I’ve said it a thousand times and I’ll say it again. I’m such a lucky man!
Instead of making money we are making music, films, and I’m writing. A number of people have suggested that I compile the blogs and put them in a book format, which I am. I’m also telling the story of how I came to cruising which has always been a difficult subject for me. I’m also telling the story between the blogs.
It’s been a real trip going back and reading my blogs, I never really have before. What amazes me most is how far I’ve come spiritually, as a writer, and sailor. I have such a coherent philosophy as to how my future unfolds. The plan of not having plans, and sailing my life’s wind is really bringing me where I need to be.
My buddy David managed to output all the blogs into word format (about 1000 pages) and I’ve been editing and writing on the grey days I can’t film. I’m thinking it will be available in a few months as a kindle download from Amazon.
For whatever reason someone in Splendid’s history
decided to tile the aft head/shower. I’ve hated it since the moment I bought Splendid and have been procrastinating on ripping it out. Well, I did just that a few days ago and found a fair amount of dry rot along the base of the shower and mizzen compression post. I hate it because if water is rotting the bulkhead behind tile you can’t see it. Paint or veneer/varnish is the only option in my book. Anyway, it’s not as bad as it looks. All in all I’m looking at a week’s worth of work. I’m just still so happy to be finished with the 
decks, cabin house, and everything else outside of Splendid this just doesn’t phase me. Plus I like breaking out the sawzall, moo-who-hahaha! After a week this bulkhead will look as good as new.
As far as my experiment to retire the Yamaha 9.9 and inflatable to see if I can really make a go with a sailing & rowing dinghy, all I can say is “YEEEEHHHHAAAAA”! Man I’m getting buff and feeling great! 380 rows to shore and a bit more than 400 if Carla is with me or we are hauling water/headwinds. For a change I feel like I’m getting younger and not older. When it’s windy I still row as I just want the workout!
The Yamaha 9.9 is for sale and I’ll take the proceeds and buy a Yamaha 2hp, or if I can find the Honda 2 which is air cooled. It’s a noisy little bugger but no cooling system (impellors) to deal with. It’s ultra reliable, my buddy has one. The truth is I really don’t even want a little outboard as I don’t want to become dependent on one again and know I’ll end up using it :(
Aside from that we are watching our pennies with an eagle’s eye. I’m relying on “The Minimalist Sailor” and the book to generate enough to carry us through the Pacific.
I’m also looking for a water-maker guru to give me some advice. As some of you may remember My buddy Roger gave me an old 110 Village Marine water maker (18GPH) a while back. I would have needed over a 4kw generator to run it. I’ve stripped it for parts and I’m putting a 12v clutch on the High pressure pump and driving it with my Perkins. All I need to get this thing going is a feed pump and a new membrane. My questions are basically about the feed pump. I’m thinking a centrifugal pump is probably my best option? They are just so damn expensive and I’m looking for something more economical? I don’t know so much about that so if anyone can comment please do. Dry season is coming in three months and I want to have a reliable water source. We won’t bleach our drinking water so I’m pretty motivated to get this project going. Bleach in water is a funning thing, from what I can tell only American cruisers do it because our tap water is bleached and has fluoride added. No other country I know of does it. European countries uses H202 (Hydrogen Peroxide) or UV sterilizing. Water is such a basic necessity I’m really looking forward to having a watermaker again. Once I do I will shock (with bleach) and sterilize the water tanks. After that I’ll only put watermaker or rain water in the tanks and not contaminate them with anything else.
Sail far and live slowly my friends. If I can help in any way with advice, support, or motivation please let me know. I’ve talked a lot of people through the process of unplugging if that’s what your looking for.
Peace, Love, and Coconuts.
– alex