Project BlueSphere

I started working on episode #11 today; I think it will be the best of all. I found a good internet café with WI-FI for $1.00 an hour. The connection is fast, there’s air conditioning, and a good vibe about the place. I’m frustrated with the fact I need to go back to the States. I […]

Today’s a cleaning day. I took out all of the cushions and dried them in the sun on deck, did laundry, and went into town to buy a couple of small fans. The old streets and wrinkled smiling faces are as warm as the asphalt under my feet, there is such a good feeling here. […]

I cant believe it, I made it, I’ve single-handed to South America, WAHOOOOOO!!!!!!So many people warned me about coming to Columbia and I’d like to say a few things. My experience in my first day has been nothing but wonderful. The people at Club Nautico have been extraordinarily friendly & helpful. They handled my check […]

I should be in Cartagena tonight. This is my longest single-handed passage to date (500 miles), it seems like a pretty short passage given my new life style. The first few days I was uncomfortable, the next few days were better, and now I feel like I could keep going for weeks on end. I’ll […]

A Tropical wave rolled threw today. A Tropical wave is like an embryonic hurricane. A tropical wave can easily graduate to a tropical storm before becoming a hurricane. This was my most exciting day on Namaste to date. The seas built to 12, with an occasional 15 rolling through, and the wind was blowing 30-35. […]

Have you ever woken up on a 28’ sailboat, 200 miles off the Columbian coast and thought, “What the hell am I doing here”? Perhaps I have too much time to think. So many of you have asked me why I’m doing this, I still wonder at times, it’s kind of surreal out here, yet […]

At 16:00 I’m at 15.44.905 N, 07608.078 W, about 325 miles from the Columbian coast. All is well, the seas are 6-9’, and the wind 15-20kts.I’ve been sleeping most of the trip. I set the perimeter alarm on the radar, and sleep. I heard a large crack today, then all the sails started luffing. The […]

I left Port Antonio at 01:00, along with my Spanish friends on Illusion.It was a 20 mile hike down the coast before I was able to head south.Illusion will do a few more knots then Namaste, so I’m only expecting VHF communications for the first day. Seas today are 5-8, wind 15-22.I’ve been talking to […]

I love Mangos, in fact they are my favorite fruit, but I need some diversity. Time to go coconut hunting. I found a 20′ piece of bamboo; perhaps I can knock them from the trees above. The Coconuts are really hard to detach from the stem, brute force is needed. Not only are the coconuts […]

The days have been slow & hot. I’ve been snorkeling and exploring Navy Island gathering fruit. There are no fish to spear on the reef (fished out) but there are many beautiful reef fish to watch. I had Uni (Sea urchin) a few times in sushi restaurants, and Yuck, didn’t like it. The Sushi chef […]

I’ve been spending a lot of time on the boat (Writing & editing). I’m very anxious, along with my friends on the Spanish and English boats. Waiting for weather can be very frustrating. I made a bit of a Booboo. I checked out of Jamaica last week thinking I was leaving the next day, spaced […]

Got up early. I bought a local pineapple yesterday. When I opened my eyes, all I could smell was the rich and sweet smell of pineapple, guess it’s for breakfast. I need to work on editing my friends wedding video, I promised it to them for their 1st anniversary which is coming up in less […]

Got up early. I bought a local pineapple yesterday. When I opened my eyes, all I could smell was the rich and sweet smell of pineapple, guess it’s for breakfast. I need to work on editing my friends wedding video, I promised it to them for their 1st anniversary which is coming up in less […]

Today I worked in the engine room. I have to switch Alternators, and go shopping for some new belts. I HATE WORKING ON THE MOTOR!!!!! I had to charge the batteries in the morning and it was probably 125 degrees in the engine room. I sweat so much it was ridiculous.  When I came out […]

The weather took a turn for the worst, and the forecast completely different from yesterday. Not much going on today, I spent the day working on the boat, writing, and reading.

The weather changed a bit and delayed us a day or two. Namaste is ready to go at a moments notice. Julio & Soledad invited me to go hiking in the mountains, “sounds like a brilliant idea” I replied. We hiked 5 miles up the mountain roads. How spectacular this island is. Mangos, papaya, bananas, […]

Today was a running around day as I need to take off in the next few days. The first thing I did in the morning was jerry-jug 40 Gallons of fuel on board. The local supermarket sells empty 5 gallon vegetable oil containers (Plastic) for $20.00 Jamaican (about $0.33 usd), I picked up 3, and […]

Today is Sunday. I woke to gospel singing from the nearby shore. I found the music inviting and ventured to land. Everyone in town was dressed for Church, women here still take fashion in hats, and there was a different feeling about Port Antonio. The shops were closed and everyone is spending precious time with […]

Today was a lazy day. Hung out at the pool and watched cable movies in the club house. Not much to report.

The morning was filled with heavy rain, and with this rain came an uneasy day. I went over to visit John and Annie at about 10:30. We had some coffee and talked for a few hours before we all headed to town. I made a few calls and tried to secure some work for the […]

Last night I slept a solid 8 hours. It was hard to get out of bed today. I knew that Quarantine and customs were going to come and visit, I just didn’t know what time. A number of Jamaican boat boys came up to Namaste, pleasantly introduced themselves, and let me know they were available […]

Hot Lazy day, no wind or sleep. There is still a lot of traffic (Tankers & freighters) entering the Windward Passage from points South. My radar’s perimeter alarm seems to go off every time I try and shut my eyes. This would be so much easier with one crew member for helm-shifts. My spirit sank […]

Today marks the first day of hurricane season, however with all canvas up, sailing under a cutter rig; I can only muster between 2.2 – 3Kts, in 8 knots of wind. I hooked about a 50 pound Wahoo yesterday, gaffed him and got him 75% on board when he snapped the leader and got away, […]

Not much wind, however I was able to sail some of the night & morning, about 50 miles. It’s Hot, Hot, Hot, I’m sweating all day and drinking lots of water. The Alternator belt failed again, and I had to replace the alternator with my old one, I had belts for it. I pulled into […]

It’s been hard to sleep. I set the alarm clock in 20 minute intervals; I think I’ve only been getting an hour or so during the night. It’s a bit easier to sleep during the day, I have a bit more comfort in the fact that if I do encounter another boat, the will be […]

Got up at 04:00, and left the anchorage with zero visibility. Used the GPS, Nobeltec, and the radar to guide my way. No luck fishing today. I’m headed for Clarence town on Long key. I arrived at Clarence town about 16:00, and pulled up to the fuel dock. I’ve used 16.2 gallons of fuel since […]

Crossing Exuma Sound, at about 13:00 I heard a noise from the engine room. A bolt holding the alternator bracket came off, it only took a few minutes to fix. I finished crossing the Exuma Sound and anchored off of cape Santa Maria at about 16:30. Bar none, the most beautiful anchorage I’ve ever seen. […]

I left Highborne key about 09:00 to cross Exuma sound, just over 100 miles. The wind was on my nose (SE) most of the day and I had to motor until 16:00. The wind shifted slightly to the east, and I had a nice sail from 16:00-23:15 when I had to kick over the motor […]

How was your day today? Let me tell you about mine. Today is what I’ve been working so hard for. Today was the most relaxing, beautiful, spectacularly peaceful, perfect day of my existence. I watched the Flames (hockey) game last night at Crocodiles with my buddy Keith and some girls we met from a cruise […]

The Winds are starting to die out and I’m heading for High-borne key in the morning. The next day I will travel SE, across Exuma sound, for about a 24hour leg, and anchor on the NW side of Long  Island before I do the 181 Mile leg to Great Inagua where I will get my […]

Basically I’ve locked myself on the boat to finish episode #10, it took a few days but it’s done. I will send it to Nick in California for uploading, I don’t know how long the mail will take from here, and hopefully it will be posted in a week or so. I’m gearing up to […]

I spent some time at an internet Café in town, and had a slice of pizza and a beer, what a nice break from the canned crap I usually eat from a pot. Good fresh food has to be the biggest drawback so far.When I can afford it I will add 2, 50 watt solar […]

No compassion from the wind, it still blows hard from the east. A few boats have left for Bermuda, Azores, then the Med, I kind of want to join them. The winds & current will work to their favor. The Med would be nice in the summer, however an expensive trip. The cruisers who head […]

I met some Polish guys who broke some of their rigging (Starboard Upper). They didn’t speak English very well; however one of them spoke Russian. My Russian was better then his English, so I was really their only option. They seemed so helpless not speaking English. I really need to work on my Spanish & […]

I took off with one of my Canadian friends (Josée) to do some shopping and try and get a prop for my outboard. A cab would have cost $20-25.00 usd each way, so we opted for a bus ($1.00). I knew we weren’t in Kansas any more when I saw the bus driver drinking a […]

Worked on the computer (editing) most of the day. I like working on windy days because of the added green power from the wind generator (Scotty). I’m thinking of becoming a fish-eating vegetarian, I’m sure there’s a name for that? Canned red meat (Ham, Spam, corned beef, Vienna sausages), is just wrong, very…, very…., very…., […]

Not much to report today, except these winds are really aggravating me! My trip through the Bahamas is getting shorter every day I spend here. The more time I spend here, the longer I have to spend off-shore beating farther south, missing everything, to get out of the hurricane belt. I spent most of the […]

Got up and listened to BASRA (Bahamas Air Sea Rescue Association) weather broadcast on VHF Channel 72, and what do you know, more wind 25+. I decided to go to Rose Island anyway, I met some cool people (Canadians) aboard “What’s Up Doc”, and we were going to do some spear fishing & do a […]

Got up early and walked over to Paradise Island. Checked out Atlantis Hotel & Casino (didn’t gamble), and got some video. Walked down town to an internet café and checked my non-satellite emails and had a coffee. After that I walked another few miles to a real supermarket and stocked up a bit.I’m thinking of […]

Worked almost all day again, winds still blowing from the ESE, 15-20Kts. I’m starting to realize I’ll be cruising through the Caribbean during hurricane season, it officially starts June 1st. I’ve plugged all the hurricane holes into Nobeltec, and I’ll just hope for the best. The locals say the best cruising is in June/July, and […]

I stayed onboard almost all day working on the next episode (#10), it definitely has a different feel being out of the states. I walked to the local street market and bought some onions (For Conch salad), and some plantain bananas, I like them fried for breakfast with honey, and I can’t find any more pop-tarts.

Time to go ashore. Crocodiles restaurant has a free dingy dock. My outboard motor quit on the way in, I lifted it and noticed a few hundred yards of fishing like caught in the prop, Ahhhhh…., it’s good to be back in civilization, and not even a free lure at the end of the line. […]

I set sail from Bird Cay around 05:45, when the sun came up and the air warmed, the breeze freshened to around 23kts from the NE. the seas were 7/8 feet, with the occasional 10/11 rolling by from the passing cold front. Around 13:30, a pod of about 30 dolphins played off of Namaste’s bow […]

By the end of this trip my arms will be huge. As usual first thing in the morning I hauled up 85’ of chain, and the 40lb CQR (anchor), I couldn’t afford a windless, and I figured the exercise would be good for me, my arms burn every time I do it, maybe I should […]

I set sail about 09:00, and motor-sailed across most of the bank, no wind.It’s kind of uncomfortable motoring along at 5kts, it water so clear you can see every shell on the bottom. I was in only 5-15 feet of water all day. In the middle of the bank it looks like you’re in the […]

I hung out in Bimini, one more day. Here’s a neat travel tip. Take Chalks Airlines from Fort Lauderdale, to Bimini. Chalks planes are seaplanes and land right next to the anchorage. The flight is so much fun it’s almost worth the trip in itself; I took one to the states from Bimini in 1997. […]

The wind shifted around to the SE, and is still blowing over 20 Knots. I got 22 gallons of diesel today, almost $50.00 usd, I really need to sail more, and save the money. I went snorkeling today and found 3 conchs for dinner. They were kind of an ordeal to get out of the […]

I went to radio beach in the morning and explored a wrecked cargo ship on the beach. I spent the rest of the day biking around the whole island taking video for episode #10. I watched the sun set over the United States, nice change. The wind is now blowing over 25 knots, I hope […]

I met a nice couple that caught a big Dolphin (Dolphin Fish), and invited me over for dinner & drinks. I really have to get better with my fishing, Wow was it tasty. I didn’t do much today, I still feel a bit beat up from the passage. I just read by the pool, took […]

Sleeeeep, Sleeeeeep, I slept like a baby. I think I’m going to OD on fresh water showers. The staff at the Bimini Big Game Club (www.biminibiggame.com) invited me to stay a few days, and I took them up on it. What a beautiful place, I’ll show you the video in the next episode. The wind […]

Got up (07:40), made pancakes, and espresso, still raining. When I was in the Florida keys a week ago I made a Bimini to keep the sun off me in the cockpit. This was the first rain since I installed it, and it’s holding about 5 gallons of fresh water, what luck, another way to […]

Woke up about 05:30, made an egg sandwich, and my usual triple espresso. I feel very weak, and still very tired, I think to myself “I’m getting older”. At around 08:00, I try and patch the dingy, the glue has no instructions on drying time. I wait a few hours, and try to inflate the […]

Living in a postcard, does not come cheap. I arrived in the Bahamas (Bimini) yesterday, and I realized a few things, and yes it is beautiful. Joshua Slocum was the first man to sail around the world alone (Late 1800’s), he’s a bit of an idle of mine. The worst weather he saw during his […]

Arrived in Bimini, Bahamas, cleared in about 10:30, no problems. Motored to the anchorage in desperate need of sleep, ran Namaste hard aground, and drove the danforth (anchor) through the inflatable, it deflated quickly.Hired a local Bohemian to pull me off the sand bar around 14:30 ($50.00USD). Motored to the anchorage and spent over an […]

Is that water BLUE, or what? Episode 9 “Fighting Time” is on its way to Santa Barbara, and should be available next week. I’m in the Florida Keys, and will be crossing the gulf stream for the Bahamas in a few days. Fixing, Fixing, Fixing…, What do you buy when your planning to leave home […]

Quick update. Allot of you are asking if I will be posting another video, of course. I have it finished, and will be sending it off to California next week to be compressed and uploaded. I took a bit of a rest in the warm weather. The Christmas winds in the Bahamas are still blowing […]

Where was I…, Oh Yeah…, Charleston.Namaste’s rebuilt motor is Fantastic. I always thought she was under-powered, but not any more. She has basically been running on one cylinder since I bought her. I can now make 60-75 miles a day on the ICW, as opposed to the 45-50 before the rebuild. Thank God I rebuilt […]

I can’t believe I did it. I rebuilt the motor myself. I down-loaded the shop manual from the internet, grabbed a wrench and just started pulling it apart. I met another guy who was rebuilding his Yanmar. It was 11 years younger then my Volvo and when he was scraping some rust off of the […]

Bad news from the Volvo doctor. I was concerned about Namaste’s engine, a Volvo MD11C. As I am just a few hundred miles from the Bahamas, and will not be back in the states for quite some time,  I wanted her really checked out. Both of her injectors were stuck wide open and after rebuilding […]

Just a note. When I was in Myrtle Beach South Carolina, I met a frog, It’s the Peace Frog. Peace Frogs is a clothing line dedicated to giving back to the environment. I got a hoodie that I like better then my Abercrombie, or gap hoodies. Part of the Peace Frogs mindset is an awareness […]

I got a lot of good response on the last episode, I’m glad you all liked it. Namaste’s motor is having some problems so I pulled into Charleston SC to have a Volvo mechanic take a peek, I truly hope it’s not much, I gather an injector problem. Volvo’s are notorious for running forever and […]

I’ve made it down to Myrtle Beach South Carolina, and rang in the new year at the hose of blues with Collective Soul. Episode 8 should be up this week. Happy Holidays, Happy New Year. I’m off to George town, and other points south in the morning. I’ll be jumping off to the Bahamas, in […]

My time in Maryland is coming to an end, Hurricane season is nearly over (Dec 30th). I’m waiting for weather and will be off within a week. I’m looking forward to traveling the ICW (inter-coastal waterway) from Virginia to Miami. Nick enjoyed his time on Namaste so much, he’s looking at getting a boat of […]

I guess waiting out hurricane season on the Chesapeake wasn’t the brightest idea, time to  Prepare for the worst and hope for the best.  Namaste and I just weathered Hurricane Isabel. Namaste took some damage to the bow-sprit, along with some other minor damage. I got pretty beat up as well. I’ll have an episode […]

I’m getting very impatient waiting for the weather to change, however I have worked enough to get some important items for Namaste. The largest being a wind generator. I also installed a new stove, emergency boarding ladder, wind scoop, 2 x 12v fans, bought a new laptop & DVD burner, hi-output Alternator (100 amp), and […]

I’ve decided to spend some time bumming around the Chesapeake, and WOW is it beautiful. I’m so impressed with sailing the Chesapeake I’m going to do a longer episode specifically for this area. In many ways Annapolis Maryland is considered the heart & soul of the American sailing community, and now I understand why.

Waiting for weather, but it looks like I’m taking off on Saturday morning. It’s kind of a trip to think I’ll me leaving the slip with no ware to go. Namaste is ready to go. I still need to calibrate the electronics but I’m probably going to do it sailing down Long Island Sound. We […]

Waiting for weather, but it looks like I’m taking off on Saturday morning. It’s kind of a trip to think I’ll me leaving the slip with no ware to go. Namaste is ready to go. I still need to calibrate the electronics but I’m probably going to do it sailing down Long Island Sound. We […]

I’m in Mystic Connecticut, FREEEEEZING, and iced in. The final stages of Namaste’s refit are currently under way. So far I have rebuilt the bowsprit and rudder. Stepped, rewired, and painted the mast. Replaced all of the thru-hulls and painted the bottom. I’ve also installed new plumbing, interior wiring, new electronics, new running & house […]