selling for $295. Seems high as it didn’t even have a stove as part of the deal. $295 is a lot for the gimbal only. Sure you could make your own …
Some first contact musings, a boat book you need to read, and today in the “more reasons not to do a cruise ship” department… Yesterday, I saw a very cool bit of gear for my cinema camera. What was especially nice was that instead of costing eighty-bucks, it only cost $25. This appeared to be …
Some thoughts to gnaw on, an interesting conversation, and over in the “somewhat disturbing” department… I’ve mentioned that of late, I’ve been reconsidering electric propulsion on a bunch of levels and I recently added doing a cheap seats 12V pressure pump to our AC watermaker to try and get the the Islander into the no …
An interesting sleep regime, some timely history, and in the “well, of course he does” department… I’m a huge fans of friction rings and their multitude of uses aboard a boat. They’re simple, bombproof, and they used to be affordable. Well, sadly, they became popular and before you could say… “We could really gouge with …
A scary milestone, an apt situational rant, and in the “about those numbers” department… The key to saving money outfitting or cruising really devolves to the simple act of asking the right questions, doing the math, and making an informed decision. Dead simple, right? So, as it happens, I want a tablet for navigation use …
A thing I missed, this is very interesting, and in the “drop in a bucket” department… So, apparently, the orange felon has discovered the word affordable. Which one can combine with that other word, groceries, to form the phrase ‘affordable groceries’. Sadly, it’s more than obvious that he’s clueless about what the phrase actually means. …
Some scary musings, zombie viruses, and in the “holy cream cheese WTF!?!?” department… Some days the whole consumerist mindset around sailing and cruising makes my brain hurt. Everything is just silly-expensive, people complain about prices, and yet they refuse to think and do something about it. For instance, that 30-year old Yamaha 3HP I’ve been …
Some situational awareness, a needful read, and in the “well, of course they did” department… The new Yachting Monthly has a review of the Bente 28 which is a very interesting and nice boat… However, at a price of over €132,000 the Bente28 is not going to be on any VolksCruiser’s shopping list for sailing …
About those wind farms, EBM getting it right, and speaking of slow motion train wrecks… I’ve always thought that the most bang for the buck in cruising boats fits into a 27-foot envelope. Smaller is too small for most and bigger starts to expand the budget more than most VolksCruisers want to spend. A 27-foot …
