Donny Brown
I hope your the guy that needed this charter the most, congratulations. I’ll send you an email in case you don’t read this, we’ll work out the details :) I hope you like fish!
Man I had a weird dream last night!
I went for a swim off of Splendid and the water was as clear as air, I could see fish for miles. The bottom was littered by rusty anchors and the chains of the boats anchored around us. When I found my manson (The Doctor) it was in the process of being hauled up by Splendid herself, without me, I quickly swam for the surface so as to not “miss the boat”.
I think Splendid (my sub-conscious) thinks its time to go somewhere?
I don’t get my second payment (direct deposit) from my job until the twentieth when I will order my refrigerator compressor. Between now and then I will buy primer, paints, scuba tanks, some tools (Jig saw, 4′ orbital sander, router), and finish plumbing my Pneumatic / scuba rig so I can shoot some paint. Man its going to be a pain in the ass to try to paint during the wet season! I also need to rebuild my refrigerator box as I’m going to add three inches of foam around the whole thing (inside) and make my freezer compartment smaller (about three cubic feet). My box is well insulated now but just to big at nearly 15 Cubic Feet. I’m shooting for 8 to 10 CF for the refrigerator, 3 in the freezer. Unfortunately I’ll have to order the blue board foam from the states, shipping will not be cheap.
I’m still searching ebay for a VHF with loudhailer and foghorn.
I’m going to work on Splendid until my money is almost gone then go to the San Blas and hang out at Por Vaneer fishing for charters, and fish. I’m also going to put up flyers in some of the local hostels and hotels. Man I don’t want to go work for someone else any time soon!
I’d like to pull off sailing across the Pacific in 8 months, However it might be a “pipe dream”? I still need to get my h2o maker going, and get a drifter. I need to re-rig a few things and a buddy of mine told me where I can salvage some good stainless plate from a wreck to make hull-mounted chain plates. I was going to pass on the project as the material would cost around $400.00, but getting free material sounds pretty good to me. I’ll have a machine shop drill the holes and make the bends. I don’t like the way my threw deck chain plates are designed, not to mention the fact they leek.
In about 4 weeks I’m thinking to stage Splendid in the Chagras river which is about 10 miles from Colon where I would have access to numerous hardware & paint stores as well as a quick two and a half hour bus ride to Panama city. There is a small anchorage there (Ugly) and a $5.00 a day dingy dock (safe) where I could hang for a few days when needed. The Chagres river is supposed to be spectacular (wild life) but the water littered with crocks, I don’t think I’ll be spear fishing?The mosquito content might be high but I think I’ll find the least wind during the day to shoot paint. A friend also told me where I could find some shelter from the trades for painting in the San Blas. If I feel comfortable that I have all my supplies that would be a better option.
Who knows, as always with me I may change my mind (sailors prerogative) tomorrow. I may change my plan of attack , but this makes sense to me this morning :)
I’m bummed my iphone is starting to wig-out. I’m contemplating weather or not I’m going to get another one. I see 8GB 3G’s are going for around $ 180.00 – 200 on ebay. It really is a fantastic tool. I was surprised to see so many people already had ipads on the plane, out of the entire plane I counted 9 people working on ipads, I haven’t used one but they look really cool, my buddy David swears by his. It’s the computer Capt. Pikard used on Star Trek, but real…, man technology is zooming!!!! I upgraded the hard drive in my macbook and I must say, having my first mac I don’t think I could ever buy another windows based system.
Splendid is a wreck. I’ve pulled all my tools out and I’m editing, giving away, and throwing out. I’ve got 3 large trash bags of unwanted stuff off the boat in as many days. Less is more!!!! I had three speed squares and two levels. One speed square and no levels on a boat make sense to me. I also have way too many screw drivers, wrenches and other stuff I really don’t need.
I’ve met some nice new people since I’ve been back. I got my buddy Paul a huge bottle of rum for taking care of Splendid during my absence. He will be transiting the canal soon and as always in the cruisers life we say goodbye to friends and make new ones. Sometimes its sad but the way it is.
Sail far and live slow
-alex
Wow I won. Thanks Alex. I am looking forward to this charter. Glad to see that your back on Splendid.
Donny,
I’ll do what I can to give you a great trip :)
My friends have been making fun of how white I am. I fell asleep in the hammok today, now I’m red! Ohhhhh how I love the hammok!
Hi Alex welcome back, And congrats to Donny :)
I’ve been curious lately about bottom paint (since I’m about to launch my boat!). I think You’re the man to ask, because as far as I can tell, You’ve never hauled Splendid out of the water?… So what is your thoughts on long term bottoms? Many layers of hard paint, and just keep it scrubbed? Do the Layers really matter that much? Is there any reason a long-term cruiser would want to use Ablative paint? what’s the longest you’ve gone without scrubbing and how bad was it?
How difficult is it to keep the bottom cleaned once the paint has basically run dry?
Thanks.
David,
Everyone wants something for nothing. I think its a bit silly how much some people, and how often they paint the bottom, but that is just my opinion. Everyone screems bloody murder for discharging overboard but polluting the water with excessive chemicals dosent seem to bother people, go figure? My bottom cleaner in California years back got cancer and died, he swore it was from the bottom paint.
Cleaning the bottom is like cutting the grass at your house, you just need to do it. I put an ablative paint on when I bought Splendid and I’m not planning on hauling for awhile unless I have a good reason.
If you want to make cleaning easy get a sea breath (hookah) system and give the boat a scrub before you go somewhere. I can clean Splendid’s bottom in a few hours if its bad, I havent been down for months. I’m also famous for sailing around on a dirty bottom if I’m lazy. I do go down and clean the prop before i go anywhere. Speed just isn’t so important to me, my botom is never perfectly clean, I get all the barnicles but there is usually a good about of the slimy stuff.
Having good paint makes the job easier for sure but its toxic as hell and I don’t like swimming/scraping it and getting it all over my body. Do put on a good barrier coat and when you do haul, put on 3/4 coats of paint, I have been using ablative, but don’t feel the need to do it every year or two. I may try a hard paint next so I dont have the feeling I’m taking a bath in a cloud of it when I scrub the bottom.
Thanks
Hey Alex,
I was reading about how you don’t want an AIS system because of being tracked, but if you have an IPhone you can be tracked anyways and the location is stored without you knowing it.
Just a thought.
Cole,
I have an original iphone, no GPS. and i actually thought of that and you can turn the GPS off in the 3g. But the real thing is I really dont care about being tracked on land, its the sea I dont want to be a target on :)
Got my motor home parked on Long Island for the summer and my wife and I start the basic Keel Boat class in 2 weeks. You gave me the bug and I’ll try some sailing this summer. Jealous of you I am.
Ben
@ben i bought a 45 foot ketch in the very anchorage that alex is in and taught my self to sail….. over the years i visited several countries , transited the canal as a guide and tow boat for alex. visited the galapagos, delivered a 47 cat across the caribbean and ended up in mexico….go for it…”sailing is easy, but sailing well is difficult” alex what compressor are you buying? have you considered just a devider in your box to reduce the size, while having the option to open part of devider when taking a long voyage? i have a 12 volt compressor that is available for $.50 to the right guy (you may qualify).maybe an evaporator too, and some misc. leftovers from plan b. ill check when i go to pick up my harley in about a week….when are you going to florida?…. you sound like you are in abetter place than you were a few months ago……talked to dennis (valhala) he is married with a kid, and building a yacht club in portobello….i guess we are getting older…G
Gary,
I’m getting the Danfoss BD80F compressor kit:
http://www.rparts.com/product_info.php?cPath=14_57&products_id=434&osCsid=9oo1gneg3pukkkdfr8qduaotd6
I’m not getting the holding plate with this system tho as I have some from another system. I don’t want to go with an evaporator so I can have a larger freezer for crossing the Pacific. I will have an insulated spillover wall for the fridge as I want to carry large amounts of fresh produce. I am going to go heavy on the insulation in order to save power :) Do you just have a compressor or is it the whole enchilada?
I changed my diet around a few months back and it has really made a big difference in my life.
Have a Harley again eah? good for you, give Mavis a kiss for me.
I ran into Dennis a few months back.
Well, rainy season is here early and starts today! big rain/wind from the North. Such is life by the rain forest.
Do “breathable” fowlies mean you live sopping wet? My West Marine fowlies keep me about as dry as a six foot sponge would!
I need to get some hard core (non-breathable) fowl weather gear for this season!!!
I’m out of food will head for Colon or Panama city tomorrow.
alex i have a compressor, evaperator, a galvanized holding plate , and might have the brain(not mine, it is too small)….they are yours if you want them….as for foulies go grundens, they ar heavy duty and dry…also a little spendy….G
Welcome back Alex and Congrats on the charter win Donny. I am sure you will enjoy your time on Splendid.
Money goes fast when you have it and a boat that wants to eat it::(
I went to Colon today and bought a new jigsaw, blades, a gallon of varnish, clamps, cutting disks, caulking, sand paper, a shop vac, food, chip brushes and other stuff. I went through $350 in a blink of an eye!
Food is a lot more expensive now that I’ve done away with flour carbs (bread, chips, pasta) and I’m only buying real foods. I’m just getting my carbs from veggies, fruit, wine and beer now. I’ve steadily been loosing a few pounds but more importantly My “health” issues have all cleared up and I have a lot more energy. I’m really psyched about my vita mix showing up next week!!!! I’m going to be a milling flour (bean), and juicing fool! I have a juicer but it separates the pulp and I want to eat the whole foods:) It will also juice wheat grass which is really healthy and easy to grow on the boat. That vita mix is so powerful I’m thinking it may double as an emergency outboard :)
I’m also debt free now as I paid off my buddy Roman for the dive compressor I bought a few months ago :)
Anyway, I’m off for my evening swim, shower, and I’m cooking a beef curry tonight , YUMMY. I may watch a film and sand some trim. Its hard to read and sand trim.
Gallon of marine spar varnish ($30.00)…, priceless!
Peace, love, and sailboats
Alex, talking fridges… remember the trusty Tropikool 40 on Namaste?. I’ve never got it cooling ;-( The motor is buzzing but that’s about it. I have charged it with CO2 with the cartridge that was left on Namaste but that didn’t help. Was it ever working properly? I know it works on a gravity principle so all the lines need to have a bit of a slop. It is hard to see if they do, I’m just assuming that this is the case. Any ideas?
Cheers,
Wojtek
PS. Sorry about the jigsaw… I still have and use the one you’ve left me…. ;-)
Wojtec old friend, it is a good jigsaw, no apology necessary. I remember it a lot better than the Tropikool system.
Wasn’t the Tropikool working when we sailed from New Caledonia to Australia? I remember it was air-cooled, and I did have a few problems with it, but I worked them out.
If you are going to upgrade, and with Namaste’s box so small I would put in a similer kit to the one I am installing but with an evaporator. I’ll be installing two or three holding plates on Splendid from an old Grunert system I have. If you wanted to stay simple, and air cooled, you could go with the system 1M DIY kit from rparts.com, its good for under a grand and your climate:
http://www.rparts.com/product_info.php?cPath=14_57&products_id=433&osCsid=a95lgb2mpe7khbpa7uqcj3j490
Hows my old girl (Namaste) doing, if you have any good new pictures send me one and I’ll post it, she is such a good boat!!!!
Take care, and give her a good slap on the stern from me ;)
Re: Waterproofs. Most have a fabric surface treatment that needs regular washing, even a little salt or mould in the off season is bad, and they need to be ironed! The heat from the iron will rejuvenate the water repellant coating.
If you need new, I can help you with a bargain on Burke or Henri Lloyd.
Re: Freezer. Fill some plastic bottles with water to use up your extra space. Freeze them solid. Between compressor runs or if your system goes down the ice will keep this for a while. And you have extra water supplies as a side effect.
P.S. Originality Uniforms is now on Facebook and needs more likes. :)
Wojtec old friend, it is a good jigsaw, no apology necessary. I remember it a lot better than the Tropikool system.
Wasn’t the Tropikool working when we sailed from New Caledonia to Australia? I remember it was air-cooled, and I did have a few problems with it, but I worked them out.
If you are going to upgrade, and with Namaste’s box so small I would put in a similer kit to the one I am installing but with an evaporator. I’ll be installing two or three holding plates on Splendid from an old Grunert system I have. If you wanted to stay simple, and air cooled, you could go with the system 1M DIY kit from rparts.com, its good for under a grand and your climate:
http://www.rparts.com/product_info.php?cPath=14_57&products_id=433&osCsid=a95lgb2mpe7khbpa7uqcj3j490
Hows my old girl (Namaste) doing, if you have any good new pictures send me one and I’ll post it, she is such a good boat!!!!
Take care, and give her a good slap on the stern from me ;)
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Big boat make me crazy!!!!!
So its like this. I wanted to re-caulk up the windows before it really gets wet around here. I know I have two caulk guns on the boat, well I couldn’t find them and I tore THE ENTIRE BOAT APART LOOKING FOR THEM!
Still no caulking gun and I have a HUGE mess to contend with !
%&^%%$!&*!)!*^^%%Q&^%%Q
Alex,
Maybe it was working on the way from NC but we’ve never turned it on so can’t tell;-) Anyway, thanks for the link, I will try to re-charge it and give it a good service before considering an upgrade. I’m a bit like you, like fixing thing, it gives me much more satisfaction than just buying stuff….
I think I’ve posted link to pics on one of the previous logs but here you go again:
picasaweb.google.com/106068960682133159194/Easter2011GulfStVincentCruise?authkey=Gv1sRgCPDcr8bMsNDTrwE#
…and here some pics of the things I did:
picasaweb.google.com/106068960682133159194/NamasteRefit#
Alex,
What can I say, Namaste has such lovely opening portholes… I bought some square rubber for ten bucks and replaced seals, no guns necessary ;-)
Talking about the guns, I’ve created a spreadsheet with some smarts that has an image of Namaste’s storage places and have written there what is where. Now I just click a mouse on a spot and it tells me what’s in there. Can do searches as well…. priceless ;-)
Okay, I am finally over the fact that I didn’t win the raffle for the charter so now I am trying to devise a plan to fund a charter on Splendid with Alex sometime in the late fall or early winter time. I will make this happen one way or the other. There is no way I can move on without this happening.
Wayne
Wayne,
Sorry, I know you bought two tickets :(
Well I’ll do another raffle, drawing Dec 1st. If you want to try again.
There were only like 14 tickets sold so the chances of winning are really good. It brings in a few bucks for me and gives people who cant really afford a charter the opportunity.
Cheers M8