So, my two-month refit of our Islander 36 appears to be stretching to four months. Which, when you consider that most of the reasons is simply we’ve been sitting around doing nothing waiting for parts is not all that bad. I’d be surprised if I’ve actually done a month’s labor when all is said and …
Being that I keep a weather eye out for used self-steering gear it’s hard to ignore that the current pricing for thirty year old wind vanes are just nuts. The other day I was quoted $2,200. for a 45-year old Aries which appeared to be in horrible shape. But, what the hell, boat folks are …
We caught the lower edge of Tropical Storm Phillipe which was mostly just rain. The good news was that down here we’ve been in a drought situation so rain is no bad thing in general. That said, for a lot of folks being flooded they might decide to differ. We’d actually been hoping for a …
I’ve got fifteen days left to get the Islander sorted out so I can leave this marina and get back to being at anchor where I belong. Which leaves some rigging, replacing the tricolor, checking the sails and organizing the running rigging. Of course, there’s still a lot of playing “Where does this wire go …
I’m at the point with the Islander that I’m overly aware of the current outgoing expenses and, while they’re minor compared to most boat projects, I’m rather miffed that the numbers are what they are. For instance, my better half today is on an expedition to go and buy some 2AWG 3/8″ cable lugs which …
A quote every yacht designer and student of yacht design should pay attention to… “A designer knows, he has achieved, perfection not when, not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away”― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry …and all that ever needs to be said about cruising. “He who …
The nice thing about most classic plastic boats is the fact that they were mostly built like tanks. Fiberglass and polyester resin were cheap and did not require much in the way of expensive labor to slap together so, for the most part, a lot of very strong boats got made in the late 60s …
For starters here’s a must read article on marine fuel that both scares me shitless as well as pisses me off… I’m not a huge fan of internal combustion engines and, given a choice, I’d much rather be engine-less or use just a small outboard as we did with So It Goes. The fact that …
While it would seem that a lot of folks no longer read and prefer their boat building education to be administered via YouTube, I’ll point out a few books that cover just about everything you need when taking on a VolksCruiserish project. Dan Spurr’s Boatbook is the first book I brought on to the Islander …
We got the bulk of the no longer needed/wanted stuff off the boat and we are mostly pleased with the condition of things in general. No signs of buyers remorse at all. For those with a need to know or keep track, our first purchase for the boat was four golf cart batteries which cost …
