I’m back after 10 days of chartering, and yes, I have 10 people in the dinghy.
I got a call from an agency that needed help with a charter as they were a family of nine. Actually two families. One with two kids, the other with three. I got the family with two on Splendid (really nice people).
The two families wanted to spend all their meals and time together which made the charter difficult for me and the other captain. So we decided to take the lot of them at one time and split the days giving them all meals together with the exception of 
breakfasts. The other five did return to the other boat to sleep.
So, with Carla and I, every other day we were eleven on board. One night we even cooked for the captain and cook of the other boat. We made lobster pizzas for thirteen, LOTS OF WORK!!
The morning they left, Curtis came. Funnily enough they were also from British Columbia.
Curtis has been following Project BlueSphere since the beginning, he is a great guy and was a super-easy charter. I must say even though we make less money with “BlueSphere” charters I have much more of a connection with the people. I attract like-minded individuals through
my website and I must say I’m not really so into just doing vacation charters for money, it’s so impersonal.
Curtis was soooo cool too. He’s on the verge of buying a boat to take off and live minimally. He is divorced and his children are out of the nest. I wish I had a picture of him to post but we didn’t manage to get one.
He brought us some real goodies from BC. Obviously the Crown Royal was my favorite, I don’t get too many treats like that on our income. Carla devoured the Capricorn liquorice he brought so fast we couldn’t even get it on the photo. I’m super interested to cruise BC and the Pacific North-West. Carla and I want to do some colder weather too. I’d be really interested to explore all the remote fiords with all the 
bear, moose, and salmon. It would be really cool to spend a season or two hunting and living off the land up there. Curtis brought us a few books to feed our imaginations with inspiration. Once again I feel like I made a good friend. I really love Project BlueSphere, as it’s brought so many positive people into my life.
Curtis left this morning and I’m getting a blog off as soon as possible.
Since we don’t have any charters booked our plan is to head to Linton to get some projects done. I really, REALLY, REALLY need a bottom job, and that looks like Cartagena Colombia unless someone wants a Panama Canal transit charter which would bring us into the Pacific.
For a change we have a couple grand and we need to spend it wisely as it will get absorbed by Splendid quickly. I was sponsored a Masterflux controller and compressor to get my refrigerator project off the ground and still need to get some parts (receiver, water pump, etc). I don’t know anything about building a refrigeration system from scratch but will soon. When we go to Cartagena I’ll take some backpackers and may have to make a few trips to afford the haul-out. It’s going to be a big haul-out and I’ll need some cash. All Splendid’s through-hulls are being replaced with Forespar Marelon, I’m sanding off all the old bottom paint (not much left), fixing all the blisters, re-barrier-coating, and applying 5 coats of hi-quality ablative. I decided against Copper Coat. I’ll also be fairing, priming, and painting the hull above the water-line. I’d like to take a month in the yard as there is so much to do.
Here is some big news. Namaste is off cruising the world again with the new owner. For a position and blog, check out:
http://skipr.net/where-is/boat-pages/?boatid=1207
Anyway, quick blog today but it’s my first day off for a while and wanted to touch base.
If I have any real refrigeration gurus that can lend a hand with some advice please let me know.
P.S. If anyone has a good source for flair fittings let me know. I’m trying to find one like this in stainless, brass, or this coated material (not galvanized). The pipe end has to be 3/4, and the flair end 9/16 thread.
Peace, Love, and Coconuts.
– alex