I love a good quote! The right words put together in a simple sentence can inspire a lifetime of work, start a revolution, or change the way we perceive things. Quotes are ideas that we can easily share with one and other. They are short and easy to understand, well at least they should be.
Here is one for the Alex Dorsey quote hall of fame:
“The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free your very existence is an act of rebellion.”
Words for me to live by!
I saw a bit of the news the other day as I was setting up free wifi at my friend Hanz’s restaurant. I ordered and installed a 3G router from eBay for him and the free wifi seems to be a hit. More cruisers are buying $1.00 beers from him and he’s happy : ) CNN really gets me down, it’s a bit surreal, and is akin to having a really bad dream. A bad economy I can live with, but how long can we go on with this ridiculous war, seriously?
We need the hippies back!
I’ve been reading about Einstein since I read “Einstein’s dreams” a month or so back and got on this whole time kick. What an insightful man!
Here are two Einstein quotes to go with your coffee this morning. I’m posting these quotes as inspired by run in with CNN:
“It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.”
“Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding.”
– Albert Einstein
I took the tape off the clock in my galley yesterday morning. Not because I have any pressing engagements, but because I figure it’s better to be a master of mechanical time then to ignore it. The funny thing is I’m totally oblivious to it. My eyes don’t stray to the clock when I’m hungry, tired, or merely from habit. If they do the tape will go back on. Perhaps putting a strip of tape over the TV for those dreaming of cruising & freedom would be a good idea?
My time to sail will come soon!
I’m almost 75% done with Splendids decks & paint. You can see from the picture that the starboard side & aft cabin house is now all white, as is most of the toe rail. YEEEHAAA!
As the dry season is approaching quickly, I’m able to work at the speed I like which seems to be about 4 hours a day on my outside work. A few more hours go into reading & writing, and a few to my guitar. My time is also consumed by taking pictures & video and dealing with the mundane aspects of life like dishes and cleaning Splendid’s bottom. I also spend a few hours a day in my hammock contemplating my navel (just thinking) and starring at the stars. I tell you it really beats CNN! My hammock is where many of my travel dreams are born. I will hatch them on the salty, clean, white, decks of Splendid in the not too distant future. Most of my dreams are of sailing Africa and Asia.
I’ve realized something important. I don’t have time for a job, bills, insurance, credit or material crap. I don’t even have time for mechanical time, It would interfere with my dreams & ambitions. Sounds a bit backwards doesn’t it? That being said I do need to go make a little money in the San Blas, but like time, I wish to master money and not be controlled by it. I hope to find the balance of time & money that suits my lifestyle and provides me the optimum balance of peace & harmony. Minimalism is my path, revolution, and legacy. I hope more people will ask for less and become so absolutely free that your very existence will become an act of rebellion. It feels really good!
When I look at Splendid, squint, and see her all painted & proud she looks ready to go. I will not have to squint soon and will raise sail to sail far and live slowly .
I cut and filled 104 screw shafts out of the decks yesterday, I would guesstimate I have about 400 left on the port side and I’m done with that horrible job. A few weeks of sun will get me finished with the decks, chain plates, and screw shafts. I have to reinstall hand rails, blocks, winches, which will take another week or so. I’m also going to paint the hull which will take a weekish or so. Just because I’m lean on financial means does not mean Splendid should show it. I’m going to remove the rub rails, fill and fair a few gouges in the hull, prime, and spray or possibly roll. I will most likely do this in the San Blas as I’m chartering or running backpackers to Zapzurro Colombia, but who knows. Perhaps some money will come from another avenue. I need to get a new computer so I can start editing video. I’m thinking to raise some money on kickstarter.com. I’m also going to have to think of hauling at some point as it has been about 4 years since I bought and splashed Splendid.
I’ve started building a charter page which is under the members bar. I will shoot a video (SD) to go in the player, its blank now. If your interested on the technical aspects & cost of getting to San Blas for a visit you may want to check it out even though it is still under construction. Splendid and I can be had in the San Blas for about $300 a day plus a little for diesel, food, and drinks. It’s less than half what smaller boats are asking and think it is a very good value.
“There is a time for departure even when there is no certain place to go.” – Tennessee Williams
Also appropriate, however I don’t know the author is:
“All good navigators don’t know where they are going until they arrive.” 
I will store my trusty steed (Yamaha DT 175) at a friend’s house while I’m gone to make it more comfortable on Splendid for charters and life in the islands.
Next Monday I have a date with Margo. Margo and her husband have been cruising around the world for over 30 years. Margo is going to help me overcome one of my greatest fears, canning. I have been interested in canning for many years. I’ve made and canned some jam & chutney as a test and it came out really good. However my real interest is in canning meat & seafood on a large scale. I’ve read a number of books on home canning and they give very precise times, temperatures, pressures, and jar sizes for canning meats. I find it all a bit overwhelming and have stayed away from it in fear of killing myself with botulism. When I told her that at thanksgiving dinner she laughed at me and invited me over for a crash course in home canning. Margo and her husband live on home canned meats and still don’t have refrigeration on their boat, my kind of people. I had some home canned chicken & pate a while back. The chicken was so lovely I still can’t believe how horrible store bought canned chicken tastes. It’s dry and tasted like canned tuna, YUCK! My ultimate goal is to hunt, kill, and can my own red meat, fowl, and seafood. I don’t know if you guys remember but I was killing a lot of chickens in Polynesia with my wrist rocket, yummy!
A few technical notes.
I’m contemplating moving from propane to kerosene as a cooking fuel so if anyone has any comments, please post them. Splendid’s stove is really on her last legs. I’ve heard of a ships kerosene stove for sale that I’m going to look at in a few weeks. The pluses of kerosene seem to far outweigh the negatives. Kerosene is more readily available in the world. I can get it at the supermarket here as I’m shopping and don’t need to make a special trip. I don’t need to stress over who has the right adapters, lug around the big tanks, and kerosene burns much hotter and is more enjoyable to cook with. The system is much simpler and I don’t need expensive gas solenoids, fume detectors, and I don’t have to store my fuel on deck. However my favorite plus is it can’t turn splendid into a big bomb. I heard a boat blow up and watched it burn in the Bahamas, there was nothing left. Since I don’t carry insurance kerosene may be a good way for me to go. I would still keep a propane grill but the fuel and grill will be outside. Burning propane is about 30% cheaper but I figure the increase in cooking cost will be outweighed by insurance & simplicity in my home. The kerosene stove also doubles as a good cabin heater which I will invariably need in the future.
I’m also really excited about getting weatherfax on the iphone via the SSB radio. Some people seem to be thinking outside of the box and merging new tech with old:
http://www.blackcatsystems.com/ipad/iPad_HF_FAX_Weather_Fax_App.html
If a small computer draws 5 amps an hour, then getting weaterfax on the iphone will save me about 12 to 25 amps a day depending if I receive the fax’s once or twice in a 12 hour period. The iphone can also be stored in a waterproof case and mounted next to the SSB which will protect it from the damp salty environment of the boat. I just put my satphone up for sale as I just can’t afford the minutes. With weatherfax and my EPIRB I’ll be set. I wont be able to post blogs from sea but that’s how it is.
One more quote to chew on:
If war is ever lawful, then peace is sometimes sinful” – C.S. Lewis
Peace, Love, and Coconuts
Sail far and live slowly.
alex dorsey
a master of time and money (at least in my own mind)!
Hi Alex,
Guess what I am bringing to Panama? A pressure canner! I have no idea what I can get there, and this is one of my favorite tools for a simple life. BTW, we are flying on December 7th, leaving NA behind. Lots of folk look at us and ask: ‘Aren’t you scared? You are getting older, after all…’ ‘When are you coming back?’ I agree that the news are toxic here. Drove me nuts to listen to all the negativity when I coudn’t sell the bloody house and thought I would never get out. Everything turned out ok at the end, though. We are packed and ready. My mate is at work for the last time today. Bye bye corporate world. I will not miss you. Going through lots of goodbyes here. Parties that never end. Drinking lots, gaining all the weight that we lost over that last few months by good eating back. I look at your links to cheap boats, but our purchase will have to wait. Need to go back and visit with our aging moms first. We will start looking around September when we are back in Panama. It is exciting!!! The days of cutting ties and starting anew. It will take time to learn how to be free again after 20 odd years on a hamster wheel. I hope the damage is not irreversible. For the next few months we will just learn our surroundings, perhaps buy a bike and explore the jungle. We were set up for a sailing trip from Panama to BVIs and back, but it didn’t work out. Sad but perhaps we have to wait for our own boat to go sailing the Blahs and all the rest. Ok, enough rambling. Maybe, see you there one of these days?
Congratulations !!!!
I have a large pressure canner and a pressure cooker. My plan is to can on a large scale and start packing away meat for a long journey. I like Pate, Riet, and will alslo can chicken, beef, and pork. That coupled with fresh fish, home made wine & bread made from freshly milled non gluten flower is my path!!!! Add a little home made tofu, soy milk and I’m liv’n uptown!!!
Priceless :)
Ah, crap! The comment gets added twice when you refresh the page! Sorry for that. I canned quite a bit for our trips and it is simple. Can you get jars in Panama? Baked bread, preserved meat… Love this stuff. Couldn’t live without pressure cooker, too. Taking two with me! We made wine and beer here, but we will have to talk some time of how to do it on the boat. Ok, enough internet for today. Gotta get out of the house – it is snowing today!
Cheers!
Jars and lids no problem here, can get them at the hardware store (Novi)
Hey Alex,
Splendid is looking good! We’re hunkered down for the winter on Emerald, currently replacing a leaking water tank (chaos on board!!). Just a note on Kerosene stoves. They can be a real pain, my last boat (31ft wooden wanderer class) had a taylors two burner and warming oven kerosene stove. Getting the thing to work properly was difficult, as you need a clean burn otherwise the burners soot up really quickly and flare dangerously. Can you not find parts for your propane cooker? Especially if you are going to do a lot of canning it will be hard work on kerosene. What make is the stove? Perhaps it will be ok if it is’nt a ‘pressurised’ kerosene system like the taylors. Hope this helps.
Perhaps you can find a boat breakers? What about the one that sank that the windlass came from? can you ‘recycle’ that stove?
slainte colin
Hey Alex- I lived aboard a Falmouth Cutter 22 for 10 years and cooked with a Taylor 029 pressurized kerosene stove. Kero is the way to go. They cook hot, are not dangerous, and if you preheat the burner properly, they don’t stink or smoke. I’m getting my Westsail 28 ready to go cruising and have gotten rid of the propane system and am looking for a pressurized kero stove. Unfortunately the Taylors are now outrageous in price and I can’t afford one. If there is any hassle to this type of stove, its got to be the pre-heating of the burners before turning them on….use DENATURED alcohol only!!..but once you get the hang of pre-heating, this is the only way to go………….good luck……….Splendid is looking good ……I am in the process of taking the teak decks off of my W28 so I know what you mean about filling the screw shaft holes…..take care
Rich
Rich, On my diesel heater I preheat with a torch and skip the alcohol thing, have you done that?
Kerorsene is available worldwide and safer than gas. You can use cheap rum for primer – but be careful not to singe your eyelashes. I baked bread on top of my two burner stove using a seven inch pot placed inside a dutch oven. And forsook refrigeration. Cold beers in out of the way bars …nirvana.
Has anyone used one of these kero stoves?
http://www.asapheat.com/keroseneproducts/butterflydoubleburnerstove.htm
Are they any good?
An apprentice?
I’m thinking of taking an apprentice for a few months? I’m looking for someone (uber-mellow) under 35, preferably mid to late 20’s and in good physical condition. This person would have to have a great attitude, willing to learn, and be pay for his or her own expenses. I would ask for 20-25 hours a week of light work, mostly sanding, scraping, painting & varnishing.
In return I will teach the way of the minimalist sailor and show this person one of the most beautiful places on earth, The San Blas islands. So if you’re interested in everything from learning how to make wine, spear fish, cook, sail, anchor, engine maintenance and so on drop me an email. I may run a few backpacker trips during our time together and cooking, dishes, and crew hand would be expected during this time in place of scraping & painting. There will be no TV or video games so if you get board easily take this into consideration. We can do movie nights but reading, wondering, and hammock tending are good exercises.
Hi Alex. I am just chilling here in Washington state. I recently discovered a boat for sale that I can see myself owning real soon. It is a 1967 Pearson 25. I am very excited about this boat as it would be a great vessle to become proficient at sailing here in the San Juan Islands. I am going to meet the owner next week and tour the boat. Bill the owner has owned the Pearson for the last 15 years and has sailed it around the waters here alot. I am hoping that it turns out to be as exciting as I am anticipating. It would be nice to have a first boat that doesnt have missing rigging and alot of hokey crap going on with it. My girlfriend bought me this awsome book called Chapman Piloting from a used book store, it is very detailed and full of photos. It is basicly a encyclopedia of piloting. Good stuff. It is in the 40s here so im downing the earl grey and making some nets. I learned how to build hammoks and nets on youtube this week. I have a bunch of questions about sailing, and I suppose that once I am found on the water I will be deluged with advise and warnings from the oldtimers out there. I cant wait. Well here is to you living the dream. Talk at you soon.
Wow!
“under 35, preferably mid to late 20’s”
Howzabout 18 with 33 years experience?!
Check your mail
P
Hey Alex- No never used a propane torch to pre-heat…..probably because I like the smell of the denatured alcohol jacking up the burner ……….wierd huh?
Beers in a mesh bag sitting on the bottom get pretty cool…….
Take care
Rich
Hey Alex- just read a comment from one of your blog readers about their problems with the Taylor pressurized kero stove burners…..so if you mind, may I interject my comments based on ten years of cooking with this stove everyday…..The Optimus burners in this pressurized system do have a tendency to soot up……….this is caused by two things…..inadequate pre-heat and just from normal use…..there is an auto de-sooting pin on the burner if you turn the knob counterclockwise while the burner is flaming……also, you can tap the burner with a fork or knife handle while its flaming full blast…..you’ll see the little carbon pieces flare and burn like a sparkler in the burner flame. There is no denying that it takes practice to work a pressurized kero stove properly…but once you get the hang of it, its like cooking with natural gas at home…………..hope this helps ……………
peace to you all………..
Rich
New destination….. have you or anyone you know sailed to Greenland? I got something in mind… its potentially dangerous, also Potentially very rewarding. its nothing to get into Greenland and it is mostly untouched…
Thought? Comments?
Just a plan im trying to think through
Steven
Greenland, BURRRRR, cold coconuts! I’m sure my buddy jamie would enjoy it he likes sailing in the cold. I’ll sail in some colder weather but not until Splendid has some good heating! Jamie sailed around the world under all 3 capes in a light 27′ sloop.
On another not. I’ve shifted gears. I woke up a few days ago and had enough of Mani-sayta. I need some cash and getting my ship together to get out of here as soon as I can. I’m painting over some of the work I’ll need to redo but whatever. I’ll just sand it off around the chain-plates and the stansions I need to do in the next few months. I’ve been putting on winches & cleats. I want to get some non-skid down and maybe do in San Blas, dont know? I’m just really motivated wth the new sunny weather to do some sailing.
Some info on sailing to Greenland:
http://www.wright-photo.com/GreenlandMap.htm
Ice and steel boats go together well. I found a steal of a steel boat for sail (sale). If I were looking at boats I’d look at this ASAP:
au.yachtworld.com/boats/1977/Finot-Reve-d%27Antilles-2351777/United-States
Ice and steel boats go together well. I found a steal of a steel boat for sail (sale). If I were looking at boats I’d look at this ASAP:
au.yachtworld.com/boats/1977/Finot-Reve-d%27Antilles-2351777/United-States
Hi Alex,Wow nice steel boat, and very sharp lines.. hoot.
I spent a few hours today with the current owner of my new boat, well I gave him a earnest down and am looking into a quick drydock. She is very ready for a new owner. I wish I could share the photos I took of her today. She is a 25 Pearson 1967. And her hull is number 6. I want to say that she looks very much like a Pearson Renegade. Man I am very excited. I want to get her bottom paint and cleaned out completly, then start building some benches. The good thing is that my girls mom has a big sewing machine that can handle denim and such, so I want to put in new foam cushions and use the old as patterns. It has been hard to sleep these past few, and I suspect the honeymoon will eventually wear off, but I am in the moment right now. If you are interested I will find a way to post some photos of her andf let you know where they are. Alright time to price some antifoul paint.. Goodnight!
Wow thanks for the info.. its funny you said something about a steel boat because I have been looking for one… I found a few really nice hulls but there stripped… I need something I can just mount the solar and go after a little tune up…
As far as the weather I love it when its cool out, like I said im from Point Breeze NY lol… dont get me wrong I would love to explore the tropics, but there is something I gotta do in Greenland… I want to find a way to get onto the shore on the east side and take my plastic dingy and a tent and explore some fresh thawed land that has never seen human presence…
saac,
good for you bro! If you post some pictures give me a link for sure, WOOT!!!!
Cold cell
Exploring fresh virgin land sounds good indeed. I’m becoming more and more fixated on the Azores. I have some sailing Brazilian friends here that really love the Azores and cant stop talking about it. The are in the same boat I am (no pun) and don’t know if they want to go across the Pacific or Atlantic next season.
I just found out some interesting news. There will be a rave on Isla Mammet this weekend. a full moon party for 3 days. I’m sure I’ll go over and get some pictures.
My plan was to paint everything and put most of the hardware back when I was done. But I tell you what, it feels good having my winches back on. I’ll also have the main sheet installed by friday and be able to go sailing if I wish :) I don,t think I’ll be able to stay put long!
Hi Alex,
When I was 18 I went to the Azores, I stayed for 4 months, courtesy of the Portuguese Navy, we had the draft in Portugal at the time. I was in a Corvette (war ship) but no war, just patrolling our waters from spanish fishing trawlers.
Anyways,it was a great experience, I visited all the 9 Islands, which are very different.
Now I am 46 and live in Toronto, Canada and I still have the pictures in my mind of the “Capelinhos Vulcano” and seeing the “Pico Island” Thru the clouds.
I also have fond memories of the gins and tonic for 25 cents in Horta. The drinks are more expensive now,for sure but the beauty of the Azores remains. and from there you can set course for a miriad of places.
Take care, Luis in Toronto.
Ha, I just won a loud hailer speaker for .99 cents :)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260906914518
I’m going to be moving Splendid soooooooon !!!!!!
Alex,
It is only the speaker. You need to hook it up to an amp or something. BTW I got the WeatherFax Gizmo ready, where should I send it?
Cool on the weatherfax. I know it’s only a speaker but it will work with my VHF loud hailer and fog horn functions. Did you test the cable for the iPhone? I managed to finally download the app and just need them cable :) you can email meat alexdorsey at gmail.com
Cheers
email MEAT ?
Email me
Some more inspiring words. Maybe things will get better in America one day…
robertreich.org/post/13852130536
Maybe things are starting to snowball…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-M54Z-Bzgcw&feature=share
i must thank you for the efforts you’ve put in penning this blog. excellent blog post .
http://www.n8fan.net