Project BlueSphere

Machico arrived on schedule. I was told that the hike to the airport was 3 hours and not to expect a ride. Coming back would not be a problem as many people would be driving back to Aunota. I left 4 hours before she arrived. I immediately got a ride and found myself at an […]

I went to town yesterday for bread and cheese. On the way I decided to stop into the police station to study a map on the wall of the island. I wanted to make sure I hitch hiked the right road to the airport today. As I was studying the map I smelled marijuana burning. […]

I did a hard days work in the blaring sun yesterday, I’m getting quite dark. I finished cleaning the water line which took a few hours. When I was about half done Aki and Massa, came to help me. With 2 extra pairs of hands it went quickly and only cost me 2 cold Guinness’s. […]

Ia Orana (Greetings) I’m amazed!!! It’s a rainy, rainy morning, but my Paypal account is shining!!! I feel like finding a grass skirt and doing the Hula on the deck this morning, I need to find a ukulele. Just yesterday I receiver subscriptions of $120.00 a month, I am really touched. Once I reach my […]

There must have been a festival or gathering last night. I fell asleep to the sound of native drums echoing off of the steep cliffs, and the smell of fire and cooked pig. It rained most of the night and I’m kicking myself for not hooking up my water catcher, I’ll do that today. Namaste […]

I went in search of internet today, I want to upload pictures. I rowed into shore before 7am. I took a shower outside watching the mist roll off of the steep cliffs. The sunlight streamed between the clouds warming my skin and the rugged green of my world burned its impression into my memory castle, […]

Today was check in day. I went to the police station to get my entry stamp and ships papers worked out (no charge). Aki was in tow and got his boat dealt with as well. After that we went shopping to get some fresh food. IT IS SOOOO BLOODY EXPENSIVE HERE!!!! A bottle of beer […]

And I don’t think it is the fact that I’ve been at sea for six weeks. Aki and his crew (Masa and Phillip) went to town with me last night. We hitch-hiked into town which is about 4 kilometers to the west. We promptly got a ride in the open bed of a passing truck. […]

Lat -9.844722 Lon -139.256389 It was a wet and squally morning. My first real dangerous thing happened just after I sent out this morning’s log. I have a self-leveling radar mount. It is connected via a stainless steel tube to the back stay. Well, the tube snapped and my radar dome went lashing back and […]

Lat -10.020556 Lon -138.768333 Not much sleep last night. I’ve been up drinking coffee all night, blaring rock and roll “Riding the storm out”, and freshly sailing on the faces of squalls. The squalls have been back to back, and the larger ones blowing over 20kts. I have no reefs in as I’m trying to […]

Lat -9.859444 Lon -137.520278 Okay so I don’t know much about electronics but I needed the phone to work, the last was a test message. I took my old broken charger from the phone and tested it’s output with a meter. The output was less then the battery output, and my battery is dead. I […]

I think y battery is shot, if you don’t see a log, don’t worry only 99 miles to go. A

Lat -9.815278 Lon -136.947778 Life’s funny. I’ve been so focused on my destination, getting there, making it, now I’m troubled at the idea of leaving the refuge of the Pacific. These past 6 weeks, protected by the isolation of the sea, have enlightened me to a few things. I may not know what I want, […]

Lat -9.911111 Lon -136.234722 Not much to report today, it has been quiet. I inflated the dink, and caught a small tuna for lunch. I’ve been very tired and unable to sleep, so much on my mind. These are the last days of this incredible passage. It’s been amazing…, and it’s been crappy…, it’s been […]

Lat -9.894444 Lon -135.588889 I came across a fishing boat last night. I saw the lights on the horizon about 23:30. I tried hailing them in French and English…, nothing. After a few I tried Spanish and got a hit. It was an Ecuadorian fishing boat ”far from home” I thought. I could see large […]

Lat -10 Lon -133.855556 I should have been focusing more on cooking during my trip. I have been all 2 willing to open a can of beans and eat it cold with a spoon or heat up a ramen. The thing is…, I’m a decent cook. Last night I made a really nice Pad Tia […]

Lat -10.128056 Lon -132.587778 398 miles to go! I feel much better today. I was having problems with blotchy vision yesterday, I think from reading so much and constant movement. Last night I focused on trying to make a nice meal. I made tortellini with olive oil, sun dried tomatoes, and parmesan. I also found […]

Lat -10.077778 Lon 131.072222 Today is a carbon copy of yesterday, and yesterday a carbon copy of the previous week. The movie “Joe verses the Volcano” comes to mind as I feel I’m suffering from a brain cloud and trapped somewhere between a life of redundant madness and the glory of the South Pacific, just […]

Lat -10.092778 Lon -129.715 I know so many sailors who brave the oceans, cry like babies when it gets bad, and then tell stories of strength “Ahhh pieceacake”, I vow not to do this. It is important to me to honestly communicate my experiences onboard my little ship, an experiment if you wish.  I always […]

Lat -10.100833 Lon -128.685278 I spent the day studying cruising guides of the South Pacific. How will I spent the next year? I have to conceder a few things in my plans. I only have 3 months in French Polynesia which includes the Marquesas Islands, the Tuamoto Archipelago, and the Society Islands which include Tahiti […]

Lat -10.064444 Lon -128.173333 And the sea iz me! They say “Like attracts like”, “if you lay down with dogs you wake up with fleas”, implying that we become like our surrounding and the people we surround ourselves with. It is surly true. I am quite careful with the company I keep, and I have […]

Lat -10.150833 Lon -126.725833 With wind comes waves, its just the way it is. My waves are coming aft of my port beam, and are 7-9 feet tall. In all the conditions I’ve experienced on this trip I’ve never been worried about the safety of myself or my boat. The waves can be HORRIBLY ANNOYING […]

Lat -10.221389 Lon -125.564167 The wind kicked up to 11-15, if it holds I’ll be looking at days over 100 miles again, 800 to go. I got a chance do some more writing on my next article; I’ll submit it to L&A shortly after I arrive in the Marquesas. Hopefully I’ll find good internet for […]

Lat -10.276389 Lon -125.045278 Well it was an interesting night. I couldn’t fall asleep so I watched part of “Pirates of the Caribbean 2”. I don’t think the island with the cannibals was shot in the Caribbean, it looked like a south pacific volcanic island to me? I probably fell asleep around midnight. Between midnight […]

Lat -10.195833 Lon -124.201389 Thank God for my drifter! I’ve had to scrape the last 100 miles off the surface of the Pacific with my fingernails. 888 miles to go! I got up this morning and Namaste was hobbling along at just over a knot. I noticed a fare amount of growth on the bottom […]

Lat -10.275833 Lon -123 I just got off the SSB and learned that there are 2 cyclones to the south of me stealing my wind. I am making way slowly at about 3 knots, 950 miles to go. I’ve been informed wind will be scarce for the next few days, hopefully back to full trade […]

Lat -10.302222 Lon -122.379722 988 miles to go, YEEEEHAAAAA! Just a warning, you’re going to have to endure more of my rambling. You must realize my logs are not only for your benefit, but are my personal diary. I took down the drifter at around ten last night. A fat rain cloud appeared, dropped three […]

Lat -10.214722 Lon -121.661944 No more then ten knots of breeze today. Most of the time it has been blowing 5-8. The drifter is up and poled out to the starboard, and the main boomed out to the port. I am sailing “wing on wing” making about 3.5 knots. I’m going to break a rule […]

Lat -10.345278 Lon -121.07 Is it just me or has anyone else noticed how ridiculous instant oatmeal is? All it is, is oats in little packages with sugar and chemical flavoring for ten times the price. It’s really not that hard to take a handful of oats and throw in a handful of nuts, raisins, […]

Lat -10.176111 Lon -120.106944 No speed records for the past few days, 90 miles yesterday, today about the same. I’m hoping for a bit more wind tomorrow. I had a fabulous nights sleep and slept past the sunrise.   Today has been 10kts from the east and blue skies. The main is up all the […]

Lat -9.9175 Lon -118.6175 The cyclone has brought me a gift…, peace. Today as how I envisioned sailing across the pacific. The sea was electric blue and the sky clear as crystal. The seas calm, and a slight breeze (8kts) pushed me along serenely. My day was timeless. I read, listened to music, played my […]

Lat -9.837222 Lon 118.109167 If you think you going to be able to come here and just read about weather conditions and how wonderful sailing is, “Wrong”, you have to endure the entire Alex Dorsey experience. A quote: “Let us conceder that we are all partially insane. It will explain us to each other. –        […]

Lat -9.634167 Lon -116.755833 I had a rough night, not because it was rough, but variable. The sails needed a lot of attention. I believe the Cyclone ahead of me is affecting the weather. Today however, I live in a miraculous world of blue. The sea is bluer then the sky and the sky is […]

Lat -9.2675 Lon -115.284167 Sailing is getting a bit trickier. I have not worried so much about direction and leaned to the south. I am now at the same latitude as Hive Oa and need to keep a sharper eye. The wind is also slowly shifting more to the east and wakening to around 11kts. […]

Lat -9.276389 Lon -114.800833 It all came full circle last night. The first sunset I’ve seen in a while appeared last night, and what a doozy it was. Namaste and I bathed in its pink light as the sea’s confusion subsided. The 8 foot waves spread apart until the motion was one of a mother […]

Lat -8.934167 Lon -113.500833 Sorry for the delay in logs I’m having comm. Problems. I caught 2 dorado yesterday, one was a bull, and the biggest I’ve ever caught. I took 8 fat fillets from him which are now on salt. Good thing too because I don’t have much of an appetite, they will last. […]

Lat -8.3175 Lon -111.105833 Today I woke to another grey day, the good news it’s not the UDC, the ceiling is high and I can still see patches of blue to the south. The wind is blowing 15 – 18 from the SSE. Last night I wanted to make nice pasta in celebration of escaping […]

Lat -8.000833 Lon -109.700833 All sailors know of the ITCZ (Inter Tropical Convergence Zone) or simply better known as “The Doldrums”. I have made a new discovery…, the UDC (The Uber-Death Cloud), or perhaps I’ll call it Viento Pegasoso (The sticky wind (in Spanish)), and no I can’t spell in Spanish, or English for that […]

Lat -7.7675 Lon -109.150833 Nothing like a good nightmare to put things in perspective. RIPPLE EFFECT, FADE TO DREAM SEQUANCE: I was wearing my black Armani (Still have it in Maryland) and I was having chocolate martinis with KC and the Sunshine Band at the Olive in Santa Monica. I ordered some calamari rings “man, […]

Lat -7.4675 Lon -107.9675 Water dripped into my nav-monitor, it is shorting out. I use this computer for communications and navigation. I hope I can continue to get blogs out. In a worse case scenario I can try to get everything loaded on my laptop and blog and navigate from it. Damn the rain, I […]

Lat -7.3675 Lon -107.3175 April fools! Rain rain go away come back some other day! Last night about 03:00 I woke to a strange sound. I could not tell what it was as it woke me up. A few minutes later I heard it again. A double key click from the VHF. I jumped up […]