La vida es aci!

 

bird

One of my favorite Spanish phrases, “Life is so”!

It’s hard to explain but I’ve been in a really good place.

My life is slowing down to a pace I can really manage as I’m realizing the “live slow” part of my mantra while working on the “sail far”!

Part of it is…, for me…, it’s easy for me to see life through a camera. The camera makes everything simple, it’s my therapy. Needless to say I’ve been out shooting and enjoying my time in Panama.

I’m attending a friends wedding in Panama city on the 8th and will take a few days to get some footage for the film. I need some contrast shots to paradise and need to get some grungy city footage for the opening sequence, should be fun.

I have also had a really good stint on the Splendid painting project. In the last two days I pulled and re-bedded two chain plates, and finished painting most of the stern section. I’m starting to work on the starboard mid-ship deck.  Today I’m working on another chain plate and building my new fiberglass battery box.

I took a bike ride to old pirate town of Portobello a few days back for lunch. Not the best time for natural lighting but you get a good idea of the forts, its a really cool village. 20110929_0123

If you listen really hard and squint you can almost see the pirate ships in the harbor and hear their cannons. I’m not a pirate fan however I enjoyed the films. I also don’t advocate flying a pirate flag for “fun”, pirates were bad people. It is my understanding that if you fly a pirate flag to this day, by international maritime law, anyone is allowed to board your boat. Here is a brief history of Portobello from wikipedia:

20110929_0130“The privateer Captain Henry Morgan attacked the city in 1668. He led a fleet of privateers and 450 men against Portobelo, which, in spite of its good fortifications, he captured. His forces plundered it for 14 days, stripping nearly all its wealth while raping,  torturing and killing the inhabitants.

Following the British disaster in the Blockade of Porto Bello under Admiral Hosier in 1726, the port was attacked on November 21, 1739, and captured by a British fleet, commanded by Admiral Edward Vernon during the War of Jenkins’ Ear. The British victory created an outburst of popular acclaim throughout its Empire. More medals were struck for Vernon that for any other 18th century British 20110929_0128figure. Many Portobellos across the British Isles were named in honor of the victory, such as Portobello Road in London, the Portobello area in Edinburgh, and thePortobello Barracks in Dublin.[3]

The Spanish quickly recovered the Panamanian town and defeated Admiral Vernon in the Battle of Cartagena de Indias in 1741. Vernon was forced to return to England with a decimated fleet, having suffered more than 18,000 casualties.[4] Despite the Portobelo campaign, British efforts to gain a foothold in the Spanish Main and disrupt the galleon trade were fruitless. Following the War of Jenkins’ Ear, the Spanish switched from large fleets calling at few ports to small fleets trading at a wide variety of ports, the flexibility making them less subject to attack. The ships began to travel around Cape Horn to trade directly at ports on the western coast.”

boatThis area drips with history, I love it! I wish I had an underwater metal detector. You always hear of people finding artifacts in the area.

I’m also loving the new batteries, wow do I have some power! Splendid’s lighting is horrible and I haven’t had the money to go out and buy new modern LED fixtures. I may have found a economical alternative to the power hungry halogen and incandescent ledfixtures that I have. I  found affordable warm white LED bulbs on ebay that come with adapter kits for all of my sockets. I’m ordering them from China to my mail box in Miami, then from Miami they will be forwarded here. It may take a month or so But I’m excited to see them. If they are good I’m going to buy a bunch in hopes to re-sell them here.

Anyway, it’s a beautiful Sunday and I’m going for a swim before work.

Sail far and live slowly.

– Alex

Author: Alex

I'm just a sailor bum ;)

16 thoughts on “La vida es aci!”

  1. Hey Alex! Just wanted to drop a line to say I’m really enjoying your photos. Loved the lightning shot and the red boat. I’m so glad to hear that you’ve finally gotten a DSLR again and am looking forward to your next film.

    Reply

  2. Thanks, I’m happy to have the DSLR too. I can’t take credit for the lightning shot tho, I had it as stock.

    Reply

  3. Alex,

    Check out BEBI Electroinics for led lights. Converted over nav lights and cabin lights….it’s a great cruiser owned company out of Fiji.

    Reply

  4. You mentioned that you worked out a payment plan for your current boat. I was curious about that, as it would make moving into a larger boat so much easier, having a transition in that manner. What was the process you went through? How you found someone willing to take payments (seems hard in my limited experience of boat searching, but its just that, limited :) ), and did you have a down payment? Did they keep “ownership” until paid, but let you have possession? Any ideas that can help in that search for an owner willing to take payments on a bigger project boat?

    I will have plenty of cash once house, cars and current boat sell, but selling them prior to moving up to a bigger boat is a bit more difficult. It would make it easy with a bigger boat to move family on to in the interim and we are pushing to go.

    Thanks!!!
    Mark

    Reply

  5. Mark,

    It was not my “current” boat, I paid cash for Splendid, it was my first boat. You just need to talk to people and make offers, a lot of people are hurting and are willing to get cre8ive on financing. When you don’t have a lot coming in and don’t live on your boat slip payments can be a real killer. Also check with your local boat yards, they often have boats they are very motivated to get rid of. Go hunting and remember small boats are good to cruise on :)

    Reply

  6. i just want to let you know that i changed all my interior lights with led lights cheap…i have a 42′ vagabond ketch and had bought several of the marine led replacement bulbs……these bulbs are expensive and dont give off alot of light…..i was working on a fifth wheel trailer one day and had to change a brake light……i went to a trailer wheel and found that they had led lights -white back-up lights that looked like they might fit in my boat lights …..they fit almost perfectly……wired them directly into the wiring…..they only cost $25 each and put out about 5 times the amount of light at the orginal 12v bulbs that used 1 amp….the trailer lights use .1amp
    ive used the lights now for well over a year and they are all still working just fine and i have all the light i need

    Reply

  7. We followed the same path as Bruce about a year ago with the automotive LEDs. The dome lights in our Westsail 32′ have double bayonet plugs and we found super bright/warm white lights on Amazon for $18.00 that fit in the existing sockets. There were several models with different lumens…they’ve worked well for us.

    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002BMWHM4

    Reply

  8. I cant figure out what the name is for my bulb base. It has two contacts on the bottom, and two nubs on the sides, the nubs are staggered. I know some have one contact on the bottom and the nubs are at the same position on opposite sides of the base.

    I’m looking forward to get my square bulbs, it looks like they will fit in everything with adapters, have a higher lums, and all the bulbs are pointing in the right direction and between 3000, and 3500 kelvin. I really don’t like the synthetic feel of the white LED or florescent bulbs, yuck! I’d rather burn the amps for incandescent or burn oil. The square bulbs will also fit in my reading lights and I’ll secure them in place with a touch of 5200. I think the light will have a better throw then the round LED’s with the bayonet base?

    Reply

  9. I cant figure out what the name is for my bulb base. It has two contacts on the bottom, and two nubs on the sides, the nubs are staggered. I know some have one contact on the bottom and the nubs are at the same position on opposite sides of the base.

    I’m looking forward to get my square bulbs, it looks like they will fit in everything with adapters, have a higher lums, and all the bulbs are pointing in the right direction and between 3000, and 3500 kelvin. I really don’t like the synthetic feel of the white LED or florescent bulbs, yuck! I’d rather burn the amps for incandescent or burn oil. The square bulbs will also fit in my reading lights and I’ll secure them in place with a touch of 5200. I think the light will have a better throw then the round LED’s with the bayonet base?

    Reply

  11. Nice piece of equipment. I might have to buy one and start taking some better sunset photos. There is nothing like a desert sunset; unless it is an ocean sunset.

    Reply

  13. I’m impressed. You’re truly well informed and very intelligent. You wrote something that people could understand and made the subject intriguing for everyone. I’m saving this for future use.

    Leslie
    Marks Web
    http://www.imarksweb.org

    Reply

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