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