Splendid is really becoming a home. If you look in the background you can see that picture frames are going up. The one on the right is an old picture of the whaling ship “Splendid”, Splendid’s name sake. The other is a small painting of a Pegasus.
Our friends Craig, Lisa, and baby Christian came over for dinner last night. We had a really good time. It’s nice to entertain on Splendid and have it feel so “homey”. We spent most of the time in the cockpit. Craig and Lisa will be sailing to the
I’ve always hated the table on Splendid and finally pulled it out yesterday. The table was too big and the pedestals constricted our legs under the table. I’m going to re-design the table with one pedestal that can easily go down as a coffee table or come up and leaf-out for dining. Once we have the side curtains for the cockpit I’m sure we will be eating outside most of the time.
Come Monday I’ll be starting work. I’ll be getting up early and working on Splendid in the morning and working at the marina in the afternoons. I hope I can actually save the money and not buy boat stuff. There are a few things I know I need, foremost is a drifter. I need a light-air sail! We also need to buy enough sunbrella for sail covers and some other materials for future projects. I’d also like to either get our refrigerator fixed or buy an Engle. There are also still some tools I’m hunting around for.
Peace everyone.
Sail far and live slowly!
– Alex
i remeber the old days when we had an ice box and had the ice delivered—-i think a refrigerator is a necessity-where wouldiikeep all the ice cream i eat–good luck on your new job and stay healthy and well–all of you–bubby
More pictures ..”PLEASE”
i know i will be seeing it when i get up there, but i want pictures of s/v aloft! i’m a sucker for boat pix.
Magnum, nice home and two beautiful girls to go with it! Exactly what kind of tools do you need, and color of sunbrella fab. I’ll need a mailing address as you’re in striking distance of the US postal service, we may have a chest refridgerator like an Engle from another boat.
Where is the non coconut liking Saigon signal flair man? dayton
Check out the website: freecycle, it is really great and I know there is one for Jacksonville, I check it eventhough I live in michigan, inlaws live in Jax. and I am a sucker for free stuff !!
The inlaws have a plant nursery on Beach Blvd. just a few hundred feet west of the ICW & Beach Blvd. called The Plant Ranch, Marilyn and Gary would do anything I ask, If you need ANYTHING let me know!!
Enjoy the area, Dean
blowinganddrifting@yahoo.com
ps. it would be cool to be able to post pics on the forums :)
Oh yeah, Alex, its not the pictures on the wall that makes it “homey” , its the pretty woman with her “touch”. You are doing what more people should do: the right thing.
Peace, Love & Coconuts with maple syrup!!
Dean
DUDE…PICTURES…PILLOWS…WHAT??? This is sailing Bro, none of that stuff here only tools, spares, and line. The plant is a nice touch. I see the girl has had influence on the decor.
boy you have great friends—-what a the plans for the girls–my sister lives on her boat with her husband–its a big one–60 feet -they are at somers point n.j. for 6 montha and then head fro florida to their home in october-not bad living
Dean,
I agree. We got 6 gallons of grape juice wine cooking tonight. Should be ready in about 5 weeks :) Yahooooo!
your spot program shows your in cali, thats not correct is it?
If you need a break from the boulevards and strip malls and have the time, motor back down to St. Auggie and drop the hook in the Salt Run for a few days. Peaceful and quiet, with the lighthouse overlooking you. I can provide taxi service when needed. I’ll be up that way next Saturday and drop by Beach if I can.
If you need a break from the boulevards and strip malls and have the time, motor back down to St. Auggie and drop the hook in the Salt Run for a few days. Peaceful and quiet, with the lighthouse overlooking you. I can provide taxi service when needed. I’ll be up that way next Saturday and drop by Beach if I can.
“Ain’t all buttons and charts, little albatross. Know what the first rule of flying is?” “…Love. Can know all the math in the ‘verse but take a boat in the air that you don’t love? She’ll shake you off just as sure as a turn in the worlds. Love keeps her in the air when she oughtta fall down…tell you she’s hurtin’ ‘fore she keels…makes her a home.”
… yes. i’m a bit of a nerd.
Amazing what a woman does for you Alex!
You beautiful people, Matty and Jaime and friends here, just checking in… We love you, miss you, sail to Cali already would you? When do you anticipate getting to the Chesapeake? Maybe we could meet you there?
Hey Alex,
After cruising with a fridge for 2 years we turned it off and for the past 2 years we have lived happily without one. To be fair there are seven of us so we eat a lot of things that others store away in a fridge (leftovers are never a worry hahaha) Rebecca cans all of our meat which has been GREAT. We would recommend that to anyone.. we just open a jar of burger or chicken and heat it up for tacos or whatever. I still miss cold drinks tho but can usually buy ice pretty cheap everywhere we go.
Captain Tofer,
I agree, I haven’t lived with a fridge since 2003 and don’t really mind it at all. I do miss cool water on a hot day but most importantly I like putting a fresh fish on ice for sashimi for the following days. I’m leaning towards getting an Engle for day to day use since we can just run it off the solar panels. I’m going to fix the big system before we cross the Pacific as I wont see a store for 3-5 months at a time. I’m going to Kirabiti this time. The country of Kirabiti will be under water in our lifetime or Guin’s and It would be really cool for us to visit it before it is gone forever. I also want to visit the Marshall islands and some more remote places.
Off to work.
Cheers.
– Alex
i’ve been living without refrigeration for about 3years now. a year and a half of that time was in an appartment and the only thing i miss is being able to freeze stuff. i have a very hefty appetite, and if i catch a large dorado, it would be nice to be able to freeze it for the days i catch nothing. if i had a fridge on the boat, i would likely put extra insulation in it and just make it a freezer. throw a couple beers in there 1/2hr before i want to drink ’em, if i felt so inclined to have cold beer.
back to blog writing and drinking coffee!
o/
-Darrin
i cant imagine living without a refrigaratorespecially with a childaboard–thetjings she will miss will be many–cold cold milk-ice cream-orange juice–no you van adjut but not fair to a child
i disagree with ya on that one a bit. i think it teaches a child a few socially responsible tidbits. if you don’t run refrigeration, with solar panels, you almost never need to run an engine, thus not using fossil fuels. then there’s the discipline of only buying fresh food that you can eat in a day or two. it may be cheaper to buy a gallon of ice cream and stow it away in the freezer, but you will eat less sugary garbage when you have to go ashore to get a small container of it. from what i’ve seen, guin eats more healthy food than any other kid i know, and doesn’t seem upset that there isn’t ice cream on the boat. it’s probably better that there isn’t. haha oddly enough, the thing she seems to like snacking on the most is oatmeal. and she seems to also prefer drinking water to high fructose corn syrup infested juice and soda. a very surprising set of values and tastes for a small child. she’s pretty bright though.
the Engel will definitely improve quality of life, and it will cost ya, as will any vice.
if i had one, i would use it, but a big adler barbour cold machine or a larger power sucking device means less money to go out and entertain yourself while in port.
i guess what i’m getting at is cold drinks and frozen fish fillets are nice, but if the pursuit of such amenities is holding you back from enjoying life, get rid of it.
that make sense?
blah.
it’s late and i’m dead from workin’ in the sun.
o/
Darrin, what’s the URL for your blog?
-Mike
Ditto that Darrin. URL?
Wow, this refrigeration thing seems to be a bid deal, I really don’t get it. Personaly I love my refrigerator/ freezer on my 85 Catalina 30, it is small but works great, any real boater will have enough power on board to operate one with no problem. Mine is old and very in-efficient but I still have no problem with it. You will have all the power you could ever need with panels and engine power.
I see it as purley personal decision. I see it better to have it and only use it when you want, than not have it al all.
Alex, it is great you will be fixing your big one before heading out.
Trying to be “green” is over rated, especially as green as “us” sailors are to start with :)
Peace, love and coconuts with maple syrup,
Dean
Blowinganddrifting,
sorry mate but the people I consider “real boaters” sailors, or world cruisers don’t have refrigeration. I’m sure well get it but its a lot lower on the priority list then a drifter ( light air sail) or additional fishing gear.
Garden,
I would have to agree with Darrin. Guin eats much healthier then she ever would with a refrigerator. She occasionally gets ice cream as a treat when we are out but we don’t believe that dairy and sugar are “healthy” additions to her daily diet. Fresh vegetables, fish, beans, are much more important. Guin has powdered organic soy milk with her cereal and prefers room temperature water to water with ice.
Sam and I don’t believe it’s “fair” to raise a child in this public school venue. I just learned yesterday that my 15 year old niece just got out of a 3 month stint in drug rehab and attends AA, she’s 15! She was in a good school system. Guin gets very attentive care nutritionally and educationally.
The American diet is the worst I’ve ever come across. It seems every nation in the world eats better then we do. We have more obesity and heart disease then any other nation I’ve visited. We are a deep fried, hi-fructose corn syrup, dairy consuming nation. Guin is also a vegetarian (by choice) and doesn’t crave hot dogs and burgers like other kids. After being out of the country for 5 years I was appalled and shocked by the amount of fast food restaurants here, I had forgotten that there is a McDonalds, Burger King, Wendie’s, Arby’s, and Taco bell on ever corner. This is not food, it is processed garbage. It also shocks me to see how much frozen food is being purchased at the super markets. If we are the richest country in the world, how is it we don’t have the time to cook well for our families?
Enough about food, I need to get some varnish on the boat before I go to work at noon.
Sail far.
– Alex
You go man, If I ever had the chance to sail the free world, I’d follow your foot steps on any giving day. The preach the truth and I’ve fallen to the waste side of American living standards. It’s so easy to stop on the way home and get fast food than to spend the time cooking. But I’ve been trying harder to change, My freinds it’s hard.
Alex, Darrin, and all you sailors of the world, hats off to you. Thanks for standing up for us, in the times we the followers are weak to the worldly trash of American living. Today, is and could be for many to change their way of living. Just try it for a week, Then drop these guys a line, after a week of eating good and living right. It’s harder than you’ll ever think. So again hats off to you that live right. What’s right you ask, well many would comment on just that. I say when you stand up straight with your back against the wall, bend you head down to look at your own feet, and you can’t see them, well I beat the one’s that can’t see their feet are the one’s that keep fast food in buss.
Sadly to say I’ve done that for so many years and I’m trying everday to change my ways and to a new life of better health. Thanks for the chance to vent, and at the end of that first week, have a cool drink by the water and make a note to your self, hay that first week wasn’t so bad after all, Then first your second week, and on and on.
It’s also nice to hear from you Darrin, you also need to ask Alex, if he’d post a few pic’s of your boat, we all must partice what we preach…Enjoy the sun, I wish I was there with you all.
Rodney,
frozen vegetables are packed as soon as they are picked and a good substitute when you cant get to a store-they also have no salt-important to us===i have never eaten in a fast food store and i agree the food is unhealthy–i believe low fat and low salt diets can be controlled by reading labels which i spend a great deal of time doing—we eat chicken and low fat beef–we eat lots of fruit and drink seltzer rather than soft drinks-we have salad most nights –some of the things you mention are unclear to me—cheers
oops, sorry, I didn’t mean to offend any ” real boaters” with the refrig. comment. I just meant most would be completely capable of powering it if needed or desired.
Now, fishing gear, I can never get enough of!!! :) The proper sails when needed: pricless.
Humbled, Dean
errr… HAI!
i didn’t mean to start a flammable argument either. i meant what i said and i meant what i said. but i did not mean to pretend i am any more of a person or sailor than anyone here.
on the contrary, i came here with no sailing experience and not a stitch of the salty facts that so many sailors love to read about. i have learned that you know about 50% of what you know and 0% of what you hear. i came in search of my dream a year and a half ago with nothing and have achieved great feats due to people like Alex and Sam(Alex and Sam specifically, but many others have helped me along the way!).
If it were not for an awkward conversation on Halloween ’08 between Alex and I, we may not be friends and may not have influenced each other’s lives in that we have. the most important FACT that i have come to learn is that you can learn something from absolutely anyone, and nothing should be taken with a grain of salt.
Dean, i did not mean to insinuate that you figured any “real sailor” could afford ” this or that”. just that life is possible, and completely endurable without refrigeration. I know you seem to be a pretty self sufficient and competant captain, but not everyone rocks the same favorite song. …and judging from your response, i know you understand what i’m trying to hammer out.
garden:
I know that there’s nothing wrong with some frozen vegetables. i was merely stating that i didn’t think that Guin’ was “missing out” on anything that wasn’t a luxury and didn’t make up for via other venues. …supplementary vitamins–if need be- dark green vegetables, beans, fish, shrimp(which she claims to love), or fruit. I may be “weird Uncle Darrin”, and have never been a real “kid person”, but i have more respect for Guin’s intelligence than I do for a great many of my own friends.
i KNOW, that with this lifestyle, she will become an amazing, intelligent, diverse, and possibly multilingual little girl due to what Sam and Alex are possibly “putting her through”– my words, not yours–. and i am envious.
I just want you to know that Guin’ is seeing, doing, and accomplishing many things that i wish i had access to when i was a child. You know she is well loved and cared for, so i found it a little insulting to read that perhaps Guin’ was being treated unfairly. i am a bit of a drama queen, and I perhaps pondificated rudely, and for this i appologize. …i guess i’ve become less of “weird uncle Darrin” and more of “protective Uncle darrin”….
what has happened to me?!
For those who were asking about my blog URL, i will post it soon. i haven’t really posted on it in a while so i need to catch up on it and make it slightly relevant. I also dont’ have a camera, so i have to show with words… makes it a little difficult for a technical vocational high school graduate.
Alex: start a new Ship’s Log, entitled Redundancy Continuum! there are big fish blowing the water right beside me, and i don’t have a spear or fishin’ pole in my hand! i suck!
-darrin
uhhh… also… alex….
where is that varnish going?
don’t start without me!
Darrin,
The varnish is gping on the cabin soul under the table which I pulled out and cutting down. Some of the floor slats were broken and I needed to epoxy them up and make them pretty. Nice satin finish on the floor, it looks nice.
is it gonna be like sitting at a japanese restaurant? great idea!
:-P