Back when I was a kid, cruising was not about buying stuff, keeping up with the Joneses, or being cool. It was mostly about being there and doing it. Most everyone out cruising was on a budget, no one had fan clubs or followers, and companies were not handing out gear to Influencers. To tell …
While I have zero desire to ever return to the sunshine state (with the exception of reading Carl Hiaasen and James W. Hall books) I have kept a weather eye on its continued anti-cruiser policies. Yeah, I know, upscale beachfront property owners don’t want their view sullied by someone hanging underwear on their lifelines and …
Every once in a while I’m confronted with what can only be insanity when dealing with various marine vendors. For instance, while looking for a couple of Imray charts one particular chart caught my eye because it was priced at $199.99 which is just batshit crazy. I expect that it’s a case of a chart …
I’m not a big fan of bureaucracy but living or cruising on a sailboat it’s just part of the same old same. The best way, in my personal opinion, of dealing with the beast is to simply know what is required and follow the rules. Sure, I know many of those rules are dumb or …
As someone who spent several years being an on and off resident of Camp 4 in Yosemite, I have a very different view of what the word “Dirtbag” actually means… dirtbag /dûrt′băg″/ noun Which has a lot to do with my approach to the whole VolksCruiser thing and why I admire folks cruising with less, …
Practical Boat Owner has an article on the recent ARC rally that I found both interesting as well as depressing. Mostly it’s about what stuff you need to have to cross the Atlantic. Lots of stuff. Expensive stuff. Of course, the ARC has always been a favorite thing to do if one is big on …
As they’re already forecasting a nasty “H” season, it’s way past time for me to be considering the various options that make sense. Trust me, it’s a whole lot better sitting in a French sidewalk cafe than it is being in the mangroves waiting for all hell to break loose. Since we’re speaking of hurricanes, …
OK, I’ll start with a phrase I really hate… “It costs what it costs” Sure, this inane assembly of words is correct but it implies that you have near zero control of what you have to shell out money for and that really pisses me off. The reality is that we all have a great …
This whole get an inexpensive boat and sailing off into the sunset gig generally gets a bad rap. A rap that’s mostly generated by folks who seem somewhat lacking in logic and critical thinking. Possibly it’s just me, but from where I sit, most of the bad rap is conditional on the fact that most …
