"jeff" wrote in message ...
The summer is almost over and rather than giving a travelogue I thought
I'd give some thoughts on what gear worked and what didn't. First,
though, a micro-travelogue: In late June we went with daughter, cats, and
dog from Boston to the Vineyard, and hung out around there for several
weeks. Then, daughter went to camp and the rest of us went to Maine,
where as everyone knows by now it rained. A Lot. About a foot while we
were there! Back to Boston, picked up daughter and cousins and headed to
Wellfleet on the Cape, and we'll go home in a few days via P'town.

Not much of a sailing trip. Sounds like more motoring than sailing. But,
that seems to be the norm for cruising catamarans that tend to be so below
their designed LWL by the time a family loads them up with all kinds of
extraneous crap.

Now the reviews, mostly electronics since I've replace a lot of that this
year:

Big thumbs up to Loki, our PDQ 36 catamaran, which once again has carried
us in safety, security, speed, and the lap of luxury for another year.
Thumbs down to Wilbur who has insisted we would have capsized by now!

Pretty hard to capsize in sheltered waters or doing short coastal hops,
dude! Multihulls mainly capsize well offshore where very large waves can
form due to the long fetch.

Thumbs up for the Harkin furler and winches, etc. which have worked
flawlessly. And also the new Lewmar OneTouch winch handle which is
pleasure to use.

WIMP! Get some real sails and use real winches. Try being a man for once. If
your forearms don't look like Popeye's then you're no sailor.

Thumbs way up for our Delta anchor which always set quickly and held
securely, especially when the T'storm hit with 40+ kt winds! Thumbs down
for the CQR that failed the Tartan next to us, forcing them to circle the
anchorage while the storm blew out!

You can't judge anchor holding by one particular case. Next time it could be
the Delta that fails to perform. Don't get too smug because you held and the
other guy didn't. He might not have even backed down on his anchor. I've
seen plenty of people just toss them in and then let out some chain and they
think that's all they need to do.

Thumbs up to our Garmin 545 GPS which has made navigating almost too easy.
However, Thumbs Down to same for dropping the satellites repeatedly in the
middle of the above mentioned T'storm, proving once again than when you
need it the most, you can't count on it.

Idiot! You were anchored. WTF do you think you need a GPS turned on when
anchored? Best to leave it turned off in case you get struck by or lightning
strikes nearby. The fact that you seem to think you need it most anchored in
a thunderstorm tells me you're no sailor. Ever hear of a visual range to see
if you're dragging. Much more reliable, dude!

Thumbs up to the new alternator belt, a Gates Green Stripe HD (similar to
the XL series) which shows no sign of wear after a summer. Thumbs down to
Torreson Marine, who after I politely queried them as to why the last set
of belts they sent me were shredding in less than an hour declined to
respond.

Nothing whatsoever to do with sailing, dude!

Thumbs up to my LL Bean Goretex rain jacket, which I thought was an
indulgence but earned it's keep during the incessant rain. Likewise the
Blackberry which could provide instant weather radar except in odd dead
zones in Maine.

Leave the camping clothing to the campers, dude! Leave the lubberly gadgets
at home.

Thumbs up to the EnGenius 362 EXT USB WiFi with 7 dB antenna (about $65
from Keenan Systems) which has been able to connect up with the 'net
almost wherever we are. Thumbs down for not providing a native Linux
driver. (And I suppose a thumbs up to those who neglect to turn on
security on their routers!)

Thumbs UP to you for not posting a daily blow by blow with parenthetical
sailing word definition inserts. Perhaps you are smart enough to realize it
would be an example of the blind leading the blind. I wish Skippy would
realize it.

Thumbs up on digital TV which gave us crystal clear reception on our new
$200 HD TV, particularly nice for the Olympics! Thumbs down for the cheap
stations which still have minimal signal (Portland was iffy in Freeport!)
and those that haven't converted yet.

LUBBER! Lose the TV habit. It will make you even stupider.

And thumbs up to the new Sony receiver with iPod connection and control. I
don't understand why people pay more for "marine" radios. Thumbs down to
the Windows version of Apple iTunes which really sucks!

Next time stay home and play with all your little techie toys until you have
an orgasm over them. Do you realize how wimpy you sound posting this
lubberly crap to a cruising news group. Next time try sailing. Leave the
gadgets ashore where they belong. If you can't enjoy sailing for sailing's
sake then WTF are you sailing for? Figure out your priorities, dude!

Thumbs up to the LED's I've partially re-equipped Loki with. Anchor and
reading lights now draw a tenth of what they used to, almost negligible
compared to the fridge. Thumbs down to the high cost - we'll finish the
job next year!

Stupid waste of money. You run your engines plenty enough that the miniscule
savings in light bulb wattage is simply not worth the price paid for the
fixtures.

Thumbs down to the high price of fuel, but thumbs up to the great fuel
efficiency of the catamaran - about a gallon an hour at 7.5 knots - which
meant it wasn't too painful at all. In fact, this year we were able to a
get a mooring everywhere we wanted, even places that normally booked long
in advance, so maybe this isn't so bad.

Try actually sailing and you won't need to worry about the high price of
fuel.

Thumbs up to the CPP bottom paint I put on 16 months ago - we got some
slime, but were still able to sail at 8.5 knots. Detractors said going
down from Micron Extra (twice the price!) would have a big penalty but it
doesn't seem to be that bad.

Lazy? You should be in the water cleaning the slime off with a sponge or
non-abrasive scrubber. S'matter? Spend all your time playing with the
lubberly electonic gadgets and have no time left for the more important boat
maintenance issues? Some sailor!

Enough for now -

Enough forevermore. (Please!!!!!)

Wilbur Hubbard