When you live as close to nature and the weather as I do you can understand why people of the past worshiped the sun. After so much rain the sun seems like a kiss from the Gods! The days seem so much brighter (literally) and my luck has seemed to take a turn for the best.
Splendid has three new additions. The first is a Kuna Dug-out canoe. My friend Paul was robbed a few months ago when he was away from his boat. The following morning he found a dug-out canoe in the mangroves. It had either been the thief’s boat, stolen by the thief, or just washed to the mangrove from the sea. Paul spoke to the police and left it in the center of town for about a month, nobody claimed it. Well he didn’t want it and gave it to me. I’m weary of owning things with bad karma, but this little boat needs some love and will 
be good exercise. I’ll retire my inflatable for a while to save on fuel costs :) not to mention burning rice and beans is better than gasoline.
The other thing that I have acquired is a really nice dive compressor. This Dive compressor is a Bauer Utilus 10. My friend bought it for $4500.00 7 years ago, and sold it to me for $250 and I don’t need to pay him off until July. His girl friend is coming and he really needs the room in his lazerette. This is the first time I’ve taken any sort of credit for many, many, years, but I just 
couldn’t refuse.
This little baby will fill an aluminum 80 in 12 minutes and supplies me with another income stream, $10.00 a fill. I can dive as much as I want, and opens up a world of pneumatic tools for me. It came with a complete rebuild kit for the compressor, oil, and 5 new filters for everything. I had to spend the day cleaning it up, and really cleaning the carb, but it runs like a top. My buddy Roger has a regulator and tank I can buy cheap. All I need to do is get a BC vest and I’m diving again!
The other good news it the Sea Recovery watermaker came back into my life. My buddy Roger is hauling his boat out and needs help with the bottom (shaft/paint) and offered to swap it for my help. don’t I know what’s going on with my Karma, but I’m really happy about it. I don’t need to get it working before I go anywhere and I’m going to put the watermaker install on the back burner but WAHOOO.
I really do know what happened with my Karma. After Alex left I really realized I don’t want to be in any sort of “relationship” again and it kind of set me free :) All that’s changed is I got my bullet-proof attitude back. I found my mojo!
On the down side I took a little welding job yesterday ($30.00). I was welding on shore with a small generator and couldn’t get a good flow on the stainless. I looked at the weld too often and for the first time got welder’s flash. I woke up in the middle of the night and could not open my eyes. it felt like I had acid in them. I knew exactly what it was and felt my way around for a cold bottle of water to put on my eyes, and pain pill. I slept till 11:00 am.
It doesn’t look like I can post my movie this week. My flip camera has taken it’s last flip. I’m borrowing a friends camera but I need to go to Panama city to get a mini – mini fire wire cable so it looks I wont be able to post till next week. I really do hate electronics. You know I used to be a filmmaker and so much prefer shooting real film, and taking real pictures with mechanical cameras. My film cameras never broke but the cost of film and processing is prohibitive. It’s always something :(
Anyway, I’m off to rest my eyes. From what I’ve read on the internet it will take me a few days to recover from the welder’s flash. Life is pretty damn grand though and if I don’t do any other stupid things I’ll be up to normal, well, I’m not really normal, but I’ll be back to my old self in a few days.
Peace, Love, and welder’s masks
Sail far and live slowly!
– Alex
Alex, For what it is worth i don’t feel to good about you and the dug out kuna canoe. I don’t know but to me it is almost sacrid. Sure it was adandon and left to be reclaimed for over a month. Some thing tells me it is ment to go back to them or left to go back to the earth. Perhaps i am being a little too reflective here but it just seems it does not belong to the white man. When i have read your blogs on the kuna and their vanishing way of life i think this is one more thing. Maybe it was stolen from them and they have no way of knowing it was left for them to reclaim. Maybe they have no way of getting it.
Could there be some coincidence that your eyes get damaged after you obtain the canoe?
A while back you mentioned you wanted to do a documentry on their vanish culture. Maybe this is a sign to go be with them. You have had some great luck lately prehaps this is a test. Go to them return it . If it is theirs it will come back to you twofold.
Curtis
Curtis,
Actually it is not necessarily a “Kuna” canoe. Local Panamanians make these as well. I’m with you though, I’ve done a lot of meditating on it. My friend Hanz has a local carved paddle on the wall of his bar he said he would take down and give/loan it to me. I think after I take it for a spin I’ll know weather or not it came to me with good or bad juju.
I think my eyes was just my own stupidity. I shouldn’t be welding for money but working on my website.
We have to follow the signs of life like in the alchemist :)
Peace.
“just my own stupidity” if you run out i got some extra stupidity i don’t need……………………….g
I live in Madang, Papua New Guinea….The locals love it when you embrace their ways. For example they like it when you have a bilum bag like they use or make and eat coconut rice like they love…What I am saying is the canoe is not a big deal. It will probably endear you to the people over using a rubber raft with a motor when they see you cruisin around…at least here in PNG it would be cool..never been to Panama, so might be different, but I doubt it….If someone says hey thats mine; give it back to them, no big lose, might make a pal…..tingting bilong mi tasol…..
Dugouts rule!
Much better for the world than an synthetic inflatable, and good for your upper body strength too.
Remember most dug out canoes will become waterlogged, heavy, and eventuslly sink if left in the water all the time. They need to spend regular time on the beach drying out, or else seal the wood with a good coat of something.
I tell my self that life inevitably has its ups and downs and for all bad “luck” there will be equal and apposing good luck!
I can’t prove this theory, but it helps to get through the downers if you understand that without the down cycle there can be no up cycle, and if every day were the same how boring would that be!
Viva the cycle of life.
Nothing wrong with welding for money, but remember the sub contractor needs to cover his own costs, including health! Barter is better karma, but you still need to keep an eye on “fair” trade including risks to you. Looking at the sun is dangerous too, we just learn young that its a bad thing to do.
Look after your compressor, one bad fill could ruin your day seriously. No point moving to the clean air of paradise and then going poisoning someone. But imagine the spear fishing possibilities.
After the volcano erupted in Rabaul PNG and the consequential social upheaval an acquaintance fed 60 people for about 3 months by diving/fishing for them. Time enough for some new crops to start growing.
Welders flash I know only too well, I little olive oil or milk will sooth your eyes learned that from my mom. She welded ships at the Fallriver ship yard in Mass. during World War 2.
Tim.
Welcome Home Brother:
Sounds like you are bathing in the sunlight. I was just in Aruba and the rainy season was rockin’. Big Caribbean snow coming down. Had a ball anyway.
Best of luck on the Karma thing. It’s how you feel inside that counts and we all know what’s right inside. Sounds like you have a good canoe. You did the right thing and put the word out it was available, no one stepped up, so give it a good home and enjoy it.
Life’s good up here in southwest Florida. Charters are starting to gain some interest and I’ll be doing a Keys run in April as well as a couple of 2 and 3 dayers. Slow but I’m OK.
Take care of yourself, don’t break anything and enjoy the sun for God’s sake!
Capt. Paul
s/v Panacea
Welcome Home Brother:
Sounds like you are bathing in the sunlight. I was just in Aruba and the rainy season was rockin’. Big Caribbean snow coming down. Had a ball anyway.
Best of luck on the Karma thing. It’s how you feel inside that counts and we all know what’s right inside. Sounds like you have a good canoe. You did the right thing and put the word out it was available, no one stepped up, so give it a good home and enjoy it.
Life’s good up here in southwest Florida. Charters are starting to gain some interest and I’ll be doing a Keys run in April as well as a couple of 2 and 3 dayers. Slow but I’m OK.
Take care of yourself, don’t break anything and enjoy the sun for God’s sake!
Capt. Paul
s/v Panacea
Voyaging on a Small Income by Annie Hill (Paperback – Oct 1 2001)
1 new from CDN$ 362.64 1 used from CDN$ 336.22
(1)Excerpt – Front Matter: “… VOYAGING ON A SMALL INCOME Second Edition ANNIE HILL Illustrated by John Blackburn Thomas Reed …”
That book is going up in value. I did manage to order it for $16.95 but not thru this site. hummm
Alex i was watching your DVD when you sailed the soul pacific. You where so happy then and so reflective. It was really amazing what you did and the way you changed as your journey progressed. I just wanted to say i can’t wait to see more voyages. Do what ever it takes to get prepared and hoist anchore. If you have to charter, weld, sell DVD’s or work in the states for a few months just do it. You looked so alive then and it is time to set sail .
Curtis