# mast (blogs) — RSS Amplifier Recent posts from the 3 feeds in the RSS Amplifier directory that cover mast. Page: Feed: --- ## [Practitioner Tip: Histamine's 4 Jobs (Pt 3): Your Brain, Sleep, Mood, and More](https://mastcell360.substack.com/p/practitioner-tip-histamines-4-jobs-part-3) _2026-08-19 · The MCAS Community by Mast Cell 360_ Did you know your brain makes its own histamine? In Part 3, we’re looking at what histamine does in the brain and how it may relate to circadian rhythm, anxiety, memory, and more. ## [Understanding Fascia,MCAS & Essential Oils](https://mastcell360.substack.com/p/understanding-fasciamcas-and-essential) _2026-08-18 · MastCell360 · The MCAS Community by Mast Cell 360_ 💪Your Issues Really Might Be in Your Tissues ## [Live STARTING NOW! —](https://mastcell360.substack.com/p/live-starting-now-3ba) _2026-08-17 · Mast Cell 360 · The MCAS Community by Mast Cell 360_ Join us live and bring your questions! ## [What Is Mast Cell Activation Syndrome?](https://fgergitsdo.substack.com/p/what-is-mast-cell-activation-syndrome) _2026-08-17 · Airway & Sinus Wellness Review_ A snowball rolling off a high mountain. The trigger is small. What it becomes on the way down is the problem. ## [MCAS Monday – Issues in Your Tissues: Understanding Fascia, MCAS, & Essential Oils](https://mastcell360.substack.com/p/mcas-monday-issues-in-your-tissues) _2026-08-17 · The MCAS Community by Mast Cell 360_ This week, we're digging into fascia. From the trauma it can hold to the oils that can help release it. Plus, a fresh dressing for your salads. ## [Could A Free Strategy Session About Your MCAS Change Everything?](https://mastcell360.substack.com/p/could-a-free-strategy-session-about-your-mcas-change-everything) _2026-08-14 · Mast Cell 360 · The MCAS Community by Mast Cell 360_ One live webinar. Three FREE 1-on-1 Strategy Sessions with an MC360® Health Coach are up for grabs (a $399 value). Here's how to get in the room. ## [Can MCAS Cause Chronic Congestion and Post-Nasal Drainage?](https://fgergitsdo.substack.com/p/can-mcas-cause-chronic-congestion) _2026-08-14 · Airway & Sinus Wellness Review_ Mast cell mediators can drive congestion and drainage — but the diagnosis lives outside the nose and is harder to prove than most expect. ## [Practitioner Tip: Histamine's 4 Jobs (Pt 2): H2 Receptors, Heart Function, Digestion, and Metabolism](https://mastcell360.substack.com/p/practitioner-tip-histamines-4-jobs-part-2) _2026-08-12 · The MCAS Community by Mast Cell 360_ You may know that histamine affects stomach acid. Here's a fuller picture of what it does. ## [Steps to Stabilization: Cleaning Up Environmental Mast Cell Triggers](https://mastcell360.substack.com/p/steps-to-stabilization-cleaning-up) _2026-08-11 · MastCell360 · The MCAS Community by Mast Cell 360_ Make your home part of your healing team! ## [Live STARTING NOW! —](https://mastcell360.substack.com/p/live-starting-now-c77) _2026-08-10 · Mast Cell 360 · The MCAS Community by Mast Cell 360_ Join us live and bring your questions! ## [World's cheapest GPUs, deployed fast (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/ObBtjxtZgfPq) _2026-08-10 · **Sponsored**_ Deploy a live GPU-backed API in minutes for under $10 ## [MCAS Monday – Stabilization Steps: Cleaning Up Environmental Mast Cell Triggers](https://mastcell360.substack.com/p/mcas-monday-stabilization-steps) _2026-08-10 · The MCAS Community by Mast Cell 360_ This week: join our live Q&A and your last chance to get our updated supplements master class before the price goes up! ## [This Coconut Cream Sauce Turns Plain Chicken Into a Thai-Inspired Meal](https://mastcell360.substack.com/p/low-histamine-coconut-cream-sauce) _2026-08-07 · Mast Cell 360 · The MCAS Community by Mast Cell 360_ A dairy-free, low histamine sauce you can use with almost any protein or veggie. Plus the real story on what makes a sauce low histamine friendly. ## [Is It Allergies or MCAS? How an ENT Tells the Difference](https://fgergitsdo.substack.com/p/is-it-allergies-or-mcas-how-an-ent) _2026-08-07 · Airway & Sinus Wellness Review_ They can look identical in the exam room — but they respond to completely different treatments. Getting this distinction right is what changes the trajectory. ## [Mistakes were made](https://boat.karlnelson.net/posts/84-mistakes/) _2026-07-25 · Building a Beg-Meil_ Woodworking is rife with clichés (“measure twice, cut once”). I’ve heard these more than once: Your IQ drops 50 points when the glue bottle is open. The mark of a craftsman is how they recover from a mistake. Here’s a little story that involves both of these. As you may recall, I recently glued the garboard planks to the keelson. Turns out I made a mistake, and one of the… ## [The garboard planks](https://boat.karlnelson.net/posts/83-garboards/) _2026-07-19 · Building a Beg-Meil_ The garboard planks are the two closest to the keel, or in this case, on top of the keel. Since the boat is planked upside down, these are the first two planks to go on the boat. The planks, in case you forgot, are made of marine-grade plywood. A sheet of plywood is about 8 feet long and the boat is 14 feet long, that means that each plank comes in two pieces that need to get joined. ## [Is Mast Cell Activation Syndrome the Reason Why Your Sinuses Never Fully Clear?](https://fgergitsdo.substack.com/p/is-mast-cell-activation-syndrome) _2026-07-17 · Airway & Sinus Wellness Review_ When your immune system reacts to everything and nothing explains why, the answer may be inside the cells designed to protect you. ## [Can Allergies Cause Sinus Infections?](https://fgergitsdo.substack.com/p/can-allergies-cause-sinus-infections) _2026-07-13 · Airway & Sinus Wellness Review_ Yes — and the connection is more direct and more damaging than most patients have ever been told. Understanding it changes how both conditions need to be treated. ## [Is Afrin Safe to Use for Sinus Congestion?](https://fgergitsdo.substack.com/p/is-afrin-safe-to-use-for-sinus-congestion) _2026-07-10 · Airway & Sinus Wellness Review_ For three to five days — yes. After that, it stops relieving congestion and starts causing it. Here is exactly what happens, and what to do instead. ## [What Is the Best Nasal Spray for Sinus Problems?](https://fgergitsdo.substack.com/p/what-is-the-best-nasal-spray-for) _2026-07-09 · Airway & Sinus Wellness Review_ The answer depends on what is driving your symptoms — but for most patients, the evidence points clearly to one category of spray as the starting point. ## [Why Do My Ears Feel Clogged? Understanding Eustachian Tube Dysfunction](https://fgergitsdo.substack.com/p/why-do-my-ears-feel-clogged-understanding) _2026-07-08 · Airway & Sinus Wellness Review_ That persistent feeling of fullness, muffled hearing, or popping in your ears is rarely an ear problem. It almost always starts in the nose. ## [8.1% APY Plus Free Stock (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/hlxpR1Y45mSz) _2026-07-08 · **Sponsored**_ Claim 8.1% APY and up to $1,030 in SK hynix and Nvidia stock. ## [Can Air Pollution Cause Sinus Disease?](https://fgergitsdo.substack.com/p/can-air-pollution-cause-sinus-disease) _2026-07-07 · Airway & Sinus Wellness Review_ Yes — and the data is more specific and more alarming than most patients realize. Here is what the research shows and why it matters especially for patients in the Phoenix and Scottsdale area. ## [What Causes Chronic Post-Nasal Drip — and How Do You Stop It?](https://fgergitsdo.substack.com/p/what-causes-chronic-post-nasal-drip) _2026-07-06 · Airway & Sinus Wellness Review_ Chronic post-nasal drip has multiple distinct causes — and the treatment depends entirely on which one is driving yours. Here is how to tell the difference. ## [Beveling the keel](https://boat.karlnelson.net/posts/82-beveling-the-keel/) _2026-06-21 · Building a Beg-Meil_ Before I can think about fitting the garboard planks, I need to bevel the keel so the planks fit at just the right angle. To prepare for this, I watched an Off Center Harbor video ($) from Geoff Kerr’s Caledonia Yawl series. The Caledonia Yawl is a larger boat, but the the construction process (glued lapstrake; plywood) is pretty similar. A few minutes into the video, Kerr says “if you… ## [Gluing the keel](https://boat.karlnelson.net/posts/81-gluing-the-keel/) _2026-05-31 · Building a Beg-Meil_ In our last episode, I’d expressed some concern about the springback in the keel impacting the alignment of the transom, at least until I was able to add the sheer clamps and planking, which should lock everything into place. I came up with something to hopefully address this concern: a simple ratchet strap. I looped the strap around the building frame and through the opening in the stem… ## [Working on the keel, case logs, and other assorted pieces](https://boat.karlnelson.net/posts/80-working-on-the-keel/) _2026-05-25 · Building a Beg-Meil_ It’s been about a month and half since my last update on this site. Progress has not been rapid. Mostly, that’s because I’ve been scared overly prudent. I’d argue that it is wise to be careful before breaking out the epoxy and doing something that’d be complicated to walk back. But, I’ll also admit that the complexity of this phase of the build has me doing more… ## [Steam bending the sheer clamps](https://boat.karlnelson.net/posts/79-steam-bending-clamps/) _2026-04-13 · Building a Beg-Meil_ Boatbuilding can be a solitary affair. As a bit of an introvert myself, this doesn’t necessarily bother me. But, from time to time, it is nice to have a few extra hands on hand. With that in mind, it’s been fun to be joined by my brother, nephew, and father on a few recent occasions. About a month ago, they helped to plane down some 1x2 Doug Fir that’ll make up the the sheer… ## [Keel, part 3](https://boat.karlnelson.net/posts/78-keel-part-3/) _2026-03-29 · Building a Beg-Meil_ As a part of dry fitting the keel to the boat prior to breaking out the epoxy and doing anything permanent, I decided I needed to steam bend the aft portion of the keel. As you can see in the plans below, the keel (which is about an inch thick piece of Doug Fir) takes quite the downward bend from the middle of the boat to the transom. I clamped the keel to the centerboard case (and to the stem,… ## [Keel, part 2](https://boat.karlnelson.net/posts/77-keel-part-2/) _2026-03-24 · Building a Beg-Meil_ I have a t-shirt that has the old saying “measure twice, cut once” on it. That’s decent advice, but I’m finding myself measuring a lot more than twice before I get out the saw. To start with, in the cliffhanger to the last episode, I’d determined where to cut the centerboard case, but hadn’t yet worked up the nerve to actually cut it. Since then, I’ve made… ## [Keel, part 1](https://boat.karlnelson.net/posts/76-keel-part-1/) _2026-03-04 · Building a Beg-Meil_ Let’s talk about the keel. This boat actually has two “keels,” plus a couple of bilge keels. But let’s ignore those bilge keels for now. The two keels are an inner keel and a “false keel”. The inner keel is just called the “keel” in the plans, although an inner keel is often called a keelson. Since Vivier refers to it as the keel, I’ll stick… ## [Boat Shaped Object](https://boat.karlnelson.net/posts/75-boat-shaped-object/) _2026-02-16 · Building a Beg-Meil_ Over the years(!) that I’ve been working on the project, people often ask me “how’s the boat going?” And for most of those years, I haven’t had anything that looked vaguely like a boat. I’ve had big sticks (the spars). I’ve had a collection of parts in a pile, and some of them were even recognizable as boat parts. It always felt a bit silly to talk about… ## [Open this .onion address (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/iyAJch2UnbqA) _2026-02-16 · **Sponsored**_ Access 7btj5kisrpopxjkhmcugbiygfk2xd6op3ta7whfrmxxrldyrlh5b5zad.onion using a Tor browser. ## [Detour: Magnetic Planing Guide](https://boat.karlnelson.net/posts/74-magnetic-planing-guide/) _2026-02-01 · Building a Beg-Meil_ I promise I’ll get back to talking about the boat build soon. (There has been some progress, albeit modest.) In the meantime, I have yet another side quest to share with you. I was mostly motivated by wanting a little project I could complete quickly, and I’d had my eye on a contraption described in an article from the WoodenBoat Skills site: A Magnetic Lap-Planing Guide .… ## [Detour: Little Free Library](https://boat.karlnelson.net/posts/73-little-free-library/) _2026-01-19 · Building a Beg-Meil_ It’s been a couple of months since I’ve made progress on the boat, but I have a good excuse. My wife asked me to build a little free library. (It was originally designed as a Christmas gift, but here we are in mid-January!) I’m not going to do a blow-by-blow recap of the build. Mostly because I didn’t take pictures during the build and the build itself isn’t that… ## [Ohio Tool Works No. 3 Smooth Plane](https://boat.karlnelson.net/posts/72-coffin-smoother/) _2025-11-08 · Building a Beg-Meil_ At a recent family gathering, my father’s cousin Stu slipped me an object in a brown paper bag. Contrary to the opinion of some observers, the bag didn’t contain a bottle of hootch. Instead it was an old hand plane. Stu’s father and grandfather had run construction companies, as has Stu, and he found this plane amongst the old tools. Knowing that I’m a woodworker, he passed… ## [The curious case of bulkhead #2](https://boat.karlnelson.net/posts/71-bulkhead-2/) _2025-10-22 · Building a Beg-Meil_ Let me regale you with a story of bulkhead number 2. (This may be more interesting to people who are actually building Beg Meil. In fact, I write this mostly in hopes that it makes it easier for future builders.) A few things that are helpful to know: Each of the bulkheads is numbers, with station 1 being near the transom (stern), and station 8 near the stem (front). So, the bulkhead in question… ## [Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival](https://boat.karlnelson.net/posts/70-wooden-boat-festival/) _2025-09-08 · Building a Beg-Meil_ Last Friday I took the day off and crossed the Puget Sound to head to Port Townsend, WA. Port Townsend hosts one of the largest gatherings of wooden boats and wooden boat people in their annual Wooden Boat Festival. I don’t have any profound insights to share, other than there are a lot of really wonderful wooden boats out there and I had a great time looking at them. So, instead, I’ll… ## [A matter of spacing](https://boat.karlnelson.net/posts/69-spacing/) _2025-08-21 · Building a Beg-Meil_ Sometimes I wonder who I’m writing these posts for. Every writer needs to have an audience in mind while they write, so who am I writing for? On one level, I’m writing for me, to create a record of the project. I’m also writing for friends and family who are interested in keeping up with the project, or want a little more detail about how the build is progressing. Even so, I… ## [Some additions to the frame, and starting to stand up bulkhead supports](https://boat.karlnelson.net/posts/68-bulkheads/) _2025-08-17 · Building a Beg-Meil_ More thinking about precision In the last post, I talked a bit about precision. I’m going to continue the theme here as I start to stand up the bulkhead supports. One of the keys is to make sure each bulkhead is placed at exactly the right spot. To do this, I decided to buy a couple of stick-on measuring tapes. I used FastCap’s Peel & Stick measuring tapes, which weren’t too… ## [Building the frame](https://boat.karlnelson.net/posts/67-frame/) _2025-08-08 · Building a Beg-Meil_ You may have already figured this out, but one does not simply build a boat on the ground. You need some sort of a platform or frame. And, so, I’ve built a frame to build the boat. The frame is just over 15 feet long, so I picked up some 16 foot 2x6 boards. While one could have joined a couple of 8 foot boards together, it just seemed easier to buy the longer boards from the get-go. ## [A varnish plan](https://boat.karlnelson.net/posts/66-varnish-test/) _2025-08-04 · Building a Beg-Meil_ After a little more research, I’ve decided that varnish-over-epoxy is the way to go for the transom. West Systems (which is my epoxy brand of choice) has a nice article on the topic: “Varnish Over Epoxy”. Having some sort of “official” indication that this is valid choice is helpful. I also uncovered a few old threads on the WoodenBoat forum on the topic. The… ## [More on encapsulation](https://boat.karlnelson.net/posts/65-encapsulation/) _2025-07-13 · Building a Beg-Meil_ At this point, I’ve precoated most of the bulkheads with epoxy, but I was worried about the end grain. Not all the end grain, as a lot of it will eventually get glued to other pieces (planks, deck, etc.), but especially the tie-down holes and the limber holes. Both will have the opportunity to come into contact with water on a regular basis, and I figured that a few coats of epoxy… ## [Stem + Bulkhead 8](https://boat.karlnelson.net/posts/64-stem_assembly/) _2025-06-08 · Building a Beg-Meil_ I’m still spending most of my time encapsulating various bulkhead parts with epoxy. It looks like this: And this: I don’t have quite enough bench space (even temporary benches, like these) to do all the parts at once, so I’m rotating through them, and trying to give all the pieces three coats with some light sanding between coats. I’m also trying to hit exposed end grain –… ## [The grind, or Assembling the frame parts](https://boat.karlnelson.net/posts/63-frame-parts/) _2025-05-24 · Building a Beg-Meil_ Look, it ain’t all going to be exciting. Sometimes you just have to grind. I’m in a phase of the project that is turning out to be a bit of a grind. It’s not bad, but it isn’t particularly interesting. There’s no glamorous-looking curly shavings of clear wood. No carefully chiseling away wood to get the perfect fit. And no novel problems to ponder. And there… ## [Centerboard case](https://boat.karlnelson.net/posts/62-centerboard-case/) _2025-05-03 · Building a Beg-Meil_ There’s a notion in technology management spaces (where I spend my working life) of “one-way doors” and “two-way doors.” A one-way door represents a decision that isn’t easily reversible, whereas a two-way door is one where, if you don’t like what you see when you walk through the door, you can turn back around. As I prepared to epoxy the centerboard case… ## [The stem](https://boat.karlnelson.net/posts/61-stem/) _2025-04-18 · Building a Beg-Meil_ “From stem to stern.” The last few posts have been pretty stern-focused, so now it’s time to talk stem (aka, the front of the boat, or bow). On the Beg-Meil, there are actually two stems. There’s an inner stem, where the planks actually land, and what Vivier calls the “false stem,” which is the part you’ll actually see. The inner stem is made up of three… ## [Transom Redo, Part II](https://boat.karlnelson.net/posts/60-transom-part-ii/) _2025-04-13 · Building a Beg-Meil_ It turns out that the hard part was getting the board prepared because these last steps were pretty straightforward, and not too time-consuming. To be fair, having the transom already cut out in plywood made the process much easier. The plywood transom came in two layers (which were to be glued together) – an inner layer with a mortise for the stern post, and an outer layer. The outer layer is a… ## [Transom Redo, Part I](https://boat.karlnelson.net/posts/59-transom-part-i/) _2025-04-09 · Building a Beg-Meil_ In my last post on the transom, I detailed the issues I’d had with the first attempt a gluing up a “blank” to cut the transom from. I basically made three mistakes in the process: I started with 4/4 lumber, which ended up a bit too thin once I’d milled up the stock. I used a really wide board, which ended up cupping a bit, even after I’d milled it flat. ## [Thinking about power](https://boat.karlnelson.net/posts/58-power/) _2025-03-04 · Building a Beg-Meil_ I’ve recently started to think about power. Specifically, auxiliary power. Of course, the sails are the primary power source. And I figured that I’d include oars as a backup. But, the Beg-Meil is, I think, a bit heavy to be great under oars. So, I’ve been planning on some sort of electric motor, too. I’d also figured that this was a topic I could push off until farther in… ## [Transom trouble](https://boat.karlnelson.net/posts/57-transom-trouble/) _2025-02-21 · Building a Beg-Meil_ As I hope I’ve made clear on this site, I’m very much still learning boatbuilding and woodworking. And when you’re learning, you make mistakes. It’s just a part of the process. So, I thought it’d be illustrative for me to narrate my latest mistake. In the last post I outlined my plan to make the transom out of solid wood instead of plywood. More experienced… ## [Transom planning](https://boat.karlnelson.net/posts/56-transom-planning/) _2025-02-11 · Building a Beg-Meil_ I an earlier post, I mentioned that Vivier specified “marine sapele” plywood for the sheet with the rudder and transom parts. None of the suppliers I checked had sapele plywood, at least not anyone local, so this sheet, along with the rest of the sheetings, is okoume. Now, okoume is a softer wood. (Not a softwood. It’s a hardwood. Believe it or not, hardwoods can be soft and… ## [Precoating the plywood parts](https://boat.karlnelson.net/posts/55-precoating/) _2025-02-10 · Building a Beg-Meil_ The thing about building a boat like this is that there aren’t super detailed step-by-step instructions. On the scale from “building Ikea furniture” to “you’re totally on your own,” this process lands closer to “on your own” than to Ikea. (To be fair, it’s still somewhat at the mid-point, although leaning to the right.) I am, however,…