Salt, diesel and daydreams
Mar 20, 2004It’s late in the season for my annual restlessness and thenturning of my thoughts to doing something- anything- else. nMy recurring daydream is to build a boat. Specifically, a coastal ncruiser. I’ll motor down the Eastern seaboard, along the Gulf of nMexico and swing back into the Caribbean for the return.nnFollies like this need fuel so I pulled off my bookshelf ntwo texts for a re-reading:n * [The Troller Yacht](http://isbn.nu/0393047091 “The Troller Yacht”) by George Buehlern * [Voyaging Under Power](http://isbn.nu/0071580190) by Robert Beeben nAdding to the collection, I recently picked up from a roadside junk store a copy of Nigel Calder’s [Marine Diesel Engines](http://isbn.nu/0070096120). What’s odd about finding it is that the book isn’t vintage- it was published in 1992- and that the no-man’s land of weird zoning between Coeymans and Ravenna isn’t where I’d ordinarily go looking for books on boating. Who knew. I also ordered a used copy of [Buehler’s Backyard Boatbuilding](http://isbn.nu/0071583807). I’m looking forward to reading it.nnI may not get farther than looking over the Hudson (or soon the nEast) river but at least I have something to occupy my thoughts.