Some good reading…
There’s an excellent article in the new Latitude 38 (the best free sailing magazine around) about emergency rudders on the cheap. You should really give it a read… Really.
and in “the best of times the worst of times” department…
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 »
A favorite boat…
Just what do you actually need? From where I sit, the Jeanneau Tonic pretty much has all of the bases covered… Admittedly the forward berth pictured doesn’t really exist and, I’m sure, that it’s only in the drawings because some clueless guy in a suit decided they couldn’t sell a boat with just one dedicated …
a tale of two anchors and a bit of critical thinking…
One problem with buying into the out-of-control-consumerism gig is that the first thing to go is anything that passes for critical thinking. Or, in other words, you quit thinking… For instance, here are two anchors… The Bruce (or clone thereof) And what seems to be the current nextgen flavor of the month… They’re actually both …
a tale of two anchors and a bit of critical thinking… Read More »
Tomorrow is not nearly as good as today…
Two things came across my desk today and they both had an unusual amount of resonance…One was today’s blog post by my favorite Druid on progress and, the other, was an email from Mariah of Comet Camper fame on why a 5/10/15 year plan may not be the smart way to go. This morning,s input …
on VolksCruiserish budgets…..
Since I began writing Boat Bits and VolksCruiser I’ve gotten a lot of mail on the question of whether it’s possible to build or buy a boat and cruise cheaply… The problem is the answer is complicated and has a lot more to do with the person asking the question than it actually does about …
a quick thought about a not-so-good-cat…
The first thing that came across my desk, so to speak, today was someone selling an elderly Oceanic 30 cat for $45K. It got me thinking… The fact is the Oceanic was never much of a boat and thirty years ago you could pick one up for pennies on the dollar say $10-15K because no …
Relentless…
If you stop and think about it, people have been sailing and cruising for a very long time and, as a result, have pretty much sorted out all of the problems you may run into. Better yet, a lot of folks who have successfully done the cruising gig have written some pretty good books about …
about self-steering and how to save $4000 or more in one fell swoop…
The important/funny thing about windvane self-steering gears is folks either get it or they don’t… Sort of a love/hate thing. Which, as things go, happens to be a good thing where outfitting a cruising boat on a frugal budget is concerned. First off, the cost of most manufactured self-steering gears are silly expensive with a …
about self-steering and how to save $4000 or more in one fell swoop… Read More »
Nomadics 101…
Lately, researching nomadic cultures, I’ve discovered that most of the material available on the web regarding subjects of a nomadic nature are all about travel. While travels or movement is certainly a part of the nomadic experience, travel for the sake of travel is not really what it’s all about… that’s called being a tourist. …