A film I'm looking forward to...

A  50-year old Wharram, a wonky boom, and three women on a mission.

They had me at 50-year old Wharram.

There's more info on their website and Kickstarter page.

a great conversion...

 As always, Atom Voyager takes an outboard conversion to what I can only term as 'High Art'.

Seriously, this is the way to do it.

a survey worth checking out...

Jimmy Cornell has recently done an update of his 1979 cruising survey and it's quite interesting. Luckily, PBO has Jimmy Cornell's article about the survey. 

You're still here?   

Well worth reading...

The new Latitude 38 is out and it's a pretty good issue.

There's great article on anchoring physics that just may have changed how I anchor in the future and it even explained the origin of the word "nylon".  Seriously, it doesn't get better than that and Cruising World really could take a lesson.

a must read...

Some very needful reading over at Wooden Boat.

You're still here?

Some low-budget DIY wonderfullness...

A boat-worthy project worth checking out.

a half hour well spent...

We need more films like this one.

A link you need...

PBO (AKA Practical Boat Owner) has been a great resource for me since I first started reading the magazine in 1980. While, these days, I feel their subscription rates are now akin to piracy but their website still has excellent content.

For example, this simple how to rehab a sailboat article is just what most folks considering an inexpensive boat that needs work should read.

You're still here?

Simple to the max...

While not a sailboat, there's a lot to be said for this exercise in simplicity...

Anyone come across a Vespa powered sailboat?

a near perfect VolksCruiser...

A tour of an Alberg 30 with Atom Voyager.

a book that's still well worth having...

For some reason or other I found myself reading "Voyaging on a Small Income" by Annie Hill and realized that it's still the best book out there on the subject. Sure it's a kiss dated here and there but the bulk of the information contained within it's covers is just as valid as it was as the day it was first printed.

Fact is that most of the questions people ask me regarding the whole VolksCruising gig can be answered by just reading Annie Hill's book.

Are not books wonderful?

and in the "it doesn't sink" department...

Back when I was living in France one of the designs that I seriously considered was the ETAP 23 for use as a minimal envelope blue water cruiser. 

For starters, it's a nice little sailboat. All of the ETAP sailboats had a very nice look partly because of their excellent use of graphics and just the fact that they were all just pretty nice designs.Throw in the fact that they were pretty good in the performance department it's easy to see why they quickly became somewhat hip.

The other reason they were attractive was the fact the ETAPs were unsinkable. Of course, ETAP was not the first builder of boats to come out with sailboats that would not sink but they were the first to my knowledge that was integral to the design. All of the others seemed to be more of an afterthought of the "Let's see how many foam bricks we can cram into the boat?" sort of thing.

That said, the downside of the ETAP unsinkable designs was that it seriously impacted the stowage in a big way. To the point that I really wanted the ETAP 20 there was just no way I could stow enough cruising gear, provisions, and needful tools to sail back to the US OF A with. Hence my fixating on the ETAP 23.

As it happens, Bateaux Magazine on their website has an excellent two part article (part 1 and part two) on fixing up an ETAP 23 or any other small sailboat design for a transatlantic voyage that is well worth your time. Even if you don't read French and have to resort to the hassle of google translate.

Regarding a pre-ARC Atlantic crossing of note...

I'm currently reading about a transatlantic voyage in the 60's on a Gunter rigged Westerly 22. 

Color me impressed.

An interesting video and a coming attraction...

Another excellent video by Blowin' in the Wind...

 

As it happens we'll be having an interview here on VolksCruiser Monday with the Blowin' in the Wind folk so you might want to drop in on Monday and check it out.

A new YouTube channel you might want to check out...

A family of six on an engineless Ericson 28.

 Most certainly a channel I'll be following.

Why I subscribe to WoodenBoat...

WoodenBoat has an excellent article "A Sound boat and Simple Living" for you to read online of the VolksCruiserish sort.

You're still here?

a better than most cruising narrative...

The other day I came across a book that I hadn't heard about of the cruising persuasion. In point of fact, this one...

There's a story told about what happened when Stanley Kubrick decided to make a horror film and started reading books of the horror genre. Apparently, according to his assistant, Kubrick would read a book for a bit and then throw the book across the room against the wall in disgust. This process went on for weeks and the assistant just got used to hearing the thump of flying books as being the new norm around the office.

I get that. But, in my case, it's not horror fiction that hits the bulkhead but what passes for books of a cruising or nautical bent. Most books of this ilk I come across these days are, well let's just say they lend themselves to being hurled with extreme prejudice, against the nearest available bulkhead.

Orca on the other hand, looked somewhat interesting. So, fully prepared to be disappointed, I downloaded the first couple of chapters to my Kindle and found myself enjoying it. So much so that I bought the book and read straight through it.

It's a good book and the best cruising narrative I've read in the last couple of decades. Real people, real cruising, and it will leave you wanting more. A really good read with a surprising amount of depth and humor. Well worth your money and time.

The fact that it is tailor made for the VolksCruiser fraternity is just icing on the cake.

Oh yeah, regarding Kubrick hurling horror novels against his office wall, this continued until he came across a copy of The Shining by Stephen King in case you were wondering.

Something you need to read...

Fatty Goodlander has a great article in the new All At Sea.

Need I say more?

$2.99 you need to spend...

A couple of days ago I saw there was a book on Kindle that looked like it might be interesting...

This one in fact.

At $2.99 it was something of a no-brainer so I downloaded a copy to my Kindle and read it in a couple of hours.

It's an easy enjoyable read and contains a lot of information that flies in the face of what a lot of people say. Stuff, as it happens, that actually needs to be said.

Whether you want to flip boats or not is unimportant as the real meat of the issue is simply how to approach boat work and get the boat up-and-sailing in a timely, affordable, and seaworthy manner.

In short a whole lotta good advice for just under $3.

That said, surveyors and boat brokers will really hate the book. Of course, from where I sit that's just the cherry on top.

Do I really have to say more?

a book you need to read...

Fatty Goodlander has a new book out...

I'll let Fatty tell you more about it.

Nuff said,