Remotes, remodeling and a day leftover for Encore

| April 14, 2018

This past week has been a busy one for me. I was off to Florida for a few days to check on the condo in Delray Beach after our winter renter and to start the demolition of the kitchen. It is a project that is way past due and I’m not sure I know exactly […]

Dolphins, sharks and whales visit sailboats, but polar bears?

| March 22, 2018

An interesting photo as this is not something you see everyday when on anchor watch! (from Sailing Yacht TV Facebook page)

It looks like SV Encore will be switching boat slips again

| March 8, 2018

Encore lost her slip last year at Harbortown Marina when I haul for some TLC during hurricane season in 2017 and I was glad Daniel our dockmaster made room for us last month when we relaunched. It’s great to have Encore is back in the water, but I miss the quieter dock we had previously. […]

A mellow Music Monday: Some David Gates and a marina sunrise

| February 19, 2018

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To salvage or not to salvage? An epoxy LED light repair.

| February 18, 2018

Too many times in life I find myself fiddling to repairs something that really just needs to be thrown away. Case in point (see interesting idiom explanation below) … I brought home an LED fixture that replaced a higher wattage halogen bulb that works well in Encore‘s cabin, but for some reason the pin/plugs must have […]

Already missing my morning view

| February 17, 2018

The irritation of “the week that was” has given way to the positive memories like waking up to this kind of sunrise view … even if it was in a marina. I’m thankful to have the out of water maintenance headaches behind me and can now look forward to “escaping” to our little corner of […]

The week that was – Encore is back in the water

| February 17, 2018

To the non-boat owner, having a sailboat sitting out of the water "on the hard" might seem like an inexpensive way to "park" a boat for a while? Well let me tell you that is not even close to being true, at least at a working yard. Several months ago I had such grand plans […]

What do you get when you add an outboard motor to your SUP?

| February 16, 2018

This might be one of the greatest SUP, Longboard, Kayak, Dinghy "mashup" ideas around … I could see myself working on this kind of project! (thanks Dane)

Try Vinegar instead of Acetone to Clean Hands

| February 15, 2018

Using acetone to clean up after nasty messy projects such as epoxy or sealant? There’s something that works better, is cheaper AND is less toxic! … Vinegar.

Drones on boats, a good idea?

| January 29, 2018

My friend Jeff is planning on ordering a DJI Mavic Pro this weekend. I sent him a recent article that has him pondering models. Jokingly I sent him this ani.gif suggesting he let me borrow it when I head to the boat … to which he replied, “Sure, if you put down a $1000 deposit. […]

An old wooden ladder and memories good and bad

| January 14, 2018

As my son Taylor said, “ladders will be our family’s downfall.” So true … The old wooden ladder I inherited from the late Harry McKee when we bought our first sailboat Brenich in the early 1980s is still in active service. It is no longer chained to the old boat cradle we kept in Huron, […]

Encore has a new dock space in February if she is ready?

| January 13, 2018

Google Maps view of the space D-8 that will be Encore‘s new dock After hauling Encore last year for some much needed out-of-water bottom work, I’m hoping to relaunch and have her back in the water in February for the improving weather this upcoming spring. But with such few trips and infrequent sailing, I’m torn […]

Once in a while I can still find a super cheap flight on Southwest

| January 3, 2018

Before sending another check to the guy I have doing some bottom work on Encore, I really need to inspect the work. I don’t want him to stop working, but I don’t want bottom paint slapped on the new epoxy fiberglass repair before double checking the layers, fairing and keel work and epoxy barrier coats […]

Thrifty souls unite – a snap fix for a broken zipper

| January 2, 2018

Ok … so this nautical fix has not been endorsed by my wife, in fact, she will not be seen with me from wearing these pants in public ever again … although like most women,  I’m not sure she is fond of cargo pants anyway? My Eddie Bauer flannel lined winter cargo pants are a […]

Last minute gift idea AND picking the right hose clamp #humor

| December 20, 2017

Just in case there are a few men looking for last minute jewelry gifts to give to their sweetheart for Christmas, here’s a ring idea that will pretty much guarantee that you’ll never need to worry again – you’ll either be alone … or dead! And since I know there is sure to be a […]

Might need to rethink our Zodiac or inflatable RIB?

| November 19, 2017

It looks like at least some sharks enjoy the taste of  rubberized, synthetic fabrics like Hypalon, PVC or Polyurethane used in inflatable tenders and RIBs! (8 second video snippet below)

Enjoyable Cruising World article by influential sailor Lin Pardey

| November 10, 2017

There is not a single "cruising" sailor my age who hasn’t been influenced one way or another by Lin and Larry Pardey. Their "go small, go simple, go now" sailing books, videos and decades of article contributions to the sailing community have been huge for generations of dreamers and sailors. I really enjoyed a recent […]

Great Yachting World tip for anchoring near coral heads

| September 24, 2017

Part of a 12-part sailing advice series by the UK Yachting World site is worth archiving.

Tired of reaching for that illusive dock cleat?

| September 9, 2017

There I times the Robship boat hook would make docking a whole lot easier …

Sperry Topsider update: Trying to repair worn heels with epoxy

| September 5, 2017

  It has been a while since talking about Sperry Boat Shoes, but it is obvious by the popularity of the old posts that I’m not the only one who loves wearing them. Usually the question is how to keep them from smelling or make them a bit more comfortable (with insoles). In this post, […]

Stock trades and boat woes – some plans work out, others do not

| August 31, 2017

As the title and Robert Burns suggest, "the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry." Here are a couple Thursday lunchtime updates. On the upside, the Ford ($F) trades from a week ago continue to pan out and I exited half of my position on Thursday morning to book profits (for those […]

How to tie a cleat hitch video by APS Advisor #sailing

| August 28, 2017

Good visual video advice on How to tie a cleat hitch from APS – three different options and reasons for each. Half Wrap Cleat Hitch Full Wrap Cleat Hitch Multi Wrap Cleat Hitch

Sailing Brenich out of Vermilion Ohio in the 1980s #TBT

| July 20, 2017

My son Taylor posted a few photos of his weekend with friends in Vermilion, Ohio and the background canals and homes triggered a Throwback Thursday #TBT memory for me. Before kids, Brenda and I owned a beautiful sailboat we named Brenich and kept it in Vermilion for the first year (subsequent in Huron) and haul […]

A stop in Georgia with friends Mark and Dar Jones

| July 19, 2017

A bit of a catch-up and thank you post to a sailing friend and loyal blog reader Mark Jones for giving me an overnight rest stop outside of Savannah, Georgia last weekend on my drive home from Florida; your hospitality and friendship is very much appreciated. Actually I have been looking forward to seeing Dar […]

Encore is out of the water for some TLC

| July 16, 2017

It has been a little while since Encore has been on the hard and the bottom paint is worse than I thought or expected. Really disappointed to see a couple blisters reappear after the "shave, skim and epoxy barrier" a few years back. Looks like I’ll need to work on grinding out, drying and patching […]

Pressure washing the antifouling paint on sailboats

| July 5, 2017

Just wanted to archive some Practical Sailor “Waypoints” advice excerpted from Renee D. Petrillo’s A Sail of Two Idiots … good to remember about powerwashing. … we had a narrow canal to squeeze through to reach the Travelift. Then we were strapped into it and hoisted out of the water. We then made one of the most expensive […]

Getting hit or hitting something while sailing

| June 29, 2017

One of the fears when sailing long distances across oceans is either getting hit or hitting something. Numerous stories have been told by those who survive hitting “something” … and who knows how many are never told? My phobia is striking a partially submerged shipping container, debris or log with our fiberglass boat on a […]

Once upon a time, we did sail on Lake Erie #TBT

| June 1, 2017

After searching through directories of a couple older computers looking for a document unrelated to the photo above, I ran across this picture of our family on our sailboat Tulla from the miid-1990s. I may have posted something (???) in a sailing related post years ago, but don’t think so? Anyway ia #TBT (ThrowBackThursday) post […]

Great Balmar Altmount kit to Convert To Serpentine Pulley

| May 30, 2017

Not that I have a Yanmar diesel on our sailboat, but love the kit from Balmar to convert an auxilary diesel from V-belt to Serpentine belt and pulleys.

Thanking God for His artwork

| April 29, 2017

Just as I was beginning to “once again” ponder the wisdom of keeping our sailboat in Florida while still working, taking care of a home and being pulled in different directions … an early morning walk back to Encore reminded me that it is healthy to slow down, de-stress and appreciate the daily paintings He makes for […]

Looking back a few years to when I started to blog

| April 28, 2017

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Every Vloging sailor needs a friend and a schtick

| March 25, 2017

Just when you think you’ve heard and read it all when it comes to sailing and telling the story … Guirec Soudée and his chicken Monique goes one step further. Crazy. The adventure of Monique & Guirec Our adventure is going global! Thank you all for your support! Notre aventure se mondialise! Merci à tous […]

Hammock time on a sailboat from Sailing Britaly

| March 17, 2017

B-E-A-U– tiful boat!

| March 3, 2017

Just a filler post from a photo from Spirit Yachts Ltd., Ipswich 50 “Roving Spirit”

Sailing Archive: Emergency Steering Drogue set-up and training

| February 15, 2017

Video training on setting up a speed limiting drogue for emergency steering on a sailboat. 33 minute training video demonstrates two popular approaches that give racers and cruisers more than one option when steering a disabled vessel with a damaged or lost rudder. Each drogue is deployed according to the manufactures recommendations with lots of […]

A few more photos for the Encore archive

| February 12, 2017

Posting a few leftover photos from my last trip to the boat. One is a waterproof fitting to bring the solar cable thru Encore‘s deck (eventually a new project) … and a couple more of an early morning sunrise at the dock at Harbortown Marina in Fort Pierce. Really the trip was a quick getaway […]

Archiving a couple Encore aft deck photos for future updates

| February 7, 2017

It is hard to remember exactly where each rail, cleat and fitting is on the aft deck of Encore, so this post is to archive a couple photos as a way to remember. It probalby won’t help much as it is still hare to tell where there is space and where there is not. In […]

Time for some Whitlock Pedestal Steering gear maintenance

| February 4, 2017

Spent a few days aboard Encore by myself this week doing a little (very little) needed maintenance. It’s amazing how "just sitting" is a killer for aging a sailboat! That’s not to say I’m ready to let her go, just that I need to give her more attention. One of the projects was to disassemble […]

Aviation and sailing in one great Shot of the Week photo

| January 15, 2017

The quality of the photo isn’t the best, but the content is pretty impressive. The latest issue of the weekly Cruising Compass had this photo as the "Cruising Shot of the Week" … excellent! This busy shot of Boston Harbor from July 2013, with the Navy Blue Angels flying over the USS Constitution (Old Iron […]

Thoughts and a video on a rigging bag from Lin Pardey

| January 7, 2017

While contemplating complexity vs simplicity in life and on sailboats, I once again stumbled on a precious morsel by Lin Pardey who has been land-based in New Zealand. Taleisin was sold to a young couple who now enjoys Lin and Larry’s “home” for over 30 years (mentioned before). Lin continues to write, appear at boatshows […]

Awning improvement ideas from another old sailboat

| January 5, 2017

Although I just updated a few of the fittings on Encore‘s ShadeTree awning system, I’d prefer fewer bungee cords and fiberglass and vinyl wear points. After posting a comment to Eben Bruyns the new owner of Taleisin (Lin and Larry Pardey‘s boat), I noticed the D-ring fittings and cinch lines and figured I would archive […]

Archiving: Great sailing related article on reefing sails

| December 30, 2016

There are much better places to save articles than a publicly available blog like Evernote, GetPocket, Google apps as well as locally archived HTML, Docs and PDFs, but I still occasionally enjoy having them on MyDesultoryBlog. So as with a few other archived articles on reefing (1 & 2), I’m saving this Cruising World Seamanship 101: […]

A couple favorite Baba 30 photos from Robert Perry

| December 16, 2016

  Got to love Facebook for connecting people who love the same things … in this instance, a naval architect and sailing guru Robert Perry has posted a couple of his favorite photos of one of his early designs — the Baba 30 (our first sailboat, Brenich). It was a beautiful boat and enjoyable to […]

Generator, Curtain, Solar and overheating diesel on Encore

| December 11, 2016

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Still thinking about davits for Encore in 2016

| December 10, 2016

In continuing the quest to be able to bring along our fully inflated Zodiac dinghy when gunkholing aboard Encore, I am still pondering an inexpensive davit option. The dilemma has been trying to keep the Capehorn Steering gear (hopefully functional) while still "safely" toting along a dinghy. The foredeck space is limited since the baby […]

Encore gets a Vetus Strainer and thoughts on a sink upgrade

| December 6, 2016

I headed down to Florida to check in on Encore this past weekend and enjoyed the sunshine but not necessarily the long drive for a short stay. Primarily the in-water project had to do with getting the dodger and bimini back on the boat and getting the deck cleaned up after the harsh summer and […]

Coast Guard boardings? You don’t have any rights.

| December 5, 2016

Sorry, but when it comes to Coast Guard boardings, you don’t have any rights. I’m surprised how many boaters don’t know this. The US Coast Guard can board your boat any time they want, and look anywhere they want, without probable cause or a warrant. They can do this on the open sea, or while […]

Archiving a sailing route planning site — fastseas.com

| November 24, 2016

On the recommendation of Carolyn Goodlander (wife of Fatty Goodlander), I’m giving the FastSeas.com weather routing and passage planning online tool a try. Not that I’m planning a bluewater passage to Bermuda just yet, but it is interesting how technology has changed route planning. Where it seems to help is in tweaking departure dates and […]

Sailing around the world for 8 years with 3 kids taught us to live without structure

| October 10, 2016

The Giffords are part of a growing, but little-known community of people called cruisers. (A 2011 survey placed the global total number of cruising boats at 10,000.)  “Cruising requires that you learn to live without structure. And some people are really afraid of that.” While many cruisers are couples or individuals who have given up […]

Renewable low cost hot water idea for a sailboat

| October 9, 2016

Archiving another project idea for living on the hook (someday) yet still having hot water for dishes, cleaning and SHOWERS (a freshwater shower is a luxury for most sailboats).

Watching Hurricane Matthew and Cleveland Indians

| October 7, 2016

Hurricane Matthew is blasting up Florida’s Atlantic coast at this early morning moment. I’ve been back and forth between baseball and the Weather Channel which spent much of the night broadcasting from all places, Fort Pierce, FL. I exchanged text messages at midnight with our friends riding out the storm there and will stay up […]

Curtains for Encore — Just call me Sailor Homemaker

| October 6, 2016

Let’s hope this “curtain call” (cough, cough) isn’t a precursor for Hurricane Matthew bearing down on Encore in Fort Pierce Florida? The subject line was more of a slip of the tongue regarding “curtains” when I really intended a twisted “Suzy Homemaker” innuendo — Sailor Homemaker (my attempts at sewing curtains). Failed joke aside, I […]

Hurricane Matthew projections are not good for Encore

| October 5, 2016

Perhaps I’m being a bit to self-focused in worrying about “just a sailboat” when millions of lives are going to be impacted by Hurricane Matthew? I think it is time for the final preparation … pray for safety for those in the path of this storm (and Encore). EDIT: A buddy of mine was asking […]

Hurricanes Matthew prep a priority for Florida and Encore

| October 4, 2016

The Category 4 Hurricane Matthew is wreaking havoc on Haiti with 145 mph wind and up to 40 inches of rain, I’m keeping a close eye on new projections that put this powerful storm way too close to Encore.   Thankfully my good friend Mark called me last night and offered to add a couple of […]

Boat generator and securing cage project ready for Encore

| October 3, 2016

The generator "security cage" project for our sailboat Encore is ready to be installed. I’m not fond of making a few more holes in the deck, but it needs to be done. The final touches (minus adding Velcro) were taken care of this past weekend. That included softening the aluminum edges, adding shrink tubing to […]

Saving the Sailrite “How to make a Dodger” video playlist

| October 1, 2016

Sailrite has years of on and off water How-To YouTube Videos

Generator cage project and relearning TIG welding skills

| September 21, 2016

In a previous post, I sketched out a "Generator Cage," for the lack of a better term, for our sailboat Encore. The idea is to slip off a Sunbrella cover so we can use the Honda EU2000i Inverter Generator mentioned here on the aft deck when needing power at anchor to charge the batteries and […]

How loud are Honda and Predator inverter based generators?

| September 19, 2016

Good question: By ear, the slightly smaller and far lighter Honda EU2000i inverter based generator is definitely quieter than the less expensive, but larger in dimension, weight and power Predator 2200. Read on for a few more points. I like both of inverter generators and each will serve a slightly different purpose. The Honda is […]

The old Mercedes is out and about and starting a boat project

| September 18, 2016

After sitting quietly most of the summer, my friend Jeff needed to borrow a set of wheels for a week. He has intimately name the 1982 MB diesel the "old girl" and seems to appreciate her many quirks. Since it isn’t covered, there was a little dust, but she still looks pretty good to me. […]

Obit: I am going to miss sailing advice from Mark Handley

| September 12, 2016

Unfortunately when one faces cancer, the outcome isn’t always what we want. It is a terrible disease and one which we can only hope medical science will eventually cure … the sooner the better. I’ve corresponded with Judy and Mark Handley for many years via email and Winlink (email via Amateur Radio) and we have […]

Desultory - des-uhl-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee

  1. lacking in consistency, constancy, or visible order, disconnected; fitful: desultory conversation.
  2. digressing from or unconnected with the main subject; random: a desultory remark.
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