You didn't know she was THIS famous, did you?

 As you see, our girl has been getting the recognition that she always wanted(?). 

Could you refuse to buy a rose from her?

 I couldn't! 

Wow - do we love Mazatlan!

 
11-27-06 Mazatlan - This is a great town. Yesterday we took the bus downtown and walked our legs off seeing all the usual (but great) sights. The downtown area is like San Juan, Puerto Rico or Havana. This picture shows some of the style.
Later in the evening, we went back to the area around Plaza Machado and saw a bullfight bar. There were no tourists inside - everyone looked like artists or intellectuals. So we went in and had a few margaritas. In short order we had connected with the folks at the next table, some professors at the University. We got to talking poetry, politics, and flamenco. They introduced us to the local bullfighter and so we talked bulls for a while. This is the kind of thing that we love - really being with the locals. Andi said that she expected to turn around and see Diego Rivera and Frida Whatever-her-name-is.
Later in the evening, we went to a bar named Canucks (due to the fact that the owners are Canadian). One of the owners also played in the (very good) bar band and did vocals. They played covers from just about everybody with a sort of Leon Russell style. We are invited to perform there tonight, so I need to try to get my hands in shape for that.
Although a few cruise ships come through here, it is not a tourist town like Cabo. The tourists here are more permanent. Lots of folks buy property and put down roots, for good reason.
We are getting some engine service done since we are motoring a lot more than we wanted and so need to keep the engine in tip-top condition. As soon as our starter and heat exchanger come back from "walkabout", we are leaving for Puerta Vallarta. It is about 180 miles, so we will probably anchor overnight at Isla Isabela. 

Mazatlan

11-24-06 Friday
Here is a picture of us celebrating and being silly (at Isla Partida).

We got into Mazatlan last night after a crossing that had quite a bit of motor time. We did have one great day with the spinnaker up, but otherwise there were light winds directly behind us. That forces you to make a decision between sailing slow (and getting tired) or motoring and getting there sooner. We motored. It took us around 40 hours. On the way, we had a fabulous Thankgiving dinner featuring ham in secret sauce; mashed potatoes in gravy; grandma's cole slaw and green bean casserole; peas; cranberry sauce; and a pumpkin pie that Andi baked at dawn.

After the dinner, we stopped the boat and went swimming in water a mile deep. After we got out of the water, some dolphins joined us. I've always wanted to swim with dolphins. Oh well, next time.

We are at Marina Mazatlan and are looking forward to seeing the old downtown area. We'll spend all day there tomorrow. We have connected with some old friends here and I suspect that our social lives will be taking an upturn.

Can it be this good?

Nov. 22, 2006 On passage to Mazatlan
We loved the anchorage at Caleta Partida and will have photos of the desert wild flowers as soon as we get to the internet in Mazatlan. When we pulled up the anchor at 0300 to start out for Mazatlan, it was a new moon, but the stars were awesome. The anchorage was glassy still with the stars reflecting in the water. We got the anchor up and made our getaway as quietly as possible so as to not bother the other boats. I was dressed for night sailing. I had my tee shirt on! I have been wearing the same shorts, sandals, and tee shirt for days. I take the shirt off before it gets funky. I suspect that this part of the world gets pretty hot in the summer because it is plenty warm in the winter. But the good news; no bugs so far!
We headed around the end of Isla Partida to take a departure for Mazatlan. But there was only about 3 knots of wind, so we had to motor. Well, we chose to motor rather than to go 1.5 knots. While we were motoring along in the dark, there were lots of shooting stars and on each one I wished for a nice pleasant wind that would allow us to go fast in comfort. Well, as long as we are wishing.....
Daylight came and we were still motoring although it was not all that bad since we needed to make some water and can only do that when we are generating electricity because it drains the batteries too fast otherwise. So we made water. We haven't taken water out of a hose since San Diego and the water we make is so soft that our hair is getting really nice.
We kept motoring until noon although we had all the working sails up to extract whatever extra speed we could get from the light winds. Finally at noon there seemed to be enough wind and we turned off the motor and put up the spinnaker. Pretty soon, we were doing 6 knots. 6 knots is about where sailing gets real nice. At 6 knots, you are making almost as much progress as with the motor, but quiet. All afternoon, the wind gently built until we had 15 knots behind us and were going 6.5-7 Knots. Yes!
So I just had my second beer. Andi is reading a book and I am reading one too, although being on watch means there are interruptions. But the autopilot steers the right wind angle for the sails and only once in a while do I need to intervene. I thought I would take a few moments to write this before going back to my reading. There are smooth seas. There is a swell coming up from the South, no doubt produced by former hurricane Sergio, but it is just gentle mounds of water that pass every 15 seconds or so and we hardly notice them.
15 knots of wind behind us and smooth seas - a sailors dream. I guess those stars must have been listening after all. Pictures to follow. Don't forget to write

Caleta Partida and then on to Mazatlan

Nov. 21, 2006 Caleta Partida, Baja Calif.
We left La Paz yesterday for a nice 15 mile run out to Isla Partida, which will be our jumping-off point tomorrow for Mazatlan. We anchored in Caleta Partida, a very deep cove that actually divides Espiritu Santo from Isla Partida. It was formerly a volcano and is very well sheltered. Last night, I got up to look around and couldn't hear anything. I mean, it was so quiet that the loudest sound was the blood pulsing through my eardrums. The water is so flat that there is no surf on the beaches. It is like a lake.
The shores are surprisingly green for a desert island. All of southern Baja has been green. I guess they had some rain recently. In the canyons on shore, the greenery is more concentrated with large saguaro cactus for punctuation. You Arizona folks would feel right at home. Today we're going ashore to wander around and maybe do some snorkeling on the reef near the entrance. This is the life!
Don't be afraid to write. It's amazing how few friends and family have bothered. Use our Sailmail address if you have it.

Getting high in La Paz

11-19-06 Sunday
Here we see the princess replacing the spinnaker halyard that got broken on the trip down. She had to lower it down so that I could fish the end out of the exit hole at the bottom. It succeeded and she returned to deck level none the worse for wear. I think that we can assert that, at the time this picture was taken, she was not bored at all. It was her first trip up a mast and so she wasn't at all bored. Petrified perhaps, but not bored.

Now you see why I am so enthusiastic about her - it isn't just her dancing.

Tomorrow we are going to leave La Paz for the neighboring islands for a bit of snorkelling. After a few days there, the weather should be back to normal for a quick passage to Mazatlan. We expect to be there by thursday or friday.

Farewell dinner In La Paz

 
11-17-06 Friday - Here we were with Steve and Alice Peterson at our goodby dinner. They rented a car and went off to explore places of interest on land and we set about cleaning up the boat and working on projects again.
We are now residents at Marina de La Paz for a little while. Very nice marina. We would have liked to have left already for some of the neighboring islands, but with tropical storm Sergio lurking around,we decided to hang around for a while until it goes away. It is already dissipating, so by Tuesday we should be off for Mazatlan. That is 225 miles, so it should be an overnighter and all of the next day.
La Paz feels like real Mexico compared to Cabo. We went out for dinner last night and the tab for both of us including soft drinks and tip was $7. That makes going out to dinner a no-brainer. Or course, it is plenty easy to spend much more by going to the fancy places for tourists, but we like hanging out with locals.
We have completed all the formal paperwork to be in Mexico, so things should be easier from now on. Nothing left to do but find all the little slips of paper that had lists of unfinished projects to do. Ah, but maybe a nap and a little reading first. I could really get into the manana thing. Don't forget to write and let us know how YOU are doing. 

On from Cabo

10-13-06 Monday
We have finally escaped the fleshpots of Cabo San Lucas. I must admit that it was fun. It turns out that we took second place in our division in the Baja-ha-ha. That is better than I expected because we motored quite a bit just to be able to be in the next anchorage before it got dark. With the ha-ha over, we are now able to live on our own schedule and it feels good.
Yesterday we sailed from Cabo to Los Frailes, a small anchorage 45 miles up the inner side of Baja. Just around the corner is one of the only coral formations in N. America, so this is a huge diving mecca. Unfortunately, we're not much as divers - snorkellers maybe. So we will be moving on to another anchorage on the way to La Paz.
The sailing has been just fabulous. Our course was to windward for the first time since leaving San Diego, so we had to tack along the beach (which gave us a good view of beachside Baja). There was about 12 knots of wind, just enough to move us forward at 6 knots, which is decent progress. And there were no waves, so Andrea actually took a 2 hour nap in the forward cabin while we were going upwind, not something that we are used to. The most unusual part is the temperature. It is very warm here and we can sail all day with no shirts. In fact, after showers and dinner last night, we were sitting around on deck and I still didn't have a shirt. The tropics are pretty nice! Very different from chilly Santa Cruz.

Andi's canopy

Andi made us a canopy to keep off the sun and keep the boat cooler. We used a cheap tarp since this was our first effort, but it does a great job. Stay tuned, I gotta go to a party.

The start of leg 2 from Turtle Bay

Here is some of the fleet as we left Turtle Bay. You'll note how many are behind us. We got consistantly good starts, but the rest of our performance was spotty. We did great on the first leg, but turned on the motor in legs 2 and 3 because we preferred to motor than to spend another night at sea going slow. The problem was that, the Ha-ha had a schedule and we were trying to get in on everything. I am looking forward to sailing at our own pace.

Andi on dawn watch

Here's the princess at the crack of dawn. Yours truly was sleeping and Steve had just come on the relieve her.

Turtle Bay beach party

While in Turtle Bay, we went to the Baja-ha-ha beach party. Here is a shot of just a little of it. I'm putting up these photos in no particular order because I am in an Internet Cafe in Cabo and can upload images. The previous posts (and the ones to come) were sent over the radio and can't have pictures, so these are the pictures that we picked. We're not very serious about photography, so don't expect much. Cabo is fun, if VERY touristy. After I finish typing this and my margarita, we are going to the awards ceremony for the big race. Tomorrow morning we are leaving for La Paz. Alice, Steve's wife has joined up, and we will probably sail to La Paz in three easy legs. 43 miles to the anchorage at Los Frailes, another 40 miles to Ensenada de los Muertos, and finally, on to La Paz. We'll send a report by radio.

Olive Oyl and Popeye in San Diego

While we were in San Diego, we dressed up for the Baja-ha-ha kickoff costume party. People still call me Popeye. But Andi was an awesome Olive. We were standing in front of the ancient VW bus loaned to us by Marisol and Dana. Thanks to them, we were able to run errands easily.

Here's the dorado we caught

Here is Steve Peterson holding the dorado that we caught after leaving Turtle Bay. Nice huh? And tasty too!

On to Cabo San Lucas

Nov. 8, 2006 20 miles below Magdalena Bay and 5 miles offshore, Baja Calif.
We started this leg at 7AM and it has taken all day for the sailors in the fleet (the less motivated turned on the engines after the first half hour) to get this 28 miles we have gone. After motoring so much in the second leg, we resolved to act more like sailors. This resolve was aided by the fact that we have smooth seas and so the light sails are holding their shape and the motion is pleasant. This is some great sailing. We have the spinnaker up now and earlier when it was really light wind, we used the drifter. It is warm, we would be wearing less were the sun not so burney. We put up a shade over the cockpit that shelters us while sailing and an evening is coming, we put the beach umbrella over the stern to keep the low sun out.
We're not fishing any more since we haven't eaten the fish in the freezer. But we have been having uncommonly good meals. Still the constant exercise is doing good things for my tummy. Yay!
We saw a pair of whales this morning.
The boat is performing beautifully. I can't believe how fast it is, compared to other boats of similar length and weight. We have been sending and receiving emails over the radio - in fact this post will be coming over the radio too. Thanks to Dennis who installed it! Sorry we can't send any pictures. Those will come when we get to Cabo and it's Internet Cafes. 144 more miles to go. Since the wind is light, that will be tomorrow afternoon if we are lucky. Last night we had a vigorous wind at sundown that lasted for much of the night. Too bad we were anchored. Maybe we will get it tonight, but the forecasts are not for much wind. Well, I guess I should go keep Andi some company. She has been on the helm for an hour now. We are hand steering because we are racing and trying to squeeze out every knot. Also, the sailing is just fabulous - the kind of thing that one dreams about when sailing in the cold waters of California. Hasta pronto. Abrazos y besos.

Bahia Santa Maria

Monday, November 6
If you are reading this, it means that we were successful in posting to our blog by using the single-sideband radio. I can get cell phone coverage here, but it is pricey, so the radio is the best way. Unfortunately, I can't upload photos and we've got some great ones.

We are now in Bahia Santa Maria, just around the corner from Magdalena Bay. The sail down was a mixed bag from a sailing standpoint. It was warm - tee shirts worn on the night watches. The winds were lighter than we would have liked and directly from behind us. Non-sailors would think that wind behind us would be the best place for it to be, but it turns out that it works better out on the side. Anyway, we used the engine quite a bit on this leg, but ate well and enjoyed ourselves. There was some terrific sailing at times with a full moon and warm wind. Eat your hearts out! The water is 78 degrees, so swimming is great.

Yesterday, we caught our first dorado - this is a Mexican relative to the mahi-mahi. It was more than 30" long and when pulled up from the deep, was a brilliant chartreuse (sp?). An hour of filleting later, it made fabulous sashimi and the rest went into the freezer. We don't fish unless we really need some seafood, so we put our lines away until we eat the leftovers. We catch these guys by just dragging some lures behind the boat, spooling the line directly off the reel with no rod at all. We aren't fishing for sport, so we use heavy line and hope that we can get the boat stopped before the fish has taken all the line.

Bahia Santa Maria is a very remote spot and has few permanent inhabitants. However, Mexican entrepreneurs cannot ignore 700 "rich" Americans, so tomorrow there will be a big lobster feed on the beach. The fleet has been great. Everyone is friendly and helps each other with parts and equipment breakdowns. Fortunately, we haven't had any of those yet, having left with almost all new equipment.

It is super-beautiful with the full moon. The mountains around this bay have some green growing on them. Baja is usually like a lunar landscape, but green is pretty. I wish we could send photos. Oh, well, we are happy and well and hope you're all the same.

Viva Mexico

Nov. 3, 2006 Turtle Bay, Baja Calif.
We are here! We had a great sail coming down - I think we won our
division - as far as I can see, we were the first in the division to
finish. In fact, there were only about 35 out of 160 boats anchored in
Turtle Bay when we arrived. So we had a good run. We used our
spinnaker a lot and the weather charts suggested that there would be
more wind further out from shore, so we stayed well out. Winds were
from 13 to 20 knots. In the end of day one, we suffered a serious
spinnaker wrap (around the headstay) that caused us to lose the use of
the jib and spinnaker for a while, but we just set our drifter on the
pole and kept going just fine. The next morning, we got some of the
wrap out and regained the use of our jib. Since the wind was getting
stronger, we changed to our jib and carried that to the finish, getting
in just before sunset on the second day.
There were two pleasant surprises for me on this trip. First, I had no
idea that this boat was so fast! We got here as fast as a Hobie 33 with
a crew of 4. They reported surfing to 17K, but finished close to us. I
don't know how we did so well. Second, I don't know how I did so well
when it came to picking wives. Andrea was awesome and I don't use that
term lightly. She would come off the foredeck after wrestling with a
sail and 5 minutes later would be in the galley making some great food.
She actually likes cruising better now that before she left. Totally
committed! I am a very lucky man.
Steve Peterson, our crew, has been a godsend. We finished without being
exhausted, thanks to him. He is easy to be with in a small space.
So cruising is great. We are well and happy. Turtle Bay is terrific.
There are about 700 permanent residents and most have them have turned
out to provide services to the 700 sailors who have descended on them.
We had lobster yesterday at a palapa on the beach and the 3 of us did
flamenco at one of the restaurants. How could it be better?
Best wished to all,
Richard

Off we go!!! Mexico here we come...

10/30/06 Monday

We are just about to leave San Diego after another week of working on projects and flamenco parties.  The boat is about as ready as she is likely to be.  I never got around to building bookshelves, but will do it in Mexico.

Yesterday was the big kickoff party for the Baja-ha-ha race/rally.  There will be about 160 boats going on it.  There was a big costume party - I was Popeye and Andi was Olive Oyle.  I don't know if there will be any pix.

Steve Peterson flew in right in the middle of it all and will be joining us as crew for this first leg to Cabo.  He settled right in and made himself at home in the guest quarters.

So now I've got to quit typing and start taking off the sail covers, etc.  We have a start at 11AM and lots of things to do.  For the next few posts, there will be no pictures as we will be using our sailmail email to send the posts in via radio.  Sailmail doesn't permit attachments, so no pictures until we get to La Paz and get internet again.  Enjoy yourselves this Halloween.

The big wedding..

10-21-06 Asheville, North Carolina
Here is the young couple about the time the marriage became official. Tony, after struggling to find a place in music for about 30 years, has recently become a rock-star. He is playing in a new band called Deep South composed of refugees from Wet Willie, Mollie Hatchet, The Atlanta Rhythm Section, Lynryd Skynrd and The Marshall Tucker Band. At 39, he is the youngest. He and Annette are also managing our NC properties and learning the joys of tenants.
It was a grand occasion and we got to visit with many folks from our extended family as well as Annette's. The night before the wedding featured a rock concert and then after the reception, there was an old-timey string band with contra dancing. Lotsa fun.
The next day,we all went back to Asheville. I had to feel a little sorry for the young couple having to host so many family members in a small 2 bedroom house. It got pretty crowded at times and when all the kids settled in front of the TV, I noted that the adults sort of migrated out the the front porch.
We are now back in San Diego and back in the final preparations for the Baja-ha-ha, which is a not-very-competitive sailboat race to Cabo San Lucas. It leaves on 10-30, next Monday. There will be about 160 boats involved which means that the biggest hazard to navigation will be just not running into other boats. We are up to our ears in final projects and flamenco parties. Yesterday, I got my first Social Security check! Yay! So far retirement hasn't featured a lot of laying around. But I'm losing weight and shaping up now that I'm not spending my days in front of a computer.

North Carolina in the fall

10-20-06 Asheville, North Carolina
We flew back to NC for the wedding of our son, Tony and his new bride, Annette. North Carolina was right at the peak of the autumn colors, thanks to good planning from the bride and groom. They got married on a 1000 acre private campground in the foothills of the Smokey Mountains and it was spectacular. The site had two lakes and trees of many colors. This photo, although badly exposed, gives a hint.

Arriving in San Diego

After (and during)our tuna lunch, we continued on to San Diego. It was flat as a mirror and therefore very comfortable. Andi was happily baking a meatloaf as we sailed along. I keep appreciating this boat more and more since she is so comfortable down below while under way. In my previous boats, sailing was done from outside almost exclusively and one rarely went below decks unless to get something. Now it's the opposite. I go out every few minutes to get a clear look all around. But really, I can see fine from inside and with the radar, we're not likely to come upon any shipping unexpectedly. I noted the the Navy ships around SD do not use AIS (automated information about shipping) to identify themselves, so we have to track them with the radar the old fashioned way.
We called ahead and confirmed our slip at Sunroad Marina on Harbor Island. The picture shows the downtown skyline with the barkentine(?) Star of India tied up.
We are now in our slip and starting to work on projects by day and visiting SD friends by night. We managed to borrow a car and so are able to run errands easily. So I am off to West Marine soon. We will be here until we leave for Mexico on 10/29. But the week before that, we fly to North Carolina to help my son, the rockstar, get married. We may not write any more until we leave, but don't be shy about emailing us and telling us what YOU are doing.

Sashimi pays a visit

We both woke up around 2:30AM, so decided to get under way for San Diego. There was a full moon, so it was easy getting out of the harbor. There was no real wind so we motored the whole way although a few times, there was enough wind to put up the sails to add a little speed. But given our desire to maintain at least 6 knots, we kept the motor on. That meant we could make water and we arrived in SD with our water tanks almost full.

But the most important thing was that we broke our fishing jinx and caught a nice tuna. I think that it was a large bonito but you can look at the picture and decide for yourselves. I haven't caught a bonito in a very long time and can't remember what they look like. This guy was about 20 lbs. I bled him at once and filleted him, removing all the dark meat that imparts a strong flavor to the rest of the fish. We still came away with more than 10 lbs. of prime fillets. For lunch, Andi made some sticky rice, got out the soy sauce and wasabi, and we had some dynamite sashimi. I have never seen bonito sashimi in any Japanese restaurant, but it was fabulous! We used the pinkest part of the fish. Since then we have been cooking it lightly on the BBQ. Yum!

Avalon

10-8-06 We sailed back to Catalina. We left late after spending much of the day happily socializing. But our destination was Long Point which has a good navigation light, so we had no trouble finding it and anchoring in the lee of the point. We spent a couple of night there reading and visiting with other cruisers who are also headed for Mexico. They had been having good success with their fishing and made me want to start catching fish.
So on the way down to Avalon, I tried trolling and caught nothing more than seaweed. We took a mooring in Avalon Harbor and went a shore to be tourists along with the hoards disgorged from a huge cruise ship. The cruise ships have been good business for the Avalon merchants and the town was obviously booming. We had lunch, did some shopping, and noticed how the town returned to normal as soon as the ship left. Obviously I liked it better less crowded. We had sundowners with some more new friends headed for Mexico and went to bed early in order to leave for San Diego in the dark. We didn't want to be getting to SD after sundown and have to figure out that large and confusing harbor in the dark. It is 70 miles to SD and at 6.5 knots, that would be almost 10 hours.

Visiting Los Angeles Harbor after 30 years

10/6/06 Today we sailed to LA harbor. It is certainly nice to be back in the land of mellow sailing. We had a pleasant crossing and got to sail for the first 2 hours. Then the wind dropped and we motored the rest of the way. Every time we use the motor, we take the opportunity to run our watermaker. We have used it exclusively since leaving Santa Barbara and are getting the bad taste out of our water. It is amazing how soft the water is when we shower. When we were in LA at the fuel dock, I asked the attendant how the water tasted. He said that he wouldn't give it to his kids and would boil it if he had to. That turned me off and I decided that we would reject the easy hose method and continue making our own.

As you can see, we tied up at a free dock(!) along the LA Main Ship Channel and got to see all kinds of big ships going by. We visited with old friends and former co-workers and had a fabulous time remembering days now long gone. Andrea got to hear war stories from a much earlier time of my life. She's still here, so I guess it wasn't too bad. Now we're heading back to Catalina.

A classic square-rigger

The morning we left Catalina for LA, this square-rigged sailing ship anchored out in front of our cove. I saw the French name on her and thought that she might be a French training ship, but when I took the dinghy out to have a closer look I found that she was a charter boat loaded with divers based in Avalon. Oh well, cool ship, huh? There appear to be lots of classic ships in this area. After we got to LA, we could see 4 square-riggers from where we were tied up, some much bigger than this one.

We went hiking and saw some deer

After taking the picture of the boat, we went hiking. There have been changes. All the wild goats and pigs that roamed the island have been hunted out because of the damage they did to the plant life. When my kids were little, we always loved watching the families of goats that came right down to the water, but times change. Now the brush is much more dense and harder to hike through. Since the pigs are no longer controlling the snake population, we paid good attention to where we placed our feet.
We were hiking under some wild cherries when we happened upon a herd of deer who were enjoying the shade. Some of them spooked, but one doe stood up, but when we stopped walking, she lay back down. See if you can spot her in the middle of the picture.

On to my favorite coves..

I have always wanted to show Catalina Island to Andrea since I had spent so much time sailing here when I lived in the South. We anchored in some beautiful little coves for a few nights and here is the boat as seen from the cliff above the anchorage.

In a waterfront bar at Catalina....

  

On to Catalina Island

10-1-06 Sailed from Ventura to Catalina Harbor on the back of Catalina Island. If a beautiful island isn't cruising, then I want my money back. It was a 70 mile run, which is quite a few miles to pack into the daylight hours. We had just about every possible wind condition, but mostly from astern. We practiced using our rebuilt spinnaker pole to hold out the jib. Worked great. Wind speed was up and down - so was the pole up and down and the engine on and off. By the afternoon the wind was steadier and held until the west end of Catalina. After that it was a motorboat ride. After a reception from the dolphin greeting committee, we got into Cat Harbor around 7:30PM. A long day, but a very typical passage. It was overcast the whole time and even rained on us a little.

Andrea is getting very good at this sailing stuff. She has good judgement and is always willing to take on something new. As a sailing husband, I count myself super-fortunate. Of course, you already knew that... Here's a picture she took of me...

Let the cruising begin!

After a great party (4AM) we realized that if we didn't escape from Santa Barbara, we might never leave. Although not in the best of form, we set sail for Ventura mid-morning. Winds were light and astern, a perfect situation to practice with our spinnaker - so up it went. OK, so we screwed up the leads for the lines the first time, but in 5 minutes, it looked pretty good. We used it until about 5:30 when the wind got up to 15 knots. We arrived at Ventura at 7PM (getting dark earlier).
For the next day, we visited with old friends and even had another(!) flamenco party. Well OK, maybe we aren't cruising yet, but at least we're moving along.

Still stuck in Santa Barbara

9-26-06 Tuesday
Yep, we got stuck in Santa Barbara. But, that isn't necessarily a bad thing. When we left Santa Cruz, there was a huge project list in my head, mostly things involving the deck and sailing gear that just didn't get attended to in the last year while I was still working. We focused on updating electronics and other ships systems. But I was always a bit dissatisfied with the state of the rigging on deck. Sailing the boat just never had the feel that I was used to on other boats that I had owned. Everything was too stiff, too much friction, or just worked when it felt like it.

After 2 weeks in SB, the deck gear is starting to feel like a Ferrari. Much more satisfying! It wasn't that it didn't work - it just didn't work like it should have. With the occasional consult with super-rigger Jon Payne and plenty of my own work, this boat is feeling much more ready. The boat used to have a spinnaker pole that extended to almost twice it's own length. This was a thousand-dollar-plus pole and was a bitch to use. As a result, I never used it. We looked hard at the pole and decided that there was only one length that we really needed anyway - so we cut about 14 feet of extending tubing out of it plus all the control lines and hardware. We made the pole about 20 pounds lighter. Then we just put some bolts through it to pin it and voila - a well-balanced pole that we can actually use.

Then the watermaker had a leak in the high pressure lines. Turns out that an O-ring got pinched in a fitting during assembly and wasn't sealing properly. The folks at HRO watermakers sent us a new O-ring seal and voila - as I write we are filling the tanks from the ocean - no leaks.

While we have been here, we discovered how hard it is to be trapped on the boat with no wheels. We got to borrow a car from the family at last, but for a few days we couldn't go shopping and I couldn't get parts. So we decided to buy some bicycles. We got some folding bikes on Ebay that fold up really small. They arrive tomorrow. And that will be the last thing keeping us in SB except for a flamenco party tomorrow night. The next report should come to you from Ventura.

A ship found with AIS

9-17-06 Santa Cruz Island and back...
We decided to visit Santa Cruz Island with son-in-law Isaac and the grandchildren. So on Friday morning we started out with a light NW breeze. We were soon sailing along comfortably with relatively small waves and gentle breeze. I commented how glad I was to get back into mellow southern California sailing. We set up the autopilot to follow the wind and sat back to relax. About mid channel, the wind got lighter and the swells a little bigger. Soon the passengers were starting to feel seasick. (Nobody took Dramamine). About 10 miles from the island, the wind build rapidly. There is usually a "windylane" off the island, but this one started farther out and got worse than usual. The seas got bigger and the wind built into the 30 knot range. We furled the big jib and set the little staysail. Soon we had to reef the main as well. For the sailors aboard that would have just been a nuisance and a bit uncomforable. However, for the passengers, it was truly horrible. But we were going really fast so in and hour and a half we arrived at Fry's Harbor, a small cove at mid-island. I had never been to Fry's before, but had expected a bit more shelter than we got. It was true that we got out of the waves, but the wind only dropped into the high teens and twenties. It was blowing directly off the beach so the two other boats there were anchored bow-to-beach. That was different, but when in Rome...

Because of the wind, we didn't go to shore that day. Boring for the kids, I'm sure. Fortunately, in the wee hours of the morning the wind finally quit howling through the rigging and we awoke to a beautiful morning - just what I had remembered from previous trips. We got to go ashore and go hiking. We climbed up a little stream and the boys had 'stick races' to see who's stick would go downstream fastest. After we got back to the boat, I put the outboard motor on the dinghy and we roared off to see some of the other coves. I think the kids liked going fast.
Later that evening, we hosted a little gathering aboard and found that 15 people is a bit much for our cabin. We played a little flamenco for them and then everyone went to the beach for snacks. On another boat was a couple who played bluegrass very well, him on guitar and her on banjo. They gave a concert on the beach and I got to join in on some of the vocals. Andi showed the boys how to skip rocks and we built a campfire. A terrific day that may have partially made up for yesterday - otherwise, I would have rather gone to the zoo.

Sunday dawned very calm and the radio told us that Los Angeles was having Santana conditions, so where we were the NE and NW winds were cancelling each other. So we motored all the way back to Santa Barbara. At least we got to really test the accuracy of the autopilot and found that we had it right on the money. Check off that problem! We also got to test the AIS system when we crossed the shipping lanes. AIS is a new way for big ships to identify themselves. Anything over 300 tons must use it and transmit vital information about themselves - most important being their actual speed and course. That eliminates having to guess which way they are going when a blip shows up on the radar. The ship above showed up on AIS when they were 25 miles away, but I didn't notice them until they were 13 miles away. I told Andi to watch in the direction that the ship would be coming from. I also learned the she was the R. J. Pfeiffer, a Matson cargo ship bound for Long Beach. Our closest point of approach would be 1.4 miles and would happen in 35 minutes. I gave the engine another 100 rpms and soon the AIS told us that the closest approach would be 1.8 miles. That was far enough for me. At 12 miles, the ship showed up as a blip on the radar and I set the radar to track it. At about 6 miles, we could see it through the haze and the photo shows it as it passed safely astern.

Now we are back in the harbor resting up. We still have a long list of projects, but nothing that will keep us from using the boat in any way.

Not quite laying around in Santa Barbara

9-14-06 Thursday - The past week has found us working harder in retirement than we worked when we were working. When we left Santa Cruz, the project list was by no means completed and since sailing a bit, we realized that we have devoted too much time to the ship's systems and not enough to the basic sailing systems. So we have been rebuilding the spinnaker pole system and refining preventers, pole controls, etc. (non-sailers, please endure). We also relocated the autopilot compass so that charging the batteries does not throw us 60 degrees off course. I can report a success in that department and as soon as Andrea gets back from the store, we are going to go out and recalibrate the compass in it's new location.

We have also been working on our communications. Normally, we have used Wi-fi subscriptions in whatever harbor we visited, but you are reading this courtesy of our cell phone. Since it has unlimited internet connections, I got a little program called PDAnet that allows me to use the cell phone connected to our laptop to write this stuff. Also, we got our connection to Sailmail working. That is an email connection using our High Seas radio so that we can write to you from the middle of oceans (assuming that we don't have other things to do).

We are well and happy - hope you are the same. After we get done taking Isaac and the grandkids to Santa Cruz Island this weekend we will spend maybe another week here in Santa Barbara and then start migrating down the coast to Ventura, Catalina, LA, Catalina, Newport Beach and finally San Diego. We have a slip for the month of October in SD so that we can fly back to Carolina for our son's wedding. Hugs to all.

Santa Barbara

9-8-06 Friday - Actually this picture was taken at our departure from Santa Cruz showing us and daughter Elinore. But we have been in SB for a few days now and have sorted out all our rigging snafus. We now have all new halyards and spares for each. We met a fabulous rigger named Jon Payne that I can't recommend highly enough. Almost all of our currently identified teething problems are now sorted out. But I still have to get the autopilot wires rerouted. They were installed running right next to the battery cables that carry 45 amps when the alternator is charging. Naturally that interacts with the very weak signal coming from the electronic compass and running back to the autopilot computer. So the autopilot gets bogus data and steers 60 degrees off course when the batteries are being charged. The rest of the time it is fine. We can adjust for it, but once I move the wires, we should be where we should have been from the start. We are having a good time here, but are working hard on the boat and getting ready for the big party tomorrow. Hope all is well with y'all. 

Around Point Conception

9-3-06 Sunday - We got up at 3:30 and left on the leg that we most dreaded - rounding points Arguello and Conception (the Cape Horn of the Pacific). We motored out of San Luis and before long were sailing on a light broad reach. We sailed all the way to Pt. Sal before the winds got lighter and dead aft. In my youth, I would have sat there and sailed at 3K, but we needed to get by Conception before the afternoon winds really got honking, so on with the engine and back to 6.5K. At 8:30 in the morning, things got busy. The mainsail came down with a bang. It turns out that the main halyard (the line that raises the mainsail) had chafed right through on the end cap of our new sailtrack. There was a sharp place there that had not been noticed, but that didn't keep it from cutting the halyard. So there we were without a mainsail. Not to worry, when you are going downwind it is a good thing to have all the sail on the downwind end of the boat. That makes the boat want to go downwind and eases things for the autopilot. The picture shows us sailing along on just the jib. If you look close, you can see a little piece of halyard still attached to the top of the mainsail. The wind at this point was blowing 17K and as we approached Pt. Arguello it climbed into the 20's. So we were moving along very quickly. Between Arguello and Conception (about 10 miles) the wind climbed into the 30's and I saw 40k once. That is a gale! But we were moving briskly. However, we needed to hold a course dead downwind if we wanted to avoid a jibe (and who wants to jibe a jib in 30K?)(landlubbers, sorry!) So, I had to give the autopilot an hour off. In those seas, it couldn't anticipate well enough and I could do a better job. There had to be some reason why the boat brought me along and this was it. For the next hour, I hand-steered from the inside helm station. The boat was a kitten to handle, even in those big, confused seas. We surfed a few times and the max speed shown as 11.9K. Not bad for a heavy boat, loaded with groceries. The small steering wheel inside actually gave me a quicker response than the big one in the cockpit. It was remarkable how calm it was inside. We were talking in a quiet voice. Andi was sitting at the dinette, watching the waves. But, when we went out to the 'back porch', all hell was breaking loose out there. The wind was howling and the stern wave was roaring. Much nicer inside. In this hour, I really got it why we picked this boat and how happy I am with her. Once we got around Conception, the autopilot went back to work and it got steadily lighter/smoother the closer we got to Santa Barbara. Just at dusk we came into SB harbor and tied up on the end tie of Marina 3, B dock.
Our first gale and a trial by fire came out well. The problem with the halyard was not related to the weather and we have fixed it here. In fact, I have added another main halyard as a backup. I had 600 feet of new halyard line stored, so we put it to work.

Port San Luis

9-2-06 Saturday - Finally we got to sail. The wind came up good and strong in the morning and at 11:30AM we set off, roaring along on a tw0-headsail beam reach (that's for those of you who speak 'sailor'). We were doing 7.5K to 8K (K=knots) and that is the kind of sailing that makes sailors very happy. Since we were sailing, we decided to use the new genset to recharge the batteries. It only had 2 hours on the engine and so we gave it another hour's breakin. A nice 40 mile sail and we arrived at Port San Luis, anchored off Avila Pier, and rowed ashore for a meal and some groceries.

San Simeon Cove

8-31-06 Thursday - We got up early and left Monterey right after breakfast. It was really foggy and stayed that way all day. Visibility ranged between 1 to 3 miles. Gray skies, gray water, and a little sliver of brown California under the overcast. There was little wind so we motorsailed all day. This was the longest section of coast to be covered and it has a well-earned reputation for gnarly weather with few anchorages to take refuge. So we were highly motivated to put it behind us. The motor motored, the autopilot steered and we were pretty bored.

Finally we turned the corner at Point Piedras Blancas and then the fog got even thicker. Thanks to electronic navigation, the green buoy outside San Simeon Cove showed up right in front of us where it was supposed to be. Then we had to find our way into the cove without running onto some beach. The GPS puts a little red boat on our electronic charts that shows where we are. We drove the little red boat into the middle of the cove on the chart and dropped the anchor. Whew!
The next morning, we went over and re-anchored under the lee of the wooded peninsula that you can see in the photo. There were seals playing everywhere and they were very curious about us. We liked it so well here that we declared a rest day and stayed over. So that gave us a chance to visit. We invited local residents Bud and Linda, my husband-in-law and ex-wife for dinner (they brought Mexican food - how easy?). We had fun and they were good sports about getting wet butts and we rowed the dinghy out through the surf. The next morning, we had a pleasant coffee with celebrity circumnavigators, Beth Leonard and Evans Starzinger. Also sharing the anchorage with us was a one-armed Japanese single-hander who sailed over from Japan and was not migrating down the coast with a goal to reach Chile and Cape Horn. Tough dude! When the wind came up, we set sail for Port San Luis

First Adventure

8-30-06, 15 minutes later.. Before leaving the harbor, we stopped to fill the fuel tanks. Due a miscommunication, the attendant put 6 gallons of gasoline into our diesel tanks before we stopped him. Oh, no! So we had to pump the port tank dry to get rid of the gas. This picture shows the fuel dock owner, Leo, with a world-class Rube Goldberg fuel pumping system. He put a large shop vacuum applying suction on the back of a 5 gallon jerry jug which was in turn attached to the fuel line. Darned if it didn't work. Fortunately there wasn't much fuel in the tank when we started so the whole process only set us back --- 3 hours! Once we were done filling up, we actually left on the adventure. But now we were so late leaving that we couldn't just sail to Monterey as planned. It was getting dark and we had a dinner reservation at the Charthouse with our friend Jeff Martin. So we motored. The dinner was worth it. Monterey was terrific even though we left early in the morning. We regretted not having spent more weekends visiting Monterey. 

Bon Voyage from Santa Cruz friends

Wednesday, 8-30-06 Noon- We finally make our getaway, mixed with sadness at leaving our dear friends of so many years. We have worked so hard for so long that there is a definite sense of escape in spite of the sadness. So the docklines were cast off and we motored toward the harbor mouth in search of adventure.

Saeta just before relaunch

It had been two years since her bottom was done - there were green growing things in abundance. We painted, scraped, buffed and waxed. It's like painting half a whale and then waxing the other half. We were sore and exhausted, but it felt good to have her in top condition for her big sail. 

The bottom is painted and the crew is happy..

 

Out of the boatyard and ready to sail!

Can you believe that we have been too busy to write anything for lo these many months - but that does not indicate sloth. No, we've been working day and night to get the boat ready for her big voyage. We went into the boatyard for a much needed coat of bottom paint and all the usual underwater tuneups. Then we had to finish installing all the toys. Her final addition was a set of davits that allow us to hoist the dinghy out of the water without having to deflate it each time. If the weather is good, we just carry the dinghy on the davits. If a major storm was threatening, then we would deflate the dinghy, but most of the time it will be ready to go. Getting it out of the water keeps things from growing on its bottom and makes it hard for anyone to make off with it without making a lot of noise.

Andrea has been busy shopping for supplies, organizing our mobile life, and mastering the art of stowing. You can't believe how many bags and boxes of food and supplies have disappearing into the boats lockers. She is now in total control because she is the only one who knows where anything is. Well, even she can't find the fuel filters.

Then it was time for retirement. Last friday, the office had a nice luncheon for us and a warm send off. So now I have been retired for 4 days and since departure is tomorrow, lots of folks have dropped by to offer wishes for a happy voyage. We've been invited to dinner and tonight a lot of my office friends came by. We are exhausted but I felt that I had better rediscover how to send a blog since this is how we will be documenting our adventures. Tomorrow at noon a group of amigos will be on hand to help us cast off the docklines and sail away from Santa Cruz. It will be sad, but also exciting. Stay tuned for the beginning of the sailing chronicles.

Love the wind in my sails!

 

Santa Cruz Harbor CA

You
have
to
start
somewhere!