Well I ended up partying pretty hard last light, guess I had to blow off some steam? I went to my favorite micro-brewery and ended up in the casino.
I used to gamble a bit and the worst thing you can do when you gamble is drink. I told myself I’d loose $50 bucks. I was up over $320 and should have walked away, instead I had the “Vegas baby Vegas” drunk mentality going on and shot myself in the foot. I needed to go out and blow off some steam after my last month so I’m not stressing it.
Man doing this job was almost not worth it. I ended up spending $320.00 changing my flight around trying to see a friend, another few hundred on the phone on the ship (2.29/min), another few hundred in cabs, hotels, and every surface in Splendid is covered in boat mold, AHHHH! I hate mold and leaving Splendid locked up! Its going to take me a week to clean all this crap out of here.
We’ll I need to get my ship together. The rainy season has started again and the sea is all blown up and rollin, lots of thunder & lightning.
I’m returning to Florida in a few weeks to help a buddy move his boat from Ft. Pierce to Pensacola. I’m going to look into putting Splendid in the French Marina now that the season has changed.
After that I really need to get serious about boat projects. If I can work as hard as I have over the last month, I can work a quarter as hard here and I’ll get everything done quickly.
Man it was weird being away from Project BlueSphere for so long, its nice to be doing what I like again.
I was thinking to take a few quiet days but I really need to get cleaning.
My first orders of business are to get a new mattress, finish my fuel system, get a new refrigeration system , and seal up some leaks.
I’m going to have to start getting more serious about chartering down here and hang out in Por Vaneer looking to pick up some clients. If I’m going to get my ship together its going to take a few bucks. Man, Namaste was so much easier to take care of!
Speaking of charters, I’m just about to make the drawing so if anyone wants to buy a last minute ticket, now is your chance.
Man its good to be back in my element :)
Peace, Love, & Splendid!
– alex
Finally a decent cup of coffee, and a nights sleep. I’m going on a “throw out” binge as I have too much crap on the boat. No more alarm clocks till I have to make a flight in a few weeks :)
Woot, just scored a vita mix :)
cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110682131420&ssPageName=ADME:B:EOIBSA:US:1123
Alex
Thought you’d like to know that Mens Journal Magazine wrote an article about getting a charter from Columbia to Panama in the May volume. It sounded pretty Awesome good luck.
Thanks for the concise and informative article. This is truly a great read for me. Here’s another source that is also worth a look about the same.
Cholo
http://www.techblog.ws
InfoResearcher
Nice to have you back Alex.
The weather is getting better here in Salem Ma. boat is on the hard for this year so I can finally get it finished.
Do you have any thoughts on boat paint I was going to use a two part poly but was told a one part is a lot easier and all most as good.
Tim.
Timtoolman
Dont use the one part, if you must just on the decks. If you have the money go with Alexseal, it really is an awsome paint and brushes well if you want to brush, roll & tip. If you dont have so much money go with mothane. I didnt like the mopoxy primer so much, but its okay. You really do need to spend some money on paint if you dont want to screw with it every few years and it is a big job.
info researcher.
I’m going to make a video on the trials of sailing (chartering) from Panama to Colombia and back. There are a lot of “not so good” boats offering passage and it is just a matter of time before something bad happens. I’m going to try and organize it a bit.
I lost a bid on an ICOM IC-M602 used VHF last night, realley bummed, thought I had it as I snipswiped it with a $305.00 bid, it went for $309. I’m looking for a VHF with a loud hailer and foghorn, ARRGGG!
Man its good to be home :)
Alex, try a Standard Horizion 2100 vhf, its an AIS receiver and hailer for around 300. new. Dayton
Thanks for the info Dayton.
Man…, a squall rolled through today and it was really nice to sit in the rain and feel the world! I’ve been cleaning and organizing like crazy. My big money wont go as far as I hoped but I’m sure far enough. I want to rebuild by frige box before I install a new system. i dont think I can get the good blue/pink foam board here, will prob have to have it shipped in :(
Alex, I also vote for Standard Horizon, but try to find 2150 – it has compatibility improvements over 2100 if you want to get the AIS signal from the radio to your chartplotter and GPS signal into the radio….
…and yes, welcome back!
Cheers,
Wojtek
I don’t like AIS so much, It seems a bit too “plugged in” for me. Transmitting AIS is certainly something I DON’T want to do! Its bad enough everyone on my website knows where I am all the time :)
I like my radar with a perimeter alarm so i can sleep. I’m really just looking for a simple VHF that is used & cheap with a loudhailer and fog horn. I’m not about DSS, AIS, buddy track, blah, blah, blah. I want to feel alone in the sea and not transmitting anything. Truthfully I dont even like the spot trackinbg.
I haven’t had a VHF besides my hand-held (5 watt) that someone gave me since Jamaica and I’ve been fine.
I just want Splendid cleaned up and painted so I can do some local charters and shoot fish.
The new “more” is less :)
You can get a receive only AIS and it will use a lot less power than radar.
Doug,
AIS only shows you AIS transmitting vessels, not buoys, small boats, and floating hazards.
I set up my radar on ” watchmen” mode. The radar fires up every 4 minutes or so, takes a few sweeps, and goes back to sleep. It doesn’t use so much power, and I am a power miser.
I have an old Raymarine SL70 just like I did in Namaste (haven’t installed it yet), but it works fine. I set the gain pretty light so it will wake me for approaching squalls so I can shorten sail if need be before the wind hits, another thing AIS will not do for you.
I do need to order this little black box from Raymarine that connects to the system and allows me to have a loud alarm as the alarm in the radar is not loud enough to wake me.
One cant really compare AIS to Radar as it really is an apple vs orange comparison.
Its raining hard and I just got in from my morning shower :)
Cheers
Alex,
I just have to pipe in here on the AIS issue. Rememer that AIS is tracked and stored in a data base by the U.S Governemnt. A vessel can be pulled up anytime and the entire history (including who the boat is registered to) on the fly by the coast guard or Law enforcement. I am not a fan of AIS for sailboaters, its just one more tool we can use to invade on your freedoms and privacy. They can even track the AIS systems that are only recievers ;) If you are ever trouble out there or have an accident an EPIRB is your best bet and channel 16 is always monotered in englis and in spanish for emergencies. Guard (243.0) is monitered but an EPIRB will get your ass saved and a good RADAR will steer you clear of everything you need. I am a fan of a RADAR reflector though, it dosent transmit anything about you and if you are in a SAR emergency it helps them find you better without any personal intrusion. They do sell RADAR detectors that pick up the radars of bigger ships and wake you up but they are costly. I think they work in the x or y band. nice for guys like you that are going to sail around the world again but they are costly. Congrats and getting back to Panamma, I will be there next month around the 19th, let me know if you want to get some beers and steaks.
Chris
Chris,
I am so up for some beers and steaks, its been to long trying to meet :)
I didn’t want to mention all that as people always point the “conspiracy theory” finger but that is exactly why I’m not a fan of AIS. I do have an EPIRB, and will only transmit If I need help. I don’t usually have my VHF on under way either, I do put it on if I must sleep.
There is so much peace & harmony in the sea I sure don’t want to muck it all up with more signals, transmitters, and receivers. What will it be like on the sea in a hundred years? Full time WIFI, SAT TV with more crap to program us, maybe it will be like the unmanned fighter planes we have now. People will just virtually sail places so they can sail from their living room and not get sea sick?
I wish I was born a few hundred years back, thank God I wasn’t born a few hundred years in the future :(
I don’t have a radar reflector and have really been on the fence about it. I never trust ships to move anyway, I take 100% responsibility for not being near or on a collision course with anything, and I like being less visible. Obviously I have nothing to hide, but I don’t want to be a target either.
AIS is also like GPS in the car, it makes you stupid! People don’t know how to take, or give road directions anymore. Some cruisers out here depending on AIS don’t even know how to read a ships lights at night to determine their course without looking at a screen, its kind of funny in a sad way.
It makes me think of this (not even so fat) lady I just saw in the airport last week in Florida. There was a airline representative pushing her along in a wheel chair from the plane to baggage claim, she was about 45. I thought it was nice he was helping her. At baggage claim she was screaming at him and pointing to her bag which he missed on the carousel for the second time around. Frustrated she jumped up, got her bags, and perfectly walked off without a limp. What the hell is the matter with some people?
Anyway, cleaning and organizing like mad in 88 degree heat, argggg!
Doing this job on the ship did break me loose from some garbage that I needed to be broken loose from. I’m more focused and less complacent now.
Hope to see you next month.
Well I just made up the charter raffle cards that I will draw from a hat tonight.
I’m showing:
Donny B., Dave H, Henery F., Nathan L. (x2), Steve B., Rich E., Brad F., Ewan O., Donny R., Wayne L (x2), Robert M., Grazyna U., Lorry R..
Good luck guys, I’ll do it over a glass of wine after dinner tonight :)
Wholesale Hats
New Era Hats
Adjustable Hat
New Era Caps
Adjustable Hat
MLB Adjustable Hat
NFL Adjustable Hat
NBA Adjustable Hat
NFL Hats
MLB Hats
DC Hats
Fox Hats
Red Bull Hats
Monster Energy Hats
New York Hats
New York Yankees Hats
MLB Hats
Baseball Caps
Baseball Hats
IUG&*