
Home is a small, engineless sailboat (2018) - hourislate
https://towndock.net/shippingnews/sean-d-epagnier-and-alexandra
======
oliveshell
Whoa, TownDock.net is on the front page of HN!

I love seeing any "Web 1.0" site still flourishing in 2019. TownDock's been
around since 2002, and their design has barely changed since then [1]. It's
run solely by a local couple who have updated it by hand, usually several
times a day, for the past 17 years.

It's an awesome resource for folks who live in Oriental. (Plus, they still
sell banner ads to local businesses the old-fashioned way :) )

As far as I know, the authors don't make a ton of money from the site and run
it as a public service. They're clearly technical people with good hearts.

It's so cool to see this 17-year-old website still going strong!

[1]:
[https://web.archive.org/web/20020904212400/http://www.towndo...](https://web.archive.org/web/20020904212400/http://www.towndock.net/)

~~~
dhimes
+1000 for banner ads.

------
phasetransition
Seems like a fine thread for a personal novella stirred by reading this:

After my grandfather sold his business and retired to Big Pine Key, Florida,
he befriended a fellow who lived on No Name Key. No Name Key is connected to
Big Pine by the "Old Wooden Bridge" (made of concrete).

No Name Key is known for a rock quarry, being the practice grounds for the Bay
of Pigs invasion, and for complete lack of public utilities.

Now this is the early 90s, as my grandparents left the Keys after hurricane
Andrew. In those days solar power was properly challenging. And yet the fellow
in question had a fully solar powered house.

He was a physicist by education, rescued from deliquency by an insightful
first mate on a Navy ship. Per my grandmother he worked "not one day longer
than required to retire to a life of poverty."

In my grandfather he found a (mostly) willing source of free labor. And labor
who was trained as an electronics technician during WW2. So the two worked on
his solar house in the bad old days of solar on very little budget. His backup
generator was the front third of an 80s something Honda Civic with a hotrodded
alternator.

In addition to the solar house, he also had a 9 meter(ish) sailing catamaran
of his own design and construction. The catamaran, like anything he cared
about, was meticulous. I never did understand how one could be both so
haphazard and so careful, depending on the task at hand.

He was a lazy sailor, but had traveled all over the East Coast and Carribean
looking for his "soul mate." Indeed, he left the Keys to stay with a lady
friend when hurricane Andrew hit. The problem with that plan? Said companion
lived in Homestead. Oops. My grandmother suggested that perhaps he would have
better romantic luck with a "smaller beer belly and fewer 'banana hammock'
swim suits."

When he sailed on the open water, he used a small commercial autopilot that
used a servo to move the tiller. It was based on a compass heading set on a
dial. It only "worked" if you weren't that particular about where you saw the
sun rise above the horizon. That was perfect for his adventures.

Grandpa died January 1, 2017, and I doubt his friend is in any condition to
sail so many years later. But, if he is somehow still out there chasing soul
mates, I guarantee the boat has solar power, and it's probably navigating with
pypilot.

~~~
rootsudo
I could never describe the people who live in the Florida Keys properly, or
the people that lived there besides Marathon.

Basically, all different degrees of this.

~~~
phasetransition
The keys were good to my grandparents. My grandfather met his closest friend
there in the 1960s when their families both vacationed there. His friend was
an economics professor at UIUC, and the two of them would never have met
otherwise.

Another surreal Keys moment for me was seeing the MTV cribs episode with Aaron
Carter. I'm virtually sure that compound previously belonged to another of my
grandfather's friends. His business was helicoptering around financial
documents in sort of the pre-networking version of HFT. I used to bike in that
compound as a tween.

------
gerikson
Ah, the call of the sea...

In my late teens I took a course in French in the city of Royan, on France's
Atlantic coast. A couple of my classmates were from the US, and they invited
me over to where they were living.

It was a small sailboat moored in the harbor. The couple had essentially spent
a decade working and saving, buying this boat, and having it shipped over to
Europe. They'd spent some month sailing around, coastal seas and canals, and
decided to learn French in Royan.

This was the first inkling that life could be more than a 9-5 grind, saving
for retirement, before "life" began. This couple showed that you could alter
that balance, that there are options, and your dreams are within reach if you
are flexible.

I wish I had been more diligent in keeping in touch with these people.

------
bogwog
> Sean explained the setup: it was an autopilot he had built using a
> windshield wiper motor, gyroscope, television remote, and a Raspberry Pi – a
> palm sized computer costing less than $40.

Correction: from watching his videos, it looks like he's using a Raspberry Pi
Zero, which costs $5, or $10 if you need Wifi.

This is damn impressive. I've always wondered what it would be like to live on
a sailboat, and this guy has actually gone and done it successfully without
dying.

Personally, I'd opt for a bigger boat though...

~~~
sandworm101
>> I've always wondered what it would be like to live on a sailboat..

Misery. It is not fun. There are forces out on the ocean that are truly
terrifying. And there are people out there who want to hurt you. If you are
going to be alone in a slow boat, you better look so poor as to not be worth
their time. I'm a little surprised he displays those shiny solar panels so
openly.

~~~
kodachi
> there are people out there who want to hurt you

You mean want to steal from you? Who would hurt you just for the sake of it?

~~~
TylerE
Piracy is still very much a thing in the 21st century.

I mean _actual_ piracy.

~~~
kodachi
I'm perplexed. But I guess it makes sense. In the middle of the ocean there
are no laws and nobody to protect you.

------
nonbirithm
100rabbits[0] is a similar project. The same people, DeVine du Linvega/Rekka
Bell, also created the Orca livecoding environment[1][2] a while ago. They
also do a lot of general webdesign projects/music production (Linvega, as
Aliceffekt)/worldbuilding[3]. A lot of it comes out of their living
environment on a sailboat.

[0] [https://100r.co](https://100r.co) [1]
[https://github.com/hundredrabbits/Orca](https://github.com/hundredrabbits/Orca)
[2]
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19118951](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19118951)
[3] [https://wiki.xxiivv.com](https://wiki.xxiivv.com)

------
sehugg
If you are interested in anarchic sailors check out Moxie Marlinspike's "Hold
Fast" documentary:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8105879](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8105879)

------
js2
How do the electronics survive the harsh sea environment?

The autopilot looks like it could barely control the tiller in calm seas, much
less any sort of storm. How useful is it?

How does he have Internet access?

How does he pay for food? Supplies? Donations and odd jobs?

I can't imagine how a ship with so much clutter, no head, no birth, can even
be livable much less what it must be like in a storm.

~~~
megalonic
It likely only works in rather light weather. Real autopilot systems use
hydraulic rams.

There are about 100 other issues I’d fix on this boat first.

I applaud this mans effort, but taking this boat more than swimming distance
from shore is something I would never do.

~~~
TomMckenny
That's what I thought. But I'd be just as nervous on the HMS Discovery. And
yet both made it to the Cook Islands and back.

And I have to say, someone who sinlgehands a more or less home made boat
across the pacific and back pretty much knows what they're doing by
definition.

~~~
ktaylor
Far from a homemade boat. The Bristol 27 is a seaworthy craft. But this sailor
apparently doesn't know how to use a sponge and paint brush to maintain her.
These are normally quite pretty boats.

------
enraged_camel
My possibly controversial hot-take:

While Sean's hacker spirit is truly admirable, I don't know how I feel about
his lifestyle as a choice.

It is, of course, none of my business how he lives his life. If he's happy,
great! Personally though, I no longer covet such nomadic lifestyles like I did
back in my 20s. My main issue with them is lack of social opportunities and
the inevitable loneliness it brings. I'm not a social butterfly by any means,
but one thing I've learned about myself is that not having other people around
me for extended periods has a noticeable negative effect on my mood. As such,
living on a sailboat sounds like a total nightmare.

I have come to view solitude as a dessert: really nice to have after a regular
meal, and maybe binge on every now and then even, but if it makes up the
majority of your meals for extended periods, it'll make you sick.

~~~
rb808
Its not clear if he ever works but often forever travellers dont contribute
their fair share to society. Everyone else is working to pay their own bills,
pay taxes and help society. Some though are retiring early and living off
investments or welfare. If he was disabled or old I wouldn't mind so much, but
a healthy young educated person shouldn't be able to live off others.

~~~
mlevental
>but a healthy young educated person shouldn't be able to live off others.

this is so petty. to what extent is he living off of others? he lives in a
mangey boat that he paid for. once in a while maybe he gets some medical care
(though i doubt it's much because he's young). does every single penny that a
person's life costs need to be reckoned and reconciled? do you know how much
falls through the cracks for all of us because of frictions? how much you
sometimes overpay for your fair share but also how much you underpay? it's
insane to begrudge someone this kind of asceticism based on some kind of weird
puritanical collectivism - despite what Arthur Jensen would have you believe
the world is not yet a business (and neither is life).

------
mobilefriendly
Here's some additional color on this remarkable character. But to
circumnavigate the globe in that boat? I can't help but fret that this isn't
going to end well.

[http://svcrystalblues.blogspot.com/2017/12/a-quiet-
achiever-...](http://svcrystalblues.blogspot.com/2017/12/a-quiet-achiever-
sailing-alone-around.html)

------
js2
If you find this interesting, you'd probably enjoy Paul Lutus' book about
sailing around the world:

[https://arachnoid.com/lutusp/sailbook.html](https://arachnoid.com/lutusp/sailbook.html)

~~~
jcurbo
This is a good book, I'd also recommend the story of the first man to sail
around the world alone, Joshua Slocum:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sailing_Alone_Around_the_World](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sailing_Alone_Around_the_World)

[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6317](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6317)

~~~
HeyLaughingBoy
I've read both of those books. They're quite good.

Paul's is a tiny bit more accessible because of his programming background and
the familiar perspective he has in his descriptions.

~~~
jodrellblank
Have also read both; they're fascinating in different ways. Paul Lutus has a
boat full of technology (diesel engine, laptop, radio, navigation tools, and
more) but his book is an intensely - almost uncomfortably - personal voyage
through his psyche, while he happens to be sailing around the world. A diary
of reflections on life, struggles with people, views on science, observations
on the stars and sky and waves, poignant writing on how being at sea affect
people, while he happens to be sailing around the world. It's better for that,
more relatable as a geek, sadder and more emotional; I consider it a good
read, and I reflect on it a lot.

Captain Slocum's voyage of 1896(?) is so different; he took an old clock, and
not much else, he lashes the tiller and goes down below for hours at a time to
read or sleep without worrying about crashing into other boats, he tells
stories of mouldy cheese induced nightmares during rough seas or chasing
natives away from robbing him, or finding remote islands with communites of
slightly odd people. Much of his writing is about the people he meets - they
often know in advance he's making a historic voyage, so when he arrives
anywhere, there's a big fuss, he's invited to dine with local dignitaries or
captains of large ships, gifted interesting foods and boat parts, there's a
lot of interesting things about the world of 1896. (There's also quite a bit
of tedious place names and locations and passages where nothing much happens,
I'm not that interested in the geography of it).

~~~
js2
Let me add one more to your list:

[https://www.amazon.com/Freighter-Captain-Max-
Hardberger/dp/0...](https://www.amazon.com/Freighter-Captain-Max-
Hardberger/dp/0964043378)

Max repos ships. The stories are amazing. You can find various pieces written
about him by Googling his name such as:

[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/nov/14/max-
hardberger...](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/nov/14/max-hardberger-
sea-captain-pirates-seized)

And a 50 minute interview with him while is where I first heard of him:

[http://www.thestory.org/stories/2008-09/out-pirating-
pirates](http://www.thestory.org/stories/2008-09/out-pirating-pirates)

------
ktaylor
There's no excuse for keeping his boat in that state of disarray. I've lived
aboard a sailboat with my family in the Bahamas and met a lot of full time
liveaboards. The only boats I ever saw that were kept like that were the
derelict vessels in Biscayne Bay, where destitute or mentally ill homeless
lived in rotting anchored boats.

------
dangoljames
Love this guy. I was a singlehand live-aboard sailor on a motorless boat for
seven years. Most of them blended into one long endless sunset on the bay. If
not for having met my wife...

------
benj111
I was expecting the title to be a metaphor. It wasn't but I'm not
disappointed.

I'm intrigued to know what self sufficient means in this context. I guess he
buys vegetables, does he sell fish?

------
paulcole
This gets a lot romantic and appealing when you realize his bathroom and his
shower are buckets — and hopefully not the same bucket.

Source: I’ve traveled maybe 7,000 miles on a pretty small sailboat.

~~~
oldmanpants
I assume you meant a lot _less_ romantic with the buckets... and yeah it
mentions in the article that he removed the head and sink to plug any holes in
the hull in an effort to make it less sinkable. luxuries I myself would prefer
greatly over a bucket, but I am also amazed at the cleanliness and state of
repair of the boat. All the clutter seems so unsafe to me on vessel of any
size or type. Keeping things clean and in good working condition I think would
do a great deal to make it less sinkable. I am impressed with the use of the
raspberry pi and the unusual/free lifestyle the guy seems to lead.

------
Scoundreller
Cool story. What’s he do for water? Pack, plan, pray? Rain-water? Self-made RO
watermaker?

~~~
rectalogic
50l storage, rain collection, inflatable solar still, dehumidifier and forward
osmosis
[http://seandepagnier.users.sourceforge.net/AboutAlexandra.ht...](http://seandepagnier.users.sourceforge.net/AboutAlexandra.html)

------
arkades
This seems like the right thread to ask: so how does one go about learning to
sail?

~~~
reverend_gonzo
If you live somewhere where there are sailboats, there is likely US Sailing or
American Sailing Association classes available, which are definitely worth it.

If there’s a yacht club, they will usually have races where they need crew,
and where they will teach you to be crew, and then go race with them on their
boat. The costs there usually you bring beer/food to the boat and help clean
up at the end.

That’s a very affordable way to get into it if you’re not sure how you’d like
it or can’t afford it. Boats are expensive and maintaining by them even more
so, but in my opinion, absolutely worth it.

------
shitgoose
shit! he crossed pacific on the engineless boat! eternal respect!

------
AstroJetson
Uggg. This gives everyone that is trying to live on a boat a bad name. The
boat's a mess both inside and outside. As someone that cruises around for fun,
boats like his create problems. Florida, Georgia and South Carolina are all
working / have passed restrictions on people anchoring out.

It's nice that he's trying to use tech and a cheap boat to stay debt free. But
his boat looks like a floating safety hazard. There is an article about him
from NZ where they cited him in 2013 for having an unsafe boat.

How hard is it to jump over the side and scrub stains off? How hard is it to
package up electronics so they don't look like something off of
[https://www.reddit.com/r/cablefail/](https://www.reddit.com/r/cablefail/) ?

Come on Sean, a little help here buddy, the cruising world is seen through the
lens of boaters like you.

~~~
floren
Yeah, that was my thought too: it looks like a floating shanty. It's a mess,
and the article linked at the end of the story shows someone else who's doing
a much better job of living at sea on the cheap without turning it into a hobo
squat: [https://towndock.net/shippingnews/prinses-
mia?pg=1](https://towndock.net/shippingnews/prinses-mia?pg=1)

~~~
AstroJetson
Thanks for that link. Very pretty boat, well maintained, looks just wonderful.
Love all the interior woodwork that's got a nice coat of varnish on it to keep
it shiny and new.

That's the kind of boat that helps the cruising community.

~~~
ricardobeat
To be fair the “shack” guy is younger, no previous career / savings, and lives
off small donations for his open-source work, while the other presumably is
living off savings or family money (no offense meant, it’s a damn good use of
it, but feel free to correct me here). What we see might be just a reflection
of their priorities.

~~~
detaro
That was your takeway from an article mostly about how someone fixes up and
runs a boat on a small budget?

~~~
ricardobeat
This is my reply to the parent comments on how his boat looks bad and this
other guy’s is better.

The article on the Dutch sailor mentions a 12-year career, family history of
sailing, flights, etc; plus even with the savings his boat costs a good decade
or two of the other guy’s income. As I said, feel free to correct me and I’ll
be happy to retract my comments.

~~~
detaro
The edited version of your comment comes across less negative, so fair point.
The initial wording about "long vacation" seemed far more dismissive.

------
033803throwaway
I admire the man and his concerns about debt. But he is playing a young,
healthy single man's game.

Family formation without debt slavery doesn't have the same appeal to our
media class, but it's far more important in the long run.

~~~
akeck
I'm finding this to be true.

------
einarvollset
“Everyone is always in debt”

Assume this is true & that death erases all debt (the latter is true most
places I think).

Is that a bad thing per se? I can see it being obviously bad if we’re saying
debt as in debtors prison. As if being in debt enslaved you and traps you -
this was how things used to work in some places for sure.

But assuming it’s debt that cannot enslave (big assumption, sure: see US
student debt..)

Isn’t debt the creditor extending leverage and (in the right circumstances,
see above) sharing some of that leverage with the debtor?

In the OP’s case - would it be very hard to envisage a scenario where this
bloke could have a more efficient boat and computer? Where’s that would give
him leverage that in turn would create more value for himself and whatever he
chose than the debt he owed?

I think sometimes people take instruments that sometimes encourage or enable
very bad things and then blame the tool. I can think of knives, guns, cash,
etc.

Debt is probably the same thing? Bad if wielded by powerful forces that
essentially allow enslavement, but powerfully good if not?

Just a thought experiment for sure.

~~~
smallbigfish
My simplistic approach to credit: it allows people to buy stuff they can't
afford but it drives prices up artificially. Lots of things would be cheaper
if people couldn't afford to "produce" money.

~~~
einarvollset
Yes but. If you take “cash” or “money” out of it, do you still agree with your
own argument? What if you said “lots of things would be less valuable if
nobody could cooperate to build anything”?

Again, arguing in good faith.

~~~
smallbigfish
Well, maybe. But I've learned that you can't take money out of "it". Even in
places that strive to do so. If we could we could actually reach some utopia.
Communism would become highly desirable.

~~~
einarvollset
I think I probably disagree. Hear me out.

1\. “Money” = cash. (Hard to argue with that I think)

2\. Cash is simply a more efficient means of exchange or store of value than
custom IOUs (checks basically) or barter (I need milk, you have C++ code.
Durrrr?)

I don’t think you want to take “money” out of anything if you agree that money
is the above.

That would bar the ability of people to encode trust or information or
relationships into pieces of paper (or gold or code or whatever).

(Don’t freak out: relationships are encoded on paper and in gold every day; eg
weddings)

So yeah. I think cash (and maybe debt - as per original comment) might be a
very powerful tool. Which we should be very careful with.

~~~
detcader
"The Dispossessed" by Le Guin was helpful for me to think about these
problems, which I found went deeper than I thought as a younger person.
"IOU"...who is owed? Who owes? Who needs milk?

------
lkarsten
4ksb

