“Some men feel the rain while others just get wet”
I live in a land of magical sunsets and moon rises. They are starting to blend with each other stitching my life together rather than with minutes, hours, days, weeks or months.
Time is stopping and the sea has captured my soul once 
again. I realize I am. Nothing more and nothing less! When it rains it feels like tears of joy rolling down my cheeks, I am such a fortunate man! When the sun shines I am able to hunt on the reef, and with the moon…, think beyond my own nose. The minutes of the day are unimportant once again.
Peace…, real peace & quiet is such a rare gift. I never knew it until the first time I went to sea alone. So many men die never knowing the freedom in peace. 
My beautiful Linton seems akin to a big city with lanchas, hotels, and jet skis buzzing around filling my world with noise and the pollution of the system. Now I can hear thunder 20 miles away and know if it’s coming my way or not. I watch the sky, listen to my world, smell the air, and feel the wind. I feel so connected to the world around me and it’s just getting stronger 
with every passing day. This place is a worm-hole transporting me to a simpler time. I don’t care so much about listening to music or watching films these days. I just love the silence!
I’ve been thinking deeply once again.
I have a friend whose best friend just died in a kayaking accident, he was 26. My friend has decided to hit the breaks on his life and make a finite change in his path, I believe the word epiphany might be in order. Every moment is an opportunity to realize a dream, and it brings a deep smile to my soul when I hear of one being realized and another man
setting himself and his family free.
Why is the mystery of living free so difficult? Why does the system have such a hold on some while others navigate it so happily & blindly? Why do we allow so much to be taken from us? Man…, some people just don’t get it or I’m truly off my rocker for wanting to live this way. I’m good with 
being “the nut job” blogger, the anarchist, or whatever people have called me over the years.
Carla translates articles for a children’s right organization. I often see her crying as she works. So many thousands of children die of starvation or simply cured diseases in Argentina every year, it breaks my heart. Large American and European companies rape the land in Argentina with disregard to human life as the local corrupt officials are happy to fill their pockets with the Euro or American dollar. She is writing about one town (there are many) where an American company (with American military support) is polluting 
the air & water table. Cancer among children under the age of twelve have gone up 300%, and newborn malformations have increased by 400% due to Glyphosate in the local air & water. I guess earning a buck to some has no moral boundaries, how can our military and tax dollars support this? I’m sure you wont hear about it on CNN or FOX.
I don’t know the answers to my questions but these are some of the questions rolling around in my mind as I watch the sun, moon, or sea, as a Kuna gently sails upon it. The things that are truly important in my life are rising back to the surface here. Paint, varnish, and polish seem so rudimentary. once again, I am such a lucky man!
Carla is blossoming to this lifestyle like seed to earth. What luxury we have to be able to spend every passing day with each other, friends, sleeping, cooking, swimming, or eating. No one holds our strings or determines our path. I am in control of my ship once again. I suppose wondering off my path from time to time is part of the path itself, if I didn’t the color of the sky might not be as powerful, or hold the answers to so many of my questions?
Life is so beautiful!
Carla takes advantage of the rain caught in the dinghy to do laundry. It’s so amazing to see this sailing world through her eyes for the first time. And it’s so nice to share it with someone who truly appreciates it.
We met a really nice Argentinean couple on a catamaran. We had a nice barbeque on the beach one day and played Bochas ball.
I haven’t really started filming yet, I’m in a bit of a conceptual/decompression stage. The film is on my mind most of the day and how I can parallel the Kuna with minimalism. They are masters of it but unfortunately their future seems a bit grim. Technology and western philosophy is banging on their door with an immense, and never-stopping fist. Children play music in their huts on an mp3 enabled phone. They ask cruisers to charge their phones as there is no power in their huts. The phones were given to them for free by the local phone company 
in order to capture a new market after they installed towers in the area, so evil! The elders threw the phones into the sea destroying them with salt water, but the children liked the sounds, flashing lights, and games. They need to find ways to make money to buy the paper cards to recharge them now. It seems a bit off to me, giving numbers to Kuna.
I am anchored in-between 5 small islands. One of which has a generator and small bar, they allow camping on the weekends and western teens come from the city to visit, blasting music all night polluting the atmosphere with noise, light, and alcohol fueled voices, laughter, and shouting. I feel for the traditional Kuna living on the surrounding islands. You can see 
the discontent on their faces. They don’t mind the cruisers as we are, for the most part, respectful of their tranquility.
I so wish this place could be captured in a test tube. I wish it would be here for our children to visit, but it will not. I am fortunate to sail the world freely. Future generations will sail with mandatory AIS and strict regulations wherever they go. I fear I am the last generation of free men, the sea being the last frontier. We should all throw our AIS into the sea.
There are many things I wish to capture in my film and so many messages I wish to convey. Truthfully I don’t know quite how to go about it. My script is going in the trash and I’m just going to have to capture it as I/we live it.
Sorry for the ramblings today. I’m in a cognitive place trying to figure out this film. I am however in a magnificent place with a wonderful partner. Carla is the first woman I’m able to feel comfortable enough with to feel alone if that makes any sense? It is a really nice change.
I’m grateful not to be a slave to my decks as I have a glimpse of perspective again.
Funny picture of the day. I got some fishing line wrapped around the prop shaft. I needed underwater
glasses and had to make a pair to fit my mask 
Carla’s brother and wife arrive day after tomorrow and I’m looking forward to sharing this place with them.
We are also planning to travel to Patagonia and Buenos Aires this November so I can meet the rest of the family. Argentina is known for having the best beef in the world and I am a big fan of their wines. I’m looking forward to eating too much red meat and wine on our trip. I’m especially looking forward to meeting Carla’s sister who lives in the mountains of Patagonia without electricity, gas or running water. They are also minimalists living off the land and raising their children free.
Feel the rain!
– alex
Carla posted a nice blog too :)
Alex and Carla, I have been following you since the Chesapeake, but I am not much of a poster.
So glad to see you back in the San Blas and that Carla is adapting well. Of course I am excited to see the next video, but no pressure take your time it is the one thing you have lots of.
I am really writing to tell you that your SPOT link is not going to where you are anymore, it just sits there. Do you have your SPOT ON ??? Sounds like a cliche’ huh. Karl
Karl, thanks bro, I will have the spot link looked at. If your interested there is a working link I’n the last blog ;)
Hey Alex – it’s really great to see that you’re on the move again, my friend! In my opinion your blog is at its best (and so are you) when you’re bringing us the “voyaging lifestyle” combined with your unique blend of philosophical thought and social/cultural anarchy.
Seems most folks that are “out there” chronicle their journey by shooting family photos and writing their ships log which describes their day-to-day life – which is wonderful too, but what makes you (and your blog) unique is you challenge us to plumb the depth of our soul, to think hard about the trajectory of our lives, and to question whether we are being true to our own purpose, or are we trapped by dogma, living someone elses life, and conforming to someone else’s rules or expectations?
I’m sure some people love the idea of cruising from one beach bar to another while socializing over drinks w/umbrellas and whooping it up with friends in exotic places – kinda “Attitudes & Latitudes” style. That’s all fine and well, but for those of us who love the sea, hunger to be free, and are a little more contemplative, your blog offers a much deeper and richer experience. Anyways, just my 2 cents.
Question: I was curious about your comments on AIS. You mention, “mandatory AIS, strict regulations, fear I am the last generation of free men, and tossing our AIS into the sea”. Can you expand on this?
– Contrarian
I hear my spot page is working, just can’t check it with my bandwidth :(
Contrarian,
As you know I’m Just not big into the system, organization, or structure. I have a buddy at the department of homeland security that told me they track the “receive only” units. I just know AIS will turn mandatory at some point for “safety” reasons.
I also think AIS is a bad product as people seem to get a false sense of security from them. At sea radar works better and gives you a target on all potential collisions, not just AIS transmitting vessels. One needs to be able to tell ships heading and lights the good old fashioned way, with your eyes. And one needs to make a good lookout on watch. I just think it’s not a great product, especially for international cruising. For me the bad outweighs the good on the system. I’d rather spend my money on a good radar.
Carla saw her first shark today and loved it, only a nurse but still :)
Cheers
hi guys……..sounds like u are having a great time…….i wish we could have made it to the san blas while i was there…..anyways…one day…….ill have Tsunami there…..
could u inform all of us on the internet and cell phone connections u have there is the san blas……
thanks
bruce
Awesome
Alex,
“Some men feel the rain while others just get wet”…thank you, it has been added to my running list of quotes.
Don’t apologize for your ramblings, I think they are the things we should all be thinking about.
With respect to Carla’s work and the diseases/conditions that people shouldn’t be dying from, I agree completely. I am an emergency nurse, studying to be an NP, so I can travel to such places and share my healing ability. In fact, my dream is to have a network of sailboats (minimalist style) to do health missions on a bigger scale. I’d love to put our heads together on this.
Anyway, I’ve followed you since your early days and appreciate what you are doing. Your blessings are deserved and wish you and Carla the best.
Mike
Great Blog, one of the best.
It really is all about the questions we ask ourselves
Alex,
Now that’s more like it. For many years we have said that you were out of touch with what you were saying in your blogs that you were yes living on your boat but in a rutt and just doing boat maintenance and struggling for that all mighty dollar. Many comments were made after a reading that you have lost touch with being out there and that we enjoyed reading when you were in cruiser mode. WELCOME BACK ALEX !! You are thinking and writing with a clear mind and it a pleasure to read and see the spiritual place that you have found once again.
Rocky
S/V Euphoria
Mike, sounds like a gr8 plan for sure!!!
Rocky, it’s been a long road for sure, trust me but I really wanted to put a nice home together for my older years, I really wanted a nice home and with my income I knew it would take some time to get splendid sorted out.
I feel like I’m finally back home shooting fish as opposed to scraping or slathering paint around.
Carla’s brother and wife are really nice. We spent about 3 hours on the reef today.
I’ll try to get a new blog up here I’n the next few days. Nico ( Carla’s brother) really helped me get my computer sorted. He installed a few extra drives I’n a mirror raid so it’s quite unlikely I’ll loose any of my work if a drive should fail. I also back up the raid and keep a copy of my work I’n a pelican case I’n case my computer gets pirated or something.
Anyway off for siesta :)