The list of “must’dos” is dwindling and the anticipation of points south is on the tip of our fantasies. The other day Guin was walking around the cabin in her snorkle and mask. I cant wait to swim with her every day and teach her about fish.
I bought Sam a big 22 quart pressure canner today ($30 on Craig’s list). She also found a recipe for one of my favorite Ukrainian childhood dishes, ikra. It’s an eggplant spread, soooo yummy! Sam made a batch today and it really set me back a few years. I had a bit of a reality slam. I stepped in the boat and the air smelled of my childhood. Sam and Guin were playing the wizard of oz and i had to stop myself and hold back a tear. I really am such a lucky man, these girls are so special to me!
We are watching our pennies like hawks and finding new ways to save money. Sam is convinced canning will really work for us. Not only to save money, but to increase the quality of the food we eat. She’s making bread every few days as well as hummis, pesto, and pasta. I really need to get fishing to supplement our protein budget.
Speaking of expenses I’ve really been stressed about the email thing. 500 minutes for my satellite phone costs about $700.00. The phone and Data kit costs about $1200. Any lower denomination of minutes expires in a few months. Irridium is kind of expensive. I do have an old MagellanGSC 100 communicator (http://flbarcollc.com/) on the orbcomm (LEO) network. The Magellan GSC 100 is great for small email and texting, but difficult to type long messages on (logs). I started searching around and found orbcomm modems on Ebay for $20.00, that’s right, TWENTY BUCKS, check it out (http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-OrbComm-Stellar-ST2500-Satellite-Data-Communicator_W0QQitemZ170428110913QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item27ae4e9841). If your interested in lo cost email you may want to contact John at TC Decisions ( http://tcdecisions.com/index.htm ) and pick up one of these modems. For me…, treading lightly on the pocketbook is uber-important especially now that I have a family. I know there are a number of people out there looking for an inexpensive email solution and this very well may be it. The GSC 100 is cool because it is portable. The stellar ST2500 is cool because you can use your own computer and be inside. Perhaps in 2010 we should be looking at some older, proven technologies for email. You cant send or receive attachments, just plane text, but that is plenty for me. This may be worth a look for you?
We are just waiting to get my mainsail back from the guys at mack sails and my asthma medication from India (Generic Flovent).
It’s a bit warmer today and the solar panels got to work a bit.
Cheers everyone.
Sail far and live slowly.
Alex
Published in Alex Dorsey
Alex, Sam & Gwen:
Hey! Good to see you’re almost out the door. I’ll call you tomorrow if you have cell service and the number is the same, I want to sent you more Garli Garni for the kitchen. You really don’t want to run out, believe me. So I’ll need an address to send it to . It will be good to catch up before you leave anyway. If I can’t get through, drop me a line on the email thing and we’ll connect.
Capt. Paul
s/v …
Where are you come join us in some warmer weather. We spent the day snorkling and on the beach. We are in Hope Town. We have not heard anything from you guys give us a shout.
Craig, Lisa & Christian
So will the OrbComm guys allow use of both devices on a single account or will you have to pay for both?
Hurry up and come over. We are currently in Man-O-War
Barry & Barb
please read your e-mail
VIDEO UPDATE ! Por Favor, Please,Bitte, Per Favore!
Speedeemon?
Good question, I dont know the answer. I’ll ask them next time I talk to them.
Alex
Hey, I freely admit I don’t know anything about anything but I love the site and it’s REALLY been a godsend for my cubicle cell… I mean office job. I don’t know if this is useful or not but you might want to check out
http://www.morseresource.com/morse/makemorse.php
it’s a website that, well from what I read, takes whatever you type and converts it into an mp3 format morsecode… I have NO clue as to use in real world but thought it was intresting site and wanted to share
Hey Alex, not sure how old Guin is, but I remember having alot of fun fishing with my folks as a child. Teaching her to fish may be a nice seguay(did I spell it right?) to her becoming “part of the team” while also having some really good family time together. Just a thought. God Bless brother. Remember the goal in life—FREEDOM