Strictly Sail

It seems I made it out to the sail boat section of the boat show.

I have never done this before. The sail boat section is on the water, and not very large. In addition to a lot of stuff floating in the water, there are some booths on dry land.

The stuff there is different. Some of the stuff is the same, but a good deal of it is different. There were a few dealers selling solar stuff and wind generation stuff. And there were some cool diesel generators. And I saw this nifty cooler that has a very efficient compressor and works as either a fridge or a freezer. That thing works on AC or DC power and the small one draws only 2.5 amps.

Pretty cool stuff. I could get that cooler and install it in the forward storage area of the boat. I would need to put some vent holes, but that would not be a problem. While the boat is on the trailer, it would run on 110 volts along with the battery charger. Once unplugged from the 110 volts it would instantly switch to 12v battery power.

Why do this? So I can leave beer on board of course. I would not need ice to keep stuff cold. I could bring ice cream on the boat if I wanted to. That would be really cool.

I just do not know if it would be $600 cool. So scratch that idea!

I got a bunch of photos. I will put them up. Soon. Really. I just need some time to resize them and stuff. I am working on it now. I looked at some really really super nice sail boats. Catamarans with a 20 foot beam, 4 staterooms each with its own shower/toilet and stuff.

Anyone got $675,000??? Because if you do, you can get a nice 46 foot cat with all kinds of room on board.

After wasting someones time looking at the really nice boats and them trying to talk to me about financing and payment options and if I wanted the boat to include a chef and captain so all I had to do was eat and get drunk - I moved on to the more reasonable stuff.

I took a look at a few trimaran boats that I could put on a trailer. The tri-hulls consist of a main hull a little on the narrow side, with two other hulls on outriggers on either side. So in the water with the outriggers extended you have a very stable platform. And there is this trampoline type material that stretches from the main hull to each outrigger, so you can hang out over the water if you like.

So now I was down to a $40,000 - $45,000 boat. Getting better! Still a little rich, but a whole lot better than the half million dollar floating apartments I had the sales brochures for.

I kind of feel sorry for the sales people. So desperate for a sale that they would let me on the big boats and then even discuss payment terms. Sad.

Then I moved to the single hull boats. I looked at a Catalina 22 footer, and it was getting even better! Only $20k. And this is new. There are a TON of used sail boats out there. So I can look at the new ones just to get an idea of what is out there, then search for a used one. Small sail boats are pretty simple. There are all of 6 wires for your electrical system, and your engine (if you even need one) is a small outboard. The hull is fiberglass so as long as there are no cracks, holes, or blisters then you are good there.

But I think that the Hunter 25 footer, at only $25k new, is a potential winner. It has a wheel as opposed to tiller steering. This is good because I would not have to control the rudder all the time. With a wheel I could leave the wheel alone and I would pretty much track on course. More or less. With a tiller steering system there is a stick connected directly to the rudder. Let go of the stick and the boat will not track on course. The rudder will turn to one side or the other and pretty much be a pain in the ass.

Also the Hunter 25 has a stand up head. So I could plumb a simple shower and have a place for the three S (shit, shower, shave).

Anyhow, when the time comes I will watch the used markets to see what I can get. If I get anything. I do not really know how to sail. I am sure I could learn, but that is step 1.

My first choice would be a trailerable trimaran weekend cruiser. The second choice would be something similar to the Hunter 25.

Boat shows are cool.

Boat Show 2008

As planned, Friday was boat show day.

What boat show day means is a whole lot of walking around. And a lot of looking at stuff. Not every booth is actually selling stuff, so at a lot of places all you can do is look. Which is good. I get to see stuff so that if I get it in the future I at least know what the crap I am ordering before it arrives here.

Like for example, the LED lights I want to get. Right now I have non-LED lights. They are OK, but they are not cool. In more ways than one. Filament bulbs generate heat. This is one way in which they are not cool. I can actually measure this uncoolness factor. LEDs generate less (or even no) heat. So if I have the two side by side, I can measure how much hotter the standard bulbs get and say that they are a lot less cool than the LEDs.

Second, and less easy to measure, is the other side of the coolness factor. LEDs are the future of lighting. Now I know that with the compact fluorescent craze taking over you may not want to hear that. Well too bad. The CF bulbs do use less energy and last longer than incandescent bulbs, but a LED will outlast a CF bulb by as much as 10 years, and use a lot less energy. Of course, they are not exactly cheap. But if you consider that the average expected lifetime of a LED is about 100,000 hours and that there are only 24 hours in a day - you can expect that even if you left the light on all day every day you would get about 4,166.6 days of use. That works out to 11.41 years.

Nobody leaves lights on all the time. Your actual use may vary. But the bottom line is that you will get more light with less watts - and never have to replace bulbs for a very long time.

And then there is the looks factor. I could install enough LEDs to light the boat up like a Christmas Tree and not have to worry about overloading the switch. Current? Not an issue! The 3 or 4 amps the courtesy lights are drawing now would be enough current to run a whole lot of LEDs. I want to replace the two courtesy lights with multiple color LED (red for night vision, and amber or blue to look cool) and then mount some more lights in the rod holder inserts. I may also want to add some to the top that is going to get put in. Then with a flip of a switch, I will have either red lights for night vision preservation purposes, or cool blue light just because it looks cool. I also want to put some lights below the waterline on the transom, because that attracts fish. And it looks cool.

But there was also stuff to buy. TONS of stuff to buy. Of course, the vast majority of it was stuff I did not need or stuff I did not want. But there was still some cool stuff that I picked up. Like the suction cup mounted thing that can hold lures and leaders and stuff. So now when I go fishing I stick that thing somewhere and now I have a handy place to keep pre-rigged tackle. As opposed to where I have been keeping that stuff up to now, which includes either in t he tackle box that is always under where ever someone is sitting, hanging from the hand held radio holder that is never holding an actual radio but may contain a beer bottle in various stages of emptiness, somewhere on the helm area, or just somewhere on the deck. I also got some nice stainless steel rail mount rod holders that were nicely discounted. They are removable, so if I am fishing can put them anywhere at the bow (where the rail is) or stow them away if I am not fishing.

I also saw actual treasure recovered from the wreck of the Spanish Galleon Atocha. The Mel Fisher Treasure Company people were there, trying to drum up investors. It is a fairly risky investment, but Ill tell you what - it paid off big time for some people. Mel did find the mother load. The Atocha was a 18th century treasure ship, full of gold and silver and emeralds and other gems stolen / looted from the natives of the New World. So there were gold bars, gold chains, gold coins, some big ass cut emeralds, and silver pieces-o-eight, the standard currency of the day. At this time in human history, the treasure plundered from Mexico and parts south made Spain very very wealthy. So Spanish silver coins were all over the place. I entered a contest to win one. It would be cool to get it.

And of course, there were boats. I found the boat based on the mold my boat was made from. Pro-Kat makes it. They call it a 20 foot boat, while the company that made my boat calls it a 19 footer. Whatever. My boat is actually 19.5 feet, so I could call mine a 20 footer too. The boat stood out from the others, because I could tell it was the same one I had. Cats are very distinctive.

Pro-Kat made some changes. I do not really care for the changes they made. They removed the floor lockers (less storage space) and moved the center console forward (less space to move around at the bow). I do not care for that change very much. They also changed the splash well a little. The sides are not as high, and the port hole hatches are different. The good thing there is that the bilges are a lot easier to access - the bad thing is that water would have an easier time leaking in. The Pro-Kat hull has a deeper V than what my version has. My hull is more of a semi-displacement hull, but it will still get up on plane. I am not convinced that this makes too much of a difference, but the sales people claim it does.

I also think my boat MAY be propped incorrectly. According to many people I talked to, I am not getting maximum RPM out of the engine. I get a a little over 5k now, it should be closer to 6k. This may be why I do not get that much speed compared to other boats of the same size and HP. So what I have to do is find a weigh station, then weigh the trailer with and without the boat on it. Then I know the boat weight with the engine and full tanks of gas. Next get a prop guy to bring out a few prop selections. Then load up the boat as I normally use it, which would be full tanks and two or three people. Then see which props allow maximum RPM at wide open throttle without going over that max RPM.

If the boat is over or under propped, then what is happening is that the system is not as efficient as it could be. This will result in reduced speed and/or more fuel used. Propped correctly, I should get more speed out of any RPM range/gas consumption range. The number I kept hearing is that my maximum speed should be closer to 40 mph, where I get about 33 mph now. Not a huge difference, and I rarely go top speed because I like my engine and see no good reason to push it too hard. But it would increase the cruising speed that gives me the best gas consumption from the current 19 - 21 knots to 23 - 25 knots (estimated). In MPH this equates to 22 - 24 mph (currently) to 27 - 29 mph (new estimated best speed).

While it may not sound like much, when I convert this to miles per gallon it will look better.

I may go back Sunday to look at the sail boats at Bayside. That part of the show is free (I think). I have never gone to look at the sailboats.

Feb 14

According to the calender, it is the 14th. So you know what this means right??

The Miami International Boat Show opens today. Today is the "preview" day for the mega yacht / large boat people. Tickets are extra expensive, but there will be special events at the boat dealer booths. Champagne and shit. Because today is the day for the champagne and shit crowd.

I will not be there. Today is not the day for people like me. So far the plan is to hit the place up Friday. I like to go to look around at all the stuff that I can not afford and/or have no place for on my boat. Like radar equipment. And waterproof LCD HD television sets. And larger boats. And wave runners. And so on. But not all the stuff is stuff that I can not afford. I usually end up picking up some odds and ends.

What?? You expected me to mention some other event?

Appearances.

Welcome to Monday! Today is the last day of the Miami Boat Show, so this will be the final sea shanty. At least until Saturday when I go to the Key Largo Marine Flea Market. It is a flea market for boat crap. I like going there, because I get to go to the Keys. And I end up buying more crap there than at the show. I can get sabiki rigs for a buck each.

Now a little about todays shanty! From the mid 19th century to the early 20th century there was a famous line of packet ships, known as The Blackball Line. The company flag was a black ball on a red background. These ships were famous for keeping to their strict schedules. They carried mail packets (hence the name packet ship) as well as other cargo. They were known to be among the fastest ships sailing from New York to Liverpool. 3 weeks sailing with the wind and 4 weeks against the wind was not uncommon. Back then that was fast.

But keeping to a strict schedule meant harsh treatment for the hired hands. Sailors could make more money on Blackball ships due to the speed of the voyages, but they were sometimes known as "blood ships" because the captains of these ships were quick to administer harsh punishment to sailors. "Blow the man down" means "beat the crap out of someone till they collapse". Any sailor who did not follow orders, or who did their job too slow, could be whipped.

In the song, the Blackball sailor beats the shit out of a cop in England. The guys who sailed the Blackball line were not pansies.

And now for appearances. As someone who has worked in the public sector, I can tell you appearances ARE everything. Even if you are doing everything right, if it appears that you are doing something wrong - you are toast. Take this guy for example.

This is the former immigration minister for The Bahamas, Mr. Shane Gibson. He has to resign his position recently, because of appearances.

This is the former Minister Gibson in a photo with the late Anna-Nicole Smith. It seems that he is under fire for giving her special treatment in obtaining residency in The Bahamas. In all reality he probably did give her special treatment - but not anything different than he would have given ANY rich person who wanted residency in The Bahamas. Just like USA immigration laws - there are the laws for those without money and the special rules for those with money. Lets say someone from Peru wanted to immigrate to the USA. Now if they are poor or middle class they get to either sneak in illegally OR wait in a long ass line. But what if that person is rich? What if they want to immigrate to the USA with their $100 million in US currency? Think they will wait in a line? Oh hell no! They are let right in! Welcome to the USA!

If I wanted to be a resident of the EU, it would be very difficult. It would take YEARS, maybe even decades. And I may never be able to claim citizenship in a EU member nation - the best I may be able to do is get a EU "green card". But if I had millions of dollars - I could bypass all that "years of waiting" crap and get right in.

But, appearances are everything. When these photos were published, it was all over for the former Minister. If you are going to work for the government - it is CRITICAL that you maintain a good appearance. He should have never EVER posed for these photos. Had he not been in these photos, he would still have his job.

In other news, we all know Britney shaves EVERYWHERE. Above and below the water line so to speak. Not to be left out the Secretary Of State is getting a new look to help out her public appearance.

I think it is an improvement. War?!?! What war?!?! That is a nice new doo Madam Secretary!

The Boat Show

Today's Sea Shanty is Botany Bay, by some unknown group. This is one of the things that sucks about P2P networks. Sometimes people are dumb and do not know that The Beach Boys DID NOT sing "Little GTO" or that they DID make "Sloop John B". Or as in the case of today's shanty they leave out the group all together. Or the sound quality sucks. And so on. But on the other hand, without P2P I would not know about this shanty at all.

Anyway, seeing as how I secured the day off using the top secret ninja skills (lifesize full color cardboard cutout left at work is a good way to fool people into thinking you are on the clock) - I went to the Miami Boat show Friday.

I like the boat show. It is here every year and it is large. HUGE. How large? Lets just put it this way - I have never seen the entire show. The entire show is spread over three areas - the Miami Beach Convention Center, Sea Isle Marina, and Bayside Marina.

I always go to the convention center part of the show. Bayside has "strictly sail", which as you may have guessed is for sailboats. Not those open day sailor boats, but 25 foot and up sailboats with cabins. Sea Isle Marina is for the big ass motor yachts.

The Convention Center is where a lot of manufactures are. All kinds of crap is there. There are boats large and small, the big outboard manufactures are there with all their products, there are HUGE diesel inboard engines to look at, all the electronics dealers are there, and of course most of the stuff is for sale. If you are at the Mako booth and you see a sweet 25 footer, the Mako people will tell you which local dealer will sell you that boat with everything you see on it for the price listed.

This is the main floor of the convention center taken from a second floor walkway. The phone cam is shitty, but you can see the boats.

This is another shitty phone cam photo. But again, you can see the floor. By the way out these two photos together and you have less than HALF the main floor.

And then there is the outside area. What is usually used as a parking lot is taken over by the show. There are a lot of booths, featuring everything from Carib Beer (NO FREE SAMPLES! BOO BOOO BOOOOOO) to boat dealers, to people selling boat related crap, to people selling stuff that has nothing to do with boats at all. I found a sweet ass power cat, but the phone cam photo is just as crappy as the others.

This is a nice power cat! It is a 25 footer with a cuddy cabin. It is powered with twin 115 HP outboards, but it can use up to twin 140s. This boat is made in Florida and if I had bought the thing I could have gone to the factory to watch my boat getting built. Sweet huh? The dude at the booth hooked me up with a local dealer that can give me a test run in a similar boat so I can see how nice the boat runs. Power cats are LEGENDARY for their ride. I want to do this.

I also looked at a lot of waverunner type PWCs. Sea-Doo makes a nice ski that has a closed loop cooling system. What this means is that raw water is NOT used to cool the engine - regular automotive anti-freeze is used. In my case this would mean sea water would not ever be circulated through the engine block. For $8.5 large I can get a three person Sea-Doo PWC with closed loop cooling and a 150 hp engine. This is as much power as my 18 foot boat has - but the PWC has a jet drive which is not as efficient as having a conventional propeller. So it will only go 50 - 60 mph depending on the weight load on the thing.

I also looked at Yamaha PWCs. They use raw water to cool the engine - but Yamaha has made marine engines for years, so they know what they are doing. Also if you properly maintain your PWC by washing it down and flushing the engine after using it the salt water should not be a problem. The Yamaha PWCs are slightly more expensive than a comparable model by Sea-Doo. Once again, I was told of a local dealer in the Keys that sells both Yamaha and Sea-Doo stuff - and they do offer test runs on floor models. I may do this once it warms up a bit. it is like 50 degrees outside now!

Everything Always Works Out In The End

WHAT THE HELL is up with the Iguana Music? Well in honor of the Miami International Boat Show this blog shall feature a different SEA SHANTY each day for the remainder of the show. Today's Sea Shanty is the ever popular "All For Me Grog". Tomorrows Sea Shanty shall be about a far off land. All the Sea Shanties are from the noble seafaring British - none are from the generally unruly Dutch. I could not find any Dutch sea songs you see. And even if I did find some, I do not speak dutch so how would I know it was a true Sea Shanty?

I may go to the show today. Why the hell not? Friday is a good boat show day. There will be less people than on the weekend. Plus I am in a boat show kind of mood. I need a boatswain's whistle. And maybe some other things. Also I like the boat show. There is lots of cool stuff to look at. Like MSD macerator pumps. I do not need one of these, my boat has a "let it all hang out overboard" type of marine sanitation device. If you gotta go, the ocean is your toilet. Beware the brown shark! They like to hang out on the surface of the water. TIP - ALWAYS take a leak off the LEEWARD side of the boat. Pissing off the windward side is a bad idea.

And I got some fairly good news, which I can not yet divulge. But the news is good. Or at least it is not bad. NAAAA it is good. Really. You have to just trust me here. I can not divulge it due to national security reasons however. Only when such information will no longer possibly compromise anything can I speak anymore of this matter.

But - as in the title, things have a way of working out in the end. Sometimes. Not always. Just enough times to make you ponder cosmic forces.