Heinous to the max, the state of empathy in 2025, and in the “works for me” department… The last few days I’ve been noodling with the conundrum of going EV with the Islander, switching to a small (6 or 8HP) outboard, or keeping the Yanmar 3HM raw water cooled diesel. It sorta/kinda makes my brain …
A very good point, EBM says the needful, and in the “interesting breakdowns” department… I’m just about to put together a project kit to build a Jean-du-Sud style, side-mounted outboard bracket for the Islander. Which will be an interim solution for the morphing diesel to electric propulsion process. You know, something like this… Far Reach …
A film I want to see, an important point you can take to the bank, and in the “Holy fuck how stupid can you get” department… I had planned to post something about the charter business today but that will have to wait for the weekend and, hopefully, it will be worth the wait. In …
Something I did not know about landfills, an interesting read, and some Cosplay Barbie news… The June issue of Caribbean Compass has an interesting article about crossing the Atlantic west to east entitled Crossing the Atlantic, an Electric-Powered Passage: Part II. It’s worth the read. However, I have a few quibbles with the methodology and …
An interesting article on navigation, a book I think I need to read, and in the “STUPID STUPID STUPID” department… Yachting Monthly has a most excellent article on the reality of electric propulsion. Really, you should read it. Having had three different electric propulsion systems on “So It Goes”, I’m well acquainted with both the …
Stuff you might want to know, some weekend reading, and in the “Is Mr Zip out of a job?” department… I’ll be honest and point out that I really hate electric bicycles. I love riding bikes. The efficient transmission of human power brings me something akin to joy. The fact that a lot of cruising …
I really should quit reading the news in the morning. Now, what I really want to do this morning is to build some trolling lures. I could sit in the cockpit and cobble fish seducing works of art while listening to some great music. That would be right in the middle of one of my …
I have to admit I really don’t like internal combustion engines when they are part of a sailboat. Partly because they’re dirty foul things that take a disproportionate chunk of the cost of owning a boat. I mention this because I recently caught a review of a Sigmadrive unit that made a strong case for …
The late, great Thomas Colvin advised that one needed about 1HP per ton of displacement for one’s auxiliary engine. Note the emphasis on the word auxiliary. Using Colvin’s formula, that works out to an 8HP engine for the Islander 36. Our current raw water cooled Yanmar 3HM is a 27HP. Of course, Tom Colvin was …
Ian asked what affordable means and I realized I was less than clear about my wants where propulsion is concerned. So, let’s dig in… Affordable is a scary word these days and pretty much useless without context. In my case, back when I first put together an electric drive for “So It Goes” I spent …
