Books with a nautical slant

I'm currently reading a book (Precious Cargo by Clyde Ford) which seems like a good read so far. The author lives in Bellingham, Washington and enjoys cruising the Inland Passage aboard his single-engine biodiesel trawler.

Clyde seems to know his "boaty" stuff.

On the other hand...

Awhile back, one of our charter boat friends sent us her copy of a book recently published by a charter yacht broker. I'm not sure if she was able to get through it, but I read the whole thing as I couldn't believe that it could be so bad.

I'm not going to give the book title or author because it does not deserve any publicity except "Danger, Danger, Will Robinson"... Don't waste your money on this drivel.

It is a fictional book about a Caribbean charter yacht captain in the Virgin Islands. It seems like half of it is about the November charter yacht show (which just happens to have a wonderful & fun charter broker couple who wear matching tropical shirts).

Besides the inane picture it paints of the charter industry, it is full of weirdness like "I heard her feet walking along the freeboard" and "I started walking along the freeboard to the bow"... Does this charter broker not know what freeboard is???

[Freeboard: the distance between the waterline and the main deck or gunwale of a ship]

Another bit that got up my nose is that he doesn't appear to know about furling a mainsail. The author is supposed to know something about boats... "I let the main down into its in-mast stack pack"... "brought the the main sail down into its in-mast cradle"... He does this several times throughout the book. A stack pack, as you know, is on the boom and not part of an in-mast roller furling system.

This captain always seems to have a drink in his hand which is NOT a good thing. We have removed boats from our charter program because of what appears to be a crew drinking problem.  It seems like the author thinks this is cool and an attractive trait for his readers... Living, Sailing & Drinking in the Sunny Caribbean... No, the captain & crew are responsible for their guests aboard. Be professional, please!!!

There are so many things in this book that irks me besides the lack of plot, such as using a windless rather than windLASS, and how he always uses the same terms "on-charter" and "off-charter" repeatedly instead of other descriptive phrases for variety, but I will spare you :)

Just had to get this rant out...

I do feel a bit guilty that we are going to throw this book in the trash and not give it to the Animal Shelter for their flea market, but trash is definitely where it belongs.

'nuff said... just my humble opinion, and

So It Goes :)

Towel Day: Yes, I know where mine is

Today is Towel Day. Towel Day is an annual celebration on the 25th of May, as a tribute to the late author Douglas Adams (1952-2001). Do you know where your towel is?

Of course, if you are a hoopy frood, you do know...

"A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have"

- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

We love The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. We listened to the original BBC Radio 4 series when we lived in Paris.  We have the 5-book trilogy as well :)

We've never seen the TV show and don't really have any desire to after seeing the movie. Radio is such a wonderful medium.... YELLOW



So thank you for the joy, Douglas Adams, wherever you may be.

What? You don't have the trilogy? Get all FIVE books here...

• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
• The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
• Life, the Universe and Everything
• So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish
• Mostly Harmless

We haven't read And Another Thing... which was commissioned after the death of Douglas Adams.

I didn't know we could get the original radio show. We are definitely going to order this:

• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Primary Phase
• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Secondary Phase
• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Tertiary Phase

Enjoy !

Rapture Day... Do you know where your towel is?

Rapture day, this is.  Still here are you, hmm? If so, like Yoda talk and three times click heels while saying "No place like home, there is".   Herh herh herh. As you might have guessed, today is Talk Like Yoda Day. A very serious day of celebration. Are you here to take part?

Here's a website you might like to check out: The Yoda Speak Generator

It Goes So...

Gasoline Prices at fuel dock in St Croix, US Virgin Islands

Yesterday we bought 4.5 gallons of gasoline at St Croix Marine in Christiansted, US Virgin Islands and surprise... the price has gone up yet again!

Fortunately, we don't use much. We have a 5HP two-stroke outboard motor and we only use it 2 or 3 times a week. Our new Honeywell generator doesn't seem to take as much fuel as the Honda. We've had many cloudy days so it has been necessary to run it more to keep up with computer consumption.

2011 (price per US Gallon):

• May 17: $4.55 (a 21+% increase in 5 weeks)
• April 23: $4.25 
• April 7: $3.75
• Feb 4: $3.65
• Jan 6: $3.35

Diesel is currently (May 17 2011) 10 cents cheaper than gas at $4.45/gallon

At least their water has been a bit cleaner lately :)

So It Goes...

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Caturday & Simon's Cat

I love Simon's Cat. He "gets" cats. The cat sounds and actions are purrfect!

Simon's Cat in "The Box"

Every cat loves a good box.  Our Amazon boxes never go to waste. They become recycled cat toys and cat beds. Paper bags are very much appreciated, too.

There are two Simon's Cat books available on Amazon.com

Simon's Cat in His Very Own Book

Simon's Cat, Beyond the Fence