I’d like to portray cruising as the “cruising” magazines do, “everyday a vacation on a beautiful deserted island”, but that’s just not the reality. I’ve submitted articles to some of the bigger sailing magazines in the past and I usually don’t fit into their “format”. They don’t like articles with talk of bad weather, pirates, or any kind of hardships. Luckily I’m not in the business of selling boats so I can speak my mind.
All the elbow grease I’ve been putting into Splendid is catching up with me. My upper back & neck got the best of me for the majority of the last week; I could barely lift my coffee cup this morning.
Luckily I carry a portable tens unit on Splendid which is saving my ass, well in this case, my upper back & neck. If you are susceptible to any kind of back or muscle pain I strongly suggest you invest the $25 – $60.00 in a portable tens unit for your medical kit. I recently had a neighbor who was sooooo grateful that I could loan it to her after she threw her back out working on her property. A tens unit is a device where you put pads on your sore muscles and massage them with an electric shock, it works great!
I’ve been taking it easy and focusing on smaller projects over the last week. I bought a small winch for my roller furling line a few months back ($60.00) and installed it yesterday. My friends 
Jim & Heather also gave me a larger winch for my main sheet which I’m hoping to install this week. I have been using a small winch between the mizzensheet & mainsheet’s since I’ve had Splendid and it’s a bit awkward. I like the new system much better, not to mention my back will love it as the years keep rolling by.
Carla on the other hand is full of energy. She was studying Pa-kua in Argentina for the past year and training 4 times a week. She was bummed about not 
having access to a heavy bag and bought one for Splendid. We filled it with sand & life jackets and it works great, HiYAAAA!
When she’s not kicking, punching the bag, or swimming, she likes to work on the boat. My windows on splendid have never been cleaned. They were covered with various primers, paints, & silicones. I’ve been meaning to get a razor and scrape them for years and just never got around to it. Well she took a few hours and cleaned them up. I’ve been searching for a scraping razor here for quite a while and ended up making her one out of a razor, tape, and a small vise grip. It’s so nice to be able to see out of the windows, what a beautiful place we live in : )
Carla has also discovered the thieves market in Colon. It’s really the only good place to buy any decent produce around here. I can’t stand it as it smells of rotten meat and is over crowded by a motley crew but she REALLY likes the fruit & veggies. Next time I’ll try to take a picture or some video but I’m afraid of losing my camera, it is quite an experience.
We’re itchy to get to San Blas but will be here till I can take possession of my new editing computer. The only time I feel financially crippled is when I deal with “land people” problems like shipping. Governments really have their hands out when it comes to 
shipping and I find the whole thing ludicrous & stressful. One can fly here from Ft. Lauderdale for $99 and bring what they want (computers/boat parts), why does a box that weighs 1/8 my weight cost three times as much as a plane ticket? All packages are opened by the government and sometimes (often) things go missing if one uses regular post. However it looks like I have someone who will bring it here on the plane, it will just take a little time, and when it comes to time I’m a rich man. Technically I’m supposed to be a “Yacht in Transit” and not pay any import taxes but “they” have made it so complicated that it just isn’t worth it. Last time I was here I had a package sent to me “yacht in transit” and they ran me around for 6 weeks, I ended up having to pay them a large fee to deliver my package to the boat so they were sure I was indeed a yacht in transit. Bureaucracy, not my favorite pastime, they get your money one way or the other : (
Life continues aboard Splendid and my projects are getting smaller. I must admit sometimes I dream of a smaller boat. However I think once I knock out a few more things and get rolling I’ll be fine. I dream of more sailing and less work. I’m growing quite tired & weary of boat work. I must take my own advice and “Sail far”.
It’s blowing like HELL 2day!
Peace, Love, & Coconuts
alex
Remind me to never mess with Carla. Thats one bad ass kick. Your ship is looking wonderful! Still dreaming of a visit in the San Blas. Both of you take care.
http://quito.en.craigslist.org/act/2845767651.html Hey Alex, I found this while browsing today. I am not sure if you would be interested or not, but I thought I would pass it along anyway.
I think that a muscle stimulator is a great idea for a med kit.
Jeff, any time bro :)
She does have a bad ass kick as well as an equally delicate side, damn good I’n the galley too. Today she is organizing all my screws, nuts. & bolts. Shs’s crazy for sudoku and is really organized unlike I am.
She nice to have around :)
Organize you screws? Wow! I want one of those. I have a big tackle box full of screws, nuts, bolts and misch small hardware. It would be so cool to have it organized.
In any case, keep up the good work and enjoy it all.
Capt. Paul
s/v Panacea
http://www.yachtworld.co.uk/boats/1977/Cape-George-Cutter-REDUCED%21-2382733/United-States
Hello Alex,
I thought i would ask your advise on this Cape George Cutter. I have been looking at it on Yacht World for a while now and i am thinking of making a trip to go view it. It has been drastically reduced in price and i really love the look of the Cape George. What is your opion on it as a good blue water sail boat ? I was also looking at West Sails but they are about $30,000 more then i can afford right now. This Cape George looks like it needs cosmetic work and perhaps more . The price is just so appealing.
Cheers
Curtis
Curtis,
Cape George is Probably my favorite boats. I sailed one out of Tahiti and really fell I’n love. If I had the money I’d probably beat you to it. My Internet is uber slow and I couldn’t see all the pix but I’d be all over that boat like flies on… Well…, you know.
Isaac, thanks for the tip, i sent him an email.
Capt Paul, my shop is vetting transformed from a F’n nightmare to everything organized In nice little plastic bags :) go figure ?
Alex,
its nice to see you can now relax a little bit and get the small stuff out of the way.. That Cape George is beautiful and makes me think thats what i really need in Greenland. But im putting that on hold for a bit trying to get my better half on board with the idea.. I finally bought the seafarer 22 its small but makes me smile every time I think about it and cant wait to cruise lake Ontario on it. I have decided to take some lessons, actually my girl bought them for me for our anniversary.. so who knows she might be hiding it and really be more on board than I realize.. but I just wanted to say hi and let you know I got my Seafarer… I am so excited, as this is my first sailboat… well…. take care my friend.. cant wait till I can cruise to visit you…
Besides its only right..for me to cruise the world since my father has always called me the wandering Jew.. “Not Jewish” lol
Peace Brother, and say Namaste to Carla for me…
Steve
Hi Steve, Carla here. Congratulations on getting your first boat!! You must be so excited!! I just wanted to say that you can tell your girlfriend she can feel free to email me if she’s thinking about it and has any questions at all or a lot of questions for that matter. I’ll be really happy to talk to her about my experience, not that it has been really large or anything but I found it not only easy but amazing! I feel so free here on the boat and it has been challenging but really exciting to turn it into a nice home from my woman’s point of view. It is really a fantastic lifestyle up here. Please tell her not to be shy and contact me if the idea is going round her mind. I agree that her giving you the lessons is a good sign ; )
Jeff, thanks for your encouragement but the truth is I really suck still at martial arts, that is why I’m training so much, I am not a natural at any sport but if you practice enough you can get good at almost anything. It’s nice, every morning we go out to the front deck; Alex does yoga and I do my warm-up pakua and go through all the kicks and then I punch for a while too. I think it looks funny to the cruisers around us that Alex is so big and he’s just taking it easy and I’m so thin and try to look so tough, it brightens up my day even more…
Captain Paul I tell you, sorting our screws and bolts is just like playing sudoku it helps my busy brainy mind relax and makes Alex not panic if he doesn’t find something and makes my home look nicer so it’s a win win win win situation. Hope I get to meet you personally one day.
Have a lovely day, everyone!!
C.
now you can go to another Superbowl party and not get run off by anybody…..you have a bodyguard!
If anyone has a line on “QUALITY” memory foam please let me know. My back is a pretzel and I really need to invest in a quality piece of memory foam. I’ve heard a lot of mem-foam sources are crappy Chinese and the foam is mixed with sand and fillers to make it heavy. I’m looking for a solid 3” piece of 4 +lb or denser, and in a queen size. So if you have bought a topper your really happy with and its not a mix like 1” visco-elastic (memory foam) and 2” of regular foam, please let me know. I have a friend coming in a month with my computer and really, REALLY, need to give my back a gift. I’ve been in a fair amount of pain but doing yoga again on a daily basis which is really helping.
Cheers
Memory foam is the way to go. Its expensive but well worth it. My girlfriends hip used to bother her alot, but she doest complain about it anymore. I think they call it memory foam because when you sleep on it you remember what it was like to have the best sleep in your life. We have a egg carton foam pad that we put over the 4″ memory foam pad, I think because my girlfriend just doesnt want to get rid of it. In the summer we pull it out onto the back deck and sleep outside durring the two or three days of heat we get around here. Sorry your back is giveing you trouble, does swimming help out with the pain at all?
Oh I forgot, http://www.foam4less.com/accueasetoppers.html $120.00 for queen size 4″ 4.3 lb mem foam. Pretty cheap, but then there is shipping… Good luck!
Carla pulled out my unfinished cockpit enclosure project and pulled it all together. Some of my friends do canvas work and in a few weeks we will have an uber-dry cockpit, YAHOOOOO!!!!!
Hi guys, I feel your pain in the back,but I would try the memory foam thing before spending any money,my mother was in upolstry & that stuff is almost to soft,what worked for me is a good air mattress.. One you can control how soft or firm.. that sleep number thing sounds good but I have not tried that, found out about the air mat when I remodeled my bedroom & the tempory was better that my normal bed!!
see what happens when you don`t use spell check, oops
Alex & Carla:
I’ve got memory foam in the back cabin bed. Put in on top of a regular firm mattress and it is the most comfortable bed I’ve used. Well except for the Hilton.
As you know, I’ve got that back stuff too and I get a real good nights sleep on it. Not sure why or the science behind it, so I just figure if it works, use it.
Just shredded a 32 year old sea water pump pulley on a charter to the Keys. 11 hours south and then made the u-turn and sailed 16 hours back to be towed into the marina. Ordered the part and installing it in the morning. No real reason, just the key in the keyway just gave out after 32 years… Go figure. All is well though and it was a great sail. Now back to work.
Best of luck and sail on Amigo…
Capt. Paul
s/v Panacea
Dang… Sherwood water pump and new aluminum pulley – $760.00 with shipping. Installing today and then back in business. Whew! Tuff being in a pinch and don’t have time to shop around. $277.00 for a pulley WTF…
I’ll be maintaining that a little better in the future. Live & Learn, again and again.
Nice Facebook Page PBS.
Capt. Paul
s/v Panacea
I’m happy to finally see you Charly!!!!!!!!! It’s been hectic for the last few weeks, you know exactly how it is to start the school year…BUSY SUPER BUSY! And it still is. I have an old group of yours, darlings! I sent you an email. Hope u can read it, I can’t wait to hear from you.
Alex, hi! I bet Splendid must look its name having Carlita around ; ) I wish I could come and meet you personally in paradise where you live. I don’t lose hope though! It really shows u are having the best of times together, I’m super happy for both of you! Take care of my friend, will you? I miss her soooooo much!!!!
Love and smiles!
Cande
Alex muxt be in love it has been 12 days since he has posted a blog.
Love is in the air. The Love Boat.
Alex
I dated a chiropractor/yoga teacher, great woman! A few years of motorcross and bull riding, throw in tree work and heavy lifting…well my back use to hurt all the time. I did the whole series of cortizone shots a few times and after seeing multiple doctors cam to the conclusion that my back was just going to hurt me the rest of my life. So back to the girl I was dating. She adjusted me once a week for about a year and I attended yoga 2 times a week for about a year. She use to tell me that many issues in a man’s back is their leg muscles get strong and tight thru the butt and hamstrings. I paid a lot of attention to various ways to stretch out the hams and butt. The hams were the hard part to stretch out the butt was pretty easy mostly peigon pose. Throw in a healthy dose of down dog and up dog with a few sun salutations and my body “changed”. Now the muscles in the backs of my legs have grown longer and the whole area is less tight, the result is almost zero back pain for almost 3 years! Obviously your back issues could be much different than mine but it might be worth reasearching. Also if you are ever in my area I am sure she would take a peek at you, who knows she might even do a barter for a nice cruise.
..j