On keeping up/coexisting with the Joneses...

It's been pointed out to me on many occasions that the whole concept of VolksCruisers puts some folks at a real disadvantage in the social context of cruising. Many have even suggested/demanded that I should come up with some, shall we say "cunning", ways to make a VolksCruiser more socially acceptable.

Seriously?

I can only go by what has been my personal experience but I've never seen any real issues experienced by folks on smaller than average sustainable cruising boats. Sure, within the cruising community, there's no shortage of cliques, posses, and assholes that you might find yourself in an anchorage with but they don't seem to have a thing against folks of the VolksCruiser persuasion.

Some time ago I had a very enlightening dialog with someone who wondered why so many low budget cruisers seemed to shun various social invitations to hang out with them at potlucks and dinners ashore.When I pointed out that the folks she was inviting may not have been on the same sort of budget that they were on she thought about it for a bit and then said...

"I just thought they didn't like us."

Face it, if there is one universal trait that all humans share is that we're, to some extent or another, insecure. Being invited to a group function where you don't know anyone can be stressful and if you throw in the fact that by doing so it might disrupt your budget in a big way the easiest way to deal with it is simply to find an excuse not to go.

Of course, the person giving the invitation may take the decline of the invitation personally which can lead to something akin to friction. Which has zero to do with what sort of boat you might have but it does have a lot to do with general human interaction.

Most people on bigger and more expensive cruising boats tend to be a bit tone-deaf where money is concerned and often assume everyone tends to be on their level. I've often had advice that I should add "inexpensive" gear to my boat which is far from inexpensive. In fact, just a couple of days ago, a reader of Boat Bits wanted my opinion of the Colligo ELHF and was surprised when I pointed out that it looked excellent but was way beyond what I'm willing to pay for but that a less expensive DIY clone is very much on my project list.

Which also might be a good time to point out  that a lot of upscale cruisers are living way beyond their means but hiding the fact because, being a bit insecure like all of us, tend to hide their budget concerns as they're afraid that people will think less of them.

On the subjects of cliques and posses being a problem for VolksCruisers you have to realize that it's not about VolksCruisers, at all and cliques and posses are, by their very nature, unwelcoming to all outsiders.

The bottom line is really that everyone is too worried about what everyone else thinks of them to be anti-VolksCruiser in any kind of systematic way.

On the other hand, where the marine trades are concerned, it is a whole different kettle of rotten fish which we'll talk about later in the week...

DIY AIS receiver...

Here's a simple cheapseats AIS receiver over at Hisse et Oh you may want to check out.

Now, don't you wish you'd paid more attention in French class during high school? Not to worry, Google translate is there for you if you need help...

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 a much bigger/hipper unit but an electronics package like this is pretty much all you really need.

Gone are the days you needed to pay thousands of dollars for basic electronics and that's a goodly thing.

Now, offhand I'm not a huge fan of Garmin chartplotters because Garmin charts tend to be pricier than others and a cheap chartplotter starts getting very expensive when you buy the sort of needful chart library. So, before you go out and jump on a charplotter/fishfiner combo do a little homework on the chart coverage you need and what it costs...

Which is why I tend to prefer this GPS chart plotter/fishfinder because once you factor in the cost of charts it's a lot more economical in the long run.

Either way it's a good time to be fitting out a VolksCruiser...

Doing the need/want two-step...

Yesterday, over at Boat Bits, I mentioned a pretty cool new bit of electronics from Velocitek which has me drooling...

Hey, I may be Mr Cheapseats but I still like really cool stuff!

So, I did some need/want addition and, sadly, it's not really something I need. Even more interesting after doing the need/want calculations I realized that I don't even want it as it's just a machine telling me what my brain already knows.

That said, it would actually be a great learning tool for newbie sailors of the cruising sort to learn how to tack and sail to windward better. So it is something to consider.

Of course, if it were a lot cheaper it would be a whole different equation...

More needful stuff...

Did you know that Dung beetles can navigate using the stars? You might want to remember that when someone tells you celestial navigation is an esoteric art too difficult to learn.

So, with that little factoid bouncing around your brain pan, maybe we should look at needful navigation stuff for the VolksCruising set...

Obviously, being on a VolksCruiser budget, the cost of such things is going to be an important factor right along with utility. On a side note, you should easily be able to outfit your boat from scratch for less than $1000 and a lot less if you're canny and take advantage of the perfectly good stuff that came with your boat.

So, first things first, you really need a watch. It has to keep accurate time but does not have to cost a silly amount of money. I happen to use a sub-$20 Casio and it does everything needful.

You'll also need a way to figure out how fast your boat is going. I have to say I'm just not a big fan of paddlewheel log units. I've never had a boat where they did not give me trouble when I really needed them to not give problems which might account why I still feel that trailing logs of one sort or another make a lot more sense than people give them credit for. That said, it is expected you'll have an electronic speed/log and the one that came on your boat, if it works, is as good as you need but take my advice and get something like the Knotstick as a backup (it's what I use).

You also need a depth sounder of some sort and it's not just a tool to keep you from going aground or checking the depth in an anchorage. A lot of folks don't realize just how handy a navigation tool a depth sounder can be for doing stuff like running depth contours and suchlike. Personally, if my old depth sounder were to die (it's a Raymarine so there's a pretty good chance it will sooner rather than later), I'd replace it with a fishfinder (like this one) because they tend to be cheap and add a level of information that is useful.

Of course, since we actually do live in the future and contrary to the popular misconception that I'm a card-carrying Luddite, I'll go out on a limb and say that a handheld GPS is no bad thing to have since you can buy them for a hundred dollars or so. You might even want to buy one for a back up while you're at it...

As long as we're talking advanced electronics for the frugal set, I might as well broach the subject of chart plotters (and I expect dear Ned Ludd is now spinning like a top wherever he rests) because these days with the costs of paper charts so high it makes a lot of sense to invest in an affordable (let's define that as under $500) chart plotter that will run affordable charts or, better yet, some sort of cheap pad or tablet with an navigation application that has really cheap chart coverage.

Lastly, you still do really need a cheap sextant because, as every good dung beetle knows, shit can happen...

Talking about that list of needful stuff

Not all that long ago, having a VHF radio aboard was considered something of unneeded luxury. Fact of the matter is, I recall quite vividly a certain British yachting magazine doing a frothing-at-the-mouth editorial about how the introduction of affordable VHF would rot the sinews of seamanship...

How times do change.

Today I can still buy a rather decent waterproof handheld VHF for quite a bit less than $100. The one we have has been working finest kind for more than a decade so I expect it will, more than likely, continue to work for at least another and will, quite probably, outlive me.

From where I sit this is money well spent because from time to time it is actually needful to listen in or ask someone a question... So it passes the need/want criteria.

For those of the VolksCruiser persuasion, a sub one hundred dollar handheld VHF is really all you'll ever actually need.

Better yet, a handheld does not require crafty holes or mounting solutions that require running wires into inaccessible places.

I'll call that a slam dunk.