Episodes

  • A Sailor's Point Of View

    A Sailor's Point Of View
    Mar 1 2023
    https://mainstreetragbookstore.com/product/a-sailors-point-of-view-scott-dodgson/  A Sailor’s Point of ViewForewordOceanic travel by passenger ship began ending when the airline Pan Am announced regular transatlantic flights in 1945. Travel by plane changed the very essence of the traveler’s psychology and the fundamental experience of a different place. We travel to learn and grow. Curiosity drives our quest to see the next port, to look around the bend, to climb the mountain top, and sail to the edge of the horizon. Our travel experience informs our understanding of our place on earth and the relationship of places in ourselves. Traveling provides the contrast to our normal. A different place makes this place, your place, your home understandable. How we are prepared to experience our travel has fundamentally changed since flying became open to all who could afford a ticket. We have lost the benefits of preparation and thus lost the ability to comprehend the nuanced aspects of travel both interior and exterior.With air travel, we no longer wait in a heightened state of anticipation over discovering that distant place. Honestly, the wait is about discovering that far-off place in our soul. No long evenings on the deck of a massive ship watching sunrises and sunsets, where the only entertainment is playing shuffleboard, conversing with fellow travelers to glean inside information about the best restaurants, reliable drivers, clean hotels, crime, shopping, history and a variety of other subjects needing to grasp the contours of the new place. Our vanity demands a world-weary appearance to cover our innocence as if locals will sanction us for our lack of experience. Air travel excluded the long periods of wonderfully anxious and sumptuous anticipation. Waiting is something we sailors do well as we have no choice given the speed at which we travel. Some travelers are pressed for time, limited by funds, limited by vacation time from work, wanting to skip the first big step and get to the heart of the vacation. The casual traveler wants to be transported from his comfortable chair at home to the steps of the Roman coliseum as seamlessly as changing channels on their flat screen television. No sweat. No hassle. No experience? Seen it. Ate it. Hiked it. Slept in it. That will do, thank you very much, but I have to be back at work tomorrow. The experience of place washed away within days of returning home, leaving little or no impression of that place on their minds or souls. What is the point of travel if you are not willing to be fashioned by the place even a little?  Sailing to a place involves an entirely different psychological and physical dynamic for the earnest and open traveler/sailor. Passenger ships and cruise ships offer a hint of the maritime experience. Modern cruise ship experience has been so honed to entertaining the passive traveler it is hard to see how getting off the ship at a port of call has anything to do with the authentic experience of travel other than to pry dollars from your hands for trinkets. Trinkets you use as a reminder of having been there. There is no dynamic experience, no moment of realization, no conversation with your soul or reminders of your place in the continuum of humanity. You are left with sad little trinkets and a reminder of a lost opportunity.Sailing is a physical and mind-altering experience of dimensions rarely understood, even by local sailors. Lauded through time, a sailor’s experience informed the homebound. Travel changed their being. Regardless of education or age, they wore their foreign experience like so many tattoos, a traveling corporeal pictographic. The sailor is a portal to the world.What I am describing is very real but largely forgotten. Travel by sail is a unique experience that prepares you in wonderful ways to enter a world, unfamiliar in culture, language, and custom, yet to find an honest kinship with the inhabitants because of your confident awareness. The physical and emotional preparations inherent in sailing across the ocean make you different. The sailor’s point of view was once a common entity that allowed one to see the world and be in the world at once with a sublime understanding. The sailor's experiences, the history, the people and their customs, their art, their industry, their desires, likes and loves all become vividly apparent as the sailor immerses himself or herself in the sea of life.I am that sailor and here are the stories, large and small from a sailor’s point of view.What is the sailor’s point of view? How does one achieve that awareness and perception?Sailing slows the perception of time, allowing the mind to be in the present tense. There is nothing a sailor can do about the past and the future is a waypoint in the distance. He is obligated to be in the present and face whatever tasks the boat and ocean throw at him or her. Time is experienced in a way most people who farm, which was just about ...
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    20 mins
  • Not a Moment to Lose

    Not a Moment to Lose
    Feb 17 2023

    Scott Dodgson is a very captivating storyteller indeed, an easy read. I am a serious fan of his podcast, Offshore Explorer, so I decided to buy one of his books. Not A Moment To Lose was too good to put down. He takes you on an adventure of a lifetime and gives you a different perspective about significant changes in your life. I found the main character’s experiences to hit home for me in more than one way. It was all I thought about all day at work until I could come home and read what happened next. I learned some new words too, which is always a bonus for me. By the end of the book, I was disappointed for the story to be over and wonder if there will be a sequel. Either way, I’ll gladly read any of his tales, hands down. If you need a new story in your life, you won’t be disappointed about going on a sail from New York to Coral Bay in Saint John, would you? Anyways won’t give away any more details. You have to read it for yourself. Hope you enjoy as much as I did. Nikki!https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BFTSWDBQ

    A wonderful novel that keeps you engaged. If you knew nothing about sailing you would still know that the author is really a world class sailor. He brings the yacht in the story to life. He beautifully translates the creaks and noises of the boat struggling in the rough sea into a language ripe with feeling. He has developed the characters so you see them as they are and how they got to be who they are. I highly recommend this novel. Nan https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BFTSWDBQ 

    Buy the book today! 
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    26 mins
  • Survey

    Survey
    Jan 5 2022
     https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BFTSWDBQ The first time boat buyer will meet a maritime professional for the first time in the form of a surveyor. Why? How to use it? And the reasons to follow the surveyor closely and take notes.   Maritime regulations are there to make you safe, prevent pollution to the environment, and provide suitable working standards. Training is very much apart of regulations.  If you are buying a 27 ft sail boat with an outboard engine to 160 foot mega yacht all of what I’m going to discuss is important to some degree, but mostly it is important for the captain’s confidence and calm state of mind.  Periodic surveys and inspections of ships are carried out to ensure the safety and seaworthiness of vessels. With maritime laws becoming more stringent with each passing year, sea-going vessels have to go through a series of inspections to meet minimum requirements to continue sailing.Annual surveys by classification society are a vital part of a ship’s trading eligibility. Thus for a vessel to continue trading, various periodical surveys and certifications by classification society are mandatory to ensure its continued compliance with International regulations and endorsement.Various certificates require annual endorsement after the class surveyor verifies that the conditions, functioning and operational and maintenance requirements of the vessel are complied with.After the class surveyor verifies the same, he endorses the certificates for the annual survey. Annual surveys are namely Safety equipment survey, International oil pollution prevention certificate survey, International air pollution prevention certificate survey, and Safety Radio Survey.Before all these surveys, the companies appoint independent servicing agencies, which are approved to conduct annual servicing and maintenance of equipment such as fire extinguishers, fixed fire extinguishing installations, annual foam compound analysis for fixed foam fire fighting installation, annual servicing and maintenance of lifeboat equipment and launching appliances. Your flag and the rules and regulations. Annual servicing and inspection of equipment systems can be performed by various institutions such as accredited laboratory, service company, maker or manufacturer trained personnel, shore-based maintenance provider, class approved service applier, and service personnel authorized by the flag.The criteria for inspection are being laid by classification societies acting as recognized organizations on behalf of flag states so that requisite certificates are revalidated or issued in line with international regulations.Every flag has streamlined its requirements, and thus accordingly, the classification society develops checklists of inspection programs to harmonise the same. Hauling out your boat before the sale. What is the surveyor looking for?A safety construction survey will be focused on the structural strength of the vessel. It will be assessed for any excessive corrosion of deck or hull, along with the condition of watertight doors, bilge pumping and drainage systems, fire protection equipment, and fixed and portable fire fighting equipment. Fire contraol  International shore connections fixed firefighting equipment.  Training Prerequisites for Operator of Uninspected Passenger Vessels (OUPV/”6-Pack”)The National OUPV license is limited to uninspected vessels, of less than 100 gross tons, operating on U.S. domestic waters ONLY. Also limited to carrying six or less paying passengers. You must meet all of the requirements established by the USCG National Maritime Center in order to apply for this license. The USCG checklist of requirements is located here on the National Maritime Center website:https://www.dco.uscg.mil/nmc/checklist/. Under National Officer Endorsements for Deck, click on National OUPV Less Than 100 GRT.Important sea service requirements for OUPV:Must be at least 18 years old.Must be able to document 360 days of experience on a vessel, of which at least 90 days must be on Near Coastal/Ocean waters otherwise license will be limited to Inland Waters ONLY. (See: What Counts as Sea Service)90 days of sea service must be within the last 3 years of when you apply.90 days of sea service must be on Ocean or Near Coastal waters or otherwise the license will be limited to Inland Waters only.If you are not a U.S. Citizen, you can apply for this license but it will be limited tonnage and restricted to undocumented vessels.Prerequisites for Master up to 100 Tons on Inland Waters/Great LakesWith a Master license you may operate inspected/commercial vessels and also take more than six paying passengers. You must meet all of the requirements established by the USCG National Maritime Center in order to apply for this license. The USCG checklist of requirements is located here on the National Maritime Center website:https://www.dco.uscg.mil/nmc/checklist/. Under National Officer ...
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    42 mins
  • Sex and Sailing Redux

    Sex and Sailing Redux
    Dec 22 2021

    Let me couch these stories into this atmosphere. Pretend you have come over to my boat one evening and we are sharing dinner and maybe a drink or two. The sun has set, and the stars just blanket the sky. The temperature is a balmy 80 or 27 Celsius. The cockpit light hanging over the thick varnished table reflects a warm golden hue on everyone’s face. The table has the remnants of a fine dinner. Wine glasses with a couple of sips left. We might be into Cognac, so I have my Tiffany cut glass snifters coddling the VSOP reminds one of fruits flowers oak notes and dreamy rich round earthly flavors, even without the aroma you are living and breathing all these flavors wafting across the water from the land. In the Caribbean the soft scent of palm with a hint of lilac. If we are in the pacific the scents are mixed in a favor stream of sweet and smoke. If we are in Greece Rosemary, sage, dried coriander. And turkey pine, and the rich loamy soil of history. 

    You are comfortable and relaxed. But there is one thing nagging you, why do I feel so hungry for sex? So, you ask me your captain because there is nothing he can’t deliver or know. I’ll tell you a story. My mindset for years was to find the perfect sexy woman, who would be the perfect partner to fulfill my illusions or delusions. I was granted my wish. Here are stories about all the other crazy uninhibited nonsense that takes place in the bubble of boats, sea, and waves.  

    Mosaic Artist https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09KQ6R34R

    The Casket Salesman https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09NHN1FHT

    Paulette Mc Williams music https://music.apple.com/us/album/a-womans-story/1522026059

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    55 mins
  • Training Stories

    Training Stories
    Dec 8 2021

    Please buy my new book"Mosaic Artist" from my Dry Port Series: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09KQ6R34R  

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    1 hr and 7 mins
  • American Maritime Pilot: The Robert Smalls Story

    American Maritime Pilot: The Robert Smalls Story
    Nov 17 2021

    Robert Smalls (April 5, 1839 – February 23, 1915) was an American politician, publisher, businessman, and maritime pilot. Born into slavery in Beaufort, South Carolina, he freed himself, his crew, and their families during the American Civil War by commandeering a Confederate transport ship, CSS Planter, in Charleston harbor, on May 13, 1862, and sailing it from Confederate-controlled waters of the harbor to the U.S. blockade that surrounded it. He then piloted the ship to the Union-controlled enclave in Beaufort–Port Royal–Hilton Head area, where it became a Union warship. His example and persuasion helped convince President Abraham Lincoln to accept African-American soldiers into the Union Army.

    After the American Civil War he returned to Beaufort and became a politician, winning election as a Republican to the South Carolina Legislature and the United States House of Representatives during the Reconstruction era. Smalls authored state legislation providing for South Carolina to have the first free and compulsory public school system in the United States. He founded the Republican Party of South Carolina. Smalls was the last Republican to represent South Carolina's 5th congressional district 

    Please buy my new book"Mosaic Artist" from my Dry Port Series: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09KQ6R34R  

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    40 mins
  • Cooking On The Boat

    Cooking On The Boat
    Nov 3 2021

    Next to sailing, sex, cooking and eating/drinking is the most important activity on a boat. 

    General Tips: Planning, Make meals in advance, space management, The right kit, expectations be realistic or not! 

    I cover all the systems for cooking as well as different equipment for your situation. 

    Day Sailor, Live aboard that stays put and Cruiser, to charter chef every category has different needs. 

    Prepare to use local products in your cooking. 

    Please buy my new book"Mosaic Artist" from my Dry Port Series: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09KQ6R34R  

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    57 mins
  • Portrait of an American Mariner Phineas Banning

    Portrait of an American Mariner Phineas Banning
    Oct 20 2021

    Father of the Port of Los Angeles

    The American mariner does not exist in a vacuum. Commerce and war are the two key principles of purpose for the sailor. The third principle of purpose, exploration, is a distant third. If the American mariner was the central character in the movie about America, the supporting characters would be the entrepreneurs and visionaries that facilitated their direction and motive. The lead supporting character in the story of Los Angeles, who was both a mariner and a visionary businessman, was Phineas Banning. Known as the “Father of the Port of Los Angeles,” he built the first breakwater in San Pedro to protect ships from the sea.

    Phineas Banning was working in the dockyards in Philadelphia. At 20 years old, he signed up to work a passage to a then exotic destination–Southern California.

    Please buy my new book"Mosaic Artist" from my Dry Port Series: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09KQ6R34R  

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    43 mins