Sailing, working, thinking, reading, eating, sleeping, laughing, dreaming, and everything else is melding into a very manageable bundle with my new concept of time, I dig it.
I went to Panama City for a few days to meet a friend from California and run some errands. I was close to the clock during this trip as I had appointments and was on a schedule back in the matrix. But being a “master of time” (in training) I simply unplugged myself upon my arrival home and my 40 paradise still hangs suspended in alex time.
I was on the beach today and a beautiful sight lay before me, Death to the television via paradise. 
Speaking of technology. About a year ago my buddy Rick gave me his old iphone 2g which recently quit being able to connect to a network. My buddy in Panama had an extra iphone on him as he was in the process of transferring it all to a 4G and now I’m back in the iphone game with a 3Gs. It was a bear to jail break & unlock but now my iphone is almost as free as I am. I must say with as much as I love/hate technology the iphone really does simplify many things in my life. Not so much the phone part of it but the data/email & app end of it. Until I stop hosting Project BlueSphere I am tethered to technology more than I would ultimately like to be and the iphone is a good friend even though the radiation is really bad for me. Speaking of tethering, the data plan on my iphone tethers to my computer so I don’t need two data plans anymore, just saved $15.00 a month, WOOT! “A penny saved, is a penny earned”! Also it draws much less than my computer and I burn much less battery power checking email & surfing.
I almost dumped my bike traveling to Panama City. I was scooting along at about 60 km in a torrential downpour when I hit a huge buzzard, actually it flew into my lap. It’s no fun having a bird with a 7’+ wingspan in you lap freak’n out on a motorcycle during a squall, or anytime for that matter. I’ve been hit by some big bugs but this was ridiculous. I ended up letting go of the handlebars, grabbing it with both hands and forcing it overboard. It gave me a few pecks & scratches but I was wearing my full helmet and thick leather jacket. Believe it or not I think he was fine and just a bit stunned. It went through my mind that if I bought the farm after this accident the buzzard and his friends would be picking at me in the ditch. I was in a remote area and don’t think anyone would have found me for a while, arrggg.
I’m really pleased to see some of my readers out there bidding on boats and trying to pull it all together. My buddy Steve told me his slip back home (Ca.) goes for $700.00 a month : ( If I had that much a month I’d get fat & lazy. $700 a month is a lot of money, no wonder they are all trying to keep cruisers off the hook?
Speaking of money, I got another offer to go work on a ship for 3 weeks, it would have been a good 5k+. However I promised myself last time I wouldn’t take the job as the management really upset me and I turned it down. I’m kind of kicking myself in the ass as I’d be able to buy my drifter & mizzen stay sails, get my refrigerator and water maker going and buy/trade-in my bike for the Yamaha 350 that I want. However no matter how much I want the money the path just doesn’t seem right to me. I don’t want to leave Splendid dangling unattended on the end of an anchor for 3 weeks and be treated poorly in exchange for these things. I’m re-motivated to clean up Splendid and head out to the San Blas in hopes of stirring up some charters. If not I’ll eat fish, not buy meat or wine, and get better at what I do. I still haven’t really figured out what that is, but you get the idea. Backwards “Alex” reasoning, it’s not supposed to make sense. What makes me the happiest is seeing people making the step towards a more fulfilling life. There are many roads to this life and I’m only able to help the ones wanting to do it with little money on a sailboat. So I guess that’s what I do?
I’m off to fit my new prop on my outboard. I really must get into a sailing & rowing dink. I think the inflatable, or “deflatable” is the most expensive piece of disposable equipment on a sailboat and I need to prepare for the future, I can’t afford to buy a new/used motor or a inflatable boat. Plus rowing is quite good for me : ) the prop just set me back a coveted hundo.
Peace, love, & Coconuts.
Ahhhh…, I guess it’s time to confess about the peace, love, & coconuts thing. When I got to cruising I wanted peace & love in my life, it was my goal after my previous dysfunctional and horribly stressful life in L.A. I always had fear of the unknown as most people do in western society and always told myself that “a good set of balls will get you far Alex”. The coconuts are meant to signify large testacies, but it sounds better than Peace, Love & big balls. A good set of coconuts will get you far!
So once again,
Peace, love & Coconuts.
– alex
Published in Alex Dorsey
Hey Alex, what program are you using on your iPhone to tether to your laptop?
Thanks. Sebastian.
The Coconuts thing is hilarious! By the way, an old friend of mine just came into a 32 Morgan, sitting in a barn, about 30 miles from the Gulf. It looks like I’ll be giving him a hand pulling it to his house, on Wednesday, for refurbishing. Hopefully, we’ll be able to get it sea worthy for spring.
Seb, I downloaded TetherMe through Cydia. I believe your device must be set free (jail broken & unlocked) .OI
Coconuts? Ha! Who knew? Alex, I’ve been following you from the beginning and never made the connection. But in hindsight, it makes perfect sense. It takes big (coco) nuts to look straight into the abyss and see the sheer idiocy of your charade, and actually do something about it. It takes some serious cajones to hold on tight to what is real while the system constantly seduces you with its seductive lie. To draw a line in the sand and commit to not cross it takes courage. I’m going to buy myself a coconut (maybe two of them) and put it on my desk at work, which, from now on will be a symbolic reminder of what it takes to earn my personal freedom. Beautiful! Thanks Alex, for the inspiration!
Peace, Love, and BIG BALLS!!!!
Contrarian, make sure they are big, and unhusked, got to go natural man!!!
So I just sat down to compile a new online video. I’ve been shooting everything in 1080 full HD now. My flip videos need to be converted to .mov. My computer crunched these 14 shots for about 17 hrs (2 days). The shots from the T3I don’t need to be converted as they are native .mov.
So I went through the painful flip to .mov conversion process and opened premiere today to start assembling. Those editor types out there know premiere needs to render hd shots to play/edit them. I plugged in two shots and the render time said 2.2 hours, AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. I can’t work like this.
I looked at new macbooks and they are a few grand +. I think at the end of the day I’m going to have to build a windows box as it will be much cheaper. My question is since, I know I have a lot of tech weenies out there, what do I do ? I used to build all of my own PC’s from parts from fryes 10 years agobut everything has changed and I think we are now up to quad cores.
I can get parts here and I want to build an Hdvideo rendering mammajamma as I’ll need it to edit my film with. Any suggestions would be great as I want to open a discussion about this. I don’t know what the fast boards & processors are now? I’m thinking a solid state drive for the OS. And I’m going to need fast transfer speeds to my external drives, and I know a lot of memory. I saw the new macbooks have dual video cards, is this something we do in windows box’s as well?
Cheers
Alex, check this HP from tiger direct, add whatever graphics card to it and it should make a good system.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=799127&sku=H24-1566&SRCCODE=WEM2881BY&cm_mmc=email-_-Main-_-WEM2881-_-tigeremail2881
I have been planning on building a graphics computer from the box up , this complete system has just about everything I has planning on using short a high end graphic and sound card. It will give you a starting point to compare from.
Harry
Wife thought this quote was appropriate
Why do people say “Grow some balls?” Balls are weak and sensitive! If you really wanna get tough, grow a vagina! Those things take a pounding!—Betty White
Hey Alex, I want to know what you use to pin point your location in the blue sphere. I have been looking at GPS hand held devices, but since I am completly new to navagating, I was wondering if you had any insight into this matter. I would be gratefull for any help.
J.P.
I believe the coloration between big balls and manly men / courage is drawn between their ability to produce testosterone and not their physical durability. If you want to opt for having a big vagina instead more power to you, LOL : )
Isaac3
I use a Garmin 276c as my main GPS, I also have a few backups and a sextant I am very bad with and need to pay it some more attention.
I cut (and filled) 74 screw shafts out of the starboard deck with a plug cutter yesterday. It was nice to have sun, hoping to do some work today. November is the ending of the wet season here and I’ll be able to get back into the swing of it. If I just had 3 sunny weeks I could really pull Splendid together and get her decks & paint done! Another few for the hull.
Happy Monday, man I’m so glad I’m not in a car, suit, office : )
Peace, Love, and Big Balls or Vagina you choose
Here is something for your Monday morning:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_W-fIn2QZgg
Nothing has really changed in the PC world from 10 years ago, so if you did builds back then, you’re fine.
If you’re looking for a new PC, there are some great options out there. If you’re looking for a book-sized dual core PC that runs off of 12v and only draws a few watts of power, check out this page:
http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=309&name=Mini-Booksize-Barebone-Systems&Order=REVIEWS
For $250 you can get a barebones system that you can then build up with a solid state drive and 8 GB of RAM for decent render times. Most of these are Celeron and Intel Atom chips which are still dual core but probably won’t get you any amazing render times.
If you want a render machine that has a solid multicore pedigree and loads of ram, it’ll cost you about $500 to $700 for the box itself. Less if you have some PC parts lying around.
Anyway, if you want to send me your list of requirements and a budget, I will go ahead and do a newegg.com build for you and send you the links to all of the parts. Sort of a virtual build.
why do firemen have bigger balls than policemen ? they sell more tickets
Alex,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9n5G0qFBsHM
This is a little something for you and everyone that has the same dream. I myself am planning and getting ready for my trip.. im looking into an electric inboard with a solar and wind system that can keep up with it, i, also looking into another set of solar just to run all of the electronics. All I am going to have to worry about is food, water, and and visa’s… I plan to start my time here in NY on Lake Ontario, just to live on the boat and finish it up.
then after the Hurricane season ill be headed out your way to relax and live the dream…
Im gonna start calling you Moses lmao, and we are your followers but to our own dream.
Peace, Love, and Pelotas Grandes
The solar wont keep the batteries up enough to use the motor alot. But maybe enough to get in/out of harbors.’i looked into it a lot and a small diesel generator will go far with an electric inboard. The diesel generators will be more efficent and reliable as they will run at a set rpm. Ive met a few minamalest cruisers that have used a golf art motor an rigged up a tranny pretty cheaply. You The solar wont keep the batteries up enough to use the motor alot. But maybe enough to get in/out of harbors.’i looked into it a lot and a small diesel generator will go far with an electric inboard. The diesel generators will be more efficent and reliable as they will run at a set rpm. Ive met a few minamalest cruisers that have used a golf art motor an rigged up a tranny pretty cheaply. You will need a large battery bank which is expensive to buy and replace every 4-6 years. need a large battery bank which is expensive to buy and replace every 4-6 years.
Call me (alex) and get going.
Cheers
Did you just have a stroke? Read your last post!
Alex,
Just kidding about the Moses, but did kinda find it a little funny…
I have been looking at the solar just for the reason that finance is going to be real tight and I wanted to know that even if my pocket is empty I can still cruise by motor. Thanks for the golf cart tip. I know I thought I read about someone using them before. I am planning on just selling my car and leaving this forsaken place…. I also thought about buying one of those electric scooters, but now that you said the solar wont keep up with the motor im not to sure about being able to charge it. sow if you have any other Ideas on other ways I should go about things please feel free to let me know. im always open.
I also wondered how hard it is to make money doing charters? dont I need to get a Six Pac license from the USCG?
Steve
I dont know that going electric is really the right way. Id like to believe it is but a small dependable diseal is hard to beat. I couldnt afford to replace the batts, i just spent $600 on 6 batts and for an electric motor you would want a much, much bigger bank. I the diseal generator could produce enough amps and then some it would be a really good system.
I just tuned up my new $100 prop that ive only had for amfew days. I went and hit a few rocks. Now its broken in :( man i hope i didnt screw it.
Chuck i can turn water into wine :)
Sorry for spelling i disabled spell check in the iphone cuz it was driving me
Crazy.
You wold need a USCG license to work in US water, a RYC yachtmaster to work in english water, and so on. My buddy here got a panamian license to work here but its pretty relaxed. At the end of the day the paper is…, well paper. Ask Chuck, he had a nice USGG cap help him on his trip south. It was a funny story if he wants to share it, the cap ended up ramming a freighter.
You will need to figure out a small income, and get some mad skills like wine making, home canning, and fishing. But you can go far on little if you really want to. Personally i really enjoy living on litte.
Ha, it does look like i had a stroke. Im on the iphone, hard to read/type, and i have not figured out editing the text yet?
Ha. Just read it. I am not so good with editing text on the iphone yet. It does look like i had a stroke LOL
cold_cell2001
You know there is nothing wrong with an outboard on the back of a small boat. If you want to be a purest you can also rig a sculling oar. Did you see the pictures of the little cruising/row boat i posted a few blogs ago?
Speaking of USCG license i just off off the phone with a good old friend who lives in USVI’s and he is really pushing me to sail up there this season, get my ticket, and get a charter captain job. I could think of worse ways to make some money?
Good Morning. Just in from 3 days on the hook up the sea. Nice and rejuvenating. I needed it. Just Pat and I. Good times and fine weather with a few squall one night to cool things off.
Hey. Love my t-Shirt. Good job. I’d suggest everyone here get a few for Christmas gifts and hand ’em out. I’m on it.
Now that I’m back at the dock and the sailing season is upon me, I’ve got to go rub some metal… Again…
Alex, take good care and stay in touch.
Capt. Paul
s/v Panacea
Alex,
yeah I did see the post about that little boat.. and not a bad idea I might add.
Thats def a way to make money, Doing what you love, and more than likely doing what you would be doing weather you made money or not. Speaking of money, remember I said something about conch pearls, well I was looking on ebay and they seem to range anywhere from $150 to a grand or better.. something to keep in mind while living off the big blue
You sure have it going on man… sometimes I wish I had thought of setting sail long before I moved up here to NY.
By the way, the name is Steve… I for some reason I cant change the default for my name.
Alex,
Big news…..I have a friend whose family might GIVE me a boat. They have a 1970 Pearson 300 that needs some TLC and a good home. It would make a great starter boat. I could sail it while I build up my skills. In a few years after sailing Mexico and the Caribbean I would think about moving up to a better blue water boat. I will keep you all posted.
Alex:
I refreshed my browser and look like it duped my post. Sorry. It’s now in your capable hands…
Capt. Paul
s/v Panacea
Paul, no worries M8
Guys,
I’m REALLY excited about this. When I travel I like to download NOAA weather fax every day or twice a day depending on weather conditions and my travel plans. The SSB radio (receiving) doesn’t draw a lot of power but I need to keep a computer running for hours every day draining my precious amps.
I’ve always been on a quest to find the lowest drawing PC computer just to keep next to the SSB for weather fax & NAVTEX weather. Well check this out. Somebody at balck cat systems (www.blackcatsystems.com) has developed weather fax and NAVTEX aps for the iphone and ipad. The iphone draws nothing and keeping it on receiving weather fax all day is a no-brainer!
Weather fax
http://www.blackcatsystems.com/ipad/iPad_HF_FAX_Weather_Fax_App.html
NAVTEX
http://www.blackcatsystems.com/ipad/iPad_NAVTEX_Pad.html
They also have other cool programs like morse decoders and wire calculators.
Basically for the price of an ipad touch, old iphone you can stick it to the side of your SSB and consider it an added screen that decodes your weather and NAVTEX info. For my aspiring minimalist friends this means you can get a used SSB (receive only) radio for $50 – $100, get an older iphone or ipad touch (maybe another $150.00) and have real time weather forecasting wherever you are. I think this is the coolest thing since sliced bread!!!!!!!!!!!!
Am I a nerd or what?
I’ll get this going and make a video on it, WOOT!
Paul,
BTW, cool idea on people buying t-shirts. Every t-shirt equals 2 gallons of diesel for me and I’m filling up to go charter. It’s about a grand for me to fill up but I want to take of 1/2 full, not 1/2 empty :)
I met some managers of hostels on my last trip to Panama city and they are all geared up to work with me, for a $25.00 a head referral fee of course :)
I’m going to print my flyers on my next trip to colon and I’m building a charter page where I will have a video and some other cool stuff. 2012 will be the year of music for me as I’m really getting back into my guitar, it also needs to be the year I finish Splendid and pack a few bucks away to go back to the sea.
Gobble gobble
Alex,
Big news…..I have a friend whose family might GIVE me a boat. They have a 1970 Pearson 300 that needs some TLC and a good home. It would make a great starter boat. I could sail it while I build up my skills. In a few years after sailing Mexico and the Caribbean I would think about moving up to a better blue water boat. I will keep you all posted.
Holy sh_t!
The black cat thing is incredible! I had been racking my brain into how could I afford a pac modem, the transceiver, and all the other crap necessary for weather fax. Thanks for sharing this.
Charlie
Charlie
You don’t need a pactor modem for weather fax, never did. You did need it for HF email however that has changed and you no longer do. The software now utalizes the sound card of your computer. Downloading email from
The radio can take a long time and it would be cool is sailmail could also be used on the iPhone it would save a lot of amps. :)
Alex,
Happy Thanksgiving man. Are you going hunting for dinner tonight?.. And btw just wondering if you still have your girlfriend and little one on Splendid with you? I just thought about that. and does having someone with you make your time out there easier or harder? I guess just a couple random things that just popped in my head. I hope you have a great Holiday.
Sail Far my Friend, & Live Happy
Steve
Steve,
Not hunting for thanksgiving dinner. I had a lovely Thanksgiving dinner with my cruiser friends here in Linton. My friend Binnie has a beautiful home here in Linton overlooking the bay. It was a big turkey/ham/rum & coke shindig, super-yummy!
Unfortunately I don’t have the girls with me anymore. It a long complicated sad thing that I’m putting behind me, all I can say is Sam and Guin were the best!
I however am very comfortable being alone and prefer it to being in a relationship that I’m not 100% into. Sam was different as we were really like-minded (in most ways). Most guys are looking companionship however I take a lot of joy in solitude as I need a lot of time for my creative output and cant seem to manage it in a relationship. I’m also pretty introverted.
On another note, Do I have any electrician friends out there? I need to make a few of these and don’t have a radio shack down the street:
http://www.blackcatsystems.com/ipad/iPad_iPhone_iPod_Touch_Microphone_Wiring.html
I have a question for the itunes people out there. I can’t seem to buy an app from abroad. My billing address is in the states, and my IP address is Panama. Is it possible to have someone buy the app and have them share it with me? I read that one needs to be on the same network to do this but didn’t get a real clear answer? I really want to get my weatherfax working on my old iphone that will not connect to a network anymore. Better than having it in a drawer.
Hope everyone had a happy thanksgiving : )
Cheers
Alex,
Great to hear you had a nice thanksgiving. Rum & coke shindig, now that’s up my alley.
I understand what you mean when you say “I take a lot of joy in solitude” I am the same way. People are nice to be around sometimes but I really enjoy time alone, as I discover new things, life, and learning.
As far as the IPod goes you would have to put Icloud on your iphone and then you would have to link to that account to get whatever you need. you just have to make cure the computer that your gathering your files from is set to share apps, files, notes, dates.. check out the apple store….
Steve
Here is the link for the Icloud I think it should do what your looking for. The only thing is I think you would have to update to there new IOS 5 software….
http://www.apple.com/icloud/
I can’t move to is5 yet. The crack (jailbreak/unlock) doesn’t work with my 3GS well, rely buggy and crashes. I’ll have to find another way, hopefully short of mailing the iPhone back. I just spoke to some other cruisers getting ready to cross the pacific and they are going to do the iPhone/iPod touch/iPad weatherfax thing also, saves a lot of power
You know you can have messages from spot? Why dont you see if someone will send you updates thru that? I know it can be a pain but its always a option.. just have them send you 2 or 3 a day…
You mean for weather updates? Spot can not send weatherfax, nor do they have world coverage, big hole in the pacific. It is a relly good product tho ifyou are in the coverage area. Also I prefer NOAA weather fAx as opposed to grib files as grib files and forecasts are 100% computer prediction , human hands (forecaster) has nothing to do with the forecast and i don’t trust the data as much. I use grib data but only secondary to NOAA.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buy_Nothing_Day
Hey Alex,
I have to say i was sick to my stomach as i watched Americans and Canadains lining up and staying awake all night to consume more usless products this Christmas season. There was even a woman at a Walmart that fended off other shoppers with pepper spray so they would not grap the cheap electronics she was hoarding.
The link above talks about this coming Monday called Buy_ Nothing_ Day. Thought you might like it.
“…consumption is merely a means to human well-being, the aim should be to obtain the maximum of well-being with the minimum of consumption…. ”
-E.F. Schumacher from “Small is Beautiful”
Just wanted to let you know have enjoyed your post and video’s and your latest video post and would encourage you to keep it up….
Cheers.
*sorry dyslexic post… I have enjoyed your post and would like for you to keep them coming…
*again dyslexic… *posts
times get hard….i hear monkey meat i good when marinated………monkey meat for christmas just imagine…just saying
Alex would never Eat a monkey, but he does beat his Monkey :-)
Alex would never Eat a monkey, but he does beat his Monkey :-)
Gary bad a bad exp with the monkeys here, one bit and attacked his wife. That being said the monkeys here are my buds, I hang out with them all the time and wouldnnever eat one.
Regarding the microphone wiring for the iphone, ipod touch, I am going to design the pc boards if you are interested. That way the components are not just hanging out. Because of the small size, several will fit into a small DIY etched board. Will be glad to send you one.
Charlie
Awsome! I can paypal you some money for parts. I’m going to want to make An extra one as I am really into redundancy. If your interested I bet we could even sell some, I have found nothing like this on the net for sale.
All the cruisers I’ve spoke to about this want to go this direction for weatherfax.
Cheers
Do any of you have a kerosine stove onboard (not alcohol). Splendids stove is on her last legs and I have a friend here with a kerosine stove for sale/trade. I’ve spoke with other kerosine stove owners who have said they will never go back to propane as the kerosine buns much hotter.’truthfully I’d like a diseal stove & oven but they are pricy. Anyway I’m trying to open a discussion about various stove fuels.
Alex,
Hey I am still looking at some solar panels and came by these and I kinda wanted you to take a look and give me a idea what you think I could run off this type of system.. http://www.emarineinc.com/products/HYBRID-Air%252dBreeze-200W%7B47%7D270W-Solar%2824-volt%29.html …. its not spam I just wanted to get some advise… From anyone that might know about the way it works.
Personally I would buy my solar panels separate. You need to measure the possible real estate you have on your boat and buy your panels accordingly to fit. I would also get a much better wind generator like a four winds. Charge controllers are everywhere you will also save a TON of money. I don’t see what’s “Hybrid” about the system with the acceptation of some marketing?
Solar and wind is easy 2 wire hook up. If you are going to buy a system and wish to call me on the cell or skype I’ll go through it with you in more detail.
Alex,
I went ahead and built one on a prototype board. I can’t get the 4 conductor mini-plug locally. All of the other parts I got at Radio Shack. I have to go to another Radio Shack to get parts for another since they ran out.
—————-
I agreen with Alex on the sourcing of the solar panels; try http://www.sunelec.com/you will find everything that is offered, except for the “hybrid” panel (e20); which is a sheet of aluminum with a volt meter/amp meter, a breaker, a switch, and a Blue Sky MPPT controller. You could built the system yourself and save about a grand.
ARGGGG, low pressure moving in for the majority of next week. Luckily December is the end of the wet season :) but the real bummer is I just broke the high E string on my guitar and don’t have another one :( I wont have another one till I visit Panama city in a few weeks.
I’m working with itunes support on the foreign billing issue so I can download the weatherfax program. It looks like I wont have to ship the iphone back to the states in order to download it :)
I got two threw-deck fittings (water & diesel) installed yesterday and one of them leek. pulling it today and trying to get more paint on before the monsoon comes.
Life is good :)
A great quote:
“The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free your very existence is an act of rebellion.”
– Albert Camus