I’ll be honest and get out front and tell you that I really hate shopping. Which, according to the marine press, is something of a rarity as it appears in reading them that the main point of sailing or cruising is buying stuff and spending money. That said, having bought an elderly but new-to-me boat …
So, I’ve had a lot of time the last couple of weeks to think about how electronics are at best somewhat problematic these days… My issues with computers recently have not been a “It’s on a boat” problem but simply that electronics of any sort can be a real pain in the ass. Especially when …
I’m not a big fan of electronics in the cockpit as a wet and UV-rich environment is really not a great place to mount them. Sure they all say they’re designed for the wet and have covers to deal with the UV issue but, at least in my personal experience, the instruments start showing their …
It’s been pointed out to me on many occasions that the whole concept of VolksCruisers puts some folks at a real disadvantage in the social context of cruising. Many have even suggested/demanded that I should come up with some, shall we say “cunning”, ways to make a VolksCruiser more socially acceptable. Seriously? I can only …
This is just neat… A Garmin GPS chartplotter and fishfinder for $299. While being told I’m a Luddite all the time I can still see the value of good quality cheap electronic aids to navigation because they make the whole VoksCruising gig easier, safer, and more affordable. Sure you can pay a lot more for …
and in “the best of times the worst of times” department… Read More »
Yesterday, over at Boat Bits, I mentioned a pretty cool new bit of electronics from Velocitek which has me drooling… Hey, I may be Mr Cheapseats but I still like really cool stuff! So, I did some need/want addition and, sadly, it’s not really something I need. Even more interesting after doing the need/want calculations …
Did you know that Dung beetles can navigate using the stars? You might want to remember that when someone tells you celestial navigation is an esoteric art too difficult to learn. So, with that little factoid bouncing around your brain pan, maybe we should look at needful navigation stuff for the VolksCruising set… Obviously, being …
Not all that long ago, having a VHF radio aboard was considered something of unneeded luxury. Fact of the matter is, I recall quite vividly a certain British yachting magazine doing a frothing-at-the-mouth editorial about how the introduction of affordable VHF would rot the sinews of seamanship… How times do change. Today I can still …
