Good Old Boat's Newest Contributing Editor

 

It was bound to happen. David sent so many articles to Good Old Boat, the owners finally decided to make him a Contributing Editor to the magazine. Yup, believe it or not, David's name now appears in the masthead of Good Old Boat.

We've always dabbled with writing for sailing magazines. Marcie contributed monthly to Caribbean Compass for the entire year we were in the Carib. We both contribute regularly to our SSCA monthly bulletin. David got a couple of articles published in Boatworks a couple of years ago, and contributes to Ocean Navigator, too, but it wasn't until he started contributing to Good Old Boat (GOB) that he found a comfortable “home” for what he does best: technical and how-to articles. It seems the perfect place for do-it-yourself kind of articles and Lord knows, David is definitely a do-it-yourselfer.

If you haven't read Good Old Boat, it really does have lots to offer (beyond David's articles). It's written by sailors for sailors whether they're sailing lake, coastal or blue water. It's not aimed at shiny, new boats with all the bells and whistles. It's aimed at “the rest of us” who buy older, used boats which need some sprucing up. It's nitty-gritty, nuts and bolts kinds of articles that let you (let you?) get your hands dirty. All sailors experience many of the same challenges with boat maintenance and repair. If you've got a head, it's going to break at some point. If you have equipment, it'll need repair or replacement. If you don't have equipment, you'll need to install some. Decks need repair. Lifelines need replacement. Mast boots leak. It's never-ending. Sailors pride themselves in figuring out how to fix things themselves whenever possible and sharing the ideas is what GOB is all about.

Are you a new boat owner or thinking about buying a boat? This is a perfect introduction to ways you can save on boat repair and maintenance as well as get lots of ideas for making your boat more comfortable and safe. Do you already have a boat and want to save money by doing more yourself? Got a project ahead that you've never tackled and want some ideas on how to handle it? GOB has archives of project articles that tackle most every project you could conceive.

Nope, we don't get a commission. We're just keen on sharing ideas and things we like with our fellow sailors. Interested in sampling a couple of digital issues of GOB for free and getting on our mailing list for more free stuff? Either click here or click on the GOB logo on the sidebar. Why not? We sailors love “free”.

Arriving at a New Port: 5 things we do

 

Here are the first five things we do when arriving at a new port:

1.  Give Nine of Cups some attention. Assuming we've already cleared into the country, Nine of Cups gets attention first thing. If fresh water is available, she gets a bath and all tidied up from her passage.

2.  Go for a walk. As soon as practicable, we go for a walk to get our land legs again. If it has been a long and/or rough passage, we usually stagger around like a couple of drunks for the first little while until the land stops rolling under our feet. Taking a walk after several days at sea is sheer pleasure and we're always anxious to get the lay of the land in a new port.

3.  Check out the neighborhood and meet the locals. If there are other cruising boats around, we introduce ourselves and get some local information. We especially like to meet local folks who are usually more than happy to point us towards whatever amenities are in the area and answer questions.

4.  Find the local amenities. We check out the availability of showers, locate a nearby supermarket (or local market if it's a small port), laundromat, ATM and chandlery. Each place we visit is a whole new world to explore. Sometimes everything is close by; sometimes there are no services available at all.

5.  Find the Tourist Information Center. In large ports and first world countries, this is pretty easy. In little villages and towns in more remote areas, we rely on the locals to let us know what there is to see and do. We love picking up maps and brochures which we can study and then decide where and what we'll do.

Days and Ways to Celebrate

A daily list of mostly obscure holidays and fun ways to celebrate them.

Woody Woodpecker Day

Walter Lanz' lovable, screwball woodpecker character made his debut in 1940. Take a look at one of his early cartoons today.

Morse Code Day

It's Samuel Finley Breese Morse's birthday today (1791). One of his many inventions was the single-wire telegraph system and the Morse Code, still used today, to communicate with. Do you know Morse Code? Try it...it's like learning a new language.

Hubris - Neptune's Always Listening

Hubris, from the Greek, is defined as extreme pride or arrogance; an overestimation of one's own competence or capabilities. We learned early on that whenever we exhibited signs of hubris aboard Nine of Cups, Neptune was always listening and made sure to nip our arrogance early in the bud.  You can't have sailors becoming too cocky out there.

It seems whenever we feel we're getting good at something and say it out loud, we live to eat our words. It's happened so often and with such regularity that we chide ourselves now whenever we say something out loud as simple as “We never have problems dragging anchor.” We might not have dragged in years, but you can be sure once we brag about it, we'll drag almost immediately.

We sometimes worry that Neptune even reads our minds. It's one thing to curb your tongue and not brag out loud, but even thinking it can get us into trouble. What actually happens is I think something like... “Geez, we haven't had an issue with the nav lights in ages” and then unwittingly I mention it. “David, you must have finally found the fix for that nav light problem, huh?” We look at each other and sigh. “Sorry, I can't believe I said that out loud.” Invariably, the nav lights will flicker and die the next time we need to use them.

We do our best to assuage Neptune and keep him happy. We never leave on a passage without giving him his tot of rum. We never end a passage without paying homage and thanking him for our safe journey and arrival. But oh my, start beating our chests about something we think we do well ... he just won't tolerate it. We're good at eating humble pie.

Have you found the same thing happens to you? On land or sea, when you brag too much about something, does it come back to bite you?

Our favorite hubris story involves picking up a mooring ball in New York City. It wasn't funny at the time, but it certainly seems pretty funny now. If you're interested in reading this little anecdote, sign up for the JALF newsletter and Gentry will send it along to you.  If you've already signed up for the newsletter, look for the link in this Friday's newsletter.

Days and Ways to Celebrate

A daily list of mostly obscure holidays and fun ways to celebrate them.

Mario Day

Are you into video games? Then this is your holiday - so named because it spells out Mario when you write out the date as MAR IO. Clever huh?