A quick update on the self-steering project. I now have all the various bits on island with the excepting of the needful wood which is just a dinghy row away. So, hopefully, in the next few days I’ll be getting the wood for the project along with a few sheets of plywood for a new …
The other day a reader dropped me a line where the subject of DIY came up and he pointed out that, unlike me, he could afford to hire folks to do work for him and if you had to DIY you might want to consider something other than yachting as a lifestyle decision… Not the …
OK, I get it. “Everyone” says that if you buy a fixer-upper sailboat with the goal of turning it into a cruising boat it will all end in tears. Some will tell you that you’ll wind up with nothing but an expensive disaster that you’ll have to pay someone to dispose of it in some …
On that big hole in the water you throw money into… Read More »
The current JRA Newsletter (#85) has a very interesting article on building a junk sail by Paul McKay that has me thinking long and hard in terms of rigs for VolkCruisers. For me, the concept of a VolksCruiser is really all about simplicity in all of its various forms. Lug rigs in general are …
The other day I happened on a conversation between a couple of folks on the subject of dinghies and what they should cost. Which, apparently, was a chunk more than I’d paid for our CAL-34. The number of $7K for a minimum RIB and a means of propelling it is just too rich for my …
A very long time ago PBO had a short article on building a hatch for a sailboat based on the Maurice Griffiths double coaming design. It was good albeit sparse on details but included all of the information one actually needed to build the hatch. I cut this picture out of the magazine and added …
I’m currently in the midst of a variety of projects which, if I were not a cheapseats VolksCruiserish sort of fellow, would cost an arm and a leg to sort out… One project is pretty simple: replacing the hand rails on the coach roof to make space for our new nesting dinghy. The old ones …
Have you noticed how many YouTube channels there are about people downsizing, buying a boat, fixing it up, and sailing off into the paradise of Patreon fueled bliss? If not, you really should check them out because they are very educational for the most part. One of the things you’ll notice is there seem to …
In the last couple of weeks I’ve noticed a lot of hurricane related boats and gear coming on to the market down here and like Rod Stewart reminded us way back when… every picture tells a story. In the case of the Westsail pictured it’s beat up, forlorn, and a whole lot of work to …
Here’s a simple cheapseats AIS receiver over at Hisse et Oh you may want to check out. Now, don’t you wish you’d paid more attention in French class during high school? Not to worry, Google translate is there for you if you need help…
