Sorry for not blogging more but I’ve been working on Eleanor from the time my eyes open in the morning, till the time they close at night.
In just the past three weeks Todd and I have been able to install a cubic-mini wood burning stove, a Harkin roller furling, a Simrad below deck autopilot, a fleming wind-vane, plus tackle a bunch of smaller projects.
I did something really stupid a few days ago and fried some electronics. One shouldn’t do electric work at night, tired, and stressed about time :( Unfortunately I had to order a new chartplotter/fishfinder (Depth) with a transom mounted transducer as I fried the one in the hull
along with everything else.
The good news is Eleanor is almost ready to travel. The other expense I wasn’t counting on was the luff tape on my head sail, doesn’t match the slide in the new furling. I found a local loft to sew on a 
new tape but they cant get to it until next Saturday so I have to wait another week to leave :(
As usual I’m running on fumes. If anyone is interested to join Eleanor for a while and chip in for fuel please let me know. As you can see from the photo my trip home is 70% into the wind and a motorboat ride most of the way. I wont be able to rely on wind until the windward passage (between Cuba and Haiti), but will be set free from diesel at roughly 18N 67W for my sail home.
My crew member Todd has turned out to be a really great guy. We had never met but I kind of had an idea as to what his character was like by his Facebook posts. He is great in the galley and a real help with the countless projects we have been knocking out. Not to mention he is turning out to be a good friend.
Just a quick note about Facebook. My blogs will still be posted to facebook but I’m trying to get as far from facebook as I can. I’m really over all the partisan opinions and politically bias information. I want to concentrate more on my physical world and the people around me. And if ISIS or the North Koreans nuke me into oblivion I’d just as well not know till the very last second. As most of you know I gave up the news over a decade ago and it has been such a positive force in my life. Some of you may think I’m naive or uninformed, but I see it as freedom.
Today is a beautiful day and the season really seems to have opened a door for Eleanor to make way south. I’m so excited by the idea of sailing into Linton to see Carla and Nacho playing on the deck of Splendid, or paddling around on the surfboard. I like my life quiet, simple, and surrounded by Love, wind and the sea.
Peace friends.
Sail far and live slowly.
alex
Save me a berth starting the last week of may or so, Wade
Wade, your bunk is ready and waiting for you :) I’m hoping to bring on a few people between now and the end of May.
the other thing I like about dumping Facebook is i’m more focused on Project BlueSphere!!!
Wishing you a safe voyage south, and as soon as possible. Love awaits!
Facebook…. Good to hear you are backing out of it. I was puzzled seeing you get into facebook frequently for the past couple of years. I find it doesn’t really suit you and your cause (imho). I got sucked back into it last year due to the ease of updating stuff from my mini cruise … what a trap! Flee, flee!!
GO ALEX GO!
Wish I could come along for the ride. Congrats for dumping Facebook too.
How did you short out your electronics?
Im so inspired with all my time away from facebook, its like a digital cage for my mind. I’m writing a blog about it now.
As far as frying my electronics I had my depth sounder, transducer, and my wifi multiplexer all wired together to test before my install. It was late, I was tired, trying to keep to schedule, and pushing myself. I lowered my electric panel, attached the ground, and touched the positive to the 110 side of the panel. I’m not used to having shore power, to me all positives are 12v :(
So I had to break down and buy a depth sounder with transom mounted transducer. I got the lowrence elite 7 because it has an option as a chart plottter for me to make my own charts. I can put a 2nd transducer on my dinghy, go into shallow, uncharted water, and chart the bottom. Come back to Eleanor, reattach my chart-plotter, and get into uncharted water. I like to anchor far away from all the other boats.I really enjoy my privacy and this is a really cool thing for me :)
Hi guys, you should see a chat/message thing at the bottom of your page,can you help me figure it out by sending me a message or instant message?
Trying to make it easier for the PBS community to communicate.