I’m really happy to be delivering a boat this week, and another in mid-October. I really want to stash as much cash as I can into the cruising kitty before Splendid sails in a few months. If anyone has any delivery work or boat projects they need help with please let me know. I have friends who are pilots and have free airfare available to me and can travel around the country.
I’m bringing the Spot and will run it during my delivery from the Chesapeake to Jersey city, keep an eye on it.
As you guys know I’m crazy into green power. Sam, Guin and myself live almost 100% on it these days. I still don’t have a wind generator but it’s coming soon. I often think ‘What will I do on cloudy, non-windy days’. Well I’ve found the answer and I’m really excited about it. As you know I carry 2 bikes on board and have often wondered how to convert the bike power to electricity. It’s not a complicated thing but maximizing the power output is. I’ve found the answer. Check out:
http://pedalpowergenerator.com/index.html
I’m thinking of demonstrating it at the Annapolis boat show this year.
I have read so many articles over the years about exercising onboard, well here is the best option. You can exercise your way to cold beer and natural power, how can you beat that?
Cheers everyone.
Peace, Love, and pedal power.
Sail far and live slowly.
– Alex
Published in Alex Dorsey
Bad ass.
AAWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Em and I love green power, I wish everyone was into green porer as you are. Hope to see you at the boat show this year.
Cheers
Chris and Em
Alex – Not sure if this is a pay position on the crew or not but might be a good contact.
http://www.anything-sailing.com/showthread.php?t=3794
Cheers
John
KLOOSH
Glad to hear the updates,but I must be honest here, I really miss the old Alex, sailing around the world, I miss coming into work, quite in the morning just to read or even see an updated video, ( Which I see very little these days). I’m not here to bust your balls, but I really feel that this web site has made a turn to just everday living on a sail boat. Many people live on a sail boat, but not many sail around the world or even 100 miles away from the home port. Alex you’ve set our dreams free for years, when you hit the big waters, you brighten up our mornings to carry us thru them with words like a song. I must say I miss them, I miss you and Darrin working together, it seems that, that relationship is slowing drifting apart, as I read in the pass logs. You both seem to be taking a different road. Life as many turns and I know your on your on, doing what you see fit to do, And I say go for it, but for us that will never get a chance to see the big waters, live the life you do, because of health or money season or what ever, I say Where is the old ALEX..I see the spot, but I don’t see the man…
Sail on my friend sail on…My days are numbered on this earth, so I’m trying to live them in every way this body allow me too. I’ve enjoyed the last few years of your logs, I’ve laughed, I cried, I’ve even dreamed and I’ll task them with me where ever I get to go. May your dreams set you free, and may you touch others as you did me…I must go now..See you on the other side. Man your DVD’s rock, I’ll show them as long as I can see. It good to know that thru a web site I found a man with a dream and now he’s living it. To those like myself that my never get to fullfill dreams like ALex, I say read every lasy log, watch every last video, and take a moment to look at every picture this man, we know as Alex as done, and you’ll see GOd is in this place. Very tried now, So what did you once say at the end of your logs:
Peace, Love, & Coconuts everyone.
Alex,
Yes green is the way to go .They are having a “green fest” in washington the same weekend as the boat show http://www.greenfestivals.org/..So that was my way of saying to my wife “We will be in the area why not stop over to the boat show” WOO HOO it worked :-)…Will you be there all weekend or just a day or two? The bike idea can work and has ,Ed Begley jr (www.livingwithed.net/) has been using it for years. He jokes around saying as he is exercising he is making toast with the electricity so it would be a great idea for the boat. O when can we start seeing more vids?
Hope all is well
Cheers
John
Hey Alex, speaking of green power, have you considered building a shaft alternator for longer passages? I think if you do it right, you can get about 10amps out of them, consistently, so downwind in cloud it’ll give you 200amphrs a day ( all you really need i think)
I’m thinking of one on Emerald, with a 12v electromagnetic clutch from a car airconditioning unit at a scrap yard and wired so that it automatically disconnects when you turn on the engine. Haven’t finalised the pieces yet but will blog it once I’ve worked it out.
cheers
colin
Alex,
I’ve been reading your blog and comparing your experience to my own. I lived on a Flicka for about two years and a large part off the grid. it was simple. An ice box. A two burner keresone stove with an improvised dutch oven for baking bread. Cooling was via the wind scoop. Two small solar panels charged the batteries and that was all the juice we had. We spent much of the time cruising the bahamas. I remember talking to people on bigger boats with bigger systems who were always dealing with a mechanical break down of some sort. They were penned in by their stuff, and it seems like you’re going down the same road. Keep it simple and sweet and sail, sail, sail. That’s what I liked. And then dropping the anchor in nice spot and taking a little swim to dive down and make sure the anchor was set. Catching grunts and processing coconuts. It was fun. That said, I’m sure Splendid is Splendid. But I’ve been reading for a year and I have to read a desciption of invigorating sail on a beam reach…………..
best – valker
Hey Alex
Pedaling up a bunch of amp hours might be great exercise if you have nothing else to do but really Alex, let’s do the math:
You’re going to burn approx .24 calories of fuel per second to produce 1 watt. A healthy person in great shape can produce 250 watts (About 1/3rd horsepower) for around 30 minutes before they fall off the bike. We’ll assume for the moment you fall into that category (Heh Heh!). Sam is going to bust her … to try to keep up or do better, so taking into account the oppressive East coast muggy heat, mechanical inefficiencies of your system and whether or not you make Guinn pedal her little heart out (they’re not really gonna do that Bubby). You guys might be able to produce around 300 watts over an hour which is 300 watt hours or around 25 amp hours stuffed back into yer 12v battery. That’s a total of 129,600 calories or 130 food calories per person. The human body is about 25% efficient when bicycling so you will have burned about 520 calories each (this is a helluva good workout!!) You guys will have earned those cold brewskies. And for what it’s worth, you will have to ingest around 7 bottles (less if imported) of this golden elixer to replenish the fuel you have burned. This’ll cost you around $3.85(more if imported).
Alternativly a 100 amp alternator strapped to your little Chinese jenny would do the same job in 15 minutes using around 7 oz of diesel. Costing around $.22 cents.
Hmmmm, I wonder which method would produce the most greenhouse gas
Just a thought
Tony
http://www.sailblogs.com/member/bccjunessa/ to all the cruisers out there here is another great site to check out. Alex what does your delivery weathe look like
Tony, it’s not about the cost brother, its about getting good exercise and producing some power. We should be riding a bike and exercising well everyday anyway. exercising and producing power, positive or negative? Buying a crappy Chinese generator and burning fossil fuel, positive or negative?
Cheers.
I have to admit it too. I do miss the adventures from abroad, the pictures, the videos. I am hopeful that these will return soon. That being said, I know that you will know when you’re ready to pull anchor, then and only then should you shove off.
The pedal power sounds like a total boon doggle to me. While Splendid is a much larger vessel than Nemaste, I can’t believe that you are going to want to have a stationary bike set up in the cabin of the boat to generate relatively meager amps of power. Your efforts will be much better rewarded with additional solar, and a taff rail generator. But, the taff rail generator won’t do you a bit of good while you are at anchor.
Good luck on your deliveries, I am wishing you nothing but the best.
Ross
Ross,
It’s not a stationary bike, it’s a trainer for one of the two bikes I already carry.
Trust me I miss the adventures as well, a lot more than you guys do. That being said it’s taken a lot of blood, sweat and tears to put Splendid together. I’ll be leaving in a few months so I guess we’ll just all have to wait. I don’t expect Splendid will be returning any time soon either. I’m off to start the delivery tomorrow. Rock hall to the C&D canal, C&D to Cape May, Cape May to Atlantic City. Atlantic city to Manasquan, Manasquan to Jersey city.
Man I hope I get a break on the weather. I’m looking at lots of head wind, ARRGGG!
Cheers.
Hey Alex,
It was meant to be kindof a joke Dude.
Sheesh!!
But for the record, the second alternative is probably more on the positive side for the Chinese and the Opec folks (Smiley face here)
Bon voyage my friend
Tony
It’s all good Tony.
I just really want to be rid of depending on fuel. I hope to minimize it as much as possible.
I also want to get rid of my inflatable and replace it with a good sailing & rowing dinghy. It’s just the way I am, personal choice and all that.
Cheers.
It sounds like you are trying to become the master of your own reality. Keeping everything ‘in house’ so you have to depend on the outside world as little as possible. Controlling everything except the wind, waves and weather.
I dunno, but last time I checked, that made you a cool a** mother ……
Now if you could just have an onboard garden with lots of tomato and cucumber plants you would be all set.
Chris and emily
I have a set of really, really big oars I could send you for Splendid when there is no wind, and you could hook up the bike to the prop shaft so you could row or pedal her !! (just being funny)
Peace, love and a paycheck!! Dean
Go to you tube and search hydroponics & sailboat.
Some guy made a hydro system on a sailboat that suspends from ropes so it stays level & uses air pressure to water.
Fairly ingenous vegtable farm at a minimal cost.
Good luck on the delivery, and safe passages. Sounds like a great trip. We will watch for you on the spot.
Ross
You guys may laugh but I’ve met plenty of sailors with no other means of propulsion than a sculling oar off the back of the boat. These are the guys I aspire to be like. Less is more :)
As far as a garden it’s already in the works. I’m going to build window box type planters for Sam. We usually have an herb plant or two around. It’s really nice to have fresh herbs (Basil/Rosemary) with meals.
All is good with the delivery. I put in a few hours today and am anchored in the sassafras river in the north western Chesapeake.
Cheers
I used to be a bike messenger, and would pedal my ass off for 9hrs/day, and clock in between 50 and 70 miles a day. i could sit on one of those things for hours, if need be.
maybe i’ll make one if i get bored enough some day.
Hello from Montana, the Big Sky Country!! I believe the boat your delivering in October belongs to my son. He’s pretty excited about the trip and I’m hoping to be able to follow the trip from high in the mountains near Glacier National Park. He’s a pilot and works for the best airline in the U.S.
Happy Sailing
LoisAnn
Pedal Power Is good for emergency backup when it’s cloudy or dark, and not windy, and you need a good workout right? Also – since many people already exercise and we already breath 24-7 it’s not like we’re adding a hole bunch more CO2 then normal right?