Way back when I was living on a peniche just outside of Paris, I seriously considered building George Buehler’s Hager design. I still think it would have been a great boat to cruise with. With a 28-foot LOD it’s a small boat of the Pardey mindset but shippy as all hell and more than able …
I know everyone says that when using plywood aboard a boat that one should always use the best marine plywood you can get. So here’s where that advice does not quite add up. Some time back I built a hard dodger with marine ply, saturated it with epoxy and glassed then painted it. I was …
On, “So It Goes” we have a 400-amp hour battery bank made up of lead acid golf cart batteries with 350-watts of solar panels being the prime charging input. I should also note that I have two 50-watt panels that I have not included as they currently need repair (so much for lifetime warranties) that …
Avoiding the bigger/more expensive death spiral… Read More »
Way back when, Jimmy Carter pointed out that it might make sense to turn your thermostat down a few degrees and wear a sweater as a means to save on fossil fuels. Which, as it happens, was a very simple and elegant answer to a difficult problem of the then current oil shortage. Just use …
Over the last five years or so I’ve regularly watched a YouTube channel of a guy who’s bought a boat and embarked in a restoration. On one hand it’s been very entertaining as the guy in question makes good shows and does a better than most exposition of how to do stuff. While on the …
The idea of self-steering is, for all practical purposes, a pretty simple concept and most all self-steering systems reflect that. Or at least the good ones do. The problem with the idea of home building a self-steering gear, for most people at least, is that they tend to have a certain amount of mechanical parts …
A quick update on the self-steering project. I now have all the various bits on island with the excepting of the needful wood which is just a dinghy row away. So, hopefully, in the next few days I’ll be getting the wood for the project along with a few sheets of plywood for a new …
So, yeah, about that new self-steering gear… Right now I’m in the process of getting all the bits together to assemble a kit to build the it and the various pieces not readily available on a tropical island paradise are, mostly, currently winging their way to my PO box. Putting together a “kit” before starting …
Getting ready to build a new self-steering gear… Read More »
OK, I get it. “Everyone” says that if you buy a fixer-upper sailboat with the goal of turning it into a cruising boat it will all end in tears. Some will tell you that you’ll wind up with nothing but an expensive disaster that you’ll have to pay someone to dispose of it in some …
On that big hole in the water you throw money into… Read More »
So here’s a sketch from Michael (you know the Proa guy) to give you an idea what the first few projects entail… The first order of business is to downsize the companion way and reduce some of the cockpit’s floodable volume. As you can see, we’re talking super simple as it’s just filling up a …
