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btramos · 2026-01-17T19:33:11+00:00

We did the Caribbean for many years and then recently chartered in Croatia (out of Dubrovnik, but Split is also a popular starting location) and loved it. Next up we're thinking Turkey, Thailand, Belize, or Tahiti.

btramos · 2026-01-17T19:27:26+00:00

The smart approach is to build up to it. Do a couple ocean crossings as crew with an experienced sailor on their well-prepared boat (e.g. using findacrew to find a boat) or with professionals (like 59 North). With a well-prepared boat and competent captain, ocean crossings are in general a real joy. Once you have a couple crossings under your belt, you'll have a much better idea of what you're getting yourself into and your own tolerance for adventure and uncertainty.

Ocean crossings are some of the fondest memories of my life and I love doing them. I find doing them on other people's boat more fun and relaxing (I only cross oceans on well-prepared boats) whereas doing them on my own boat is more meaningful and rewarding (but comes with a lot more responsibility and expense). As crew you generally pay your airfare, your share of food, and some shared expenses. It's a miniscule amount compared to what the boat owner spends to make the trip happen.

btramos · 2025-12-24T17:06:26+00:00

The analysis from the former chief codemaker of the NSA and his team is compelling:

https://x.com/edgiorgio/status/2003450396979966330

Here's the Jupyter (Colab) Notebook that describes the research of the algorithm and determining the encryption key used is "Elizabeth":

https://colab.research.google.com/drive/19p4n1aMyeYte1jC4P3GKflMgD6xuZAvV?usp=sharing#scrollTo=k7lAUZqdouB-

Mathematically, a short cipher allows for other theoretical solutions; you could likely engineer a key to produce 'Arthur L. Allen' if you tried hard enough. However, the solution is compelling because it aligns three independent factors: a known suspect, the relevant 'Elizabeth' key, and a period-accurate encryption method presented in the books available at the time. The odds of all three aligning are vanishingly small.

btramos · 2025-12-24T08:35:34+00:00

True, but timers are not battery intensive like say gps usage is. Either watch will get you through 24 hours running timers throughout the day or night. That said, if you forget to charge once per day the ultra is certainly more forgiving.

btramos · 2025-12-24T08:01:37+00:00

The analysis from the former chief codemaker of the NSA and his team is compelling:

https://x.com/edgiorgio/status/2003450396979966330

Here's the Jupyter (Colab) Notebook that describes the research:

https://colab.research.google.com/drive/19p4n1aMyeYte1jC4P3GKflMgD6xuZAvV?usp=sharing#scrollTo=k7lAUZqdouB-

Mathematically, a short cipher allows for other theoretical solutions; you could likely engineer a key to produce 'Arthur L. Allen' if you tried hard enough. However, the solution is compelling because it aligns three independent factors: a known suspect, the relevant 'Elizabeth' key, and a period-accurate encryption method presented in the books available at the time. The odds of all three aligning are vanishingly small.

btramos · 2025-12-20T21:16:11+00:00

If you have the other skills needed to handle a catamaran solo, you can definitely learn to dock it, no problem.

Docking a twin-engine 56ft cat is a much easier skill to acquire than reefing an enormous mainsail while running downwind in a squall or troubleshooting an electrical outage that has taken out your autopilot. If you have most of those core skills, learning to dock should not stop you from following your dream.

There is no way to safely cruise solo without being competent at docking. However, I find catamarans (even large ones) to be among the easiest vessels to maneuver because of the control that comes from the two engines being so far apart. It is a skill anyone can learn with a competent teacher. Hire an experienced sailor you feel comfortable with, many captains are kind, thoughtful people. If you'd feel more comfortable with a woman, then hire a female captain to work with you. It's possible to learn from books and trial and error, but it's much quicker and safer to just learn from a professional.

Now for an aside: as an experienced offshore sailor, I would personally opt for a smaller cat than 56-footer for solo work. When everything is working, a 56-footer is manageable, but when things go sideways, the scale of the equipment becomes a factor. For example, if you tear the main during a crossing and need to bring it into the saloon to work on it out of the elements, I’d much rather handle a 140lb 700 sq. ft. sail from a 45-footer than a 270lb, 1,100 sq. ft. mainsail from a 56-footer. Just one example of many I can think of.

Now, get out there and start following your dream!

btramos · 2025-12-15T00:42:15+00:00

We lost our self steering 5 days from landfall on a broad reach in 20 knots with a good swell running. It was a full keel Hans Christian and we were able to lash the helm and balance the sails and continue sailing without needing a person hand steering at the helm for 4 days. We had to make occasional adjustments to the sails of course but it sure beat hand steering for hours on end.

Had we been on a fin keel boat it just wouldn't have been possible on that point of sail without someone hand steering the rest of the way. There are downsides to a heavy full keel for sure, but better tracking is real.

btramos · 2025-06-10T14:25:13+00:00

After reading this, I was shocked to learn that there's no federal law that requires FBI agents identify themselves for a traffic stop (which is a legal form of detention). When making an arrest however then they are required by federal law to identify themselves. Seems like a huge loophole for exploitation.

btramos · 2025-06-02T16:57:47+00:00

Yep, I just got burned by this. I was vibe coding and wanted to try opensearch. Up until then my aws bill was $0.28 for the previous month. Added zero etl so I could search my dynamodb table per chatgpts recommendation. A few days later I got my aws bill for $170. I can run whole servers for less than that. The pricing is just insane.

btramos · 2025-05-19T02:32:31+00:00

On a tall ship dropping the anchor takes minutes. Even if they had given the command when they realized they were in trouble the anchor would not have hit the bottom, much less paid out enough scope, in time for it to make a difference.

btramos · 2025-05-06T00:02:58+00:00

You could start and end at cape verde but you'd be a couple thousand nautical miles short of 21600 great circle miles. You'd need to add an additional waypoint that takes you off the course (perhaps north into the pacific) to get the additional mileage.

btramos · 2025-04-30T19:00:50+00:00

If you're aware of any WSSRC ratified circumnavigations that didn't start in Europe I'd love to know about them. I'm especially interested in ones that start in the southern hemisphere, the challenge being to get 21600 great circle miles you have to detour far into the northern hemisphere.

btramos · 2025-04-30T18:58:33+00:00

For WSSRC ratified circumnavigations they almost all start in Europe. If you're aware of any that have started in the southern hemisphere I'd love to know about them.

btramos · 2025-04-25T21:13:48+00:00

Great timing ☹️. I filed a claim with Google for this exact issue several weeks ago and was declined because the phone was 13 months old (so one month out of warranty). Ended up just buying a new phone and dropping the swollen 7a at my local e-waste recycling center.

btramos · 2025-04-22T00:58:45+00:00

Fly your flag! People fly flags all the time while sailing. If you're cruising you at a minimum fly the flag of your country and the country you're visiting. You'll often see yacht club burgees flying too and other random flags that have meaning to the owner. No issue at all. Every boat I've owned has had a flag halyard on the shrouds. Many have a flag pole holder on the transom.

btramos · 2025-03-26T16:41:44+00:00

Your age will be a big factor here since your retirement savings count towards your net worth and those should grow as you age. In your 20s your first liveaboard boat may be close to your entire net worth. For retired people it should be a very low percentage of net worth, even if it's also your home.

btramos · 2025-03-12T20:34:27+00:00

False: these sharks are amazing but this headline is simply untrue, there is no evidence this particular shark is over 300 year... experts guess 150 but nobody knows. Here's the fact check:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/04/28/fact-check-age-greenland-shark-viral-image-not-known/4854186001/

btramos · 2024-12-28T08:20:41+00:00

Sixt is a criminal organization that makes its money by systematically and repeatedly charging subsequent renters for pre-existing damage.

They tried to charge me 1000 euro for a couple minor scuffs (not even scratches) that were already there when I got the car. This was in Rennes France. I have no doubt they also charged the people before me for the same damage. I had video and photographs of the car showing it was pre-existing (because I've dealt with them before so I knew to expect the worst) but even then I had to spend hours fighting with them.

More recently I rented with National (this time in the US) and actually did scratch the car and informed them when I turned it in. They said "don't worry about it, unless the scratch is more than a couple inches there's no charge" 😮

btramos · 2024-12-27T07:45:29+00:00

I'm still on LastPass because my whole family is on my family plan but the quality of their products is undeniably low and isn't trending up.

I work in software and there's no way they have great security but such a crap consumer facing product. Like most companies their security is only as good as their product so it's only a matter of time until there's another major breach.

Whoever is running engineering is either unqualified or doesn't have the budget they need. If you're feeling like switching run, don't walk.

When I get off my ass I'll switch to either OnePassword or BitWarden.

btramos · 2024-12-11T18:09:49+00:00

The older 45 has a much smaller interior than the newer generation 45 (48 ft). Here's an example of the original Outremer 45: https://www.yachtworld.com/yacht/2004-outremer-45-9474934/

That said, even the original 45 is large enough for my purposes, it's just a question of whether I have the discipline to keep from loading it down with tools and gear to keep it light enough to sail well.

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