Not unlike Germany in the 1930s, a voyage of note, and in the “some interesting desalination science” department… I’m mainly just waiting for parts these days. A condition most boat folk find themselves in from time to time. Of course, if I had a simpler boat there would be less parts I’d need… Just something …
A needful read, regarding AI/audio books, and the stupid, it burns… I’ve never been a fan of the Hydrovane self-steering gear as I feel they are overly expensive and prefer trim tab auxiliary rudder systems. That said, this guy seems to have built a hydrovane type gear for somewhere around $50. Which, judging from the …
A letter of note, just another maga guy, and in the “not dead yet” department… I keep waffling on how I’m going to do our dodger on the Islander. No matter what I come up with, nothing seems to make me happy. On the other hand, I’m in no hurry to build a new dodger …
Some needful reading, enabling billionaire sewage, and in the “Wouldn’t surprise me at all‘ department… Eric Henseval has a pretty neat scow you might want to take a look at… It’s the DIVINITÉ 7m expé and well worth a bit of study. At just under 24 feet, this scow really packs in a huge amount …
A sea story of note, something about “common sense” and Fran making a really good point… Josh has a simple solution that makes sense you might want to check out.
I recently had a conversation with someone wanting to get into cruising and it seemed that his main goal had a lot to do with achieving a certain level of independence. Sound familiar? For me, the best way to achieve a reasonable amount of independence is to simplify and live within one’s means. Which, I’ll …
You might want to check out. Sensible, simple, and cheap. Better yet, it should cost you less than $60 or so in materials and a couple of days of work. Considering that the cost of used vane gears (Aries, Navik, Windpilot, Atoms, Hasler, etc) are getting more expensive and hard to find, this gear makes …
Minimal boat, minimal systems. Just about as seaworthy as you can get.
The funny thing about most boat projects is that the initial plan seldom resembles the final outcome. This can be good if your plan evolves in a positive way or all kinds of bad if you lose control of your plan and find yourself with an out of control budget. For me, the central concept …
A really good article on why a small and simple Catalina makes a lot of sense. You’re still here?
