During these dark. wintry days, owning a boat feels like an exercise in wildly misplaced optimism. It is really hard to get any kind of boat project started.  I visit the boat often but usually I just want to find a warm place for a nap. I’ll putter in the shop, check the bilges and ports, making a general inspection in the unceasing war against moisture in all its nefarious forms and then check out the aft cabin berth for a little snooze.

Winter napping territory

But today we received a gift that lifted our wintry spirits and move us that much closer to making the dream real.  Some former slip mates of ours contacted us and asked if we would be interested in some cruising guides for the Baja. We had only met Tim and Sharon once or twice when we first brought Galapagos up from Astoria.  Currently they cruise locally on an Ocean Alexander. But for years they sailed a Tayana 37 up and down the west coast, from Alaska to Central America.

Baja Bound

Now that they are cruising locally Tim and Sharon are paring down their library. Tim recalled our cunning plans and contacted us through the marina office.  Since we had only been slip mates for a few weeks, I was touched that he had recalled our plan and taken the effort to find us.  In short order I was down at his boat, the recipient of several cruising guides for the Baja and even further south.  As important, Tim and Sharon shared stories and advice about their time in Mexico. We talked about equipment, anchoring strategies and the vagaries of living in a foreign country.

While I remain touched by Tim and Sharon’s generosity, it isn’t too surprising. Cruisers seem to have an innate desire to share their resources and expertise. It is an extension of the implicit obligation that all mariners will render aid to those in need.  While we usually think of this obligation in terms of saving a ship or rescuing a sailor gone overboard, the impulse to support one another is manifested in less dramatic ways. Melissa and I take that obligation seriously and consider our ability to help others one of the great pleasures of sailing.

So, thank you Tim and Sharon. Your gifts will go a long way towards keeping our dreams alive during these wintry months and beyond until we pass them on to another sailor in need.

When we bought Galapagos last year, we were left with a number of items that we hoped to sell on Craigslist. One such item is the old transmission. I don’t know if you have priced a marine transmission lately but they can be really expensive and frankly I would be happy for any amount of money to have it out of my garage.

So on to Craigslist it went. And stayed. And Stayed. I’ve had a few nibbles but usually it just isn’t the right part. But then Joe came along. Joe really wanted to buy my transmission. He wanted this transmission so badly, that he didn’t haggle, didn’t ask any questions about it and possibly doesn’t know what a transmission is. In short, Joe is running a classic scam in which he offers to buy something for well over its asking price or, in Joe’s case, inadvertently sends more than the asking price and then requests that you send the balance back to him.

I sometimes find these scams a pleasant diversion. I was interested in Joe’s deal because he initiated contact via instant messaging and he wanted to send me a Money Order. As in through the mail. That seemed rather quaint and also a federal offense that can be investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspectors. It is unlikely that Joe is in this country but I bet some of his associates are and I am hopeful they will be having a chat with the authorities soon.

To create the right conditions for a fruitful relationship with a scammer, I have created an alter ego, Merlin Gnatluster.  Think of Merlin as that trusting and optimistic soul you wish  could exist in the world without being preyed upon. He always wants to do the right thing and he is extremely helpful. He wants to get to know people at a level that is uncommon in the digital world. Also Merlin wants this transaction to succeed as much as Joe does but sometimes he just doesn’t have all the tools he needs.

Below is a transcript from Merlin’s conversation with Joe. It is long so feel free to skim. Be sure to check out the “Money Gram” Joe mailed to Merlin.

In order to present the conversation in a readable format reminiscent of a chat session, I have used some CSS that may not render perfectly in older browsers. I have tested it in the latest versions of Chrome, Mozilla and Internet Explorer and it looks great. Older browsers, especially Internet Explorer may not work well.

My comments on the proceedings are in italics. Notice that there is an inner scroll bar just for the conversation.

I would like to provide attribution for some of the technology that permitted me to capture and present the conversation above:

OXSDaily.com on how to pull SMS messaging from the Iphone using SQL-Lite: http://osxdaily.com/2010/07/08/read-iphone-sms-backup/

Nicholas Gallagher’s CSS work to build Speech Bubbles: http://nicolasgallagher.com/pure-css-speech-bubbles/