Around the world with S/V Zephyr

Moving to a new address for our blog.

2009-11-21T00:49:00.000-07:00

In case you didn't read my last post, we're moving to a new website for our blog posts. The new site is "www.sailblogs.com/member/svzephyr.

The reason we moved is that we can post updates from our new SSB radio that we installed a few weeks ago. This way, as we travel the seas and are hundreds or thousands of miles from the nearest internet connection, we can keep you updated as to what is happening as we sail along. This way, you won't have to wait for us to arrive back in civilization.

So give it a try. There will be more of my normal rants and raves as well as travel tips for the ship bound fools that buy and use their boats. If you have already read our blog, you know what I mean.

So stay in touch by leaving us comments and questions. I'll answer them as soon as I can.

Day 564 & 565 In to Mexico and before the trip.

2009-11-19T00:26:00.000-07:00

Our new Spectra water maker. Now we will be able to have fresh water when ever we need it--at least after we install it.
Celebrating as we cross the border to Mexico. the first bottle we opened after 25 years was bad so we went on to a second. The first bottles contents were given to Neptune.
Outside Ensenada Harbor.
The town of Ensenada.
Flying the Mexican Courtesy flag from Zephyrs mast.
The big Mexican flag that overlooks the harbor.
The Carnival ship that came in just before us. Remember, if you click on the photo, it gets bigger.

Yes, that's right, after 565 days of posts, we have finally made it South of the border. The days just preceding the trip were hectic to say the least.

Monday was run all over town. We started out at the Watermaker Store to look at their Spectra 200T water maker. It is designed to be used in tropical water(water not less than 50 degrees). We wanted to have one on board before we left the US as importation duties would have hurt if we had had it shipped in later. The box was so large that we couldn't fit it in the car. Luckily, the unit itself isn't that big so once out of the box, it easily fit in our small rental. I'll be installing it somewhere down the waterway when we are probably in La Paz. Water down South can be iffy at best in many locations and having a water maker on board will make our stays in some of the more remote areas much more pleasant. I'd hit Walmart on Sunday so we were done there. We had to go out to a Mercury dealer to buy spare parts(water pump rebuild kit, gas filter,etc) and that was way out of town. We then took off for the scuba store to pick up the regulator as it was now fixed. We rushed back to Zephyr since the SSB(short wave radio) specialist was due just after 1500 to look at our setup and make sure we could use it for sending and receiving emails and making posts to our blog. We got back just in time to get his call--he can't come today but will be at the boat on Tuesday since he knows we have to leave about 1100. OK, that gave us time for fill the water tanks and get everything stowed that we had dragged out over the previous ten days. We worked well into the evening getting everything ship shape and straightened out.

Tuesday dawned with Tracy taking off for Michaels(I needed some modeling clay) and to return our Enterprise rent a car. I waited patiently for the radio man to show up at 0830. That came and went with no sign of him. He finally showed up about 0920 to inspect our setup and make it work with our computer. About a hour later with many questions answered, he was off and I was out $95.00. Not a cheap lesson but a valuable one. Now it(the radio and computer) works the way it is supposed to. We even made a transmission to Rock Hill,SC, clear across the country. I guess we installed the radio right.

IMPORTANT NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

With the addition of the SSB (short wave radio), we will be switching to a new blog posting service. Having the SSB, will allow us to make posts even when away from and internet service provider so that you can keep up with our daily travels when we are out in God know where. Our new address is www.sailblogs.com/member/svzephyr. I'll be posting todays post there some time later this afternoon.

Tracy showed up just after the radio man left and we were underway by 1130 and motoring out of San Diego Harbor. Once past the last buoy, we hoisted the sails and took off for Ensenada, Mexico. We hoisted the mainsail, rolled out the newly adjusted(tightened the wire on the forestay)Genoa(works much better)and raised the forestaysail and we were off.

For those of you that have been following our blog for the past 18 months, you know of our ability to always have the wind coming at us from the wrong direction when we leave a harbor or want to raise the sails. Why should this be any different. The winds were from the Southeast and we needed to go South so while we could have some wind, we didn't get all that we needed. Plus to add insult to injury, it was only at about 10 knots. To sail a sailboat, you need winds normally at a 45 degree angle to the boat to go exactly where we wanted to. These winds were at 30 degrees to the angle of the boat. So we tacked back and forth for the rest of the afternoon. We turned what should have been a simple 60 mile(ten hour) trip into a 75 mile voyage. We'd left San Diego fully prepared for it so it didn't come as that big a surprise. The winds in the area had been nonexistent in the morning and night and quite blustery in the afternoon. Well, we got what we were going to get(wind wise) till about 1900 and then the wind just died(just as we expected). So on came the motor and we were off.

Now as I said above, it's only 60 miles from San Diego to Ensenada. A simple ten hours at 6 knots. No big deal right? Wrong!!! Leaving San Diego at 1130, we would have gotten into Ensenada at 2130 at the earliest. The smart boater never enters an unknown harbor at night, especially when there is no anchorage and you don't have a slip to put your boat in at a marina. We powered up the motor to only 1000rpm. This gave us a speed of about 3.2 to 3.5 knots. At that rate, we would be into Ensenada early in the morning. A simple 10 hour trip was now closer to 20 hours.

With no Moon, the stars were big and bright as we moved down the coastline with the Sun finally starting to rise about 0600. We entered the Ensenada bay about 0645 and sat out in the harbor waiting for the marina to open so we could get a slip assignment. About 15 miles short of the bay, the AIS(Automatic Identification System) on my computer sprange to life and let me know that someone in the harbor was signaling a mayday!!! I got on the VHF radio and tried to call them. Their response was "No, we aren't putting out any mayday signal, but we will check our electronics. I let them know that I had been receiving their signal for the better part of 45 minutes(it takes a while to get within VHF radio range). Another skipper called them but he only spoke Spanish and the skipper of the mayday boat only spoke English(with a heavy Russian accent. I't tried to reach the Mexican Coast Guard with no success. About 30 minutes later, the Mexican Search and Rescue folks were on the radio trying to get information from the skipper. Strangely, nothing ever came of it.

About 0645, we got a call over the radio from Jay on Moon Angel. They are folks we met originally in Brownsville, WA last Winter and had become good friends with over the year. They knew we were on our way to Ensenada and wanted to welcome us. They monitored the VHF so they would know when we were approaching the dock. About 0810, I finally got in touch with the marina and got our slip assignment and in we went. I did let a Carnival cruise ship go in before us. They appeared to be in a big hurry.

So now we are in Ensenada, Mexico(31 51.542N 116 37.557W) at the Baja Naval Marina!!! We finally made it out of the good old USA!!

Day 563 We're out of here!!!

2009-11-17T11:46:00.000-07:00

We're about to shove off for Mexico after a hectic ten days here in San Diego.

We've gotten the SSB straightened out as of this morning and it was the last thing that needed doing before we take in the dock lines and leave the dock.

Yesterday, we bought a Spectra 200T water maker that we will be installing in a month or so once we get established in LaPaz.

We'll, got to go. It's time to get out of here. I'll post when we get into Ensenada.

Oh, we will be moving to a new blog sight now that we have an SSB that we can blog from while we are out in the ocean.

Day 561 & 562 Almost there.

2009-11-15T22:27:00.000-07:00

We're in the final stretch to get everything ready of the jump.

We made the final decision to get a water maker for Zephyr. It will allow us to be out for much longer in more remote places. We've got the food but the water supply would eventually run out(so would the food in time but we will probably catch some fish). We went to Downwind Marine to talk to them as we had earlier in the week. They had one in stock and promised to hold it for us. Well, they sold it to someone else on Friday. We were out of luck and now it would have to be ordered. The manufacturer builds each one when the order comes in. Delivery would not be till probably next Thursday or Friday and we have to be out of the marina by Tuesday morning. As we walked in, we were questioned about an order we had shipped in from Fisheries Supply. They were upset that we had ordered in a piece of equipment from another company. Earlier in the week, we'd asked them if they could order a "Fender Step"(see post 556)for us. The answer was "no". We then asked and made sure they had no problem with us shipping one in from another company. Their answer was "It's no problem as long as we can't get it". Well, the rep for Taylor(the company that makes the Fender Step) had shown up at their store. As it turns out, they could have ordered one in for us and now they were upset with us that we had ordered one in from another company. We then told them that not only had we checked with them but that we had talked to the same guy that was mad at us. Since then, they have been less than helpful for us. Even though we had checked with them, we had violated one of their cardinal rules and we were pretty much "personna non grata" as far as they were concerned. We left their store quite upset at being treated this way.

We returned to Zephyr and Tracy started in on the internet looking for a dealer for Spectra, the company that makes the water maker we want. She found a dealer in Dana Point(just up the coast) that thought he knew of one that was available and would check and call us back. Tracy had given him the dollar amount and the time frame we were now limited to(out by Tuesday). The salesperson said he thought he could take care of us and would check with some of his friends that had just left town on the "FUBAR" cruise to see if we could park our boat in one of their slips just in case he had to order in a unit for us since we have to be out of the marina by Tuesday morning. The "FUBAR" cruise is a bunch of fishing boats that cruise down the coast of Baja to Cabo St. Lucas. He called us back later to let us know that he had called someone that might have a machine and that he'd be back in touch on Monday.

In the afternoon, we took down the genoa sail to adjust the big wire that attaches the top of the mast to the bow of the boat. It's called a "forestay". The sail rotates around that wire and winds it way in and out as needed. It's called "roller furling". We felt that the wire was too loose and needed to be tightened. First we had to take off the sail(no big deal), then disconnect the roller furling unit from the bow and raise it up so we could get at the turn buckle that needed to be tightened(not to hard as long as you have the owners manual). When we took down the sail, we found that Brion Toss(our rigger) hadn't fastened the shackles at the top of the mast correctly and that the sail could have come down at anytime. We had to buy a new shackle from one of the local chandlers to complete the project. After tightening the turnbuckle by 5 turns, it was time to put the sail back on and it proved to be a tough job. It has to fit into a small channel in the roller furling gear and slowly fed into the channel. It was so tight, we had to put the line that pulls the sail up around a winch to get it up. Once up, we rolled it in and it works much better than it ever has. Another problem solved.

For dinner, we fired up the pressure cooker again and did a nice pot roast in about an hour. It came out great. The meat was juicy and tender. If you own one, they are a great time saving piece of equipment that dan make an ordinary cut of meat nice and tender. Try it sometime

The boat behind us left this morning so we decided to reverse Zephyr on the dock. She faced in and we wanted her to face out to make it easier to get away from the dock. Lines were led off the boat and we rotated her just fine with no problems. Now she is set to be nice and easy to get out of here when the time comes.

Later in the morning, I donned my scuba gear(fins, boots, mask, snorkel, weight belt loaded up with 16 pound of lead and the tank and jacket)and went into the water to replace the zinc on the prop. Boy, that water was cold when I rolled off the dock and into it. I'd worn a long sleeve shirt to wear to help insulate me from the cold. It helped some, but it took me a few minutes to get used to it. The new gear worked relatively well, though the spare regulator leaks some air when the pressure is turned on. Down I went and on it went. I checked Zephyr's bottom to make sure all was well(it was) and came back up. Tracy hoisted the tanks on board using the same block and tackle that we use to hoist the outboard motor. We hosed off all the equipment with fresh water and I took off for the showers to get the salt water and what ever else(yuck) that was floating in the harbor off my body. I still had errands to run.

After lunch, Tracy was sitting in the cockpit and looked out to see the water around us was lower than we had ever seen it. I jumped off Zephyr and looked at the rudder. It was down in the mud on the bottom and we were stuck. When we turned Zephyr around, we hadn't allowed for the tide going out and now we had a problem. The tide was still going out so it was going to be lots worse before it got better. Tracy and I grabbed some lines and tried to pull Zephyr forward. No go, plus we now had another boat right in front of us so our movement was limited. I fired up the engine and slammed it into forward. We slowly moved forward inch by inch throwing mud and sand(as well as water) out behind Zephyr. We were free. The wind had begun to pick up so we had to adjust the dock lines quickly or we would drift right back into the mud. With some quick work, we were all tied up again and this time floating. The guy in the boat that had just arrive in front of us helped by moving his boat and grabbing one of our dock lines.

I took off for the scuba shop to have that spare regulator fixed. It was leaking as much or more air than I was using and should be fixed before we set out( it should be ready tomorrow). I stopped by Walmart and returned a water purifier we'd bought earlier. It won't attache to our faucet. Back to the boat for a nice quiet evening.

We are expecting a radio tech here tomorrow to explain our new SSB and how to use it. Sure hope he shows up.

It's almost time to get underway for Mexico. Stay tuned for more.

Day 559 & 560 We just keep running.

2009-11-14T06:05:00.000-07:00

OK, time for an update of the past few days. It's been run here and there and work on this and that trying to get things done. We've set Tuesday morning for shoving off but we're not sure we will make it. We can only stay at this "marina" until then as they have a time limit and then we must either be ready or find a place to drop the hook or find another cheap marina for another day or so.

If you read the last post, you read about our scuba problems with the hose that goes to the buoyancy compensator jackets. These are literally jackets that the big air tank clamp onto and then you wear them like a jacket. We bought ours in 1980 when we first learned to dive. They have been moving around with us ever since. Well, it takes a special hose that hooks to the tank and then goes to the jacket so you can inflate them to make you go up and down in the water as you dive. The type we have is no longer made so we don't have one for our second jacket. To make a long story short, the "O" ring that seals it in was broken so we had to have some mailed in to fix it. We had to buy twenty five to get the one we actually needed. Fifteen dollars for the 25 rings and ten dollars to ship them in. They were up to a dollar a piece. Sometimes you have to bite the bullet. The story gets better. We found another scuba place(recommended by the local police divers) and headed up there. They took one of our jackets and simply changed out the end fitting for the manual inflator hose and voila, we were fixed. The jacket has two ways to inflate--by the hose from the tank and by manually blowing into a second hose on the opposite side of the jacket. Now we had an extra hose and $25 of "O" rings we would never use. I guess it pays to shop around before you buy.

We picked up the plastic shelf I talked about yesterday. It fits like a dream and will give us lots more space(we're always looking for new places to store stuff).

We headed into Downwind Marine to have our EPIRB(emergency positioning locator beacon) checked by a factory rep. They have a way of activating it(sort of)and getting a report as to how it is transmitting and is it working right. If we ever go down, this is the one piece of equipment that can make a big difference as to not only will you be found but how soon. Ours not only transmits a signal that we are having a problem, but also includes a built in GPS so it says exactly where we are. We got there about 1100 and found we were the only people that had taken in their unit for testing. Hey, if someone offers to test a very valuable piece of equipment (that your life may depend on)to make sure it works, why wouldn't you take it in. While we were there getting ours checked, another customer piped up and said hers was fine and didn't need checking. I asked her if the Coast Guard had responded when she had obviously set hers off. Oh no, hers was "brand new. It has to be fine". It's thoughts like that that can get you killed out there!

We got to talking(the woman we met at Downwind Marine) about the errands we were doing for the day--heading to the Mexican Consulate to get our visas and our fishing licenses. She asked if she could come along. They hadn't rented a car and needed the same things we needed before heading South. Sure, no problem. We all piled into the car and headed back to the marina to get her paperwork. Linda was great. She's been everywhere and done lots of jobs and is now set to sail as much as she can with her new husband. Once she got her paperwork, off we went. The girls went into the consulate while I found a parking place. There are different types of visa available. One for 180 days(renewable for an additional 180 days) and one for a year. We wanted the one for a year so we wouldn't have to worry about any kind of renewal once we got there(plus you will then qualify for Mexican health insurance). As it turns out, to get the one for a year, you have to have your marriage license. Who carries around their marriage license??? Not us. Oh, plus they won't issue a visa any way for the 180 day period at the consulate. You have to get that once you arrive at Ensenada in Mexico. We'd hoped to have everything set before we got there. Oh well, we will just have to wait. We found a place to get the fishing license. One gets issued to each person, not just one for the boat(make more money that way). They don't take cash or credit, just a cashier's check or money order(who doesn't take cash or credit these days?). So back into the car and down to 7-11 to get a money order and back for the licenses. Off for a quick lunch and we took Linda back to the marina. No reason for her to have to sit in the car as we ran the rest of the errands.

Back to Costco and Walmart for more "provisions". Now here is the problem. Depending on who you talk to, you either need to FULLY provision your boat before you leave with everything you need or you don't because you will find what you need where ever you land. We've heard it both ways from folks that have been around the world in boats like ours. Tracy talked to a couple from Denmark that have been out for years. They have their boat jammed like ours with provisions. Another person we met(Steve the rigger that helped us earlier) says to just buy it when you reach land. It's what he did. Your darned if you do and darned if you don't. We went with the Denmark folks point of view and have loaded Zephyr with as much stuff as we can. From TP to kitty litter and pet food. Paper towels to Sugar free Tang. We just keep on bringing more stuff on board. We could go the next year with out having to buy more food. Now the menus might get strange after a while, but we are loaded to the gills. We even found some vacuum sealed beef(3 pounds) in pouches at Costco that will keep unrefrigerated for over a year.

We've run here and there all over the town and still attend the seminars at Downwind Marine at night so our days are anything but relaxing. We are almost to the "living the dream" part of the expedition.

I fixed the hatch that goes to one of the storage lockers in deck. It was collapsing at one of its corners. I re-enforced the corner with two stainless steel "L" brackets and epoxy. Works fine now. You have to get creative when you live on a boat. Yesterday, I ran all the wires for the Pactor III modem that will allow us to send and receive emails and make posts to the blog when we are off shore. It works with our new ICOM M802 SSB(like a Ham radio) radio. We have a "tech" coming on Sunday or Monday to show us how it works. I ran wires from one of our GPS units to the SSB. Now, if we transmit an SOS, it will include our longitude and latitude with the message. Our radio has an "emergency" button that when pressed, sends out a message telling people to come help us, we did something stupid.

Our backup GPS's for the navigation computer came in along with the "fender step" I showed you a picture of a few days ago. Now we are set with backups for just about every system we have on board. Of course, I attended a class last night on outboard motors so I will be needing more parts(will it never end?)so we will be able to fix ours should something happen while we are out cruising. Zephyr is about to sink at the rate we are adding more provisions and parts.

Today, I get to dive on Zephyr to replace the zinc on the prop I told you about a few days ago. It fell off on the way down the coast a few days ago. Then we get to take down the genoa sail and fix the headstay(too loose for our liking). It's like I said earlier. We just keep fixing the boat in more and more exotic locations.

Well. that's about it for now(boy I can be long winded). I started this post about 0500(still not sleeping more than 5 hours a night)and the Sun is now coming up so I can go take a shower before it gets crowded up there.

As always, more to come.

Day 558 On the run--some more.

2009-11-11T07:23:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of two boats that are berthed in the next marina. The sailboat is "Janice of Wyoming"built in 2005. Google her for more info. At 130 feet in length, she is quite the boat. I included the motor yacht behind her just because she has a helicopter on a pad on her stern. The first we have seen. Now, you're talking some money!!

Another day of a few projects and running around in the car. We first plotted our course around town printing out maps of everywhere we needed to go and then took off.

I started my day at 0400(couldn't sleep) by making a list(quietly of course) of everything on board that has a serial number. We'd found out recently that the Mexican authorities require the list just to make sure you don't sell things off your boat while in Mexico. Being up early, I got the job done and entered into the computer and copies made for the consulate.

We started off our errands at Downwind Marine since they were having a "Cruisers" week with lots of special deals. We need lots of fans(Hella Turbo has been highly recommended) for the cabins to stay cool once we get south and they had them on sale almost $30.00 less than anywhere else I could find them. We picked up 8!! Now all we have to do is figure out places to put them. They will have the wires for the job today. We also bought a wringer to get the water out of the clothes we wash on board. It's easy to wash them, but no so easy to get them dry. We also picked up two more Alpenglow lights for the boat. We already have four scattered around the main cabin, but now we will have one for the forward head and one for the stern cabin. As they run both white and red lights, they will be perfect for when we are out at night and don't want to ruin our night vision while below decks.

We need a vet to get the fur people certified before we head South so an appointment was made at Shelter Island Vet clinic to have them check tomorrow afternoon. We filled out their paperwork and dropped it by their office on our way around town. They were in the same shopping center as the scuba place so we got two birds hit with one stone.

We needed the scuba place again as the "new" gear we bought isn't quite compatible with some of our old. The low pressure inflater hose that goes into our scuba jackets(also know as buoyancy compensators) doesn't fit the fitting. As it turns out, the "O" ring is also broken so we needed a new one. The hose we need is no longer made(rats) so we're not sure what we will do now. We can leave it off, buy a new "BC"(more boating bucks gone), or keep searching for it on the web. So far the search is progressing. I've made some contacts and they are also searching for the new hose. With luck, I might get lucky.

Next, the plastics people. We found an area in Zephyr that is a big tunnel down into the bilge. We were told by Jeff Casher(owns another boat like ours) that a plastic shelf goes on to the top ledge of the tunnel and makes a great storage area. I measured it and found a company locally that will fabricate a shelf for us. We got lucky and even found a scrap piece of plastic in one of their bins and that made the price even better(cheaper). They will have it ready for us today.

On to Wells Fargo to have a paper notarized. So far, two branches have told me that they will only do it for Wells Fargo paperwork. Hey, they have all our money and even the mortgage on our house. Let's play nice here. I never had problems in Colorado getting them to notarize a document. We finally found a third branch. I was told "Oh, the man that does that is on vacation, you'll have to go across the street to FedEx, they will do it there. I stood my ground and said " I don't think so. Where is there a branch that will do it". They asked me to have a seat while they checked around. A few minutes later, a man by the name of Sam came over and asked if he could help. I explained the circumstances and he was more than happy to help. He was a "Notary". OK, I guess he must have just gotten back from vacation?! He could not have been nicer and a few minutes later I was out of there. Sometimes, customer service has to be poked a bit to come into action I guess.

Over to Von's(branch of Safeway) for some ribs. Having seen the pressure cooker demo the previous night, we wanted to try them. Normally, I barbecue them for hours and hours to get what we like, but hey, that's just not going to happen on a boat. We picked up a nice rack and headed back to Zephyr. I got involved with a rigger(Steve) that has his boat in the marina for a few days and he was nice enough to come over and look at our forestay. It's always been loose and (strangely) when the Genoa sail is rolled out, the entire roller furling gear rides up the wire. That is not supposed to happen. He looked at it and proposed a solution and we were off for West Marine to get parts. A half hour later and the "elevation"problem was resolved. Now all we have to do is take off the sail(gee what fun) and tighten up the turnbuckle. A project for the weekend after our errands are taken care of.

While I was working on the rigging, Tracy put the ribs into the pressure cooker. Fifteen minutes to get pressurized, about 40 minutes to cook and another 20 to have the pot cool down and they were ready. Oh my God!! They were great!!! They literally fell off the bone tender!!! Quick and easy and darn little mess all in all. I think the pressure cooker will be getting a lot more use in the future. We'd heard they were great for cruisers but now we know for sure that they are. Even when underway, if the pot should fall off the stove, it's all clamped shut so nothing will splatter around the galley.

I was off for another seminar at Downwind on safety gear and how to use it. For once, we actually have everything he discussed and know how to use it. We just have to brush up on the "how and when" part deploying the gear when and if we get ourselves into a pickle.

Today, more errands. We're getting closer.

Day 557 Running errands again.

2009-11-10T06:58:00.000-07:00

On Sunday evening, a small boat pulled into the marina, his outboard screaming, about 2100 and tied up to a piece of dock that is not normally a slip. His boat had obviously seen better days but at least it was still afloat with lots of canvas on the deck acting as a dodger of sorts to protect the skipper. There was another dingy tied along side his boat full of gear and junk. I guess it was his storage shed for stuff. He hopped ashore and headed up the ramp to the washroom. He was going to spend the night. With the office closed, there is really no one to check the docks to make sure everyone has paid. Early Monday morning, he cast off his lines and took off, obviously not paying for his slip. On the way out of the marina, he hit one of the other boats(no real damage) and just kept on going. He was beating a hasty exit before he got caught. One of the other boats in the marina saw him hit the other boat and called the harbor cops to report it. About an hour later, two patrolman showed up to "investigate". I talked to them and as I had talked to the guy that had called them, I referred the two gentlemen to him. With an hour already passing, there was little chance of them ever finding him short of calling out a helicopter to do an air search. For some reason, it had taken that long for the call the reach them from the dispatcher. It's people like that that ruin it for the rest of us and give us all a bad reputation in harbors and marinas. He causes problems and gets away scott free. In our travels, we have seen numerous boats pull into marinas late in the evening after the office is closed and pull out at the crack of dawn to escape without paying the fees for the night. I know the economy is tough out there, but most of the boats we have seen doing this are nice boats that appear to belong to people with money in their pockets. Sometimes, I just don't understand people, I guess.

I called Enterprise to set a time to pick us up and they called later as they were in transit and would be at the dock in a few minutes. We walked up to meet them but Tracy went back to get more money for the days purchases. The van showed up and out jumped a man that walked down the ramp to tell us to hurry as he had appointments to make(and British to boot). Well, la de dah for him!!! We had seen his boat come in late the previous evening. It was a 100 foot(minimum) power boat(see definition of "YACHT") at least with more toys on board than we would ever think of and a crew of many to keep it running. I guess he was used to giving orders on board and expected us to hurry it up. The two of them had spent the night at one of the local resorts(add more money to the bill). Hey, we're sailors and are used to taking our time. We finally got into the van and away we went. We let one of them check in before us as they were in a "hurry" and then we got our car. The second man(the Captain maybe) was still waiting when we left. So much for appointments I guess.

We headed out towards the local scuba store to get more equipment and to see about getting one of our "new" tanks inspected. They required a week to get it done. They are picked up on Tuesday and returned the following Tuesday. As we expect to be gone by then, we asked for information as to where we might get it inspected faster. They gave us the name of two companies that inspect tanks and we called both. One(up in Costa Mesa--a two hour drive each way) could have it done in a day. The second place no longer inspected tanks but gave us the name of another company that did. We called them and they were local and could have the tank inspected that same day. Yeah!!! We were getting lucky. We rushed back to Zephyr and grabbed the air tank and took off for just South of San Diego to get it inspected. Once we got there, they promised to have it out by 1630 that afternoon. We drove around looking for a Wells Fargo Bank and I got my hair cut and we had lunch. We took a shot and called them to see if the tank was done and it was(now all of 1400). We drive over and picked it up. That would save us a trip back today.

We headed off North to talk to a man that was selling some of his scuba equipment and we were looking for a new regulator set up as our "new"tanks won't work with Tracy's regulator. He was up at Camp Pendleton so it was a good hour drive North. We arrived and waited in the parking lot out side the base till he arrived. Nice stuff so we struck a deal and headed back toward Zephyr as "rush" hour approached. It wasn't to bad(traffic wise) all in all.

Last night was a seminar at Downwind Marine on pressure cooking while on board. Very interesting on how he cooks meals while he is out on transit. Put it all in the pot and let her rip. Most of the cooking (even roasts) is done in about 45 minutes. We'll have to try that when we head out. Sure beats crackers and bottled water.

Today, I started the day making a list of everything on board that has a serial number. It is required that you have a list when you are in Mexico just so that they will know what you have on board your boat and that you haven't sold any of it while you are in their country. OK, another regulation I guess.

Any how, that was yesterday. Today, get the paper work together for the consulate and buy a bunch of fans to install once we get to Mexico. They tell us that it gets hot down there.

More to come.

Day 556 Walking and talking.

2009-11-09T08:56:00.000-07:00

We spent the day getting settled into our new home. Talking to other cruisers here at the marina and swapping stories and getting information from each other. This is the first "marina" that we have been in that the majority of folks are full time cruisers and have logged lots of miles under their keels. Even though we have covered well over 4,000 miles since April, most of these people have covered lots more than that. They have as much "junk on the trunk" as we do. Most carry lots of solar panels since they are all heading South. We will be looking into those while we are here.

As I sit here, I keep hearing the small shrimp nibbling on Zephyrs hull. It has the sound of small crackling. If you don't know what is going on(and the first time we heard them we didn't have a clue)you'd think your boat was falling apart. Nigel, on Arena(located behind us) hired a diver to look at his boat. He thought his zincs were getting destroyed. Being from Canada, they don't have the little shrimp up there. We first encountered them much farther down the coast, but learned about them years ago when we were out sailing. It can be quite unnerving.

We walked over to Downwind Marine for their open house yesterday. They have an open house for "cruisers" late each years since that is when most of us are here heading South. I told you about the upcoming seminars scheduled through the week. We met several couples while there and ran into a couple we'd met while at Catalina Island a few weeks ago. They had fired up their grill and had lots of food for everyone. While we were there, we found that our package with our scuba jackets had already arrived and will be picking it up today once we have a rental car. They got there fast from Denver.

We made our arrangements for our Enterprise Rent a Car so they will be picking us up in about an hour and we can start getting errands done. We also ordered a "Fender Step" to make it easier to get on board. As you can see from the photo, it hooks onto the stanchions and you just step on board.

Well, that's about it for now. We just got a call from Enterprise that they are in transit to pick us up so I must close till later.

The adventure continues.

Day 555 We're in San Diego!!

2009-11-08T08:01:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of the past few days. I can get them posted now that we have a better internet connection. I've even included a new movie of more dolphins playing off our bow just North of San Diego Harbor. They stayed with us for a good ten minutes splashing through the bow wake. Really cool!!

Downtown Los Angeles in search of scuba equipment.(remember, if you click on the picture it gets bigger for a better view)
The view from Jay and Terri's house in Malibu. A great couple and a house with a great view. With luck, we will see them again down South. It would be fun to sail around for a while together.
Off Dana Point and it's marina.
Looking North up the coast from Dana Point.
Looking back down the channel into Dana Point's anchorage. They have two breakwaters. One makes a channel leading into the anchorage and a second protects the marinas from any kind of swell. One of the most protected marinas we have ever seen.
The Dana Point Yacht Club and part of the west marina.
The paddle boarders at practice.
Do we see a problem with the authenticity of this boat. Since when did ships like this have inflatable dingys hanging off them?
A home over looking the marina. Ah, California architecture.
Approaching San Diego yesterday with total overcast skies. One of the first overcast days we've had in quite a while. They are suffering here with temperatures in the 50's. Boo hoo for them. They have no clue about cold.

We made it into San Diego yesterday about 1600 after a full day of motor sailing. We upped the anchor at 0620 and took off for the 53 mile trek to finally get to San Diego. The day dawned cloudy and stayed that way all day. I think we saw a bit of sunshine once just as we entered San Diego Harbor.

Our stay in Dana Point, while short(one night) was quite pleasant. A nice anchorage with good holding ground. Our CQR anchor bit in and set hard, just the way we like it. The anchor chain was straight out the stem fitting at the bow and at a nice tight angle. No give as we tried to move backward setting it.

We'd prepared for a day of sailing as(again) the weather people had forecast winds that would allow us to sail instead of motor. They were close this time. A sailboat needs winds the are about 45 degrees off its bow(pointy end of the boat)at a minimum. The winds we got were about 35 degrees. It allowed us to get some energy to drive Zephyr but not the full force of what we needed. We put up the sails(all of them, even the forestaysail)and with the motor going, we moved along at about 7 knots. While they didn't make us move that much faster, they did stop the rocking from side to side that we get from the swells as they hit our side as we moved through the water. With so many miles to go and only so much sunlight, we had to make good time. We could have angled the wind so we could have sailed, but then we wouldn't have gotten to San Diego during the day. And again, it is not recommended that you enter an unknown harbor in the dark. To many things can go wrong.

I'd called the Shelter Island Municipal Docks to check on availability and found that they had three still available that would hold Zephyr. We were still two hours out so knew we couldn't dawdle. There are only so many slips at the docks and since they go for only $10.50 a night, they fill up fast and with Zephyr's size, it makes slips that much harder to find. When we pulled in, we got the last slip!! If we had missed it, we would have had to go farther up the harbor and dropped an anchor until a slip became available. As it was already 1600, we would have been dropping the hook in the dark by the time we got there. We're now at 32 42.563N 117 14.045W for those of you following us on Google Earth. Oh, if you are using Charlie's Charts for the US Pacific Coast area, the phone number listed in the book is wrong for the Municipal Docks. It should be 619-686-6227. We squeezed ourselves into the end of a long linear dock just past another long sailboat. As we headed in, lots of other sailors came running knowing that where we were heading would not be an easy fit. I'd stepped it off when we came down to look at the space--just about 50 feet(maybe). Now 18 months ago, there was no way we could have gotten ourselves into this space. We've had a lot of practice in our travels and we put her right on the mark coming in. We got complements from everyone on shore. Nigel and Kay on Arena(they are right behind us) were nice enough to move their boat backward a bit to allow us a bit more room. As it was, the depth sounder was having a cow telling us that we were in water a bit too shallow for it's comfort. With low tide still coming, we only had a foot under our keel and the tide still had 1.6 feet to go down. After Nigel moved back and we shifted Zephyr, we had 2.6 feet below us. That gave us 1 foot to spare. We have a place to stay till we are ready or ten days which ever comes first. Ten days is the length that you can stay here. We're making lists of everything that has to be done. I'll be making the car rental reservations this morning.

We wanted to be in San Diego for "Cruisers Week" at Downwind Marine, one of the local chandeliers. It starts off with a pot luck dinner this afternoon and goes on with seminars throughout the week. Tomorrows is on "Pressure Cooking for Cruisers". Tuesdays is "Offshore Safety:Gear you need and how to use it". Wednesday has "Cruising on 12 volt batteries, alternators, inverters: tips and troubleshooting". Thursday has "NOAA Weather Service for mariners". Friday ends with "Outboard motor needs for cruising in Mexico". All the seminars are during the evening so the days are free to get errands and tasks done.

A fellow cruiser was just on deck with Tracy looking at our rigging. He just replaced his in Port Townsend. Our Forestay and Backstay are way to loose. Tracy had always felt they were as the genoa sail on the bow tends to sag on the wire that makes up the forestay. So the genoa will have to come off and the wire adjusted tighter. We'd discussed it with Brion Toss when he inspected the rigging back in August before we left. He'd replaced our rigging late last year while we were in Port Townsend. He thought it was all right. Another project to get done.

When we pulled in yesterday afternoon, we found that the zinc on our propeller has fallen off again. We'd installed a new one before we left Port Townsend on August 15. We got about 11 weeks off this one. At least now we have scuba gear so we don't have to hire a diver to replace it. That saved us a quick $100+ bucks. While I'm down there, I'll be inspecting the rest of the hull just to be sure that all is well.

Well, that's about it for now. We're just 15 miles from the border of Mexico!!! Final prep is the name of the game for the next 10 days or so. We have to be ready for the jump by then no matter what it takes. Keep your fingers crossed.

Day 554 Into Dana Point

2009-11-07T07:52:00.000-07:00

We got up early to leave for Dana Point as it was set to be about a 42 miles day. The winds were forecast to be off our port(left)stern quarter. Basically behind us and on the left side at about 10 knots. Not great but it would push us along. We prepped all the sails--took sail ties off and put up the lazy jacks(these are lines that go on either side of the boom that hold the sail in place before you raise it), ran the lines for the smaller forestaysail to the cockpit and got the Genoa ready for unfurling and we were off.

We disconnected from the buoy we'd been attached to for the night and threaded our way our of the field of other buoys and out into the channel. Hey guess what--no wind!! Motor, do your thing. Along we went past a few ferry boats on their way to the Catalina. Some fishing boats and a few other cruisers. Calm seas and winds!! Rats!!

We checked with the Harbor Master at Dana Point as we approached to make sure there was room in the anchorage. No problem we were told. We pulled in and there was only one other boat!! We got in while there was still some sunshine which made it nice to get settled so the furr people could stroll around the deck. The anchor went down about 1530 at 33 27.635N 117 42.359W. An hour or so later, two more boats joined us making a total of four boats at anchor with lots tied up to slips in the marinas.

The local college was having a class on how to row-standing up--an old wind surfer board. We've seen lots of them as we work out way South. the first was when we anchored off Pebble Beach. It does teach you balance and will build upper body strength and I guess it's a good way to use your old wind surfer boards.

I'd defrosted some steaks so the barbecue got fired up and we had a nice dinner in a peaceful harbor.

We will be off for San Diego this morning. Neither of us thought that we would make it this far after our experience up at Sea Marine. They just about broke our spirit. But, here we are. Just a few miles north of the Mexican border!! Next week, we will be getting our visas and fishing licenses. Another rental car will be a must to get around.

I'll post pictures once we get into San Diego. With luck, we will be in by 1530. The Sun is now setting before 1700 so, to be safe, we have to be in earlier than that. We don't like to enter a strange harbor in the dark.

More to come.

Day 552 & 553 Final prep and we're out of here!

2009-11-06T08:10:00.000-07:00

Wednesday was run run run all over the place getting the last minutes things done and picked up while we still had the rent a car from Enterprise. I finally got back to the marina about 1830.

We were still waiting for a package with a new toy. A folding ladder to make it easier(and possible)to get back aboard Puff(our dingy)when we have gone into the water off shore. Currently, it is almost impossible to hoist yourself over the inflatable tubes. We found a folding ladder from the Seafaring Store that ties to the eye bolt in the middle of the floor of the dingy and then has bent steel bars that go over the top of the tubes and has collapsing steps that drop down into the water. As you can see from the picture above, it will be perfect for our problem.

We picked up our "new"medical kit with all its new supplies. Everything that was out of date was gotten rid of and lots more equipment was added. Now, if something happens(God forbid) we are better prepared for it. Bill(previous owner) had given us an off shore medical kit that he had put on board years ago and while it had lots of equipment, we felt it was lacking some things. The Seaside Pharmacy equips off shore boats with the necessary equipment--and at very reasonable prices.

I returned the car yesterday morning and returned to Zephyr to take a shower and wait for the last package. It finally showed up about 1100. I walked over to the office(a little over a mile away) and picked it up. Returning to Zephyr to fill up her water tanks and we were under way back to Catalina Island for a bit of relaxation. We pulled in about 1715 just after the Sun had gone down and picked up a buoy. We're back at 33 26.665N 118 29.833W for the night. It was nice to not hear the trains blowing their whistles. We're only here for the night and will be taking off for Dana Point early in the morning as it's about 40 miles away. A night there and then off for San Diego.

We ran the engine all the way to Catalina Island just to make sure the new transmission was leak proof. After the trip, there were no leaks at all!! Yeah!!! We may finally be done with that problem. Keep your fingers crossed.

Got to go and get ready for todays trip back to the mainland. More once we get there.

Day 550 & 551 More errands and prep to get underway.

2009-11-04T07:38:00.000-07:00

We've spent the past days running errands and getting things set for heading out either Thursday or Friday morning. The rental car has been a big help since this marina is very isolated.

Laundry, groceries and more equipment were on the list as well as visiting a local pharmacy that puts together first aid packs for cruisers. We'd been clued into them when we talked to Jeff Casher (owns another Liberty 458)last week. While we have a large kit on board, many of the medicines in it were way out of date and needed replacing. Plus, since we will be pretty much on our own out in the boonies, it helps to have as much equipment as you can just in case. Tracy cut her finger a few weeks ago and we found we didn't have all the equipment we really needed to get her taken care of properly. We'll be picking up our new set of equipment today.

I still have to change the oil in the engine before we set out. I prefer to make sure there is absolutely no water down in there after we blew the oil cooler at Catalina Island.

Our replacement starter showed up yesterday so now we have to find a place to stow it. A big, heavy chunk of steel. More ballast to weigh us down.

George and Celeste took off yesterday for Catalina Island but ran smack into a large dense fog back right out side the harbor. They turned around and came right back to the marina. They have no radar to "see" into it and with the harbor being so busy, they felt it safer to turn back. We've had fog for the past few days out there. I guess we will see what it is like when we are ready to set out. We may just head for San Diego instead of back to Catalina for a week of rest from the rush we have been going through for the past two weeks here.

That's about it for now. We'll let you know where we end up.

Day 548 & today

2009-11-01T16:33:00.000-07:00

The transceiver under the nav station. This is the guts of the entire assemble. Prior units had everything in one big box that had to be mounted on the nav station or a place you could get to for broadcasting. Now it comes in three pieces. One(the transceiver) can be hidden and the controller unit that has the microphone and the speaker. Now why the speaker isn't built into the controller is anyones guess. Anyway, we mounted the transceiver under the nav station and the controller and speaker next to the VHF radio above the nav station(seen below).

We started in threading the rest of the wire behind cabinets toward the nav stations cutting holes where necessary The end fittings on the coax are about an inch across so a decent hole is needed. Everything had to come out of the workbench cabinets and the chest drawers that are beside them. On it went until we finally got to under the nav station. We had lots of wire left so I had to pull it back to the stern bunk area and tuck it in the storage compartment under the bunk. I'll deal with it later. We expect to see a "professional" once we make it to San Diego and have him come by to make sure all is well with our installation. We want to make sure we get the most from the unit(even though we have no clue as to everything we can do with it other than talk to other people).

I ran the electrical wires through more panels to the battery and made the hookup there rather than to the circuit panel. According to the "professional", that is the way it is supposed to be wired so that you have the strongest power possible at the radio. Since we run on 6 volt batteries instead of 12 volts, it took me a while to figure out what two posts on the batteries converted the 6 volts to 12. Once I figured that out with my volt meter, I crimped on the rings and fastened it in with nuts and lock washers. Next, we had to run the wires through more panels up to circuit panel and through the bottom of it to the area we were going to install the controller unit. The drill got a good workout.

I hooked up the wires even before I screwed in the unit and pushed the "power" button. It came on!! It was on a "distress" channel for sending out an SOS. Oh great--what did the radio know that I didn't! I spun the dial and it went to other channels just fine. We heard lots of static. OK, no humans but at least static--I'll take static.

We screwed in the brackets and got her all mounted. Now to clean up the mess we had made in the boat. Wires got pulled back and stowed and "stuff" got put away. Lots of "stuff". We are such pack rats!!! Once the boat was made "ship shape" again, I could sit down and play with our new toy. I spun the dials not having a clue as to what was out there. I finally heard some truck drivers checking on weather some where out there. Yeah!! A human voice and not just static. It works!!! We can finally throw away the boxes and make more room for more stuff. I picked up a "time" channel that just broadcasts the time(sounds exciting doesn't it?).

As we had friends coming over to visit later, the rest of the afternoon was spent cleaning and I even took a shower. My first in several days. Yes, that's right--days!! I know, it's free here but it just never seemed to get into the schedule for the day. It's not like I am going anywhere to work. We just work at the boat and as cruisers, we have a certain way we are expected to look. A days growth(or more) of beard. A slightly dirty shirt(mine was filthy) and pants and messy hair. I have one shirt that is worn only when I have jobs to do. No reason to get other shirts dirty. This time, it was absolutely filthy as I had worn it during the multiple oil changes(and leaks) at Catalina Island. By dinner time, I was clean and smelled of a japanese garden(lotion). I felt almost civilized.

George and Celeste came over for a few hours during the evening and we swapped stores of what all of us have been up to over the past few days. They have been out looking at museums and movies while we have been working on Zephyr. That's the difference between buying a new boat and an older boat. Plus, we have more toys(all necessary of course;-)) onboard than they do. A pleasant way to spent the evening.

Today was a few more projects and some company. I lined the floor of the engine compartment with more absorber pads to collect any stray fluids that the engine or God forbid the transmission might throw off. We want to keep all the ikky stuff out of the bilge. Then into a swimsuit and down the stern ladder to install the flapper that covers the exhaust pipe. Our last one suddenly developed a bend to it so it wouldn't close all the way. I found a new one at West Marine. The water wasn't that bad(temperature wise) but I wouldn't want to swim in it(dirty).

About 1030, Jeff and Gail Casher stopped by for a visit. I first "met"Jeff two years ago on the internet at the Yahoo sight for the Liberty sail boats. They have been living on board theirs for years and have logged over 90,000 miles on her. That's a lot of water under the keel. They had told us all about the sordid history of our boat being the illegitimate child of the Liberty clan. They have been back in the US for the past few years getting their cruising kitty restocked so they can continue their journey. They have already circumnavigated the world. We showed them around discussing the subtle changes between their boat and ours. As the years of production went by, many changes were made. We discussed things that he felt were important to have(vacuum gauge on the fuel lines, bilge counter-counts the number of times your emergency bilge pumps comes on). We talked for well over three hours. We fired up the new SSB and he played with the dials and made a radio check with some guys that were talking on one of the channels. They heard us just fine so we are up and running. It was great to get info from a couple that have been out there. With luck, we will see them again.

We had planned to go look at some scuba equipment that a man has for sale but he wants us to wait till tomorrow. So on to more projects.

Day 547 The installation continues.

2009-10-31T09:01:00.000-06:00

The installation of the SSB (single sideband radio) continued with me being down inside the bilges and storage compartments in Zephyrs stern. Everything had to come out so I could run the wires in a relatively direct manner as far as I could get them. We also had to install the copper "tape" that acts as a ground and enhances the signal the radio puts out. As I said before, I have no idea how it works, I just know(because I read it in a book so it must be true;-))that I have to put down as much of the stuff as possible and hook the end of the "tape"to the side of the antenna tuner. The other end of the "tape" was attached to the grounding connection that attaches to the propeller shaft as the main ground for the boat. I guess we will find out if we did it right once we get to turn on the radio. The more copper you have, the farther the signal will reach(it's that book stuff again). Dragging all that stuff out really trashed the inside of the boat so we had to get as much done in the stern compartment so we could get it put away before the end of the day. Poor Zephyr looked like a bomb had gone off. We found lots of stuff and reorganized much of what we found. Many items headed for the trash.

Our nice down filled comforter that we had washed while in Port Townsend and stowed in one of those vacuum seal bags is now covered in light green mold. The vacuum is still good, but the green has taken over. It's not like we will be using it South of the border any way but we had hoped it would still be in good condition. Oh well.

I managed to run the wires as far as the work bench area before the Sun went down and we got most of the mess put away. Some things that had been stowed in cardboard boxes(oil filters mainly)had to be unboxed and stowed in plastic bags. Cardboard is never supposed to be allowed onboard a boat as it normally brings with it cockroach eggs which bring cockroaches eventually(amazing how that works). That's how they get into your houses also. So while the filters aren't stowed quite so nicely and orderly, they won't be a breeding ground for the bugs once we get farther South and it gets warmer.

Today, we will finish the running of the wires and make the electrical connections and, with luck, finish the job. We should be able to listen in and talk to people all over the world by late this afternoon. Keep your fingers crossed.

It has now been a year and a half since we moved on board Zephyr and a lot of water has passed under her keel since then. It has been some of the toughest and some of the most enjoyable months of our lives. The learning curve that we have had to endure has been horrendous as we were about as green as you can get as to what to expect when we moved on board. Yes, we have been sailing since the early 80"s but the systems are much easier on a 26 foot boat than they are on a 46 foot boat. Reading manuals took over our lives and a book with a plot was unthinkable for quite some time. We attended classes and worked with professionals(or at least watched them) as work was done. We tackled many of the jobs ourselves. The stove installation and the new refrigeration system to name two of the biggest. We've committed to a big adventure and that takes time and patience. I will admit that there have been many times over the past 18 months that I was at my wits end and could have just as easily thrown in the towel. There were some days while we were in Port Townsend that I just had to leave the boat or sit there crying. Frustration of all the delays was terrible. BUT, we are now well in tune with Zephyr and if something goes bump in the night or you hear a faint click, we know what it is. Many boaters, when they buy a used boat(or even a new boat), spend years at a marina or in a boat yard getting themselves and their boats ready for what we have done in 18 months--with the last 6 months actively moving(and still fixing). Heck, we are now on our fourth transmission. We've gutted or changes out just about every system on the boat. From the electrical to the heads(toilets) to the water system and its pumps, the refrigeration system and stove, we have ripped it out and replaced it. Along the way, tears were shed and words were said as the frustration ebbed and flowed with the job, but we just kept on going. "In for a penny, in for a pound". We were committed and still are. BUT--boy it has been a tough yet very educational 18 months. We're no longer the green newbies we were. We now know Zephyrs(and are still learning)systems much better than we ever have and with every passing day(and installation or replacement)we grow and learn more. For those of you that read this blog(with all my rants and raves) and dream of doing what we have done(live the dream?) please keep in mind what I have said above. The work that needs to be done(on old boats as well as new boats-they aren't perfect either) before you ever leave the dock, marina or boat yard can be long and can take a toll on not only yourself and your spouse(physically and mentally) it also takes a toll on relationships(and bank accounts). If you go as a couple, be prepared for "give and take" in the relationship. No one is right all the time, so listen to your "significant other". It's amazing how often she(or he)has better ideas that make the jobs easier. For you men--don't be so "macho" that you won't listen. And for you women, have patience with your man. He is just trying to do as best he can to get what should have been a 10 minute job(now at 10 hours)done with out killing himself or dislocating his back or rupturing his spleen. We have learned that this is a "give and take" learning experience. It has made us stronger as a couple. Yes, we have fought and argued and yet here we are. Still heading South with dreams of warmer climates(sorry Colorado) and far off shores. If you can get past the preparation for leaving with all it entails, you can do anything. Just be prepared, the work never stops on your boat, the scenery around you as you work on her does.

OK, now it back to the installation.

Day 545 & 546 Somethings started and more road trips.

2009-10-30T08:59:00.000-06:00

As I said in my last post, we were off to pick up the cables for our new short wave radio that we have been trying to get installed since Monday. We keep getting interrupted by not having things we need to get the job done. So it's back in the car and off for more errands and to pick up parts.

I finally got the GAM antenna on the back stay(pictures once we are done). It's nothing more than two pieces of wire that go up each side of the backstay joined at the bottom that goes to your radio antenna tuner. At $495.00(we found ours cheaper), it isn't cheap but the inventor must make a bunch of bucks off it as it's not much more than a piece of plastic that holds the wires with a tube between them that slides over the backstay. Most boats with an SSB(Single Sideband radio-or short wave radio)have their antennas built into their backstay with insulators keeping it separate. One piece of the backstay bolts to your deck. Up about 10 feet, they install an insulator with another piece of wire that leads to another insulator and another piece of wire that goes to the top of your mast. You end up with three pieces of wire to make your backstay. We chose to go with one solid piece of wire instead of three. There is a lot of stress on that wire when you are out sailing.

We found the copper tape(a strip of copper that is 3" wide and 7 feet long)that another boater had given us way back at Shearwater,BC. We don't think it is long enough to do the job of a grounding strap for the radio so we were off on the road again picking up more. Now we have a strip that is 2" by 25 feet to use for the installation. It attaches to the antenna tuner and then is unwound down in the bilge(stuff can be put on top of it) and laid out flat. I plan on attaching it to the main grounding strap that goes through the propeller to get the biggest ground I can. I don't understand how it works, I just know that it has to be installed. Of course as I was screwing on the last piece of of the GAM antenna--a plastic clamp that goes at the bottom of the antenna, I snapped it right in half. The company is sending me a new one.

One of the best places for marine supplies in San Diego is Downwind Marine. We've been looking at their website for a while and found that they were having a seminar last night on diesel engines. So after we got back from getting the copper strap, I took off for San Diego. We've been trying to get more affordable insurance for Zephyr and the agent that it trying to get a bid asked for copies of the invoices from all the work done and since his office was on the way, I stopped off and he made copies. I killed two birds in one trip.

The seminar started at 1930 and went till 2130. It covered lots of topics--some I already knew and some I didn't so all in all the 2+ hour drive South was worth it. I didn't get home till almost midnight.

Now it's time to get back to work and get the radio installed.

Sorry to hear about all the snow that is falling back home in Denver. We were in shorts yesterday. Finally we were warmer than the folks back home. It's gotten really old having to wear three layers of clothes all the time while we were up North over the past 18 months.

Days 541 thru 544 Here there and everywhere!

2009-10-28T07:58:00.000-06:00

The engine room. I've already removed the top elbow of the exhaust system. Now down to the messy stuff.
With most of the exhaust system out. Almost down to the transmission.

Down to the transmission. It's ready for removal.

The wheels in the up position. They simply swing down and lock in the down position for when we are ready to go ashore.

The last four days have been on the run. Unlike most towns we have stopped in, there is no real mass transit system in Los Angeles, or certainly the Wilmington area. It is for the most part industrial except the industrial is shipping and trains. All coming and going at all hours of the day and night. Oh, by the way, we are located at 33 46.373N 118 14.869W to answer a question in the comments section. We had stripped all the electronics off the deck so fast after arriving here that I didn't get a chance to record it. Sorry. Anyway, if we hadn't rented a car, we would have been stuck in the middle of no where with no way to get out of here. It's almost a mile just to the marina office. It's over at their primary marina.

As I said in my last post, George and Celeste from Nereid arrived and boy was Celeste sick. She caught some bug while they were in Redondo Beach and she is still in bad shape even today, 5 days later. She finally went to a doctor yesterday afternoon. We're staying well away from her, yet I now have a sore throat and a stopped up nose so maybe she passed it along. Time will tell.

The last four days have been spent primarily in the car. Over to Minney's to try and sell the anchors. The "boss" was out(on vacation) and the worker bees offered me $120 for all three. I don't think so. That isn't even close. The "boss" was due back yesterday so we took another trip(45 minutes each way) and we ended up at $165 for the three. We took some in trade for a new chart book of Mexico down to Panama. They are copies of the "official" charts but keep in mind that much of the charting for them was done over a hundred years ago when you go to some of the remotest parts of the Sea of Cortez. The eyes are your best chart--plus all the electronics and cruisers guides you can find. We have three cruisers guides to help us along.

George came along with us on Saturday as he had to pick up a part at West Marine in San Pedro and wanted to look at all the used sails at Minney's. Unfortunately, he had no success with the sails but did get the part he needed from West Marine.

Early on Saturday, the wheels I ordered from DanardMarine.com showed up. The man that owns the company was coming down to look at a boat and brought them. Saved us freight. These bolt on to the stern of the dingy so as you approach the shore to beach it, you swing these wheels down into the water and once the boat gets close to shore(keep in mind that there will be waves trying to swamp the dingy as you come in)you hop out and grab the bow of the dingy and roll her through the last parts of the surf and onto dry sand. We know several couples that have swamped their boats while attempting to get their dingys ashore. These came highly recommended from other boaters. Check out the website. I started the installation on Sunday but needed to make teak pads for the brackets that hold it to the stern and that set me back a ways. Luckily, Chuck, a "neighbor" is working on his boat and cut the teak pads I needed. I had to epoxy two together to make them thick enough so I pulled out some clamps and got the pieces joined. Any how, to make a long story short, I found the bolt that came with it were too short so I had to get some new ones. Of course, the ones I pick up were too short and the hardware store closed just after I was there so I had to wait till the next morning(Monday) to get the right bolts and get the job done. Now all we have to do is wait till Mexico when we will have a beach where we can beach her.

We're still trying to find out the measurements of the shank of a 70 pound Delta anchor from Lewmar. I want to make sure it will fit over the bow rollers as the front of the boat. I called Lewmar and even they couldn't tell me. Go figure. I can't be the only person that would need that information. The nice folks at West Marine are having one brought to their store on Wednesday so I can measure it. They carry them in their warehouse but not out in their stores(yeah, I don't understand how you can expect to sell one if you don't show it to clients either).

We tried to start the installation of our ICOM 802 single side band radio on Monday but ran into more glitches and had to run more errands. We were short a few pieces of cable to get the job done. While we were out running the errands, we stopped at a few places to get replacement alternators. We have two on board(they don't match)that make the amps to charge the batteries as we motor. If one should blow(as happened North of Ketchican) you need to have a replacement if at all possible. I also wanted to lay in a replacement starter in case it should go also. I know the ages of the alternators(one rebuilt last year and the second rebuilt in Ketchican) but have no clue as the age of the starter. Not something you want to be with out once you leave the good old USA. Even though I took pictures, both places we went to said to rip them out and bring them in and they could get us replacements. I don't think so!! Ripping out these things(let alone getting them back in) would take hours and I just need them for replacements. I contacted American Diesel(the guys that designed and built Ford Lehman engines) and ordered the starter from them. As for the alternators, I took some better pictures and will try again when we are near the dealer.

We ordered in a new book to get information on what to do with fish(plus what the heck they are)once we catch them. These aren't like lake fishing, these guys(and gals) can get up there in size and we have no idea what to do once we caught them or even how to catch them. We found a book, "The Cruisers Handbook of Fishing" by Scott and Wendy Bannerot and had it shipped in from Amazon. It arrived yesterday. It has pictures of what the fish look like and how to filet them with out making a mess and making fish mongers around the world cry when we are doing it. If you are planning on setting out and have no clue as to what to do(like us), get a copy.

Yesterday, we took off for Maritime Communications in Marina del Rey to get the cables we need to install the ICOM 802. I'd called around and they were the only place that had the cables and were willing to fabricate the connections for us. A good professional soldering job will save a lot of headaches down the road. We also needed a "control" cable that goes between the antenna tuner and the transceiver(the guts of the radio). I though we had ordered one in when we ordered the radio but I guess not. I'd ordered two 40 foot long cables(yeah, I know, the boat is only 45 feet long), one the lead cable and second the controller cable and wanted to make sure I didn't end up short during the installation. I've done that too many times when we were rewiring Zephyr. When we got there, they had one all ready to go but wanted to know if we had brought the end fittings that came with the radio. They were out of them. Nope, they were still at the boat. Back in the car and back to Zephyr to get them. At 45 to 50 minutes each way, it made for a long trip, plus we were getting into "rush" hour traffic. We dropped them off(of course the tech that was to do the job had gone home already) and will have to go back and get them today. It's like I said at the beginning, it's a good thing we rented a car. We'll be extending the rental for probably another week at the rate we are getting things done. George rented a car yesterday at they had errands of their own to get done as well as take Celeste to the doctors office.

One story I neglected to tell you about was about a boat(Sunny Side Up) at Catalina Island. On our last full day there last week, the winds were to change direction and come from the North instead of the South so all the boats in Isthmus Cove were to disconnect from their moorings and reverse themselves. Since everyone is moored(lines to both the bow and stern)you have to drop both lines and start all over again. Now the process is sort of straight forward. The mooring is set up with a BIG floating ball that is hooked to a smaller floating ball with a tall stick sticking out out the top so you can grab it as you come in. Attached to that stick is a thin line that leads to a thicker line with an "eye" spliced in to it. That "eye" attaches to your bow cleat. There is a second thin line(attached to the original "eye" splice) that leads to a second "eye" spliced line that you hook to your stern cleat. Simple huh? It's not that bad as long as the wind keeps you pointed at the main mooring buoy. Now, you have to reverse the process. You grab the stick and pull up on the line and hook it to your stern and then take the second line to the bow. Not only are you working backward, but the wind is trying to blow you off course as it hadn't changed yet. Poor Sunny Side Up, made the mistake of going between the big mooring ball and the float on a stick and sucked the line(chain and all)right up onto their prop shaft. Jay and Terri(off Cadenza) and the two of us had gone over in our dingys to see if we could help but got their just a bit too late. We both saw it coming but couldn't get them to stop in time. The Tom, the skipper, got into his swimming trunks and jumped in the water(burr) to try and get it untangled. It was wrapped tight and wasn't going anywhere. They had to call for a diver to come out. At $175 per hour(it was after 1700 and on overtime) it became an expensive accident. The diver had to disconnect the main buoy and cut the line off the prop as it had fused itself(friction from the revolving prop shaft). The diver was still working on it as the sun went down. They ended up having to go back the next day to replace the line and reposition the buoy. It's amazing what can go wrong and how fast it can happen. We'd called for help from the Harbor Master when we attempted to reposition ourselves as had Jay and Terri.

Well, thats about it for now. We're off to pick up the single sideband radio cables.

Day 539 & 540 Errands and the tranny.

2009-10-24T00:35:00.000-06:00

We decided to rent a car for a week to run errands and get some jobs done. We took off for Minney's, a store full of used marine stuff. From used sails to hardware-some new and some used, they have just about everything a boater could use. It's THE place to stop at when you come to the LA area. We must be getting closer to being ready to go as we found very little that we needed or wanted. We did find a new storm anchor(bigger than out regular anchor), but I pulled out our computer and got on the internet and found that their price was actually more than at West Marine. No savings there.

Off for a quick lunch at El Pollo Loco. They used to be in Albuquerque years ago but had closed all their stores years ago there. It was like going back in time. Then off to Costco for more supplies for down south. Once done there, we headed for West Marine. We'd printed out lots of maps to make the trip easier and we got lost a lot less than usual.

Today, the men showed up with our transmission. Yep, that's right. Out on Wednesday and in on Friday. Now that's great service. They showed up about 0930 and had it all set by just after 1100. The bad thing is that they couldn't find anything wrong with it. They put it on the test bench and ran it all night. Towels were put all around it and not one drop of transmission oil dropped out of it. They ripped it apart anyway as they had seen all the fluid under and around it in the engine room and they knew that something was wrong and replacing the seal would solve the problem. They got called away on a "emergency" call to another mans boat they worked on several weeks ago. While they were gone, I put all the exhaust pipes, water lines, and muffler back in. By the time they returned, we were ready to go.

On Wednesday, when they first showed up, they were surprised at how the cooling system was set up. The raw water cools the engine oil and then cools the transmission oil. That means that the water that is used to cool the transmission is already quite hot and it isn't going to cool one of the hottest things in the engine room. They decide to reroute the hoses so that it will cool the transmission first and then the engine oil. That is how it is now done on just about every engine. Out came the old hoses and in went the new ones and we were done. Now the transmission will get cooled first and the engine oil last. This will keep the transmission nice and cool even in the warm waters of down south.

We started the engine and they did some adjusting of the gear shift lever and the water in the exhaust was checked and we were done, at least with the transmission. Now we had to address the leaking oil line that lead to the new oil cooler I installed on Tuesday. They checked the oil line and found that it had developed a small leak where the rubber line went into the metal adapter that screwed into the cooler. There was no way to attach it to the cooler with out it leaking. They took it off and are making a new one over the weekend and will be back on Monday to install it. At that point, we will be up and running and back in business. I'll be running the engine for a while at the dock making sure nothing leaks. I'll be having it in gear so we've got to make sure that the dock lines are good and tight.

Early in the afternoon, we'd gotten a call from George and Celeste that they were headed for our marina. At $15.00 a night, it was a deal that couldn't be beat and since they had been anchored at Redondo they could now have a nice slip at a great price, plus they would be just two slips over from us. I checked with the marina and they were thrilled that was had passed on their name to our friends and that they had a new tenant for their marina. George and Celeste expected to be at the marina late in the afternoon.

During the installation of the transmission, I was discussing with Tracy the desire to get a bigger anchor for Zephyr. One that will keep us safe during bad storms. Fred--one of the repairmen--piped up with the comment "I've got three big anchors at my house that you can have if you want". Well, OK, some one offers you three big anchors and I'm not about to say no to an offer like that. Heck, even if I can't use them, maybe I can make a swap with Minney's--three for one or at least a good discount. We took off for Fred's house later in the afternoon and picked up all three--another CQR, a big Danforth high tensile steel, and a Danforth knockoff that was made in Korea. A nice collection.

On the way back to Zephyr, we stopped at the local Albertson's for some groceries but we made it back just in time to help George and Celeste into their new slip. Celeste has come down with a bug of some sort so they needed some help getting tied up. Once they were in, we headed back to Zephyr for a nice quiet evening.

We have more projects for Saturday.

Picture of Catalina Island after the rally and entering LA

2009-10-22T00:00:00.001-06:00

Isthmus Harbor after the rally. Every one has headed out.
One of the biggest trees on Catalina Island.
The road to the cove on the south side of the isthmus.
The cove on the south side of the isthmus.
Cacti along the road and covering the hills. It's a dry island.
The dingy docks being removed and moored just off shore. They aren't needed now that the season has ended.
Fourth of July Cove on the east side of Isthmus Cove.
Approaching the coast with LA in the hills.
The entrance to LA harbor.
The freighter passing us just after we entered the harbor. With two tug boats along her side, she took up most of the channel.
One of the cranes along the waterway.
One of the container ships getting loaded along the docks.
As we approached the bridge.
One of the container ships along the channel.
Under the bridge. It's a long way up there(thank God).

More to comes as the journey continues.

Day 537 & 538 What now?!?

2009-10-21T09:38:00.000-06:00

We got up Tuesday morning planning to be underway about 0800. As is my normal routine, I go into the engine room and check all the fluids--engine oil, transmission fluid, antifreeze, and hydraulic steering fluid. All was fine until I pulled the dip stick for the engine oil. It was grey in color. about the color of modeling clay instead of light brown. Tracy's father, Wayne, had told me many years ago that that is the sure indicator of water in the oil!!! Something had gone wrong--again!!

I called the mechanic that is going to inspect the transmission and he asked if we could tell if it was sea water or fresh water. If it was sea water, it would normally indicate that the raw water oil cooler had developed a leak. Marine engines cool the oil that runs through the engine by running it through a small cylinder that has sea water passing through it. Each is kept separate by the oil running inside small copper tubes and the water runs around the outside of the tubes. As long as the water keeps flowing, the engine stays cool. It would seem that one of the copper tubes that the oil runs in has ruptured and allowed salt water to get into the engine. With the engine running, it would allow some of the oil to escape into the exhaust. Wit hit stopped, the direction of flow would reverse and water would mix with the oil. It would explain why I saw oil from time to time in the exhaust behind Zephyr. The mechanics are checking it and will let me know wether it is bad tomorrow.

When we first tried to fix the transmission problem, it had been suggested that one of the likely causes was a faulty transmission cooler. It's the same as the main engine oil cooler. While taking to Jay off Moon Dancer in Newport, he told me the average life span was about 2000 engine hours before they break. I ordered in two--one for the transmission and one to replace the oil cooler as I had no idea how old it could be. Lucky that I ordered two as now it appeared I would need it.

I pulled out the pumper that sucks out the old oil and started pumping. Out it came--lots of water and then lots of grey oil, all quite slowly as the oil was cold. Off with the filter--more grey oil and then I disconnected the water lines to the oil cooler and then the oil lines--more grey oil. On with the new cooler and in with more oil--eight more quarts. On with the engine and quick checks of the pressure and the exhaust to make sure we were not pumping oil out the stern. All was well-- the pressure came up fine and no oil came out the stern exhaust. We let the engine run for a ten to fifteen minutes and shut her down. A pull of the dip stick showed it still grey but not quite as grey. Out with the oil a second time and in with new--eight more quarts. A quick start up and all appeared alright. Pressure was normal and again, no oil slick behind Zephyr. We stopped the engine a few minutes later and pulled the dip stick. It appeared just about normal so off we went for Los Angeles.

We motored off until we were out in some wind and hoisted the sails and took off in the wind. What a nice change to be actually sailing. The winds were in the mid-teens and we were moving along in 6.5 to the 7 knot range. Faster than being under motor and with a much smoother ride than under power. We made it past the shipping lanes(about 15 miles) and the wind slowly died. It dropped down to 5 to 6 knots and our speed dropped like a stone. Down came the sails and on came the engine. It worked fine though one of the oil lines leaked at the new oil cooler no matter what I did. I'll be replacing it(the oil line) once we get into shore. Even though it leaked, it wasn't bad enough to cause any problems. We still had lots of oil.

We passed the entrance to the harbor and made our way up the inner channel. From behind us came a big freighter bearing down on our stern. We pulled over and allowed it to pass us by. Over the past day, I had made numerous calls to marinas all around LA looking for a place to stay while the transmission was getting fixed. The mechanic had found me a spot at Colonial Marina at $60.00 per night. If this repair was going to take a bit of time, that can add up to lots of money. The last time it got repaired, it took two weeks. I had a list of the marinas and called and called and called. Most turned us down flat as few marinas have space for a 46 foot boat. I finally tried a marina that wasn't on the list as even having guest slips and they had space for us and at only $15.00 A NIGHT!!! That's the cheapest we have found so far and in LA. It was so hard to believe, I called back to verify the location and the price. Yup--$15.00 a night. They normally rent by the month but would let us have the space for as long as we wanted it for just a percentage of the normal rent. What a find!!!. We motored up the channel and pulled into the slip slick as a whistle. We were in for the night--or as long as we needed it.

Our new neighbor(Chuck) came out to welcome us in. We asked about the marina and the neighborhood. His reply--"Well, you are in Wilmington! You don't go out in the night in Wilmington." OK, now it was getting scary. Don't go out at night? What had we gotten our selves into? No wonder it was only $15.00. Apparently, Wilmington has a bad reputation and it's not safe to travel the streets after sundown. While there had not been any problems in the marina, we spent the evening pulling in all the electronics and any thing else that might look interesting to someone passing by. Our life raft is now sitting in the cockpit. We settled in for the night--snug in our "castle".

Today, Chuck gave me a lift to the marina office while we waited for the mechanic to show up and take a look at the transmission. He was to call Great Lakes Power with what he saw and they would give the go ahead. Two mechanics showed up and the decision was quick--it had to come out. They took off for lunch while I called Great Lakes Power and left my contact a message and then took out the exhaust system and several hoses to make the job easier when they returned to take it out. Fred, one of the mechanics showed up about 1330 and started the job. He was just about finished by 1530. Fred called to get help to get the transmission out of the engine room. Tom, the owner of the company showed up about 30 minutes later and between the three of us, out she came. During the haul out, I got some information about what SEA Marine had billed Great Lakes Power for the removal and installation of the repaired transmission back in March. Apparently, they hit them for 27 hours of labor!!! I'd taken out the exhaust system in about a hour and the transmission took about four-tops even waiting for Tom! To put it back in will be probably a bit more but not the 20 hour difference it will be between the two jobs. It's like I have said before, they are nothing but a bunch of crooks! When SEA Marine took ours out and put it back in in March, they were on the boat maybe a total of eight to ten hours. No where near the 27 they hit Great Lakes Power for. Fred and Tom loaded it up and off it went to the shop. They are going to run it tonight and repair it tomorrow and put it back in on Friday!!

We've reserved an Enterprise car for tomorrow and will be off running errands all over LA. Another mini economics stimulus package.

Day 536 Photos of Catalina Island

2009-10-19T08:25:00.000-06:00

Here are some pictures of Isthmus Cove on the north side of side of Catalina Island. We'll be staying here for one last day and taking off for Los Angeles tomorrow to get the transmission inspected and worked on. I've gone through two quarts of fluid in the last month. Adding it to the reservoir and having it leak out onto the pads under it. Not a good thing.

The shoreline as we approached Marina del Rey. Apartments as far as the eye can see.
Blue in her normal position. Sitting on her throne with her leg out to stabilize herself as we roll from side to side as we motored to Catalina Island.
Isthmus Cove on the North side of Catalina Island. This is the West side of the wharf where they moor the larger boats. The smaller ones go on the East side of the wharf.
The west beach in the cove. Lots of kayak's coming and going all through the day. When the tide comes in, it advances all the way to the rock wall on the left side of the picture.
The east side of the wharf at Isthmus Cove. The smaller boats end up here so they can squeeze in more boats.
The beach on the east side of the wharf. Sand and rocks and darn few people this late in the season. There were lots of Boy Scouts camped on the hillsides inland. They take the ferry back and forth regularly.
The dock and wharf in the cove. There is a crane to get the heavy equipment they bring in off the ships that bring in supplies for the towns people.
The dingy dock. There can be hundreds of dingys tied up here during the Summer. You leave out a long length of line off the bow and the boats just keep tying up any where they can. During the Summer season, they run a "taxi" service out to the boats(not free) to make it easier getting ashore.
When we went ashore, it was like going back to our time in the British Virgin Islands or Guadeloupe Island in the French West Indies. The only difference was we saw lots of soldiers with AK 47's over their shoulders on Guadeloupe Island on the island. They had just had a revolution the week before we got there. Who should pull up just out side the cove-- a ship from the US Navy. He pulled in Sunday morning and left late in the afternoon. Not a clue what they were doing out there but no one came ashore.

It's cloudy right now but the Sun should be out by lunch time.

Day 534 & 535 Catalina Island

2009-10-17T23:21:00.000-06:00

We left Marina del Rey on Friday morning for Catalina Island and the "Latitudes and Attitudes" Cruisers Weekend. "Latitudes and Attitudes" is a sailing magazine that has recently changed their name to "Seafaring Magazine". I guess they are trying to get a better readership. It sounds better than "Latitudes and Attitudes". Anyhow, they have these "Cruiser's Weekend" blasts all over the US with this one being close to our route so we decided to stop in along with some new friends--Jay and Terri on board Cadenza. We'd met them when we pulled into Oxnard last Monday and quickly became friends.

We left Marina del Rey about 1000 after getting our fuel tanks filled again. Another 131 gallons at $3.20/gallon for a quick $400+ dollars. Try that with your car some time. We think we are doing well getting just over 6 knots to the gallon or about 1 gallon per hour. For our size boat, that really good mileage.

We'd traveled about 46 miles from Oxnard to Marina del Rey on Thursday and now had a final 33 miles to make it to Catalina Island. As we left Marina del Rey, there was little wind and that that there was was coming from the South(of course) exactly where we needed to go--gee what a surprise. There were several boats that headed out the same time we did and we monitored their conversations on our VHF radio. Most were headed to the same place we were for the same party.

We snacked as we went and the wind slowly built--still from the South until we were just a few miles from Catalina and then they shifted just enough that we could have raised the sails. By then, it was too late to raise them and so we just motored in.

Once you enter the harbor, you call the Harbor Master and get assigned a buoy to tie up to. The harbor is so busy(over 200 buoys) that you have to tie up using a bow and stern line so that no boats swing while in the harbor. They have it down to a fine science. You motor in and grab a big rod that sticks out of a small float in the water. That stick has a line attached that you pull up on and attach it to a cleat on the bow of your boat. A second line is attached to the stick and it leads to the stern anchor. You follow the line down the side of your deck to the stern of your boat and pull up the stern line from the stern anchor that was set a long time ago by the island folks and attach that line to a stern cleat and your all set. Being our first time in the harbor, the Harbor Patrol lead us straight to our assigned buoys and gave us lessons on how to set the lines. Once in(33 26.664N 118 29.833W), along with at least a 100 other boats, we were set. Our friends--Jay and Terri were a few rows ahead of us in the harbor. We are in row "F" while they are in row "D".

Once settled in, we lowered Puff into the water and hooked on Dragon and took off for shore to pay for our buoy--$37.00 a night for a spot in the water. We wandered around and had a great lunch at the local watering hole. Bacon cheeseburgers with fries. A treat for us. We walked along the shore and on the sandy beach, had drinks with Jay and Terri and later went back to Zephyr late in the afternoon.

Throughout the evening and into the night, boats kept arriving. As I was getting ready for bed--2300, a boat pulled in and hooked up to the buoy right beside us. More came in throughout the night. A zoo in the harbor. Those that got off off work in the afternoon, left LA about 1800 and got in 3 to 4 hours later.

Today dawned with a thick layer of dew on everything. I had to dry off the dingy or we would have been soaked once we got on board for the trip to shore. There was supposed to be a "swap meet"early this morning but no one showed up so we just sat and walked around until the folks from "Latitudes" showed up and we helped them get their booth all set up.

"Classes" started about 0900 and ran through the day. Finally, we could attend a seminar where no one was trying to sell us something. That's the problem when you go the other "shows". The speakers are hawking their products. We had "classes" on "Outfitting your boat for Cruising", "Cruising on a Smaller Boat and a Smaller Budget", "Anchoring", and "Fishing from a sailboat". All the kinds of topics that we needed to attend. Each lasted about 45 minutes and were great because they were "taught" by actual cruisers that had "walked the walk" and had the right to"talk the talk". We took lots of notes on what they had to say.

We stopped for lunch--the same cheese burger and fries again and headed back for more classes in the afternoon. At 1615 there was to be a get together at the bar for those "cruisers" that were heading south for Mexico. Tracy and I showed up as did one of the "teachers" from the "class". The three of us sat and chatted and had a beer and eventually another couple joined us. That was it for those heading south from this group of boaters. During one of the classes, the question was posed to the attendees as to how many of us were heading south and only about 6 hands went up. Apparently last year over 30 hands went up. I guess that is a sign of the economy. Any how, we had a great time swapping stories and getting more valuable information about what to expect as we head south. It was a one on one class.

We headed back to Zephyr as dinner was to be a shore with a "bring your own meat and a veggie to share" and "Latitudes" will provide the beer and wine. The resort had two big grills set up and could have used a third as people crowded around trying to get their dinners cooked. A good 100 people showed up for the festivities. They were having a raffle during the evening and we had already bought some tickets. Here's how it went. You could by them for $1.00 per ticket or for $10.00s you could have as many tickets as stretched from the tip of your finger to your armpit. The third way was for $20.00, you got as many tickets as stretched from the tip of your fingers to the out stretched tip of your opposite hand. Now you could use your length or find someone taller that had a longer stretch which is what we did. We found a guy that was a few inches taller than myself and used his reach to get a few more tickets for our $20.00. We ended up with 40 tickets for our $20.00. As the dinner progressed(live band playing) the raffle ticket numbers were called out. We won a nice rigging knife to add to our collection of the three we already have(some good and some bad). Our friends--Jay and Terri--won the "grand prize" of a nice deep sea fishing rod and reel. It was great that we both won a prize.

As the party was winding down, we wandered back to Puff and made our way back to Zephyr for the remainder of the evening. As we had used a good bit of amps during the day, I fired up the generator to get some back in the batteries. You can't run your generators between 2200 and 0700. It keeps the anchorage somewhat quiet. So that gave us about 75 minutes of run time to get what we could from the generator. We shut her off promptly at 2200 and that was just about the end of the day for the two of us.

Tomorrow-Sunday, most of the cruisers will be leaving and we have decided to stay at least one more day as we don't need to be in LA for the transmission work till next week and I still need to call the shop and see when they want us to come in. Plus, we need to find a decent marina to berth in during the work. I expect we will be renting a car while there to get to some of the marine stores around LA. We'll let you know how that goes early next week.

More to come!!

Day 533 Off to Marina del Rey.

2009-10-16T12:44:00.000-06:00

We took off from Oxnard about 0945 and headed out for Marina Del Rey so we can make the easy crossing for Catalina Island on Friday for a "cruiser rally" over the week end. We tried to get diesel but the dock was all full so we just waited for Marina Del Rey to top up the tanks.

It was an relatively uneventful trip of 46 miles getting us in about 1730 hours and into the city docks at only $1.00/ foot/night. Not bad really. We have a new set of "boating buddies"--Jay and Terri off Cadenza. They took off about 45 minutes before us from Oxnard and radioed us once they got into Marina Del Rey to let us know the lay of the water so to speak. We are both off for the week end at Catalina Island. George and Celeste off Nereid probably won't make is as they had a few more things to get done in Oxnard and couldn't leave on Thursday like we did and it's a LONG journey to try and make in one day from there to Catalina Island.

The rain finally stopped Thursday morning and the Sun came out finally to play. Now there is just a bunch of smog and lots of garbage floating in the water. We started seeing lots of it in the water once we passed Point Dume just North of Marina del Rey. The weekend is supposed to be great.

I did get a call on Thursday morning from Great Lakes Power that they will honor the warranty on our transmission and are making arrangements with a company in LA to get it fixed once we go back there next week. Don't know how long it is going to take but just knowing they will get it fixed for us is great news.

I'll be posting pictures of the week end later as internet permits.

More to come.

Day 532 Off on errands

2009-10-15T08:36:00.000-06:00

The day dawned with rain. While it wasn't the pouring that we are used to in Colorado, it soaked you to the bone quite fast unless you were dressed for it.

We took off with Celeste and George from Nereid on a day or at least afternoon of errands as they rented a car from Enterprise. This was the first time Enterprise has let us down. They were to pick us up at 1100 but didn't show up till after 1330 after repeated phone calls to the office. Being here for such a short time meant every hour they were late cost us some time on the road getting errands done. While they upgraded us to a bigger car(woo!), we still lost time on the road. We ate lunch at one of the dock side restaurants while waiting for our pickup. Nice sandwiches.

I bought some new pants as the ones I have been wearing are now way too big. I've lost over 8 inches off my waste. The cruising life has been good for me. Home Depot for some wood for George and Staples for an ink cartridge for our computer printer. We may not use it much, but it does require more ink from time to time.

We hit several more places before nightfall and then returned to zephyr for a nice quiet dinner. George and Celeste will be out running more errands today while we are off for Marina Del Rey down in the LA area. We had planned to go straight to Catalina Island for a cruising get together but we have to return our security card to the marina office and they don't open till 0900. With a $25.00 deposit, I'm not about to leave that behind for a card I'll never use again. We'll be getting more diesel fuel before we go also as we last got it in Fort Bragg many weeks ago and the tanks are down to half full.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures. Stay tuned for more as I expect to have internet service for a while, even at Catalina Island.

More pictures

2009-10-14T10:09:00.003-06:00

Here are some more pictures from the past two weeks at Santa Cruz Islands.

Looking West along the bay at Smuggler's Cove. The biggest "cove" I've ever been in.
The back up stern anchor and chain we use off the stern. It's the same size as our bow anchor so we know we aren't going anywhere.
The Northeast end of Smuggler's Cove. That's a Coast Guard buoy in the foreground.
A grove of olive trees on the shoreline of Smuggler's Cove. There are picnic tables a shore for folks that have the guts to take their dingys in.
The Lady Frances on the rocks. She ran aground early on Monday, August 5. We guessed that her anchor dragged when the winds changed during the night.
Vessel Assist pulled her off the rocks and out into the "cove" where she sank. They had managed to rip off her stern while getting her off the rocks. Not a successful "assist".
The Lady Frances with air bags attached to get her off stern off the bottom.
Dragged past our bow and over to get more bags attached before being dragged back to Ventura.
Oh so sad to see.
There's a lot of boat under the water.
The South side of Santa Cruz Island.
Farther along the SOuth shoreline of Santa Cruz Island.
Looking along the South shore of Santa Cruz into the military testing ground we had to pass through.
Coches Prietos Cove. One of the "favorite" places by locals. A great beach but too rocky for our tastes. Lots of swells and wind heading into the cove. We passed on anchoring there.
Albert's Anchorage. This was just around the corner from Coches Prietos Cove. Much calmer but it does get darker there earlier since there is a big rock on the West side of the anchorage. That's fine, it's calmer in there.
The cliffs at Albert's Anchorage on the south side of Santa Cruz Island.
Jammed in at Pelican Bay with the Santa Barbara Yacht Club folks. We ended up with 22 boats in the bay for two night. Side by side and anchor to anchor.
The sides of the bay at Pelican. It looks almost like the sides of a rusted out piece of metal.
The North side of Anacapa Island on the way to Oxnard, CA.
The East end of Anacapa Island. They get winds of over 70 mph regularly. That's one reason there is just about nothing growing on the island.

Day 529, 530 & 531 On the move again.

2009-10-13T18:14:00.000-06:00

Sunday dawned cloudy again with all the boats in Pelican Bay up and getting ready to leave to head home. Boat after boat took their dingys over and picked up their stern anchors and then pulled forward and pulled up their bow anchor and took off for Santa Barbara. We decided to go back to Smuggler's Cove for one last night before heading to Oxnard and the Channel Island Marina since the weather was beginning to change and lots of rain was in the forecast.

We took Puff over slowly pulling in the stern rode until we were over the stern anchor and slowly pulled it up until it broke loose from the sand. Weighting in at over 60 pounds(plus 22 feet of chain), there was no easy way to get it up and into the dingy. I held on to the end of the chain where the nylon line joins the chain and Tracy slowly pulled us back toward Zephyrs bow where I dropped it again. Since we have a windlass, there was no reason to bust a gut getting it up. Let the windlass do the job.

We climbed back on board and pulled Puff back on board and then used the windlass to retrieve the stern anchor. Started up the motor and pulled up the bow anchor and we were set to take off. There were only about 6 boats left in Pelican Bay by time we were ready to go. The other 16 boats had already left.

As expected, the winds were fickle and anything but steady. We hoisted the main and rolled out the Genoa. The winds then either died or changed direction to be coming out of the east--the direction we were heading. In came the Genoa and we left the main sail up to try and catch any wind that might help us. Of course, the engine was started and we slowly made our way around the north east end of the island and back to Smuggler's Cove again.

Down went the anchor and we snugged it into the sand bottom and we were set for the night. There were only about 4 to 5 other boats any where near the anchorage and the wind was coming from the Southwest at about 6 knots.

Monday dawned cloudy again. There was a big storm in the forecast for Monday night through Wednesday with lots of rain and wind. We'd heard about a marina(Channel Islands Marina)in Oxnard that was offering a deal--three days and two nights free--so we headed over to check it out. Of course, the winds shifted to be out of the Northeast--again in the direction we needed to head for(gee what a surprise). So we motored over and into the marina. We called as we made our way over and verified the deal just to make sure there were no surprises. Yup, free marina for two days!!

As we pulled in, a gentleman from another sailboat came over and took in the bowline to help us get into the slip. That's the way it is in the boating world. There is normally someone out there that is ready to help get your boat into the slip. It's rare we haven't gotten some form of help getting tied up to the dock. Jay is off a Harden 50 a few slips down from us. He's been in the marina for quite a while and clued us into what was where and where to go for a good meal. We met his wife(Terri) a few minutes later. They have a home in Malibu but spend every other week or ten days on their boat and had just gotten back from Santa Cruz as we had.

This area had just gone through a massive renewal and regeneration with the marina under going a nice face lift. It's one of the nicest marinas we have been in so far. The monthly fee for a slip for our boat would be more than the mortgage on our house so the prices reflect the face lift. And that fee doesn't include electricity!! We're talking close to $12,000 a year to keep your boat here!!! YOW!!! There are lots of empty slips all over the place since the place costs so much and many of the people that kept their boats here left during the remodel.

The marina folks wanted copies of our insurance and documentation for their records so they would have our information when we returned. I didn't have it with me so I promised to return with it later. Once back on Zephyr, we checked our emails and found one from BoatUS notifying us that our boat insurance was to expire on October 12th--and it was October 12!! Oh oh, our insurance had lapsed. BoatUS had sent us a reminder email while we were out at Santa Cruz Island. That is one of the problems when you are out of touch with "civilization". Things get missed and forgotten. I called BoatUS and got it renewed first thing Tuesday morning and printed copies of it for the marina folks. I asked them for a quote for coverage down in Mexico. They would look into it and get back with us--hopefully today.

We got settled in Monday afternoon with a great lunch at the Lookout Restaurant a ways down the marina. We'd been told by another boater that they have "Happy Hour"(2pm to 7pm)specials where all their appetizers are half price. We took a long tour of the marina and stores along the dock and got checked in at the marina office just waiting for 2pm to take advantage of the meal deal. It was great and we had a nice long lunch as we overlooked the marinas along the waterway. Once in the marina, you can launch your dingy and use it to get to lots of the local stores. They have docks right beside their stores for all the boaters that come in that have no cars.

Tuesday, Jay(off the Hardin 50)came over and offered to take us to the local grocery store for any supplies we might need. We were going to do the laundry and made plans to head out with him once we were done. It sprinkled off and on through out the day. Sometimes heavy and sometimes just a mist. Jay picked us up about 1130 and we headed off for Vons(California version of Safeway)for more food and supplies. Jay and Terri wanted to pick our brains for information as their long range plans were to do the same thing we are doing once they retire. We made plans to have lunch again at the Lookout Restaurant. They picked us up and off we went. Again, a great lunch swapping stories about what we have done and where we have been. They've had their boat for 18 years and have replaced or rebuilt just about everything on her.

While we were there, Celeste off Nereid called. We've been "buddy boating" with them(sort of) for the past month or so. They were back at the marina having just returned from Santa Cruz Island themselves. They had been going back and forth from Oxnard to Santa Cruz for the past few weeks getting things fixed as things broke. First, it was their prop shaft. A diver had checked it out while diving beside their boat and found that it loose. Next, their main house batteries were beginning to fail so George had them replaced. They had gone back to Santa Cruz on Sunday and spent two nights there before returning to Oxnard to wait out the storm with the big winds it was supposed to have along with it. We made plans to get together later in the afternoon. About 1700, they came over and we talked into the evening. I showed them the video of boat sinking at Smugglers from the week before that we had watched. I still have a lot of editing to do before I stand a chance of posting it here. They are renting a car Wednesday and we will be heading out with them to do some more shopping. I've now lost 55 pounds and need new pants.

Tomorrow, off for Redondo Beach and them Catalina Island. The journey continues.

Day 527 & 528 Anything but alone.

2009-10-11T15:30:00.003-06:00

Friday dawned with cloudy overcast skies but the other boats in Pelican Bay took off leaving us alone in the anchorage. About 1000, a power boat came in and dropped their anchor over near the cliff wall on the South side of the bay. The skipper launched his big dingy and took a tour of the anchorage and came over to visit for a while. As we chatted, he told me that more boats were on their way from Santa Barbara as the local yacht club was having a rendezvous at Pelicans Bay that weekend. Oh Boy!!! Lots more boats were on their way. Seeing the first sailboat on the horizon, we grabbed our second anchor and made plans to set it behind Zephyr so that she would hold her place in the water and not swing around causing panic in the anchorage. We were just about set to deploy it when the first sailboat showed up and motored past scoping out the place for a good place to drop their anchor. They looked over and were a bit concerned that we had no second anchor out and made it quite plain that they REALLY wanted us to get it out. It would upset their weekend if we didn't.

Scott(nice guy), the owner of the first boat that had come in, told us that at least 6 or more boats would be coming in by late in the afternoon and more on Saturday. Heck, we thought the anchorage was crowded when there were just three boats in here. Scott came over and volunteered to take our stern anchor out and drop it in a good place so that we wouldn't drift and swing. The second boat that came in were obviously happy that we would put out another anchor. Scott said he would come back in help us get the anchor up on Sunday when we plan to leave. As I said, a nice guy. In talking to other boaters here, the first boat sets the tone of the anchorage and since we were first(yea us!), it all depended on us. As long as we would set a second anchor, all would work well for the rest of the boats. One man told me that sometimes, the first boat won't and just goes below and doesn't come up on deck and drifts all over the bay. That can really affect how the rest of the boats can anchor in the anchorage.

Throughout the day, the boats just kept on coming. We sat back and watched as they would come gliding through the bay looking for the best spot to drop and then maneuver themselves into the proper angle and let loose their anchor. Many dropped their stern anchor and motored forward to the spot where they would drop the bow anchor and then dropped it and pulled backwards to set it. As long as you have lots of line off the stern, it works quite well. By 1700, we had 12 boats in the anchorage with more scheduled to arrive on Saturday. Some that showed up didn't belong to the yacht club but chose to anchor here anyway as it is one of the most popular places in the islands. Dingys zipped all over the anchorage as one boat would get settled and go help the next one in to set his anchor of get tied off in a good spot. Big dingys and small dingys. They were everywhere for the afternoon. The evening ended with dingys jumping from one boat to the next socializing and drinking. A good time was being had all over the place. They settled in by 2000 and the place became quiet.

Saturday dawned cloudy and overcast again. It felt strange having no Sun at sun up. By 0900, more boats started to arrive with sailboats and power streaming into the anchorage. Some left as it got crowded since they weren't part of the yacht club, but as they left, others arrived. We finally ended up with 22 boats in the bay.

One sailor stood out as the trouble maker of the group. His boat was right in the middle of the bay and he just "knew" that a power boat had over ridden his stern anchor line and were "sawing" through his line. Other members of the yacht club descended on his boat in their dingys and hemmed and hawed about the line. The boat behind him had come in while he was out kayaking with his wife or he would have kicked up a snit earlier when the other boat showed up. The men pulled it up, checked his anchor. Nope--the other boater wasn't anywhere near his line. The men in the dingys took the stern line and moved it a few feet farther over and dropped it so it could be reset. He yelped about the power boat for the next couple of hours. He wanted him to move so there was no way his anchor would be in harms way. At that time, there were already close to 20 boats in the bay and space was getting quite limited and it was only about 1300 when this was taking place.

We launched Puff(dingy) and put on Dragon(outboard motor) and took off for Prisoner's Harbor to see how many boats were in there. About 7 in total. During the week that we were gone, the National Park Service pulled up the small dingy dock beside the wharf so there was no way to get ashore other than to pull your boat up on the rocky "beach". That's where we had spent last Friday and Saturday night in the big winds. The winds during this Thursday, Friday and Saturday night were just about calm. It was like being back at the marina. A bit unnerving to be just sitting still while at anchor.

The last three days have all dawned cloudy but the Sun pokes his face out just about lunch time so the afternoon if quite delightful. This afternoon(Sunday) we are off for Oxnard for a few days. There is a storm coming in on Monday and we want to be tucked in safe and sound plus we have laundry to do. The priorities of life rear their ugly head again.

Day 525 & 526 Onward

2009-10-11T15:30:00.001-06:00

Day 525--Wednesday dawned with some clouds, the first we have seen in a while. We upped the anchor and took off for Coches Prietos farther along the South coast of Santa Cruz Island. It is reputed to be one of the most protected anchorages anywhere on the island. It was about 10 miles farther along the coast. As we left Smuggler's Cove, we put up the sails and took off heading around the point. The winds were piping up to about 15 knots so we were doing a good 5.5 to 6 knots.

As the morning passed, we came upon a military zone known as the "Acoustic Range Facility" along the South side of the island. I don't have a clue what it actually is but we called the Coast Guard to make sure it was all right to be there. Their comment was "Can you go around it?". It's a huge area of the ocean folks. Now why they put a military test range any where near a National Park is beyond us. I radioed them back that we would be through it soon if that was all right. They advised me to call them back once we were through the "range". Half an hour later, the winds died so on came the engine and off we went. I don't think the military would have wanted us sticking around there till the winds carried us west of the range. About an hour later, we were through and I advised them that we were on our way. They wished us a happy voyage and that was the end of that.

On we went until we got to Coches Prietos. A nice little cove with a beautiful sandy beach. Since we still haven't received our Conservation Pass, we couldn't go shore. No big deal as we thought the cove was just a bit too small for Zephyr and a bit exposed to the westerly winds. Just to the East was Albert's Anchorage. It was protected by a high huge outcropping from the shore that protected it better than Coches Prietos. We found it a much safer place to drop our anchors. In we went, the only boat in the anchorage(33 58.193N 119 41.915W). Finally, a place to ourselves. That lasted almost two hours before a second smaller boat with some snorkelers came in and dropped their anchor and made themselves at home. RATS!! A few hours later, a "crabber" in a very small boat(one man) came in and dropped his anchor so now there were three of us. We'd seen at least two other boats go into Coches Prietos so we knew that they were full as it is a small anchorage like ours.

As the evening passed, the winds died and changed direction so that instead of blowing from the South to keep us snugged into the cove, it was blowing off the shore keeping us a bit farther out in the water. Once the winds finally died, the swells took over and we began to rock from side to side for several hours. It finally stopped about the time the Sun came up. With it rocking so bad, Tracy got up and spend some of the night in the cockpit to avoid getting sea sick. Her meds had long since worn off.

When morning came, I started the generator to replace some of the amps we had used during the previous night. About an hour later, we stopped the generator and raised the anchor and took off heading west along the shoreline for a place to spend the night. We had no idea where but we took off. Now of course, Mother Nature would have none of this so she kicked up winds in the mid 20 knot range, but of course from the direction we need to go. The engine stayed on and off we went. The swells increased and poor Zephyr was getting thrown all over the place. Waves were crashing on deck as we went and running up clear to and onto the dodger at the front of the cockpit. If we hadn't had dodger, we would have been soaked.

A few hours later, we rounded the West point of Santa Cruz Island and were back on the North side again. Back were we got out butts kicked a few days before by big winds and waves. We were back and so were they at least for an hour or so. Then, thank heaven, they calmed down a bit and it became an easier ride. We were still surfing the swells, up one side and down the next, but they were smaller swells.

We'd hoped to be able to stop at "Painted Cave" but the chop was just to big and the place where we might have anchored is only safe if there is no big winds or swells in the forecast. Not today! On we went till be returned to Pelican Bay just west of Prisoner's Harbor where we had anchored several times before. We'd taken Puff the dingy over and looked at Pelican but didn't anchor there as there were already three boats there that time. This time, there was only one sailboat at anchor so in we went. As we approached Pelican, we could see into Prisoner's Harbor around the corner and could see at least 4 boats already there. We motored in and dropped the anchor to the east of the sailboat that was already there giving them plenty of room. Our anchor went down and we set her deep and safe(34 02.017N 119 42.118W).

About an hour later, the "crabber" that had been in Albert's Anchorage motored in and dropped his anchor behind us. It was already 1700 and he was done for the night. About 1800, a big dive boat pulled in and dropped his anchor along with about 15 divers so they could explore the bay. At 1830, a small sailboats came in and completed the bay for the night. It's now 1955 and the dive boat is still here allowing the divers to have a night dive in the water. I expect they will be leaving later this evening.

That's about it for today. Tomorrow, I think we will spend the day here as it's Friday and finding another anchorage gets tougher on the weekends and this place is quite pretty. I'll post our pictures once we get back to civilization and we have internet again. We lost it shortly after leaving Santa Barbara last Friday afternoon. With luck, we will be over in Oxnard in a few days.

Day 523 continued and 524 The wind finally passes.

2009-10-11T15:29:00.005-06:00

After we arrived in Smuggler's Cove on Sunday morning, the winds continued to build until they were in the 40+ knot range. Throughout the afternoon they just kept on coming. At least the swell action was much less being in the lee of the island. The wind howled for the rest of the day.

About 1630, we decided to set a second anchor even though the first was doing just fine. With no idea what the weather was to become other than windy, we felt it better to err on the side of caution. I went forward to drop it overboard as Tracy motored forward to the left of the primary anchor. Over it went and down to the bottom. The wind grabbed hold of us and pushed us back quickly. I set the anchor line and waited for it to set. Suddenly, there was a loud explosion in front of me right at the stem fitting on the point of the bow. The line and snubber that held the primary anchor had broken!!! The wind had created such a force that there was too much strain on the line and even though I had installed a rubber snubber(a long piece of rubber that the line wraps around that acts like a spring)the line snapped. The anchor was set so well that it didn't come out. It made the line break instead!! We quickly pulled out a back up snubber and attached it to the chain. I wanted the strain off the stem fitting(where the chain passes through on the way to the bottom) on the bow. I didn't want it breaking off of Zephyr's bow. Once that was done, I made sure the second anchor was secured and we settled back for a windy night but with less swell action. It was an easier night at anchorage than Saturday night in Prisoner's Anchorage.

The winds died during the night and settled into an easy 14 to 16 knot wind. A piece of cake after the 40+ knots we had been in. It had gotten so windy during Sunday afternoon, that I had stopped the DuoGens propeller from spinning. It was having a stroke trying to keep up with the winds. Better to stop it than break it.

Monday was a pleasant day with lots of sunshine and gentle winds. I pulled up the second anchor and after the line had dried, I marked it with a Magic Marker at 30 feet intervals like the anchor chain is. There's 21 feet of chain and 200 feet of line. The same overall length as the primary anchor chain.

We met with a neighbor boat--Jeff and Fiona--and had a nice chat. They've sailed down from BC and are working their way south the Mexico like us. His wind generator had blown during the big winds of Saturday night. Apparently, the wind was clocked at 71 knots at Anacapa Island(it's just east of Santa Cruz Island). They said they had clocked the wind in Smugglers at over 55 knots. Boats all over the anchorage had been dragging their anchors through the night. Theirs, luckily, had stayed planted in the sandy bottom. We'd watched Jeff scope out the shoreline in his dingy looking for a place to safely pull it ashore. He rowed back to his boat(stopping for a chat) and picked up his girl friend and in they went. They were smart to put on their life jackets as they made their final approach to the shore, the waves caught them and into the water they went. The dingy stayed up right but took on water from the wave. Being an inflatable, it didn't matter getting water in it as it wasn't about to sink. Once the two got ashore, Jeff over turned it and got the water out and pulled it up safely on shore. Off, the two of them went to explore on shore. Wet, but all right. Now getting back out was another matter. The swells had built while they were exploring and it would prove to be much harder getting off the shore than getting on to shore. They tried it several times and finally settled with Jeff at the oars and Fiona swimming out behind the dingy and he helping her on board once they were out safely past the breakers. They stopped by on the way back to their boat. They both have a broad sailing background having already sailed to Hawaii and back. A very nice couple. They saw another Liberty 458 a few days ago heading south.

We read and worked on our tans, quickly becoming slight burns, through the rest of the afternoon and settled in for a nice dinner and some DVD watching.

This morning(Tuesday)about 0700, we heard a helicopter buzzing the anchorage figuring they were taking more pictures of the boats in the anchorage. Little realizing what they were actually here for. Over night, a fishing boat--commercial--dragged his anchor and was ashore pinned to the rocks. We're not sure when he washed up, but as we came out on deck about 0800, he was clearly in distress. The waves just kept on bashing him higher and higher onto the rocks. Low tide was quite a while ago and high tide isn't until after 1100 so he has a few hours to wait. If he doesn't get off the rocks then, he will never recover. Numerous fishing boats and dingys have made their way over to see if they can help but we have seen no activity on board by anyone on the boat. No one on shore either so we're not sure what is going on. No chatter on the radio on either channel 16 nor the Coast Guard channel of 22A. All we know is that this boat is in big trouble if it doesn't get off the rocks soon. He may have a hole in his hull with all the bashing he is taking. He just keeps rocking on the rocks with every swell that breaks on the shore. Vessel Assist showed up about 1000 to try and get him off the rocks. A swimmer went over to the boat from Vessel Assist and tied several lines to the boat at the bow and amidships. They were getting set to pull him off the rocks.

About 1100, Vessel Assist finally pulled the Lady Francis off the rocks after several attempts. The way she was wedged into the rocks, as she was pulled by the bow line, she swung around and hit another set of rock just to her port all with a resounding crash we could hear from Zephyr. The lines were checked and Vessel Assist waited for a big swell and pulled again. Slowly the Lady Francis swung around and broke free of the rock and was towed away from the shore. Unfortunately, about 200 yards later she sank. The holes in her hull were just to great. There was just to much water inside and she went down by the stern in about 10 feet of water. Her bow is still bouncing in the swells. Just as Vessel Assist got her loose, the Coast Guard showed up. Too late to be of assistance. We saw a cloth over the bow that was to stop the water from coming on board that way, but I guess there was just to much already below that there was no hope of floating her to freedom. Now will come the salvage boats to haul her on board and take her back to the mainland. It was a sorry sight to see. In time, I think there is a chance that you will see a boat in jeopardy but we never thought we would see it so soon. Currently, Vessel Assist and a small Coast Guard boat are standing by waiting.

A second Vessel Assist showed up after a while and brought air bags to put around the boat and try and get her raised so she could be towed over to Ventura. In went the divers and the bags got inflated and her stern rose off the bottom. Once loose, she was towed around Zephyr's bow until the Vessel Assist boats could tie up to the Coast Guard buoy a bit farther off the coast. Now the diver took 4 more bags into the water and attached them farther on the stern and up she came until it was safe to be towed across the channel. There was no way to pump the water out of the boat as the stern was gone. It had broken off when Vessel Assist had pulled her away from the shore and she had pivoted and slammed back onto the rocks. If they had simply pulled her backwards off the rocks, the stern would have still been attached and she might have stood a chance of being pumped out. Now there was no stern and no chance. She was a total loss.

It took till almost 1900 before they were ready to leave. One of the Coast Guardsmen joined the Vessel Assist crew for the long trip back to Ventura. They were told to maintain a radio check in schedule with the Coast Guard station in Los Angeles every 30 minutes. As they checked in, they were doing 2.2 knots across the channel. With it being about 15 miles, they had a long night ahead of them.

It's sad to see a boat come to its end in such a needless way. A well set anchor would have saved that boat.

Day 522 & 523 Where to begin?

2009-10-11T15:29:00.003-06:00

Saturday, day 522 dawned nice and bright with a good bit of wind out of the Northwest and west. Because of the wind, we decided to stay onboard and relax for the day. It was nice to be gently rocked to sleep after the two nights of stationary sleeping at the Santa Barbara Marina. After so long being rocked by the waves--it's been several weeks since we spent any time in a marina--to have the boat and bed suddenly motionless at night was a bit unnerving.

There were three other boats in Prisoner's Anchorage on Friday night and one left at dawn heading northeast. As the day went by, we read and worked on a jigsaw puzzle. It's the first one I have done in years. There never seemed to be the time before. On Saturday, there was for a change. Later in the afternoon, we listened to the VHF radio about what the weather folks think was going to be coming our way. Hey--guess what? Wind and lots of it. Gusts expected into the 40 knot range and swells in the 8 to 10 foot range were on the docket for the North shores of Santa Barbara County. That's us all right. This time, we were prepared to set out a second anchor. Oh, I forgot to tell you that one of the other boats in the anchorage took off for his home port of Ventura late in the afternoon rather than spend a night in what was coming. While the winds were maintaining a nice 15 to 25 knot range, the swells were building to an uncomfortable level causing Zephyr to rock and roll.

I went forward and got the anchor line ready for deployment while Tracy started the engine and got ready to take us forward in the anchorage until we were in the proper place to deploy it. Normally about 30 degrees to the side of the first anchor that had been deployed earlier. The wind was howling and the seas were getting bigger with each minute that passed. I dropped the anchor over the port(left)side of the boat and we slowly drifted backwards until the anchor set in the bottom sand and rock. The nylon line was stretched out tight in front of Zephyr's bow. She bit in great and took the strain off the other anchor. We were set for the night. The only other boat in the anchorage pulled their dingy on board and checked their anchor setup but never dropped a second. More power to them. Two anchors beat one any time for safety.

I set the anchor drag alarm in the cockpit and set myself up on one of the settee cushions in the main cabin for the night. If an alarm went off, I could be in the cockpit in a few seconds. I set an alarm to wake me up every 45 minutes or so so I could check the anchor and our position. Shadow, one of our furr people, spent the night with me on and off. The rest were huddled in with Tracy in the stern bunk as she tossed and turned through the night.

Several times through the night, I hooked on my life jacket and headed forward on deck to check the anchors and line. I saw no movement at all during the night. Now the "anchor alarm" on Garmin Chartplotter went off early in the morning when it suddenly put us about 5 miles off shore when we were actually still where we had started out. I rebooted the chartplotter and we were right back where we started in the anchorage.

Between 0300 and 0400, the wind slowed suddenly to only about 5 to 6 knots yet the seas didn't lay down. The swell just kept on coming making life on board rough to say the least. At least with the wind, it keeps the bow facing into the waves. With little or no wind, we were all over the place. By 0700, we decided to move around to the Southeast shore of Santa Cruz where at least we would be out of the big swells. Up came the second anchor and then the primary came up and was stowed. Off we went. While the wind in the anchorage had slowed a bit, once we were past the point of the bay, we were suddenly lashed by 40 knot winds and more 8 foot swells. There was no turning back. We headed east doing a zig zag course to keep the wave from rocking Zephyr too badly. Unfortunately, this allowed several waves to crash right into the side and have sea water drench us both. I got the worst of it being closest to one of the openings. Tracy got hers later when she went on deck to put more lashing around the mainsail and a HUGE wave nailed us. She was soaked!!

On we went, slowly making our way east till we passed San Pedro Point and headed south towards Smuggler's Cove(also known as Anacapa Bay). It is supposed to be a good place to drop the anchor since it has great holding. It must as we saw 15 other boats at anchor as we pulled in. It's a big curved bay with lots of room. Luckily, a big fishing boat was just pulling up his anchor and we moved right into the spot he vacated(34 01.104N 119 32.341W)and dropped the anchor. In she bit and we were set again. Now it is still blowing at up to 35 knots, but there are no rolling swells to make life uncomfortable here. So here we sit and here we stay for a while. This is quite reminiscent of our time in Prisoner's Anchorage last week. It's nice and sunny but blowing like stink out there. I think we will set the second anchor later this afternoon before the Sun sets. Then we will see what tomorrow brings. We're living the dream don't you know!

Day 521 Back to Prisoner's Anchorage.

2009-10-11T15:29:00.001-06:00

As we had to be out of the Santa Barbara Marina by noon, we rushed about getting jobs done as quickly as we could. Tracy took off for the laundry room while I went to work to change the oil. While we were in Oakland, I bought an oil pump that, working off 12 volt power, would pump out the old oil through the dip stick tube as there is no other way to get it out. I hooked it up to the "start" battery bank being the closest source of power and turned it on. Suddenly, it started spewing the used oil out the hole where it is supposed to go into the reservoir for the used oil. The seal was bad around the hose. There was oil all over the floor and the towels I had beside me. Luckily, I had saved the receipt from West Marine so I walked up to the store at the marina and returned it. For the time, I'll go back to the old way to get the old oil out--a manual pumper instead of a battery powered one. I know it works fine, it just takes longer to get the oil out. After taking the pump back, time had run out to do the oil change. Another day.

Tracy was having problems at the laundry as instead of using coins like most laundries, this one used credit cards. Not the usual credit cards we carry in our wallet, but a special card that has to be "loaded" from your normal credit cards. You put your money in a machine and then pass the card over a reader that "loads" it on the laundry card. Now the amount you can "load" on the card bears no resemblance as to what you need to do you laundry--$1.75 per wash and .75 to dry. That equals $2.50 but you can only load the card in $6.00 increments so you either have too much on the card or not enough to do a load and have to load more. They never balance out, so they get to keep the extra money that you never use off the card. A nice racket for the laundry folks. They make money doing nothing. It's like getting eight hot dogs in a package but the buns only come in a six pack.

I took off for a last minute shower and once back, we stowed the last of the equipment and we were off for Santa Cruz Island again. This time, we thought we would anchor in Pelican Bay about a mile west of Prisoner's Anchorage. We'd dingyed over to see it last week. As we approached the island from the north, another boat was already anchored in there. We changed course and headed west for Fry's Harbor a few miles away. Once we got there, we found two boats already at anchor. One inside the cove and the second, a sail boat, just outside the cove. There was no room for any other boats from what we could see. One of our "cruising guides" says that he "has counted at least thirty-five yachts on occasion" in the cove. I can't, for the life of me, figure out how they would fit that many boats into such a small anchorage. It seemed full with just the one inside and the one just outside the cove. We headed east along the coast checking the other coves along the way.

As we passed Pelican Bay, there were now three boats at anchor in the small "bay". The third boat--a sail boat was jockeying it's way about the anchorage trying to figure out where he could anchor without hitting the other boats already there. The other sailboat in the anchorage(first one in the bay) had a bow and stern anchor already set out to hold them securely in place against any kind of swing from a change in the wind. With two anchors out like that, it means that all the other boats that come in must do the same or take the chance of swinging off one anchor line and hitting the boat with two anchors out. They appeared to be right beside each other in the small "bay". It looks more like a "cove" to me than any kind of a "bay" being as small as it is. We decided to just float right on by.

Next stop--Prisoner's Anchorage. There were only two other boats at anchor--both much closer to the wharf than we wanted to be. We put ourselves right on top of where we had anchored earlier and dropped the anchor and powered in reverse to set it nice and tight in the sand and rock bottom. We were back at 34 01.353N 119 41.176W all over again. With it being a Friday when we arrived, we expect the anchorages to get busier today(Saturday). We plan to make our way around the island over this next week to ten days or so. We have a reservation at a marina in Oxnard for the 13 & 14th. They are giving away three days and two night berthing to try and attract people to their new marina. George and Celeste off Nereid are there now taking advantage of the offer. There is a big get together being put on by "Latitudes & Attitudes" magazine at Catalina Island on the 16th and 17th that we plan on attending. We'll see how the time goes.

Day 519 & 520 Errands again.

2009-10-02T08:33:00.000-06:00

We settled into the Santa Barbara Marina with no problems and set about cleaning Zephyr. It's been several weeks since we've been in a marina and so out came the hoses and everything got washed and stowed again to get ready for departure on Friday.

We washed the salt off the forestaysail and got it nice and dried and packed so we can be ready for deployment when needed. The decks were all washed and all the blocks and roller furling got a good rinse down to get out all the salt that has built up there. We've had blocks jam due to salt build up so we make sure they get a good rinse as often as we can.

Even though neither of us got much sleep on Tuesday night, it was hard to get to sleep on Wednesday night since Zephyr was tied up to a dock and we are so used to the movement at night that a stationary boat seemed quite strange. Add in that it was quiet and it took quite a while to relax and get to sleep. I guess that is what happens when you spend most of the time at anchor instead of in a marina.

We looked in at the local West Marine for some hardware all to no avail. They have a store right here at the marina that is so under equipped with goods that it is a joke. You'd think that having having a store right next to a marina with no other chandlery close by would be stocked to the hilt. Nope, you have to go to another store several miles away to get all the important stuff. Doesn't make much business sense to us.

Yesterday, we went into town to have lunch at a local restaurant(Lettuce B. Frank) and over to Ralph's for some last minute things that we forgot last trip. We went out the wharf to see the businesses and took the bus back to the marina. The city of Santa Barbara runs an electric shuttle bus over much of the town that only costs .25 cents. It allows people like us to get out and about to spend more money. Smart folks these Californians. I spent the rest of the day cooking at the barbecue getting brats and chicken cooked so we will have nice easy meals when out on the water or at anchor. It make meal preparation much easier if the main part of the meal is already cooked.

I went in search of a shackle to attach the chain to the CQR anchor but of course there were none at the West Marine I wrote about above. Is we were checking out at another store by the marina, I asked the clerk if there were any other chandlers around. Nope, but the person behind us in line asked what we were looking for. When I told her about the shackle, she said she probably had one on her boat and to come on out when it comes back in and she'd give it to us. She runs one of the supply ships(Alan T) that takes supplies out to the oil wells off shore. She works for seven day shifts, then seven night shifts and then is off for seven days. As it turns out, she had no shackle that would fit so she called two of the platforms and is having them look and is meeting me at the dock just after 0800 with them. Now that's what boating is all about. Friends are made fast out here.

Well, we leave in a few hours so I must be off. More errands to do. Tracy is off for the laundry and I'm off to get the shackle and get the oil changed and then a shower so I'll be nice and clean for when we set off. Still no pass from the Nature Conservancy so we still can't go ashore to walk around. Not sure when it will show up but this means we will have to up the anchor and come back closer to shore to get internet all over again.

More to come.

Photos now that we have a strong internet!

2009-10-01T08:50:00.001-06:00

Here are some of the pictures we have taken over the past week or so From Cojo Anchorage just past Point Conception to Prison's Anchorage at Santa Cruz Island in the Channel Islands.

Our first view of Southern California. This is Cojo Anchorage just south of Point Conception. The cruising guides say this is what California looked like 1000 years ago. Heck, it's just like what we used to sail on in New Mexico!
The cliffs at Cojo Anchorage with rolling surf from Point Conception.
Sundown at Santa Barbara looking west over the marina.
The wharf at Prison's Anchorage.
Seaweed off the wharf at Prisoner's Anchorage.
The "beach" at Prisoner's. Lots of rocks for the Park Service landing craft that brings supplies for the rangers.
It must get REALLY muddy at the landing with this many boot cleaners by the wharf.
Now only the Park Service has vehicles(maybe 5) on the island which begs to wonder why they need a speed limit sign.
One of the misshapen trees twisted on the shoreline above the anchorage at Prisoner's. The winds blew just about all the time. Not hard for the most part but they do make their presents known.
Looking down on the anchorage from high on the hill overlooking Prisoner's Anchorage. That's another fishing boat off the point and us at anchor.
Looking east towards Chinese Harbor(around to the right of the picture) and Potato Cove just off the far point.
Looking west past Prisoner's Anchorage towards Pelican Cove just around the point.
The wharf and Zephyr riding at anchor in the bay

Day 517 & 518 Dodged the bullet.

2009-09-30T21:19:00.000-06:00

Tuesday dawned with the hint of fog and stayed overcast for some of the morning before the Sun broke through. With Puff(our dingy) already in the water, we took off for shore to explore the section of Santa Cruz we were allowed on. With 70% of the island a nature conservancy(seen with a permit) we were left with the last 30% to see. Still a large area to hike.

We picked up papers once ashore telling us of where to hike and where not to and set off up the road to see what we could see from the hills(pictures later). The water was a beautiful shade of blue from on high. The boat that brings hikers showed up and let off a group to take pictures and see the sights. We headed back for Zephyr to shut off our Honda generator before taking off for Potato Cove several miles to the east. Once back aboard Zephyr, the weather and winds changed in just a matter of minutes from lovely to cloudy and 15-20 knots of wind. We decided(wisely) to stay right where we were as the wind continued to build through the afternoon.

About 1600, I turned on the VHF radio for a weather update from the National Weather Service and found that a Santa Ana wind was beginning to built over the mainland and was expected to hit the Santa Barbara coast and the islands later that night and through out Wednesday and into Thursday. Just before this, another sailboat showed up and dropped his anchor. Actually, he dropped two of them and snugged them into the bottom. He then took off in a kayak to visit the island. Hearing that big winds were coming, we dug out our back up anchor(same as our normal anchor)from down in the bilge. We stored lots of bottles of wine around it(with bubble wrap for protection of course-never waste wine silly)so it took a while to get it out and put together as we stow it in parts for easier storage.

Next, we dug out the spare anchor line in the bow locker as well as the extra chain from beside the engine(where previous owner Bill had stowed it) and started getting ready to take it out in the dingy for deployment. Only problem was that we couldn't find a shackle that fit over the end of the anchor to attach to chain to. I finally "jury rigged" an attachment and I was set to take it out and drop it over the side of our dingy. Tracy handed me each piece of the gear down the stern ladder and fed me the line from the bow so I could attach it to the chain after pulling Puff around to the front. Once that was done, I took off in Puff and once at the end of the anchor line, dropped it over the side. Tracy pulled in on the end of the line till the line went firm and we were set.

Once back on board, we rechecked the forecast and found that they were now expecting gusts of up to 50 miles per hour by midnight with more scheduled for Wednesday afternoon. It was going to be a long night. Oh, I forgot to add in that they were also talking about the tsunami that was due to hit the Santa Barbara coast shortly after 2100. This was the remnants of the tsunami that hit the Samoa Island chain earlier in the day. So here we are, in this beautiful harbor with gust of 50 miles per hour expected and the NOAA was throwing in swells of unknown height from a tsunami at the same time. We were just waiting for the forecast for locusts, plagues, and dust storms to announced. Wherever we go, strange weather is sure to follow.

By 2100, the winds were up in the mid 20 knot range but no tsunami swells other than those the wind was creating were felt throughout the rest of the evening. It was a Y2K event all over again. We listened on the AM radio as announcers were interviewing folks down on the beach as to what they were expecting. As it turns out, nothing. We on the other hand were about to experience a long night in the cockpit. With the big winds still to come, I turned on a alarm that is built into our Garmin GPS to tell me if Zephyr changes her position. I can set the distance so simply swinging at anchor won't set it off. With the alarm set at 100 feet, I settled in for the night. About 2200, man on the only other boat in the anchorage(the one that dropped two anchors) came on deck to check his position with a flashlight and went below for a good night sleep. Tracy went below for a restless night of trying to sleep and I stayed in the cockpit just waiting for the alarm to go off. I poked my head up regularly to see how we were doing and laid back down for a while. The winds never got about 33 knots. With two anchors out, we were just fine. Our primary anchor did most of the work by never slipping one inch. We have a CQR anchor and she has proven herself to be a champ every time we have used her.

I finally got up at 0630 and watched the sunrise. According to our GPS, we had traveled over two miles during the night. It was somewhat cloudy but a beautiful morning knowing that we had come through the night without any harm befalling Zephyr. I'd hate to loose our home after we have done so much to her. By 0730, Tracy was up after getting about an hour of sleep and we stowed Puff back on board. We'd loaded Dragon(our outboard motor) the night before thinking that Puff might flip if the wind got too big. Even with no motor to hold her down, Puff came through the night just fine.

With Puff was back on board, we started raising our second anchor. I took off our primary anchor off the windlass at the bow and tied it to a cleat to hold Zephyr in place. We then put the second anchors line on the windlass and started pulling it in. Zephyr swung in position as tension was put on the line and the second anchor came right on up. Amazingly, the chain was all tied in knots around the anchor yet it held us in place and kept us from swinging. I lifted it up over the life lines as Tracy coiled the line and piled up the chain. Once done, we started the engine and took off after the primary anchor that had done such a great job for us. With my foot on the switch, up she came and we were off for Ventura to stay at a marina till the Santa Ana winds passed.

As we got closer, I called one of the marinas in Ventura to make a reservation and was told that the fee for staying there was $1.50 per foot per night. For us, that puts the fee at $69.00 per night. By far the most expensive marina we've ever been in. We changed course for Santa Barbara. They are only .90 per foot per night. Lots cheaper. An extra 11 miles longer, but much cheaper. It would give us a place to hide out from the up coming Santa Ana winds the National Weather Service was call for. Hey, guess what? They never showed up!!! The big blow was to be here by this evening and it's dead calm out side!!! Gee, the National Weather Service getting a forecast wrong? What are the chances of that? If we had known it was to be nice and calm like this, we would have stayed at Santa Cruz for a while longer. But hey, now we have a chance to get the laundry done and do some more shopping for supplies and food that we forgot. A two edged sword.

We'll be here till Friday and then head back to Santa Cruz Island. With luck, our permit to actually visit the island will be here by then. It should have been emailed to us a few days ago. Tonight, we will both catch up on some missed sleep. Yeah!!

Day 515 & 516 Over to Santa Cruz Island.

2009-09-30T21:17:00.001-06:00

We upped the anchor about 1130 and left Santa Barbara for Santa Cruz Island to be precise. Our permit to land on the Nature Conservancy hadn't come through yet but we just wanted to get out of the rolly Santa Barbara Harbor and get to some place that might be easier at night. Santa Barbara Harbor, at night, looses it wind and so the swells take over and we roll from side to side all night long until the wind comes up in the morning. It makes for a disturbed night sleep.

It has been absolutely beautiful weather till we planned on setting out. Then the fog and grey set in and there has been little Sun ever since. There was very little wind so the engine came back into play and pushed us along nicely. In all, the crossing took about 5 hours and we pulled in about 1630 and dropped the anchor in Prisoner's Cove(34 01.298N 119 41.152W). A trip of just 24 miles. Wind finally cropped up about an hour out of the cove but since we were so close, we just finished motoring in. There were five other boats already at anchor in the cove so we were forced to drop our anchor a little closer than we would have liked but sometimes you have to do that. There were two power boats(including a trawler made in 1918) and three sailboats riding nicely at anchor. We wedged ourselves behind most of them nearer the shore. The newer power boat upped his anchor and took off about 1830 leaving just the five of us for the night. We were in for a quiet night at anchor.

Monday dawned cloudy and overcast and cooler. The 1918 trawler upped his anchor about 0730 and took off. About three hours later, one of the sailboats took off. The Sun kept trying to peak out of the clouds through out most of the day. About 1000, a large motor launch carrying supplies for the park rangers showed up and pulled ashore to drop off a trailer load of stuff. Their launch looked like an old World War II LST with a drop down front. The rangers had been down at the "beach" smoothing out the shore line for them to land. One of the last things I had expected to hear was the sounds of a bull dozer running up and down the beach. The launch came in and a tractor trailer rig backed on to it and pulled off the trailer. The launch then backed away from the shore and sat waiting for the trailer to be returned a few hours later. Once the trailer returned, the launch came back ashore and loaded it and off they went. By lunch time, we launched Puff and stuck on Dragon for a ride over to Pelican Cove about a mile west of Prisoner's Cove. We wanted to see what it looked like before we stopped by to anchor there later. A lovely little cove that was apparently the sight of a hotel back in the 1920s. Concrete steps still lead up from the water to the top of the hillside.

As we were leaving Pelican in the dingy, we saw another sailboat heading for Prisoner's Cove. We wanted to move the anchor to allow for more swing room between the remaining boats so we took off Zephyr. When the new sailboat saw the three of us left in the cove, it turned around and headed back for Pelican Cove for the night. We upped the anchor and positioned ourselves in a better place, farther from the other boats. The Sun came out and it was a lovely afternoon.

We started the generator as we'd used a good bit of amps over the previous night and they needed replacing. The folks on the closest boat(a 36 foot Beneteau)were off in their dingy exploring so we were not disturbing them. A while later, they were ferried back to their boat by another power boat. I'd guess that their engine died while out touring the North side of the island. They quickly put their dingy on board and took off for the mainland. Now we were down to just the two of us. Lots of room in the anchorage. The Sun came and went throughout the rest of the day. We were finally in swim suits sitting in the cockpit enjoying the warmth of the afternoon. Later in the afternoon, another boat came by the pier and picked up about a half dozen campers from the island. Apparently there is a company that sets up campers to visit and stay on the islands and ferries them from one to another. They loaded backpacks and kayaks along with a lot of other gear and a couple of park rangers to boot.

I'd defrosted some steaks for dinner and the barbecue was set to cook them. Add in some green beans cooked in a broth of onions and bacon and a great dinner was set. The clouds came and went through the evening and are back in full force this morning but with luck will burn off later this morning for a nice day. With no phone or internet service, we are forced to rely on AM radio for a weather forecast on the mainland(Santa Barbara area). They are calling for a partly cloudy day so we will see what today brings. We'll be off in the dingy later this morning when the Sun comes out to explore farther east along the coast. The final boat in the anchorage left about an hour ago so we have the place to ourselves.

Day 514 More errands and some rest.

2009-09-27T10:46:00.000-06:00

We took off this morning for the marina in Puff with Dragon pushing us along just great. We had trash to take in to drop off as we expect to be off for the Channel Islands on Sunday. We also had a car to return and some more grocery shopping to do.

George and Celeste off Nereid came along as they had errands to do also and heck, they were paying for half the car rental. Off the the veggie stand--lots of organic veggies and then down the Trader Joe's for a few things. Next, the Post Office as George and Celeste were expecting their mail to finally come in. We dropped Tracy off at Ralph's Market while we took off for a market that specializes in natural foods and meats. Back to pick up Tracy and off to Enterprise to return the car with two minutes to spare. They took us back to the marina where we took off for Zephyr while George and Celeste went to their boat and moved it out of the marina and on to their anchor for the night. We spent the day resting and stowing the goods we had picked up over the last two days and making plans to head out to the islands Sunday--permit or not.

It requires a permit to land on parts of Santa Cruz Island and it hasn't come through yet so we will just anchor in one of their coves and wait for it without going ashore. Hopefully, there will be cell phone service out there so I can get on the internet to download the permit once it arrives. If not, then we will have to up the anchor and come back till we can get on the internet and download it in a few days.

If you don't see any updates for a few days, it's because there is no cell phone service at the islands, but have no fear---I'll post as soon as I can get back on line.

Day 512 & 513 What a difference a few miles make!

2009-09-25T21:51:00.000-06:00

The wharf at Avila Beach. We tied our dingy up under it and walked up the stairs to the deck.
Looking toward the beach from the wharf.
Other boats anchored in the harbor at Port San Luis(just to the west of Avila Beach.
The south point of Avila Beach.
The south end of the beach. The surf rolls in and there are kids out with their boogy boards.
Looking back out at the anchorage from the beach.
Lots of swimmers and sun bathers.
Finally Point Conception is getting passed!! That's the light house on the cliffs.

We took off for Santa Barbara on Thursday late morning. We finally upped the anchor about 1030 and took off following Nereid as we headed east. Yes, that's right--East!!! We will start heading south in a while but for now, we were heading east to Santa Barbara.

Being south of Point Conception, everything has changed. Suddenly the winds are calmer and the seas are flatter. The forecast for the future is for winds of about 6 to 10 knots and sea swells of 2 to 3 feet--not meters every 18 seconds instead of every 8 seconds. It's almost flat out there. I don't know what or why it happens once you get south of Point Conception, but it does. We had to motor all the way to Santa Barbara since there was just about no wind. We were surprised how much oil we saw just floating along in the water. We remembered seeing it over 20 years ago as we played in the water while we drove up the shore along Highway 1. The temperature was down right balmy--shorts were the order of the day. No longer in three layers of clothes. We're free!!!

We dropped anchor to the right side of the Stearns Wharf (34 24.569N 119 40.618W just after 1700 in choppy swells. The harbor is divided into sections. To the west is the marina(Nereid spent the night there). Then comes Stearn's Wharf jutting out into the bay. Next, 300 feet of "free" space. No one is allowed to anchor there. To the east of that is fair game. Anchor where ever you want and lots of boats do. It's free and unregulated. Most of the boats look like they have been here for years with no one ever coming on board to check them. One has even lost his mast over the side. It is just dangling in the water with the boom still attached! To the east of that are boats on moorings and that finishes out the harbor. The marina is loaded with hundreds of boats both commercial as well as pleasure craft(sail and power).

Thursday night was pure madness. Once the winds dropped, the swells took over the harbor and we rocked and rolled all night long. We finally changed position in bed and slept 90 degrees off from what we normally do so we didn't get thrown around. Our heads were at the stern instead of the starboard side. Our feet dangled over the edge of the mattress, but at least we got some(though not much) sleep.

Today, we rented another car from Enterprise and with George and Celeste from Nereid, we took off on another mini economic stimulus for Santa Barbara. West Marine--replacement parts and supplies. Petco-- the kids need some food. Costco--of course and the Home Depot for some "Cable Cuffs". These are like large(comes in three sizes) zip ties except that they are made of plastic and can be reused. Neat gadget to have on board for long electric cords or hoses that need tying. We will be hitting the grocery store tomorrow before returning the car.

Our next stop is the Channel Island. Santa Cruz in particular. We found out Thursday that a permit is needed to land and walk through the Nature Conservancy District. I filled in the application form but was advised that it takes up to ten days to get the permit. The Nature Conservancy District controls about 70% of the island so we may be limited to that area until the permit arrives. I told them to email it to us since we don't have a convenient mailing address. If we have to stay on board, that's no problem either. It will be nice to just stop for a while and recoup. I still need to change the oil before we set out.

Another problem has resurfaced. The "new" transmission has started leaking fluid again as it did a few weeks ago. This is the "new" transmission that Sea Marine re-installed after ripping it out and sending it back to the factory to have it rebuild back in March. Remember the propeller shaft would never stop turning episode in our journey?. The pads I put under it are now pink with the transmission fluid. I haven't figured out exactly where it is coming from but the hoses don't appear to be leaking. The only thing we can guess is that the forward seal where it goes into the engine has a leak and is throwing fluid into the bell housing(where the transmission goes into the engine) and it is leaking out around the joints onto the floor of the engine compartment. I started calling Great Lakes Power who build the unit on Monday and finally got a call back today. They gave me a name of a company out side of Los Angeles that can come to Zephyr and report back to them as to exactly what the problem is. Tomorrow, I will be putting new pads under the transmission and looking in as the engine runs to see if I can see any fluid spraying out of any of the fittings. So far, I have not. With luck, they will stand behind their product and we won't be out more thousands of dollars getting it fixed again. I'll be back in touch with them next week to let them know our schedule as to where and when we will be there. I assured them that I check the fluid before I ever start the engine and top it off as necessary. I don't want it burning out on us.

So far, the weather has been great since we rounded Point Conception with temps in the low 80's for a change. We are finally in southern California. We're less than 150 miles from San Diego!

I checked with the company that insures Zephyr and they won't cover us once we get down into Mexico so I will be looking for another company. If anyone has any suggestions, we'd love to hear them.

We had a question posted on the "comments" section a day or two ago. As to exercise while we are out. While out sailing, we are moving around quite a bit and get exercise pulling on lines and adjusting hardware and fittings. We get more exercise when we are on shore walking, walking, walking to see the sights. No we don't have a regular exercise program though we do have those rubbery exercise resistance bands to use if we wanted to. As to our age--both Tracy and I are middle aged. That is to say we are in our late 50's. Age is after all a state of mind. If you have any other questions you would like answers to, just post them in the "comments" section and I'll get back with you.

If we get all our projects done, we may be off for the islands tomorrow though Sunday seems more likely. Remember, if you click on the pictures, they get bigger and easier to see.

More to come!

Day 511 Into Cojo Anchorage

2009-09-23T21:55:00.001-06:00

We are now officially in southern California!!!

We upped the anchor at 0610 and set off in the dark. The fog didn't set in for almost an hour after we left but stayed throughout the rest of the trip till we were just about past Point Conception. It was another grey and cream day out on the water. While we were only 5 miles or so from shore, we saw none of it. Just creamy fog.

By 1000, we had enough wind to raise the sails and did just that. It was time to get some sailing in. We'd motored enough. Up went the main followed by the big Genoa at the bow and off we went. Now the winds weren't from the best angle--to the left of the stern or off the port quarter as sailors say. Blowing at 15 to 18 knots, we moved right along. I set the auto pilot and we were set to go. The wind kept changing and the auto pilot kept complaining each time it changed. I'd have to reset its course. After a while, we jibbed. That's when you change course by changing the way the wind hits you at the stern. Instead of coming up into the wind and changing course, you take the stern through the eye of the wind. We rolled up the Genoa and pulled in the main sail until the winds at the stern were from the opposite side and then let out the main sail and rolled out the Genoa and off we went. The winds continued to build as we got closer to Point Arguello, just west of Cape Conception. Once we hit 30 knots, we took in the Genoa and dropped the main. There was no way to control Zephyr with only the main up and it just kept getting windier.

On went the engine and off we went. We'd been sailing for almost 5 hours. Our friends--George and Celeste from Nereid were right beside us as we started the engine. Less than a half mile to our port and we couldn't see them because of the fog. They had left about 2.5 hours after us but had motored down the coast just to make sure they got past Cape Conception in the day light. Our visibility was down to less than 1/4 mile. I radioed them to let them know where we were. They have an AIS beacon on their boat that tells me where they are, but we don't. We also have radar and they don't so there was no way for them to "see" us.

On we both went, rounding Cape Conception and into Cojo Anchorage(34 26.841N 120 26.513 W) and dropped the anchor at 1715. Cojo Anchorage is located about 1.5 miles east of Cape Conception and while it has the same winds as the cape, it doesn't have the swells the cape has so it's a decent anchorage for the night. Our 57 mile trip turned into a 65.8 mile trip with all the sailing we did. It never ends up in a straight line when you sail. With the swells, we hit a max speed of 10.2 when we were surfing the waves. We also dropped to 4.3 when going up the other side of the waves so it all evens out. We've now covered 1238 miles since we left Port Townsend.

Tomorrow, into Santa Barbara for a few days. Shopping for fresh food and veggies. I made reservations with Enterprise Rent a Car once we dropped anchor here for Friday. George and Celeste will be there with us so it will work out just fine for everyone.

It was actually warm enough for us to lay out on the stern deck and look up at the stars this evening. What a delightful change. A warm evening!!

I've done this blog on Mars Edit so sorry, no photos till once we are in Santa Barbara.

Day 510 Oil and touristing.

2009-09-23T10:51:00.000-06:00

This will be short as internet isn't too fast out here in the Pacific. We left at 0610 for Point Conception and should be around it by just after 1500 if we are lucky.

Yesterday, I changed the oil again for the diesel injector pump. At every 50 hours, I get to change it a lot. Once that was done, we headed for shore and who did we see but Cetus, another boat we have been "talking" to since we were in the San Juan Islands but never met. They were always ahead of us down the coast. We finally passed them at Monterey and they came into Port San Luis so we finally got to meet. They've been out sailing for a long time including sailing to Tahiti and back so they have a good bit of water under their keel. It was great to finally meet them.

We headed into town to drop off our trash(got to do it when the opportunity arises) and play tourist. We had a great lunch at Mission Pizza just off the main drag. If you ever get to Port San Luis--or Avila Beach as they call it, stop in. Great sandwiches. We strolled along the beach and sat and watched the waves come in. We're trying to learn wave patterns so we will be better prepared for when we have to beach our dingy without smashing into the surf and over turning it. So far, all we've been having is the rocky coast of farther north but not the sandy beaches we are now finding. Now we have to learn how to do it when the surf is running. Plus, learn on how to get back off the shore once we get there. One of the last things I want to do is over turn our dingy and motor.

I'll post the pictures when we get a better internet connection. Hope fully later today.

A quiet evening aboard stowing what we had taken out when we came in and up by 0530 and out by 0610 for the 57 mile trip past Point Conception. That is one of the final milestones of the trip south. Once past it, we might actually be able to put on a swim suit and work on our tans. The water is still too cold for swimming--56 degrees, but the tan sounds good.

We're almost to the land of "milk and honey". Each day a little closer. Tonight, Cojo Anchorage just around the corner from Point Conception and then on to Santa Barbara to restock on veggies. We've just about run out and there were no grocery stores on Avila Beach.

Stay tuned. More to come.

Day 509 Amazing day!

2009-09-22T10:26:00.000-06:00

San Simeon in the morning. The fog lay just off shore waiting for us.
Small houses along the shore.
The fog just south of us.
As we left, the fog was all ready for us.
The west point of San Simeon Cove. The swells still roll right around it and make the anchorage very rolly for the night.
Into Port San Luis. The wall of white on the horizon was the fog we finally broke free of as we entered the harbor.
Avila Beach and the long wharf beside it. We'll be taking our dingy there to get ashore.
Another picture of the wharf. The dingy dock is out near the end on the far side.
Another picture of Avila Beach.
The wall of fog sitting just off shore.

We opted out of going into San Simeon since there was no place to safely dock the dingy without getting soaked pulling it up on the beach. Instead we decided to take off for Port San Luis about 35 miles south.

We upped the anchor and set off about 1000 and took off in(of course) cloudy, foggy weather. And that was the way it stayed all the rest of the way to Port San Luis(just west of San Luis Obispo). We fired up the radar again just for safety and had a watch on our AIS(Automatic Identification System) on the computer screen. There are (sometimes) lots of boats out there and we really want to avoid them.

One thing we didn't avoid was an incredible pod of dolphins heading north. They came at us out of nowhere. HUNDREDS of them. Wave after wave all heading north. Many got sidetracked by Zephyr and came over to play in the wake of our bow. Each wave of them sent 6 to 10 over to play for a few minutes. We've never seen so many in one area at one time. It was an incredible sight to see. They kept pace with us and squeeked and squacked talking between themselves as they surfaced beside the bow. Over and over the waves of dolphins just kept coming. It's sights like this that make the trip so worth while. Tracy had earlier seen a large whale tail break the surface a ways behind us and go down for a deep dive. We never saw him come back up.

As we headed south, I called George and Celeste from Nereid to see if they were in Port San Luis. Yes, they were having gotten in the day before. They filled us in on the place with the best places to anchor and what to see and where to take the dingy to get ashore. A few minutes later, we were getting approached by a large power boat(Terrie O) that had showed up on my AIS. I called him on our VHF radio to see what his speed was as I was reading him at only 3.5 knots and he was passing us and we were doing 6.5. His actual speed was over 15 knots. It confirms that I have a problem with my AIS. George has a transmitter on his boat and I have never been able to read his speed at more than 2.2 knots. I sent an email to the company that sold us the unit asking for help. We'll see what they say.

The folks on Terrie O asked if I had any information about Port San Luis so I filled them in on what George had said. They particularly asked about fuel. About a hour later, George called me back to tell me that Port San Luis had run out of fuel and wouldn't have more till later in the day. He was at their fuel docks trying to get filled up. I put in another VHF call to Terrie O to let him know and he immediately changed course for Morro Bay to get fuel there. He thanked me for the call. He filled up and later passed us as we continued south.

As we neared Port San Luis, the fog got heavier and thicker with visibility down to under a 1/4 mile at best. Suddenly, it was all gone just as we entered the harbor. It was a vast wall of white right behind us. Port San Luis was in brilliant sunshine. What a change! We motored over to where George had suggested and dropped the anchor(35 10.492N 120 44.312 W) about 1635 and she set at the first pull on the chain in about 25 feet of water. The anchor set really well in the soft bottom of the harbor. We were in for the night and will be spending the next day here for a few tasks(change the oil in the diesel injectors again) and some sight seeing ashore. They have a dingy dock here.

We called George and Celeste to let them know we were in and it turns out that they had watched us come in from ashore. We invited them over for dinner and that is how we finished the day.

Now on to projects and some relaxation.

Day 508 A LONG day!!

2009-09-21T08:36:00.000-06:00

We were up at 0530 to be on our way by 0600 for the 75 mile trip south to San Simeon. It was to be one of the longest days since we left Newport, OR.

Up came the anchor at 0600 and out we went in the dark. I'd left the tracking data on our Gramin chartplotter so all we had to do was follow the blue line back out. One of the nice things about our Garmin is that it leaves a blue line showing where we have gone on the electronic chart. If you get into a sticky situation, you can simply reverse the track and find your way back out--even in the dark, which is what we did. Good bye Pebble Peach Country Club.

It was grey and overcast as we took off and stayed that way all day. Fog surrounded us but stayed away from us. You could see its band all the way around us. Even though we were just a few miles from shoreline, you could not see it. Down the coast we went. The engine just humming away as there was no wind again or darn little of it. Hour after hour seeing nothing but a few birds. Shadow stayed below with Blue and Snowshoe was right beside us in the cockpit. He wasn't about to leave our side.

Being up so early, lunch was about 1100. Dinty Moore beef stew. Not bad really. With the engine running, we could use the microwave to heat it. If the engines not running, that little machine chews up the amps like it's in love with them.

We "saw" a few boats on our computer screen when we were in the AIS mode as they passed a few miles away, but never actually saw another boat. Well, we did see one other boat early in the morning as it passed us heading out for some fishing, but that was all for the day.

After a long--13.5 hour day, we pulled into San Simeon Bay(35 38.354N 121 11.380W) at 1930 in the twilight as the Sun had set just after 1910. It turned into an 83.5 mile trip since we had to zig and zag down the coast again as the swells kept pushing us around. There was again, like in the previous days trips, no continuity to them. The swells came from the west and from the north west at mixed intervals, so we either surfed up and down the waves or got pushed back and forth side to side by them and that makes for a very uncomfortable ride. We'd do one course for a few miles and then change 90 degrees to a different course to get a better angle on the swells all the way down the coast.

It took three tries to get the anchor to set. We tried one spot to the left of a fishing boat that was already at anchor with no luck and then moved to the right side and it still took two more tries before we got it to grab the bottom. We were in 19 feet of water and I'd let our over 100 feet of chain. It is supposed to have a sandy bottom but either we missed it, or our anchor didn't like it at all. It finally grabbed and we settled in. We're protected from the north and west but even with the protection the bay gives us, we rolled for the rest of the right. Side to side. Over and over for most of the night. It would roll back and forth about a dozen times and the Zephyr would sit still for 30+ seconds and then start all over again. It made for an interesting night sleep. Since we sleep sideways in the boat, your head was up one minute and down the next. As of this morning, it much less rolly. We'll see what the day brings.

We plan on staying here for today and (if we can) go ashore and visit Hearst Castle. There is no dock to tie the dingy to and I'm not sure how we will get ashore without getting soaked. The fog has settle in again with visibility of less than 1/4 mile. Worse than last night. The forecast is for a sunny day. Yeah sure.

Day 507 Into Still Water Cove at Pebble Beach.

2009-09-19T20:40:00.000-06:00

All three sails up and flying. The Genoa(reefed in) on the left, the forestaysail in the middle and the main on the right. We were flying along just fine.
The Garmin at the top shows our course while the screen at the bottom left shows the wind information from the masthead unit. The bottom right screen shows the autopilot at work steering us at the proper angle.
When we got into the cove, this is what we found on the end of the DuoGen. Actually, this is only about half of what was on it. I'd cut some off before I took the picture. I'll have to check it more frequently in the future.
Into Still Water Cove at Pebble Beach Country Club. That's the club house and wharf.
The famous cypress tree at Pebble Beach.
More big houses at Pebble Beach. I can't imagine what they cost.
Another boat at a mooring buoy in the harbor. (don't forget, you can click on the pictures and see them larger)

We upped the anchor this morning at 1100. As we headed out the clouds began to break and the Sun began to shine. Of course by mid afternoon, it had clouded in again and the clouds had begun to drop. We were in a small patch of sunshine.

By 1300, the winds had begun to increase to the 15+ knot range and were finally from a direction that would speed us on our way. So out I went on deck and got the sails ready for flying. Up went the mainsail. Then the Genoa at the bow. Off we went well into the 6+ knot range. We started heeling over until the rail on the port side was just below the water line. Into the 7 knot range and climbing. I put the DuoGen in the water behind the boat. This is our electrical generator that drags in the water behind the boat. Next, we engaged the Robertson Autopilot. This is our main autopilot that controls the boat as we motor along. It can be changed over to "wind mode" since I had wired in the information stream from our wind indicator at the top of the mast.

All the work that we've done was coming into play. The DuoGen was making all the power we needed to run all the electronics--depth sounder, knot log, wind indicator, autopilot, Garmin Chart Plotter and the two computers we run when we are out that have our navigation programs on them. The wiring of the wind instrument into the autopilot and the setting up the autopilot to use that info to steer the boat. Zephyr was now sailing all by herself!

As the wind increased, we shortened the Genoa up to only 50% and raised the forestaysail sail. We now had two sails at the bow of the boat instead of just one big one. We heeled less and were moving faster under better control. Zephyr was balanced perfectly. We continued on till 1500 and then the wind died to a speed that would no longer allow us to make satisfactory progress toward our next stop. So, down came the sails and on came the engine. The fog was beginning to take over again and we wanted to be at anchor before it made our next stop hard to get into.

We pulled in and dropped the hook at 1630(36 33.798N 121 56.568W)and settled in. All around us were BIG houses and lots of green grass to play golf on. Unfortunately, it was cloudy and overcast so it lost some of its beauty. It does have some beautiful white sandy beaches though in this bay. The first we have seen.

Yesterday, I made the comment that we had seen few wildlife on our trip. Today, we came upon a pod of at least a half dozen whales just before we entered Still Water Cove at Carmel. They were a good half mile away but they were heading south so maybe we will see them again.

Another 32 miles farther south. Tomorrow, off for San Simeon and the Hearst Castle. It's a long day of sailing since it's another 70+ miles down the coast. We'll be up and leaving early in the morning.

I heard from one of our friends that also had their boat worked on at Sea Marine in Port Townsend. Apparently, the Attorney Generals Office for the state of Washington has filed 23 criminal charges against them(Sea Marine) and they will be in court shortly with a closing soon to follow. After the way they(management) treated us, I'm not surprised. I do feel sorry for the people that work there though. They are just victims of BAD management. You can't treat customers that way and get away with it. It will come back and bite you. Many people with boats(as well as cars) get very protective of their toys and will protect them and go after people that try and harm them. It was just a matter of time before it caught up with them.

The anchorages for tonight as well as last night are quite rolly. It's definitely something we are not used to. They aren't as protected as we are used to but I have a feeling that that is the way the majority of the harbors will be all the way down the coast and we will just have to get used to it.

Day 506 Out of Half Moon Bay and on to Capitola.

2009-09-18T22:44:00.000-06:00

Half Moon Bay and their dock looking North.
The large radar dome on the west hill. It's what you see as you come past the harbor from the north.
Capitola, CA. It's just east of Santa Cruz with it's amusement part and long wharf. We decided to anchor east of Santa Cruz to avoid the noise in the bay.

We upped the anchor at 0800 and took off for Capitola about 55 miles down the coast. We left in beautiful weather for a change and slowly motored out and past the reef that lies just south of the bay and took off south. The seas started out rollie and the kids all hated it and took off for below decks. They had all been in the cockpit when we left.

As we headed south, there was little to no wind but the seas had swells that started out small and kept getting bigger even when there was little wind. We eventually had swells over 12 feet high. As we surfed up and down the waves, we hit speed of over 10.4 knots and then down to under 4 on the far side. Up and down all day. We zigged and zagged all the way down the coast just as we had done the previous day. It's a slow way down the coast but necessary or you'll rock back and forth and have a very uncomfortable ride. We pulled in at 1715 (36 57.923N 121 57.162 W for all you google map folks)

We've seen few animals as we have headed down the coast. Birds mostly but very few dolphins or whales since we left Juan De Fuca a month ago. Tracy saw some octopus yesterday floating by in the water and I saw a big round fish of some sort as we came in this afternoon. The pelicans were dive bombing the fish again as we pulled into Capitola just the same as they did yesterday. They'd see a fish and dive straight into the water after it. Time after time. We sat in the cockpit and watched while we had dinner.

One thing I forgot to talk about in yesterdays blog was that as we came into Half Moon Bay, there was a stunt plane doing all kinds of maneuvers in the air over the city. Rolls and loops for over a half hour before he took off south. It was wonderful to see such skill in the air and done in an old fashioned biplane.

We're rocking quite a bit tonight as the anchorage in Capitola is quite exposed to the incoming swells but it's not to bad. Certainly not enough too dislodge the anchor. It's dug in deep. We set her well before we came inside for the night.

That's about it for today. Another day of a sailboat acting like a power boat again but 59.9 miles farther south. Tomorrow, over the Still Water Cove to see the Pebble Beach Golf Course.

Day 505 Into Half Moon Bay.

2009-09-17T20:51:00.000-06:00

The bridge in the distance.

Getting closer with the sail up this time.
Almost!!!
WE MADE IT!!! And we could see it!!
Here comes the fog--right on time.
THe water along the trip was a strange shade of brown instead of the normal blue. It was like brewed ice tea water. Weird!
Coming up of Half Moon Bay.

We took off this morning at 1020 to make the out going tide under the Golden Gate Bridge. Slack tide was set for 1249 and we needed to be there anytime after that to catch it. Matt(our son) had come down to join us for a sail of the bay. We slowly backed Zephyr out of her slip. We were in a spot that didn't give a lot of room for a boat of Zephyr's size. Dennis, the man who owned the boat next to ours came out to help us get backed out. We maneuvered out just fine and took off for the San Francisco Bay. We hoisted the sails after we passed the Oakland Bridge and slowly slid out into the bay. Just after we passed the Oakland Bridge, we heard a call on our VHF radio from a boat that witnessed a person jump from the Golden Gate Bridge. We heard them pluck the lifeless body of a man out of the water about a half hour later. If he had to jump, I'm just glad he didn't hit us as we passed. That would have been the tie breaker for us. And for Ted and Judy, we're not making this stuff up--really!!!

We headed north past Alcatraz and avoided all the other boats--both sail and power as well as all the ferries that were scooting around in the water. Shortly after 1230, we dropped Matt off at the San Francisco Yacht Club so he could catch a bus home and off we went for the bridge.

We hoisted the sails again as we wanted to sail under the Golden Gate Bridge(as any good sailor would) and out we went. We had the main sail up and added the forestaysail to give us more speed. Many of the boats had reefed their mains but we just took off heeling over nicely in the 20+ knot winds. The winds had been building ever since we passed the Oakland Bridge.

We passed under the bridge at 1315 and we could actually see it this time. Yes, that's right, Mother Nature gave us a break and let us actually see what we were passing under. Of course the fog was just out past the bridge and was quickly entering the bay, but we got to see it as we passed and under sail to boot. YEAH!!!

The fog set in 10 minutes later and stayed with us for the next hour or so. On came the radar and we checked our AIS to make sure no big ships were anywhere near us. Nope, we were clear.

We headed southwest away from the entrance and once we were three miles out or so, turned more south. Unfortunately, the winds started dying just after we passed out of the entrance so we were forced to start up the engine and motor. We kept the main sail up to help stabilize Zephyr as the swells were coming from the west to northwest and we started rocking. With the main sail up, it slowed Zephyrs movements by acting like a brake in the air. With the swells the way they were, we were forced to zig and zag all the way down the coast. Heading south west for a while and then southeast for a while. Up and down the swells. Climbing one to slide down the next. Our top speed was 10.5 knots! They climbed to 12 to 15 feet in height as the afternoon passed. You'd have a few smaller ones and then a bunch of bigger ones. No continuity to it.

Finally the fog lifted and we just continued south passing one big container ship about three miles farther off the coast(that's just fine by us)in beautifully sunny weather. Up and down and back and forth all afternoon. We pulled into Half Moon Bay in winds over 20 knots and really nice rollers. Once we passed the breakwater, the winds continued but at least the rollers stopped. We dropped the anchor at 1745 after a trip of 42.5 miles. Now its only 35 miles to Half Moon Bay, but with the zigging and zagging that comes with sailing, we added a few miles to the trip. We're now anchored at 37 29.886N 122 29.182W.

The winds slowly dropped as the Sun went down and it is now just about calm. The DuoGen electric generator has stopped so we will be conserving power through the evening. We have lots of battery power, it just needs to become a habit to conserve when ever possible. As the Sun set, we watched as a dozen or more pelicans as they dove time after time into the water around our boat fishing into the night. It must have been a good time for fishing as they kept at it for quite a while. Snowshoe just sat in the cockpit and watched them make big splashes as they hit the water.

Tomorrow, off for Santa Cruz or Still Water Cove farther south if time and wind allow. Still Water Cove is right off the Pebble Beach Golf Course. We will be anchored right next to the famous tree on the 18th hole.

Day 504 Leave eve.

2009-09-17T09:14:00.000-06:00

The mechanic showed up just after 1100 and took the Aqua Drive apart. He found no real problems but put in a lot more grease and sealed up the unit so it won't spew grease any more. It was a relief to find it alright. That was the last thing that we had planned to have fixed/ repaired while we were here so we will be off tomorrow morning about 1000.

We have to set our times on slack tide at the Golden Gate so we aren't fighting the incoming tide and since that is about 1230, we want to allow ourselves plenty of time to get there. With luck, we will be sailing under the bridge and maybe get a chance to actually see it. We'll stop for the night at Half Moon Bay just south of San Francisco and drop the hook. It will be nice to be back out on the water again. It's been great here in Alameda being with Matt and Kayobi(son & fiance) but tough on our waistlines. We will be back on our diets and get what we have gained while being here back off. I'm sure I have put on 10 pounds(and happily doing so). The food in the restaurants Matt & Kayobi have taken us to has been wonderful. Lots of different tastes for the pallet.

We stowed more stuff in the afternoon and filled the water tanks. We're now a good 4 inches lower in the water as the tanks were only about half full. That's not bad since we last filled them in Port Townsend, WA over a month ago. It's not hard to conserve water once you get in the habit of doing it. You never leave a faucet on while you are at the sink and the shower gets turned off between the initial soaking and the final rinse.

I re-seized the anchor to the anchor chain fitting again just to make sure it is not going to come loose at the wrong time. The laundry got done late in the afternoon so we are all set to go.

Matt and Kayobi came over for a nice dinner and we were off to bed.

Tomorrow--back out on the water again.

Day 502 & 503 Some play and another mechanic.

2009-09-16T09:08:00.000-06:00

I started the day installing some new software on George and Celeste's (off Nereid)computer so they will have a full fledged navigation program. Celeste had gone to Fry's and gotten a USB GPS to plug into their computer so now they will be all set up for where ever they go down the coast. Now they will know exactly where they are at all times--at least until their computer crashes(God forbid). It's a whole lot safer way to travel.

We had a mechanic stop by on Monday morning to look at the Aqua Drive. This is a piece of equipment that allows our engine/transmission to be out of alignment with the propeller shaft. Normally, on boats, the engine/transmission and the propeller shaft must be in total alignment--a straight line. With an Aqua Drive, they can be out of alignment. It acts like a universal joint--matter of fact, that is exactly what it is, so that they can run and still be out of alignment. It's been spewing grease during the trip down the coast. I felt it better to have a professional mechanic come and take a look at it. As both the marina and Blue Pelican Marine had recommended the same man, I'd called him on Saturday and he agreed to be here on Monday to at least look at it. And that is exactly what he did. He looked at it. Took out a screw or two and said he thought it should be dismantled and inspected just to make sure that the loss of grease hadn't affected it. He'd be back on Wednesday morning for that task. That will delay us a day or two as we had planned on being out of here on Tuesday. Oh well, better safe than sorry.

Tracy had taken off with Matt to West Marine and Costco for another surgical strike. Restock the larder again for the next portion of the trip. We also needed to pick up some more paper charts for farther South.

Once the mechanic left, I took off for a walk over to West Marine. It's always good to see what another store carries that others don't. Tracy had long since moved on the Costco. I picked up an battery operated oil pump that will allow me to drain the engines oil much faster. I'd been using a tank that looks much like a garden sprayer only it sucks instead of spraying. It takes a while to suck out 2 gallons of oil even if the oil is hot.

I had another chiropractor appointment at 1600 so I was still stuck at the boat for a while. Once she was done snapping and cracking me back into place, we took off for Matt and Kayobi's apartment for a great spaghetti dinner. It's been great being with the two of them.

Yesterday, we took the bus over to Jack London Square in Oakland as they were having a boat show. We got there early and spent some time in Barnes & Noble. Always on the lookout for more books. When we came out, we didn't see very many tents for the vendors so we asked around and found out that this was just a show of boats--no toys to look at. There were lots of boats, but we already have one of those and don't need another so we took off for the trip back to Zephyr.

In the afternoon, we took off for the King Tutankhamun exhibit at the museum. We'd missed it when it was in Victoria and we really wanted to see it. George and Celeste had figured out the bus and BART schedules so off we went. Matt and Kayobi came a bit later after she got off work. We all had a great dinner at a wonderful Thai restaurant that Matt and Kayobi recommended and then took in the show. I'd seen a larger exhibit many years ago when I was traveling with my parents in Paris and got lucky to see the sarcophagus. They didn't bring it to this show. Apparently, the Egyptian Museum doesn't let it out of Cairo any more. That was a big disappointment, but it was still a great show.

Back on the busses and trains and home for another night.

Now, we wait for the mechanic and his diagnosis. Let's hope it's a good one.

Day 501 Some work and some play.

2009-09-14T16:05:00.001-06:00

The old tank--full of water.
The "new" tank, full of air.

The masthead light(the very first one before the mast went up).

Sunday started early with the removal of the old pressure tank for the water system. This gizmo keeps the water under pressure at all times so that the water pump only has to work once the pressure drops below a specific pressure. The pump gets to work less and so uses fewer amps. A good thing on any boat that doesn't have a genset to make electricity. The rubber bladder that keeps the unit under pressure had failed a while ago causing the pump to cycle on and off every time a faucet was turned on using up the amps. I unscrewed the fitting on the end and water started pouring out--lots of it. The tank was full!! Tracy rushed me bucket after bucket to collect the water since I really didn't want it to start pouring onto the engine.

After about 15 minutes, it finally started to slow down where we could get the unit unscrewed from the brackets on the wall. Even half full, she weighed a bunch especially in a confined space like a sailboat engine room. We carried it--upside down-- to the sink and let her drain. The water started coming out black! Apparently, once the rubber bladder broke, the opposite side was loaded with some kind of black rubber dust and that got mixed with the water and became a layer of sediment on the bottom of the tank. Tracy had told me a few weeks ago that the water had taken on a strange taste.

In went the "new" tank. I'd bought one from Blue Pelican Marine Supply here in Oakland. They sell used goods on consignment. At $30.00, I think I got a good deal. It's smaller than what I took out, but Zephyr only has three faucets and they never run at the same time so no real problem with a smaller unit. Luckily, the bolts for the old units brackets lined up with the new one so it went in quick. Luckily, our son Matt showed up just as I got it in. The store had pumped the unit FULL of air so no water could get in to get pressurized. Matt, being the smart one in the family, had me take most of the pressure out of the tank and allow the pump to re-pressurize the tank to the correct pressure. Water entered the tank and pressure built till the pump turned off at the pressure it was set at and we were done.

Next came the masthead light--for the fourth time. These units from OMG are suppose to be one of the best on the market. Well, the first three all failed in one way or another. The unit is supposed to flash a strobe light, have an all around anchor light, and a set of the red, green and white navigation lights all built in with a photo cell the turn it on at dusk and off at sunrise. The first one didn't strobe. The second ones light began to fade after a few weeks until the stars above it were brighter than the light. The third did the same after a few months. The company, to their credit admitted that they had had a problem with the computer circuits in the unit and replaced it with no problem. The problem was to get to the top of the mast to change it out. Luckily, Matt is a climber and has climbed several buildings as well as repelled down numerous cliffs. So up he went and got the job done. My back is still causing me some problems so we thought it better for him to go up rather than me(insert a sigh of relief by your's truly). He brought his climbing equipment and hooked it up to the reserve genoa halyard and up he went, screwdriver in hand. About a half hour later, we flipped the switch and on it came. Job done!!

Off for lunch and on to the "Exploritarium" in San Francisco. a fascinating group of exhibits showing all kinds of things. Impossible to describe as there are so many exhibits to see. Off for Chinese food for dinner and back to Zephyr for a good night sleep.

Day 500 Settling in.

2009-09-13T09:46:00.000-06:00

There are tens of thousands of people in the area that are getting to experience the "Hudson Effect"now that we have arrived in the San Francisco area. Once clear of the Golden Gate Bridge on Friday, the day was pure sunshine and beautiful. By Saturday morning, we took over. Yes, that's right, the Hudson's were in town and we brought with us what we bring to every place we go--BAD WEATHER!! Saturday in the early morning, there was a lightening and thunderstorm that descended upon the Bay. For those of you that don't know it, lightening and the thunder that it brings are just about unheard of in the Bay area. There was a storm a few years ago, but other than that, it had been years since one has hit the area. There were trees downed and transformers blown with tens of thousands of folks plunged into the darkness as power was lost in many regions of the city. The electric company spent hours getting everyone back on line and as of last night, some still had no power. This is just a warning to those of you that live farther down the coast that read this blog that we are coming to your area and to get prepared. Newport, Oregon had 80+ knot winds when we got there. Seattle had the wettest August in history the month we got there and the 5th worst Winter. Add in the longest spell of days over 90 plus the hottest day on record for the city and you can see that we pack a powerful punch where ever we go. Be prepared!!!! We are coming!!!

I had an appointment at the chiropractor yesterday to get more work done on my back and neck. Since returning from Denver a while ago, it has been quite the mess. The first one I visited in Crescent City did some great work on me but I still needed some help. This one has a clinic right at the docks for all the sailors that come in with screwed up backs and necks. She does quite a business from what I gathered with boaters. She looked at all my xrays and charts from the previous doctor and went to work. She snapped my neck like a bowl of Rice Crispies. It sounded like you put a strip of bubble wrap on the sidewalk and stepped on it with both feet as she put me back in alignment. Now I just have to let it settle back in place and not do anything stupid(like I would?) and put it back out of whack.

Tracy was off to get a permanent in her hair. It's been quite a while since she had one done. The last beautician she talked to said her hair was in such bad shape that she couldn't do it. This one had no problem and got her all set. I think the last one just didn't want to take the time to do her hair.

We both finished at the same time and walked down to Blue Pelican Marine to look at sailing hardware. They're a consignment store that sells used hardware mainly for sailors. We found a replacement pressure tank for our water system and will be installing it today. The last one is now full of water instead of air. The rubber bladder in it broke I guess. Now every time you turn on a faucet, the pump comes on. With this tank, it keeps the system pressurized so it will only come on when the pressure in the tank gets below a specific pressure level. The pump will run much less once it is installed and the old one removed.

We walked over to George and Celeste's for dinner on their boat Nereid to discuss boating things. I'm trying to get them a navigation program so they will have an easier time getting down the coast. With luck, I'll have it all installed by Monday.

And that's the way yesterday went. Lightening, thunder, rain, clouds, some sunshine but at least they were spared the big winds we normally bring. But hey, we just got here after all. Give us some time.

Day 499 Into San Francisco.

2009-09-12T09:50:00.000-06:00

The South point of Drakes Bay. This was Thursday afternoon after the fog lifted.
Looking North at the shoreline of Drake's Bay. All covered in brown. Surprising, considering all the fog they get.

More of the shoreline farther east in the bay.
Entering the channel toward the Golden Gate Bridge.--Do you see it?

That smudge in the center of the water is all we got to see of the bridge as we came in. That's the bridge's footing on the south side of the bay.
That's the underside of the bridge as we passed under. That's as good as it got.
We looked back and this was what we missed as we passed the bridge. The base of the bridge was what we got to "see" as we entered.
Our first view of the bay--sans fog.
Alcatraz Island in the distance.
Looking back at the bridge. That's it poking out of the fog on the left side of the picture.
Downtown San Francisco.
The Oakland bridge as we started under her.

We upped the anchor and took off for San Francisco at 0800 hours!! Of course we were totally encased in fog. Should we have expected anything else? I think not!!! I'd told Tracy yesterday that there was no way we were going to see the Golden Gate Bridge as we entered the bay. Mother Nature was not going to allow us the satisfaction of seeing it. She's such the practical joker.

On with the radar and off we went. Constantly looking for blips in the screen and checking our Nobeltec screen for AIS targets. Those are the really BIG ships that we really wanted to avoid. We "saw" some blips as they went on the radar one or two as they passed close enough to actually see. Early in the morning, lots of the big ships took off from San Francisco heading past our bay so we didn't have to worry about them. We saw no land other than it's out line on the radar screen. On we pushed until we rounded the northern point of the entrance to the bay just as a big freighter was passing by. We "saw" him on the AIS screen and radar and he was just a blur in the fog. Far enough away to not cause us any problems. We got lucky and there were no ships entering or leaving the harbor as we came in. We cut across the channel and got on the South side(entering side) and just push ahead not seeing anything ahead of us but fog. We heard the loud fog horns blowing over and over as we motored. We still saw no bridge!!! Finally out in the fog, we saw what looked to be a small island or another ship. Radar just showed the bridge and there was nothing on the AIS. It turned out to be the base of the bridge!! That was all we could see as we got closer and closer to it. As we passed the bridge footing, we looked up and could barely see the underside of the bridge. That was as good as we got! We cleared the bridge at 1210 hours. Once past, we could look back and could barely see what we had passed under. A bit of a disappointment for us. but hey--we were in San Francisco Bay!!!

Suddenly, ahead of us were sailboats and lots of them. Going every which way across the bay. We'd stumbled into a race of about a half dozen boats all going as fast as they could!! With us being under motor power, it was our job to stay away from them. Be bobbed and weaved to avoid them. It was like dodge cars at an amusement park only on the water. Add in the ferries and tourist boats to Alcatraz and it was just a delightful experience. At least we could finally see some sunshine for a change. The fog was behind us--still covering the bridge(as you can see from the photos).

We checked our charts and made our way across the bay toward Oakland and our home for a few days. A short trip of just 38 miles and into the Marina Village Harbor(37 47.222N 122 16.288W). It's got 750 slips. A big marina with lots of boats. We were assigned a slip that was a bit tricky getting into. It took some jockeying to get us into it but we finally got in and tied up. We hooked up the electric cord and had a quick bite for lunch and were greeted by George off Nereid. We've been following them or they have been following us all the way down the coast. They got in several days ago and have been resting up from their trip. They plan on heading out to Half Moon Bay on Sunday. We now covered 912 miles since leaving Port Townsend.

We called Matt and Kayobi(son and fiance) and made arrangements to get together for the rest of the day. They came over a short while later and we were off for a great dinner at an indian restaurant and then over to their apartment here in Oakland. It was great to see them again. It's going to be a fun few days being back with them again.

Not to sure when we will be leaving--Tuesday or Wednesday probably. We still have to get a bit farther South to make sure we totally avoid the wind and weather shift that occurs later this month.

In answer to your question yesterday Dave as to polishing the fuel and it's cost. I think it was around $500 for the job but the memory goes as we get farther south and away from the boat yard.

Stay tuned--more to come.

Day 498 Into Drake's Bay

2009-09-11T10:47:00.001-06:00

We took off from Ft. Bragg/ Noyo River at exactly 1300 after taking on 100 gallons of diesel to fill up the tanks. So far, they were the cheapest place we've gotten fuel all the way down the coast. At $2.50, they were .40 cents under Port Townsend when we left there. We're still averaging about a gallon per hour which for Zephyrs weight is great milage.

As we were about to leave the dock at the marina, I talked to a boatload of Coast Guard Auxiliary members. They had just come back in from a patrol off the coast. Upon hearing where we were heading(South), they told me the winds were coming out of the South!!! Can we never catch a break? Every forecast we had(NOAA, Storm Surf, PassageWeather, and Buoy Weather) all said the winds were to be out of the Northwest to the West. So after filling the tanks at the fuel dock, out we went. Sure enough, as we left, the winds were out of the Southwest. Not much wind--maybe 8 knots, but still, hey give us a break can't you Mother Nature?

We were off for Point Arena about 30 miles South. One of the last big hurdles on the trip. We'd driven down to see it by car a few days ago. Now we would be passing it by from the water side about 5 miles off shore. The wind started to change and come out of the Northwest as the afternoon passed. Unfortunately, by that time, we wanted to make sure we passed Point Arena in the daytime so we continued to motor along. The seas were a bit confused. Some times the swells would come out of the West and sometimes the Northwest. We were forced to zigzag down the coast. Head West hitting the waves at a 45 degree angle for a while and then turn and have them off the stern and surf down the waves as they passed. Our top speed as we did this was over 10 knots!

We'd left later than we usually do as the trip was about 105 miles and if we had left at dawn, we would have gotten into Drake's Bay about midnight and I'm no fan of entering a strange bay in the night. Instead, we left at 1300 with the plan of pulling in about 0600 the following morning.

On we pressed into the night with the wind building from the North as the evening progressed finally getting into the mid 20 knot range. The Sun set about 1940 and the Moon wasn't due up until about 2200 so I had a while with no light from above. I unzipped one of the sides of the cockpit cover and stared out at the millions of stars above me. The Milky Way was amazing! For so many of the nights we have been out on passage, the night have been overcast. What a delight this was. I just wish it was warmer so I could lay out on the stern deck and watch it go by instead of huddling under a comforter in the cockpit. That time will come as we progress South toward Mexico and Central America next year.

When Tracy came on watch at 2300, I went below to check on Snowshoe. He sat in the "pilot berth" forward and just looked at me and meowed this poor little meow of "I don't like this!!! Make it stop!!". He never has travelled well when we are out. For you land lubbers, our "pilot berth" is the lower bunk bed in the forward compartment on our boat. It's well enclosed and had a cloth across about half the opening so if the boat heals the opposite way you don't fall out of the berth(OW!) In the stern compartment, the berth has us sleeping with our heads on the starboard side and our feet on the port. So as the boat rocks back and forth, so does your body. Not an easy way to sleep. In the "berth", we lie along side the hull so as the boat heels over in the waves, you are wedged in and can sleep with much more comfort.

I shinnied in with him and tried to comfort him over the next few hours trying to get some sleep as Zephyr rocked back and forth in the waves. At 0230, I returned on deck for my watch. Tracy stayed up for a while so we could talk. She had tried to get the radar tuned for better reception with little success so going through the owners manual was put on the front burner for this afternoon after we pulled in. She's watched several boats pass without showing up on the radar screen and one buoy that should have been there. About 0330, she went below to catch some sleep since we were still on schedule for a 0600 arrival. By 0430, we were enshrouded in dense fog as we approached Point Reyes just West of Drake's Bay. Tracy came back on deck as we were just South of the Point and were about to head into the bay.

We'd made good time and actually arrived by 0530 in the dark and in fog. Neither of which I cared for. We slowed down and slowly motored into the bay and found a good spot in about 29 feet and I dropped the anchor. I let out a lot of chain as Tracy put us into reverse to set the anchor and we were all set by 0620. We were finally in Drake's Bay(38 00.694N 122 57.946W) just outside of San Francisco! Another 115 miles on our way South were gone.

We stowed our gear from the cockpit and I took off for bed, cold and damp from the fog as I set the anchor. Tracy handed me a hot water bottle to help get rid of the chills. With the proper administration of some pain killers(back is still bad), I was out like a light barely remembering Tracy climbing in a few minutes later.

We arose about 1130 and made plans for tomorrows entrance under the Golden Gate Bridge. I'd confirmed our slip at the marina in Oakland on Wednesday while we still had phone service off the coast as we came South so we have a "home" for the next several days once we clear the bridge. It will be good to see our son and his fiance again and spend some time with them. I'm going to have to go up the mast while we are there to replace the masthead light again as it has failed again. One is being shipped to Matt's so we will get it in time for the installation while at the marina. Tonight, we will do it the old fashioned way with a kerosene lamp on the stern.

Sorry for no pictures but I don't have internet connection and this program doesn't allow them unless we're connected. Look for them on tomorrows post as we should be at the marina then.

Day 497 A few tasks.

2009-09-09T08:14:00.000-06:00

I checked back in with the marina early in the morning to let them know we were still here even though we had planned to be gone last Saturday. Always good to tell your hosts what is happening and settle the bills. It keeps both sides happy.

I returned the Enterprise rent a car back to the office since we expect to be leaving for Drakes Bay on Wednesday afternoon. We won't need it any more. They were(as always)nice enough to take me back to the marina

Back to the boat and off to the showers. This time, we used the marina's showers as they had been locked up all weekend. No quarters needed and a never ending spray of water. What a change! Still a small shower but I'm not about to complain. This isn't the Ritz after all.

I set off in the afternoon to find a new clevis pin for the forestaysail stay. That's the pin that holds the inner forward stay--or long wire--that holds the smaller head sail to the boat. The "quick disconnect" pin that we installed in Port Townsend seemed to have come loose sometime during the trip South and almost came out. If it had, the forestaysail would have been flapping all around the deck and could have caused some problems if it had happened at night. All the clevis pins I have on board are not large enough in diameter nor long enough to go through the entire fitting. Ft. Bragg is a fishing town and not a sailor town so my search was for naught. It will have to wait till San Francisco. But I did have a nice walk. I did come upon a nice pelican beside the road though. He seemed to have no fear of humans and let me get quite close.

I replaced a few cotter pins that had begun to rust. The supplies of them that are on board are not all stainless steel. I guess it will be trail and error until I find one that doesn't start rusting immediately. This is all part of the routine maintenance that has to be done on a boat. Check, check and recheck regularly.

Wednesday morning will be for stowing everything and getting ready for taking off for Drakes Bay about 105 miles South of here. We'll be stopping for more diesel before we set off. It's always good to top off your tanks when you can. Unfortunately, it's another of the "climb up the ladder docks" like we ran into in Crescent City, but some times you have to do what you have to do. Drakes Bay is the last stop before San Francisco. We're trying to get a slip at one of the marina's near Oakland to be near Matt and will find out Wednesday if they will have space. We won't be there till Friday morning since we will be spending the night at anchor in Drakes Bay for a change.

Day 496 A trip to the dump.

2009-09-08T15:08:00.000-06:00

The "Glass Beach" sparkling in the sunshine.(click on it to see in full size)

Back in the early 1960's, Fort Bragg used to dump their trash right into the ocean just North of town. Cars, glass, steel--you know--just trash all went straight into the ocean to be swept out to sea. At least sort of. Come the 1970's, the town father's got smart and stopped the dumping and created another land fill farther inland and the dumping of trash into the ocean stopped.

As time went by, the things that would disintegrate(cars) did so and that which would not stayed. Well, they dumped a lot of glass into the water and over the years, it has been slowly polished and pushed back on shore in such great quantities that an entire beach is now covered in small pieces of polished pieces of glass. Reds, greens, blues, yellow and white as well at lots of clear pieces cover whole sections of the beach. What had been the dump is now a tourist attraction drawing thousands(including us)to it each year. And to think they thought nothing good would ever come of dumping trash!! Now it's a money maker for the city.

People used to go out with buckets and bring back lots of it Finally in the 1990s, the town deeded the section over to the state for a park(costs the city nothing but makes them money-smart!)where people can go to look at not only an incredible shoreline, but a beautiful sparkling beach covered in small pieces of colored glass. It's now illegal to collect the glass, though we saw lots of people taking small pieces with them(us included). I took off my shoes and slowly walked along the coast, through the glass and the sandy beach. It's the first time since we started this journey that I have done so. I finally got sand on my toes!!! It was a beautiful day--the fog left early--and the sun was beautiful to see.

We left for Zephyr and I barbecued a bunch of brats for dinner and meals while we are on passage. It's much easier to reheat than cook as the boat rocks and rolls through the waves.

I walked to the marina office and paid for the past few nights since we had originally intended to leave Saturday. Several boats had snuck into and out of the marina over the weekend with out paying. Only one got nabbed and paid before leaving. I paid through tonight and the plan is to set off for Drakes Bay tomorrow just after lunch so that we arrive in daylight. It's about an 18 hour sail to get there and it's better to arrive in the day to drop the anchor than the night. We've talked to George and Celeste from Nereid about their stop there so we know what to expect. Some wind and a muddy/sandy bottom with good holding. We figure a night there and then on to San Francisco for a few days to see our son and his fiance and some of the sights. We also have an anchor light to replace at the top of the mast(again). Then off for Half Moon Bay south of the city for a while(plan written in sand of course).

We had a question in the "comments" section yesterday about our boat. She's a Shin Fa 458 Custom Cutter made in 1982 in Taiwan. And Jeff and Brenda, it was good to hear from you too. If anyone has any questions, please feel free to put them in the "comments" section and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

Day 495 Road trip to Point Arena Lighthouse

2009-09-07T10:11:00.000-06:00

Point Arena Lighthouse Station shrouded in a light mist of fog. It had been beautifully clear five minutes before. This section of the coast is some of the windiest and wettest anywhere along the coast.

We took off about noon for the Cape Arena Lighthouse to do some sight seeing along Coast Highway 1 for a change. This way we will see from the shore what we will be passing on Zephyr in a few days.

We're stuck here for a few more days as while the wind isn't too bad, the swell is a bit steeper than we would like--8 feet at 7 seconds or less which can really rock a boat as you go through the water.

We hit clear skies and fog during the trip. When we got to Point Arena, it was clear and by the time we got to go up the lighthouse, it was fogged in and stayed that way for the rest of the time we were there. The trip back was the same.

I think it takes a special person to live along this coast. You must be prepared for sudden isolation as the highway can get washed away at a moments notice. We ran into one section out in the middle of no where that suddenly had a traffic light that controlled traffic each way as the road had washed away and it was limited to just one way traffic over a short pass that had been rebuilt to reconnect the sections of the highway. I'm sure the folks that live there never expected to have a traffic light right beside their house.

Once back at Zephyr, I set about downloading more maps for our Garmin chartplotter. We're now setup with charts as far South as Guatemala. We already have them on our Nobeltec system, but it always pays to be prepared with backups. We have paper charts for farther South in the US but now we are starting to get prepared for farther South of the good old USA!!

Don't forget, if you click on a picture, you can view it full size.

Day 493 & 494 Work, walk and road trip.

2009-09-06T09:53:00.000-06:00

They raise their mosquitos big here in Ft. Bragg. Those boards are 6 inches wide. Tracy saw two of these big guys(or girls) in the restroom up on shore. We took their picture and left them alone. Not something we wanted to annoy.
The entry to Noyo River at Ft. Bragg.
Heading up river to the Marina around the far corner at the top of the photo.
The beach at Drake's Bay looking West into a large fog bank. There's lots of land out there, you just can't see it.
Looking East--the same fog. It's everywhere out there.
Finally starting to clear--sort of-- out near the end of the bay West of the beach as we walked out to the car.

Friday started with the change of the diesel injector oil. We had again reached the 50 hour+ mark so out with the old and in with the new. I've done it so many times, it no longer takes a lot of time. It takes as much time to get the tools together as it does to do the job. All in all, about 35 minutes. She is still behaving well and only giving me about as much oil when it comes out as I put in--12 ounces.

We took off for town checking in with the marina office to let them know we would be leaving on Saturday for Drakes Bay, about 105 miles South of here. Up the hill and into town to find Safeway and see what else Ft. Bragg had to offer. As it turns out--not much. We returned to Zephyr, groceries in hand for a quiet evening before we set out on Saturday.

We'd planned on leaving about 1300 as it's about an 18 hour sail to Drakes Bay and we wanted to arrive in daylight. We now subscribe to BuoyWeather.com. A weather service that will give you pinpoint forecasts for any area of the globe you happen to be in. By Saturday morning, the weather had changed and the coast below Point Arena--the next cape we had to cross had turned bad by Sunday afternoon--about the time we would be getting there to a "hazardous seas" warning with wind up to 30 knots and mounting seas. Thanks, I think we will pass as it's not to bad here at all. Clouds and the occasional fog bank rolling in.

So we changed plans and found Enterprise Rent a Car and called for a rental. I talked to the local agent. They had cars on hand but we would need to keep it till Tuesday as they were closed on Monday. The cost---$$205.50 for a compact car for a three day rental, but she would let us have it for $174.68 since I belong to the Enterprise Club. I told her we would think about it and get back with her. That's almost $60.00 per day--WOW! I got on line clicking a link from an earlier promo ad from Enterprise and made reservations for the exact same car for $94.00 for all three days. That's $80.00 less than what she quoted!!! I called her back and gave her my reservation number and she said that it was always cheaper when you book on line and that she would have someone pick us up in about 25 minutes.

Up we went and after inquiring of the driver of a good local eatery--Jenny' Giant Burgers's--for lunch we went in search of the restaurant. They've been here for over 25 years and after eating one of their burgers, we really had to wonder why? They were tasteless and the fries greasy and also lacking flavor. We left quite disappointed--and still hungry strangely.

We took off for Drakes Bay where we had planned on sailing to to see what it looked like. Along the way South on the 101, we saw signs for Calistoga, a town we first visited 25 years ago or more and had stayed at the Mount View Hotel in the center of town. It's now a hotel and spa and still doing well. Unfortunately, we chose the wrong weekend(Labor Day) to visit. The town was packed with people and cars out for one last hurrah before the end of Summer. What a mad house. Restaurants packed with people paying big prices for so so food from what we could see. Back in the car and West for Santa Rosa and the coast.

A quick(and cheap lunch at Wendy's) and out with the Mac computer and on line we went to get good directions to the bay. It helps to have access to the internet(thanks Verizon) as we rolled down the road. It took us right to it with no problems. Lots of people playing in the sand and some with the guts to go out in the cold water. We stayed about 30 minutes and plied back in the car for the trip back to Zephyr. By now, it was 1800 and we had a trip ahead of us. There is no freeway to Ft. Bragg.

We headed over to Petaluma and up the 101 to Cloverdale and over the side roads to Ft. Bragg getting home about 2130. It had been a long impromptu day with lots of mileage and sights seen as we went down the country roads. Strangely, we had no yen to stop at any of the wineries as we passed them. Not sure why other than poor Zephyr already has quite the supply of wine already on board.

Today--probably down Coast Highway 1 to see what it has to offer. We will see.

Day 491 & 92 Off for Ft. Bragg

2009-09-04T09:07:00.000-06:00

Snowshoe makes sure the charts don't blow away in the cockpit.

As we pass Cape Mendocino, California making our way South. The winds were light, though from the South(darn it) and seas running about 1 meter. An easy crossing till later that night.

Sun setting shortly after 2000 hours just off Cape Mendocino.

The entrance to Noyo River Marina in Ft. Bragg, CA.

Our first palm tree of California--the land of "milk and honey"so they say.

We left Crescent City at almost exactly 0800 after a nice breakfast of hot oatmeal and headed out on a beautiful sunny morning navigating past their navigation aids and out into the ocean. As we left the marina, Tracy found the clevis pin that holds the forestaysail stay to the deck had just about come lose and out of it's fitting. We'd installed the pin back in Port Townsend with a set up so that we can remove the stay when we only want to use the big Genoa sail. We'd used the forestaysail sail a good bit as we headed South and apparently, it had worked it self loose. Once we were out, I went forward with a hammer and unscrewed the stay until I could get the pin back through the holes it is supposed to be in. I'll be looking in our stock of spare parts for a more "permanent" pin that won't come loose. Within an hour, we were back in the fog and it stayed that way till about 1130 with it coming and going. All the weather forecasts had been for Northwest winds in the 5 to 10 knot range. We of course, found the winds to be from the South--exactly where we were heading. You can't sail a sailboat into the wind so the engine stayed on as we slowly plowed along at just over 6 knots.

We ran with the radar on to try and help us find not only our way through the fog but to help us not hit another fishing boat as we motored along. Visibility was down to about 100 feet at some times and the small fishing boats were hard to see. We almost hit one as he came out of the fog right across our bow. Tracy had to quickly shift course to avoid him. Not a blip on the radar screen until he was behind us. While AIS(shows the big boats) is great for navigating in shipping channels, radar is the way to go for all around protection. If you can afford it, get the best you can afford and mount it as high as you can for better range. Ours goes out 16 miles at most and the big ships travel at well over 20 knots so the gap between us can get eaten up quickly. With the engine running, we left it on for almost the entire trip.

Shortly after 1200, we were buzzed by a Coast Guard helicopter checking us out and I'm sure taking pictures of us. A quick buzz and they headed South for parts unknown. We saw lots of types of birds just bobbing along in the water with lots of youngsters keeping close to Mom & Dad as they bobbed along. As we came near, they all dove under water and disappeared. No whales and very few seals. Not a dolphin was seen.

Since the winds were light--about 5 knots, I fired up the barbecue on the stern and did some hamburgers for dinner--even added cheese. With green beans, we had a nice dinner in the cockpit.

While in Crescent City, Tracy had long talks with Benita aboard Moon Angel about their voyages and what they did for snacks as they voyaged. They set up a grab bag of all kinds of snacks from nuts and M & M's to popcorn. We tried it this time with different things and it was great to be able to just reach into a bag and get something special to nosh on during the night while on watch. Now as we tour the grocery stores we watch for more healthy snacks. Tracy also got a class on radar which was great after the fog we ran into as we headed out. I'll be pulling out the manual while we are in Ft. Bragg and seeing what other things it can do for us.

We planned to pass Cape Mendocino just as the Sun was setting to make sure we were past the hardest part of the trip while we still had light. There was a full moon scheduled for the night and so far, the sky was clear. We rounded the cape just as the Sun was setting. That's when the "fun" began.

The moon rose out of the east and the seas started to heave and churn. Tracy was resting below before her watch started at 2300 hours. The winds had shifted finally from the South to the Northeast(coming off the shore) shortly after the Sun set and started piping up to the 20 knot range or higher. The seas grew to about 6 to 8 feet and we got suddenly "pooped" by a large wave. For all you landlubbers, the definition of getting "pooped" is when a wave slams into the stern of your boat and hits hard enough to swamp the deck. That's exactly what happened. As we headed South, a BIG wave slammed into the stern port quarter and splashed over the deck. Luckily, with the cockpit enclosed in canvas, we were dry, but there are instances of cockpits getting filled with water. We had already changed out our companionway doors from the standard ones on hinges to the new drop in boards we had made in Port Townsend so there was little chance of any major water getting below deck. Still, the force of the wave through off the auto pilot and it started having a hissy and loudly proclaimed that it could not keep course if we were going to treat it like this. The wave turned us over 90 degrees of course. I disengaged the autopilot and grabbed the wheel turning us back on course and on a heading that better suited the wave action around us. This is what boaters expect as they cross past most of the capes along the Pacific coast. We have run into this regularly as we passed along the coasts of Washington and Oregon. While a bit less in California, they can still surprise you--especially at night.

Blue and Snowshoe stayed in the cockpit though out the day and well into the night. Just before Tracy came up on deck for her watch, Blue found a way out of the canvas enclosure and decided to take a walk along the deck. One minute she was sitting on her cushion and the next she was gone. The winds had built to about 23 knots--from the stern-- and the seas had grown to about 6 to 8 feet and she thought she would go for a walk!!!! I was(to say the least) ticked!!! On came the tether cord--I always wear a life jacket when on deck-- and I clipped onto the "Jack Line"(safety line that runs the length of the boat)and out I went in search of our crazy cat. Just as I stepped out, she came slowly walking toward the stern from the bow like it was the most natural thing for her to be out there taking a nice evening stroll!!! I called for her to come--good luck with that!! She decided to jump onto the top of the bimini(the canvas that encloses the cockpit) and lie down and roll over on her back. I ran around the outside of the cockpit and quickly grabbed her and threw her back through the door to the cockpit. She'd used another of her nine lives. She could have easily gone over board. Needless to say, both cats will now be confined to quarters after dark in the future.

I headed below for my rest break(now full of adrenaline) after what had just happened and tried to get some rest. The seas were in a confused state with Zephyr bobbing up and down and side to side. This makes getting rest tough in the stern cabin. One minute, you are flat and the next minute, you are standing on our feet, then flat, then standing on your head. With my back still out of alignment, it became impossible to sleep so I grabbed a pillow and headed toward one of the forward bunks that I can wedge myself into and not get thrown around. Showshoe was already in there so we shared a bunk. I was up and back on watch at 0300 hours. The moon was still up and bright and the seas had calmed a bit so the rolling wasn't so bad. Tracy took off for below to catch so Z's. I watched a movie on my Ipod as we continued along in much calmer seas than had been earlier and watched the moon set at 0445. It had been a welcome sight throughout the night. The Sun was due to rise at 0645 but got up late and didn't show up till 0654. Must have had a long night and decided to sleep in I guess.

Tracy came back above deck at 0700 for her watch and I just stayed since we were just a few miles away from Ft. Bragg and the Noyo River. As we headed in, Tracy cooked up some eggs and bacon for breakfast. Later, Tracy put out the fenders and dock lines in preparation of our arrival. I'd called the Noyo River Marina(pays to plan ahead) shortly after we left Crescent City to make arrangements for Thursday night so we knew exactly where we would be staying. We headed into and up the Noyo River just after 0800 and into the marina(39 25.449N 123 48.118W) and tied up.

We walked over to the marina office and checked in and then went back to Zephyr to catch up on some lost sleep. It makes the day much easier when you get some rest after a voyage--even a short one like this one. It was just about a 24 hour trip yet it can take it out of you.

We were up by 1200 and headed up the hill into town to see what they had to offer and get some lunch and check out their mass transit system. Being on foot can get old if you are shopping for things. We always check out each towns system. It make it much easier to get around. A nice lunch at David's Deli and some grocery shopping at the local market. I found some cork gasket material to have on board that can be used to seal the diesel or water tanks should the need arise. I need a piece that it at least 12" wide. I'd found 10" but now I found 12 so we are set for that "just in case" moment.

Back to Zephyr to check the transmission fluid now that it had had a chance to cool down and rest. The fluid is still at the top of the dip stick so we will see how it is later this morning now that it will be stone cold. I'll be changing the oil in the diesel injector pump this afternoon since it's hit the 50 hour mark.

We got a call from George and Celeste aboard Nereid that we had "buddied" with down a great deal of the coast. They had made it to Bodega Bay and were checking in. They recommend us by passing Bodega Bay as there is nothing there worth stopping for. With that being the case, we will probably head for Drakes Bay just North of San Francisco tomorrow. It's just over 105 miles so we will set off about mid day so that we arrive in daylight. There is no marina there so we will be back on the hook again which is just fine with us. We're surprised at the condition of the marinas as we head South. Most are in dire need of repair or replacement. If you're out there Bill Gates reading my blog, how about spreading some of your charities monies on the fishing industries marinas along the Pacific coast. They sure could use the infusion of cash.

Well, it's another day with jobs to be done so I'll close for now. Sure was a long one. By the way, if you haven't heard, Mike Perham completed his round the world trip a few days ago. At age 17, he is the youngest to do so as a solo voyager. Our hats are off to him and his accomplishment. We've been following his trip for the past year. Google him. It's a great read.

Day 490 Getting ready to go

2009-09-01T22:27:00.000-06:00

It's been quite the job over the past few days working on Zephyr and getting things done as well as making calls to "experts" to get their opinions on "problems". As I said in my earlier post, we thought we were having problems maintaining the fluid in our "new" paragon transmission. It was full in Neah Bay, WA but didn't register on the dip stick when we got to Newport. I replaced the cooler unit and refilled it. When we got here, the fluid barely touched the bottom of the dip stick. I called the manufacturer as well as American Diesel that originally made our engines and asked questions. At least I did on Monday as we got into Crescent City too late on Friday to call.

I replaced all the pads under the engine and transmission and the engine and ran it at the dock--in gear no less--with lots of lines to Zephyr to make sure she didn't go any where. No leaks, no nothing other than a nice easy running transmission. I had Jay from Moon Angel come over to take a look at it. He's quite allergic to cats so I was thrilled that he would come over. We locked all the kids up. He crawled all over the engine room and basically came back with the opinion that there was nothing wrong with it, I was just checking the fluid at different times. Sometimes while the fluid was cold and sometimes while it was hot, giving me different readings. A sign of relief could be heard all the way downtown. The response I had gotten from Great Lakes Power--they made the transmission--was that I needed to take it back to Sea Marine to have them look at it. They're just about 800 miles from here and I would rather stab myself with an ice pick in a very sensitive area below my belt than take Zephyr back there. We were pretty much on our own. They give you a 6 month warranty on the unit, but only at the original installer figuring that they will take care of the labor charges instead of passing them on to their company. I'll be watching it carefully over the next trip to see how the fluid level goes. Jay's suggestion was to always check it when it's stone cold instead of hot or warm as it will give a false reading. With it being cold, everything would have drained out of the cooler giving a more true reading.

I fixed a few other things including two trips to a chiropractor for my back and left arm and am now a bit better. We had hoped to be off this AM with Nereid when they left but I had a second appointment for this afternoon.

The last day has been tough for Nereid as they tried to get to the fuel dock, they backed up over a crab pot and promptly got snagged in the prop, pulling it right up to the bottom of their boat. It took a diver to get it off. It's against the rules to put pots there so the fuel dock manager confiscated the pot and line. Today, as they left, the cut the turn in the channel a bit to close and ran aground. Luckily, it was a muddy bottom so no harm came to their boat. They made it safely away with no problems after getting hauled off the mud.

We filled ours--or at least got some fuel this afternoon. The fuel dock here is a joke. It's 15 feet above the water and you have to tie up to tires when you pull in. Then you climb up a ladder and tie up at the top where the pumps are. Then back down to the boat to pump your fuel. We loaded up our jerry cans and took them over by cart to have them filled. Ten gallons at a time. The attendant did nothing but complain all the time we were there. He wanted us to bring the boat over instead of him having to wait for us to get the fuel, take it over to Zephyr, pump it into her tanks and come back for more. Too bad, the fuel dock isn't safe and that was how we decided to put our fuel into Zephyr. He's just lucky we didn't want to truly fill the tanks or he would have been there all afternoon instead of a hour or so.

We cleaned up the deck so we can be off about 0500 for the next jump to either Fort Bragg or Bodega Bay further down the coast. The weather is supposed to turn a bit sour by Friday so we will have to really move to make it into Bodega by late Thursday afternoon. It's about 150 miles down the coast from Crescent City.

Well, it's off to bed. We have to be up early in the morning. One thing I would like to add is how nice Jay and Benita Wiggins aboard Moon Angel have been to us while we were here. They are the great folks aboard Moon angel that we spent a good bit of time with in the Port of Brownsville. They have been a great source of help and camaraderie. With out their help and friendship, this stay would have been a lot harder on both of us.

Day 485 & 486 Made it to California!!

2009-08-29T09:29:00.000-06:00

Yes, that's right, we made it out of the official "Pacific Northwest". We're now in the land of "milk and honey" as Keith in Newport calls it. Sunny California!!! Unfortunately, Mother Nature wasn't going to let us get out of there without a small fight.

We started to leave on Thursday, one week after getting into Newport by disconnecting the electrical lines from the dock to Zephyr. Apparently, there is a short somewhere on the transient dock because as I was unscrewing the cord from Zephyrs terminal, I got quite a shock in the process. It had been raining and was foggy so the docks were quite wet. I know the electricity wasn't coming from us as all our systems were off and the engine hadn't been started and the power had already been disconnected on the dock. If I took my foot off the dock, the shock stopped. Ted, if you read this, please let them know. Someone could get hurt by it. There have been instances of people getting electrocuted by electricity being bled off dock circuits.

Anyway, we were off by 0730 and out into fog. Not dense, but it was still obscuring our early voyage. Once we rounded the channel, the wind, while light was from the South---of course--so we kept the motor on and just kept pushing our way through the light winds and swell--also from the South of course. Mother Nature got the email that we were heading out and were trying to escape from the Northwest.

On we pushed, slogging away into the seas. A few hours later, the Sun finally broke free and it was quite pretty. Along the trip, we saw numerous whales-types unknown, as well as lots of dolphins or porpoises and sea lions. Even being about 15 miles away from shore, we still had birds and flies around the boat. Not sure how the flies get out that far but there appears to be no way to escape them. We have found the flies up here to be much skinnier flies that back home in Colorado. They are down right emaciated. Colorado flies are a portly. These are skinny and for the most part dumb. They just sit there as you swat them. No flying off in fear of their lives for them. We saw a few freighters and a tug along the way and got passed by fishing boats during the night. One much closer than I would have liked. They are lit up like a big city and can be seen for miles in the night. We even saw what we think were sharks as we passed through the smooth water. At least they looked like small baby sharks with the typical dorsal fin and tail fin sticking out of the water. Most were about 3 to 4 feet long and only showed up for about 15 miles of the trip and then they were gone. We were surprised how many we saw just floating along at the surface. For most of the trip, the seas were smooth and somewhat glassy with no wind. As we rounded the last point of the Oregon coast, the winds cropped up from the East strangely and the swells came out of the Northwest and West in a confused state throwing Zephyr all over the place. We kept trying to maintain a course heading Southeast toward Crescent City but eventually we had to head Southwest to try and take the waves--now about 15 feet tall from repeatedly rolling Zephyr from side to side. I was trying to get a bit of rest down below in the stern bunk and at one time, I was literally standing up in the bunk while still laying down. That's how bad the rolling got. Once we changed course into the waves, then it was up and down at the bow much like the trip North in July of '08. It lasted about a half hour and then the seas straightened out and we could change course back to Southeast for our destination.

We pulled in at 1500 hours and pulled into the dock--the wrong space of course. It would help if the marinas marked the dock slips so approaching boats could see the numbers instead of just writing on the flat surface of the dock. But hey, that's just my opinion. Jay & Benita off Moon Angel were already here and greeted us as we pulled in. They had left Newport a few hours ahead of us.

One of the problems that cropped up during this trip was the autopilot kept failing giving us a report that the rudder was failing to comply. Well, when we got in, I think we found out why we were getting that action. I had installed the new rudder for the Hydrovane(new wind driven auto pilot)on the stern and it was covered in bull kelp. There must have been 15 LONG strands of the stuff all wrapped and tied around the Hydrovane rudder creating quite the drag on Zephyrs main auto pilot. The malfunction didn't happen all the time, just occasionally. While we are here, I'll check all the electrical connections and I've already checked the connection at the rudder and it was fine.

We moved Zephyr to the proper slip we'd been assigned(I'd called on Thursday to let them know we were coming) with Jay's help and got all tied in. Up to the marina office to get checked in and then off for either and early dinner or late lunch. It was already 1600 hours. Once back to Zephyr, I opened the engine doors to check the transmission fluid since I had installed the new cooler in Newport. Surprise!! No fluid showed up on the dip stick. Guess I spent a bit of money on something we didn't need. Oh well, you take a shot and some times you hit and some times you miss. Now I have to dig further to find out where the transmission fluid is going. It is either a different hose that I haven't found or it is leaking through the forward seal where it mounts on the engine. If it is the latter, it will necessitate the transmission being removed all over again!!! I walked over and spent some "guy time" with Jay on Moon Angel. We discussed the situation and logical solutions. His Ford Lehmans don't have the same transmission. He showed me his systems(see Bill drool)and how well he is organized. You can eat off the floors of his engine room. It was fun watching and learning how someone who has a lot more experience does thing. Ah, the fun never stops aboard Zephyr! I'll be looking into that situation this afternoon.

Later in the afternoon, the folks aboard Nereid(a Delphia 40)that we have been sort of traveling with pulled in. They had left shortly after us so the Newport folks just moved to Crescent City.

It's foggy again outside so we'll just settle in for a while and get ourselves cleaned up and Zephyr set for dockside use for a few days. I've already emailed the transmission folks about our situation. At least it comes with a six month warranty. The bad part is that it says that it has to be taken back to where it was installed and we're a long way from Sea Marine, so we will see what develops on Monday. One project for today is changing the engine oil. We passed the 100 hour mark on the trip down.

More to come as always.

Day 484 The cooler is in.

2009-08-26T23:57:00.000-06:00

I got a call from the marina office early this morning that the new transmission cooler had arrived. I guess it really pays to have these things shipped overnight. It may cost a bunch, but it saves you some money in that we won't have to stay here more days than necessary.

I'd ordered two so that I would have a backup as the Ford Lehman engine uses the same cooler to cool the engine oil and since the expected life span on one of these things is only about 2,000 hours of operations and God knows how long ago if ever the oil cooler was changed, it is better to have one on hand than be out some where and need but not have it. Hey, that's what storage on a boat is all about. It's not necessarily about storing food, it's storing anything that might be necessary some where done the road. The new cooler is the gray gizmo above with all the hoses going into it. I had it all installed by about 1300 hours and the engine started for testing. We had to make sure Zephyr was tied up to the dock well as we had to slip her into gear to make sure the transmission pump circulated the oil through the cooler and that there were no leaks. So far so good--no leaks. Once we had tried it out, I had to shut off the engine and check the fluid level and top it off as a good bit of the oil had gone into the cooler and needed to be topped off. With this piece of equipment installed, with luck and good weather, we will be off tomorrow for Crescent City down South.

We've stowed just about everything and will fill the water tanks just before we leave in the morning. We'll hold off on the diesel fuel since the prices in Crescent City are only about .02 cents different and with weight always being a factor, it can wait till we get there.

We stowed things and actually took a walk around the dock this afternoon and I actually sat down a read part of a magazine. We had dinner aboard Moon Angel with Jay and Benita whom we met back in January up in the Port of Brownsville near Silverdale. Great people and far more knowledgeable about boating than we are.

After dinner, we walked over to see Ted and Judy. They live aboard their boat and have for several years here at the marina. She was the masseuse that took care of my back and few days ago. One more quick job on it tonight since we expect to be leaving in the morning and I'm a lot better than I was earlier.

All in all, a nice day. Sunny and warm enough I changed into shorts this afternoon. One of our new friends left earlier this morning for Crescent City so we expect to see them there in a few days when we arrive. Mean while, it's off to bed. Morning is going to be busy getting the last things done before we shove off. At least if the weather is still good. I'll let you know.

Stay tuned.

Day 483 Still here in Newport.

2009-08-25T23:39:00.000-06:00

We're still here in Newport for several reasons. First, the weather down South took a turn and swells were forecast for the 18 to 20 foot range(coming out of the South). Little wind but we would have been going straight into them and that is not a fun trip.

Secondly, as I did my routine check of systems in the engine room--oil level in the engine, antifreeze in the coolant tank, fluid in the steering system and transmission fluid all topped up, I found that the transmission fluid didn't even register on the dip stick. When we had been traveling up in Alaska, I had found that one time before, but I just added some and all was well. Since we were traveling at the time, I didn't pursue it and we just continued on with me checking the fluids each day. Well, now it was time to find out why and get it fixed. We didn't want to be out there and suddenly the transmission seize up and die after we had just put in the new one. There were no obvious leaks so that only left one place for the fluid to be going and that is out through the transmission cooler. Unlike cars, boats transmission fluid gets cooled by passing it through a large tube that has lots of smaller tubes in it. The raw water from out side the boat flows through some of these tubes and the transmission fluid passes through the rest getting cooled by the water passing over it's tubes. Well it appears that ours has developed a small leak and is slowly pushing the fluid out of the transmission. Better it go out than suck water into the transmission. I ordered in two--one to use and the second one as a reserve as they are typically only good for about 2,000 hours of use. Plus, it is the same cooler that is used the cool the engine oil. They should be here tomorrow for installation.

When I got up the morning, as I went up the hill, I found Moon Angel parked in front of us. This the the boat owned by Jay and Benita whom we met while we spent the Winter in The Port of Brownsville. They also spent the Summer traveling up the Alaska. We're having dinner with them tomorrow. Nice folks and VERY knowledgeable about all things boating. He's the one that clued me into the transmission solution.

We also have had a small fresh water problem for a while that the pump that pumps all the fresh water to the faucets keeps going on and off instead of just running when the pressure tanks needs re-pressurizing. Zephyr came with a special tank that keeps the water under pressure at all times instead of having the pump turn on each time you turn on a faucet. Now instead of it pressurizing the tank, the pump turns on each time the faucets are used. That tell me that the pressure tank wasn't working right. I checked it this afternoon and found it full of water instead of air. The rubber bladder inside it apparently had broken making it useless. Now I get to take it out and find a replacement some where along the road. We still get water when we turn on the faucets, but this will just make the pump have to work harder. The learning curve just keeps growing as the miles keep going.

We had a small get together this evening aboard Zephyr with folks from two other boats joining us for some cake and strawberries. Nothing special, just a chance for some sailers to get together and swap stories and information. One man even brought his daughter along. A nice young girl that will be sailing with her parents and getting home schooled.

Weather permitting, several of our friends will be setting off for either Coos Bay or Crescent City tomorrow. I haven't checked as I know we won't be leaving for a few days. It depends on when the transmission cooler gets in. If tomorrow, we could be out of here by Thursday---again--as weather permits.

Stay tuned, our saga just keeps getting longer and more interesting.

Day 482 A massage and more tasks

2009-08-24T23:31:00.000-06:00

I took off this morning for my first massage. The top of my back and left arm has been bothering me since my return from Denver. I think my bag weighed too much and I carried it just a bit to far. I had it done by Judy whom we met two years ago when we first moved Zephyr to Newport. She and Ted, her husband, live on another sailboat here at the marina. It's been great to see them again since our return last Thursday. They've been a big help since we got back. Judy worked and worked and got all the kinks out and the rest of the day has been great.

I bought more charts today at Englund's Marine to get us to San Francisco and beyond. While we have several electronic chart plotters, we feel it best to have the same thing in paper in paper form so that just in case something should cause a power failure or a computer crash, we will still know where we are and can find our way to a safe harbor. We carry a hand held GPS as well as several fixed units. It never hurts to be prepared.

Below are pictures of some of our rigging. When it was done, the attachments for the shrouds were too wide for the chain plates(holds the wire onto the boat that keep the mast from falling down) causing a gap that continually caught the lines that control our big Genoa sail at the bow.

We decided to add some stainless steel washers to the fitting to force the outside of the fitting to come closer inboard so the line will run free. The pictures above so the problem and how the addition of the washers solved it. The rigging on the side facing the dock was easy. The side of the boat on the opposite side was different. Tracy came up with a solution. I would sit in the chair we use to go up the mast and she would lower me over the side until I was at the correct height to do the repairs. It was much easier than leaning over the life lines and having to do the job upside down. Now there will be no more problems as we tack the Genoa. It had caused us to have to leave the cockpit and pull the lines free.

We got our new Hydrovane auto steering assembly ready for travel this afternoon. I went down the ladder and tried to fit the rudder to the bottom of the post. If you click on the pictures, it blows them up for much better viewing. I sort of lost my balance and promptly fell into the water. Not all the way,but far enough that I came out quite soaked. Since I was already wet, it made getting the rudder on much easier. Seeing how much fun I had doing this in a placid marina, I can't imagine what fun it would have been out in the open ocean. I attached the red vane at the top of the unit and now she is ready to do her job--steer Zephyr when we are out in the ocean.

We are hoping to be taking off tomorrow(Tuesday) for either Coos Bay or Crescent City. We're not sure which or either. It depends on the weather as always. Several boats left today and one left about 2200 this evening and will be sailing all night--wind permitting. The forecast for the next few days is a bit mixed and we won't make a decision till tomorrow morning as to whether we will set off or stay one more day when the weather window appears(at least so far) to be a bet better. There is no real hurry to get anywhere any more and we are with some nice people here in Newport.

If we are here tomorrow, there will be more projects still to do so we will just wait and see. The electrical outlet in the galley I thought I had fixed so that the reverse polarity light stayed out is now causing some problems. While on shore power or with power coming from the Honda Generator, it works fine but if you turn on the inverter to use the power from the batteries to make it work, it doesn't work at all and says the wires are wrong and that's what I changed before that allowed it to work right. If we're here tomorrow, I'll start in on that project. If not, well, it will just have to wait till the next stop.

It's off to bed to see what tomorrow brings. If there is no blog tomorrow night, you will know we took off and will have more stories when we reach our next destination. Hopefully Mother Nature will give us a break this time.

Stay tuned for more.

Day 480 & 481 Moved and more jobs done.

2009-08-23T23:07:00.001-06:00

After spending two days in someone else's slip, we finally got moved over to "J" dock with the rest of the transients or world cruisers if you please. We are a mishmash of folks from all over the world. One boat is even from Switzerland. We checked out the dock this morning and found a few empty spaces along the linear dock and took off back to Zephyr. We undid the electrical cord and lines, started the engine and prepared to get underway. I climbed aboard and the wind quickly blew Zephyr away from the dock. The bad part was that Tracy was still on the dock!!! She threw the last line on board but by then, Zephyr was to far away for her to get on. She took off running for "J" dock while I SLOWLY motored Zephyr over. I really took my time and she met me there along with a half dozen other boaters and we got Zephyr all tied in with no problems. We were finally where we were supposed to be.

Several hours later, Keith, another of our friends that works for the marina showed up and told us that an 85 foot motor yacht was coming in and had been told by the office to just pull up to "J" dock. "There was plenty of room". It had taken us three days to get space available for us to get on the dock and now they expected an 85 foot yacht to just pull in?? So everyone on the dock got together and we shifted the boats that were on the linear dock MUCH closer together and made enough room for him to fit. The yacht has all the thrusters and engine power to do just about anything it pleased and she pulled in just fine and got all snugged in. Amazingly, we had seen her while we were coming back from Alaska as we were heading South from Lopez Island on the South edge of the San Juan Islands. The reason we remember them so well is that they darn near ran us over. We had the "right of way"(for what that is worth) as we headed South and he just kept on coming straight at us. If we had not altered course, he would have taken us out. We told him we remembered seeing his boat( he was just the captain). He jokingly asked me if he had tried to run us down. OK, he asked so I told him--"YES, you did actually". While I know he was joking when he asked the question, I think it bothered him with my answer. He wanted to know all the specifics of where and when it had happened. He apologized for the incident but hey, that's all part of boating. As long as no harm comes of it, you get on with your life(until they happen to cross your path again on land at least). Beautiful boat. He was going to take it to the fuel dock before he left--4200 gallons!!! He must have a great credit limit on his charge card.

We lowered the "guppy zinc" back into the water off the stern so that the electricity that floats in the water around the marina will attack it instead of the zinc that is attached to our boat. A chunk of protection.

I took some time and went at the circuit board to check for more loose screws since they have caused me problems in the past. I found several that were just a bit loose and got each and everyone of them tightened so there should be no more problems with some circuits working some times and others not. I have a hard time thinking that the movement of the boat has made the screws loosen. I guess it could but now that problem is gone--at least for now anyhow(I hope).

I read through the manual for our autopilot and figured out exactly how to make it work in sailing mode. It will give us a backup system for when we are out there and want to quickly engage an auto pilot without having to hook up the Hydrovane on the stern. If the weather gets to bad as we encountered on the trip down, we can now just flip a switch and sit back and let the machine do the job instead of further exhausting us. I wish I had known how to do it before we left Neah Bay. Life would have been a lot easier on the way South.

We washed down Zephyr today making sure to get all the salt water off her decks and hull with extra attention given to the hardware on board as salt water can corrode and lock up parts fast when repeatedly exposed to it. Out with the brushes, sponges and hose and on came the water. She looks much better now.

The weather down South is still the pits with lots of wind and tall waves so we think we will just stay here for a few more days. The price is cheap for a slip and we have lots of friends to spend time with(plus wine here is really cheap)

Tomorrow, I'm off to a masseuse to have my back and shoulders worked on. They have been causing me a bit of problem since I got back from Denver. I've never had one so it should be interesting. My therapist is actually one of our friends from our first time here in Newport. She's worked on Tracy before. I'll let you know tomorrow how it turns out.

I've still got a list of projects to do so the fun never stops. I've been asked to stop over at another boat and look at their DuoGen(makes electricity on our boat). Ours works better than theirs apparently. I guess we will see. It's been a long while since I have given advise instead of asking for it.

Tomorrow is another day.

Day 479 Bus rides and jobs to be done.

2009-08-21T23:50:00.000-06:00

I took off early this morning on the 8:17 bus to find a new propane line for the galley stove. The one we bought last year snapped during the trip down the coast and emptied all the propane from the tank into the boat. We're lucky we didn't catch on fire or explode. Tracy hooked up fans in the boat and pushed air down into the bilge to make sure all the fumes were out.

I headed for Amerigas, the local propane dealer and keeper of all things related to propane. I walked in with the broken hose(see above picture) and they asked what it was used for. Here comes the good part!! "On a boat? Oh, we don't do boat stuff". What is wrong with people in this town? There are lots of boats and fishing people in the area. Why would you shut yourself off from a gold mine like that? They sent we to Newport Marine & RV several miles South of town. I walked across Highway 101 and waited for the bus to take me there, or at least sorta close. While I waited I made several phone calls.

One of the calls I made was to Orca Green. They make the mast head light that not only is set up to be used as an anchor light, but also for an emergency strobe light and a set of navigation lights. It also comes with a photo cell that will turn it on as the evening turns dark and off at dawn. Neat piece of equipment. Only problem is that ours glows with the intensity of about a 2 watt bulb. When I explained the problem, they fessed up that they had had a problem with the computer chip inside the fixture and would replace it at no charge. Now all I have to do is figure when I will actually get it. I finally told them to ship it to the house and I'll have it forwarded to us some where down the coast. Oh, boy, I get to go up the mast to swap it out!! The top of the mast is about the height of a six story building. It's up there. I've never made it to the top so this will be my first time. Tracy usually goes up but this will be my turn.

I finally got to Newport Marine & RV and they actually had the hose fitting I needed. It was the last one they had. I got lucky!! I picked up a few more fittings and started the long walk back to the marina. The bus only makes stops at any particular place about every 90 minutes. I could walk the distance in a lot shorter time than that. Once back at the marina, I took all the fittings and made sure the threads were covered in Teflon tape and she went in slick as a whistle. We had propane again.

I called Ted, one of our friends from our last time here in Newport and asked for a lift to Amerigas to get our tank filled and a stop at Englund Marine for some wire to fix the solenoid that controls the propane coming out of the tank. It turn on and shuts off the flow of gas with a switch inside the boat. I'd checked it earlier while we were at Neah Bay and found that no power was going to it to have it turn on. Today was the day to fix it since I had fixed the propane line. I pulled out my volt meter and checked. Zero volts. I checked at the switch and had 12 volts. Must be a broken wire. Oh what fun--threading wires through the walls even behind the walls and inside cabinets. A fun afternoon was ahead of me. I picked up the wires with Ted and headed back to start the project. As a last resort, I pulled out the volt meter and checked one last time. Nope, still no volts at the solenoid. Lightening suddenly struck me in the head!!! Check to see if the screws that hold the wire to the switch are tight!?! Hey, guess what??? They were loose. I had to turn one screw six times to get it tight and two others were also loose but not to that extreme. Suddenly(you guessed it)I had power at the solenoid. I'd already cut the old(probably still perfectly good) off and had a new one all ready to be installed. Now I had power so out came the wire strippers and crimpers and special shrink butt connectors for the wires. You crimp the wires into the fitting and then use a heat gun or even a lighter to head a tube on the fitting and it shrinks around the wires and makes a water proof seal so once set, no water can get in a corrode the fitting. A must have for any serious boater who wants to keep electrical shorts out of their life. Now we were all set. New hose and a new solenoid and we were set. I also came away with a 30 foot piece of two strand 16 gauge wire for future projects.

Onto the forward head. Ever since we launched and even before we launched, the forward head kept refilling with waste material after I had flushed it. What is called the "Joker" valve had apparently failed. It's a one way valve made of rubber that closes after each flush to make sure it only goes out and never comes back in. I drained the bowl and took the fittings apart. No real problem as I had made sure the only thing in the plumbing pipes was salt water by repeated flushings. Out came the old valve and in with the new. Another job done.

We were currently set on "F" dock which is right on the pathway for every small fishing boat that comes and goes in and out of the water at the marina. With tomorrow being Saturday and many, many boaters expected, we wanted to move to "J" dock with the rest of the cruisers. We waited till the tide had risen( about 2030 hours) and the wind had dropped and headed over. We started out from "F" dock and suddenly, all the lights in the marina went out--power failure just as we were getting underway! As we rounded the corner to "J" dock we suddenly came to a complete stop. The water was still low enough that we ran into the silt bottom that had built up at the base of "J" dock. It's right beside the entrance to the marina and it gets a lot of current as the tide raises and lowers and it slowly fills the area with silt. We ran smack into it. We were going slowly so it was no big deal. I slipped Zephyr into reverse and slowly backed her off the stuff and back out into the marina. We decided to head over to the "maintenance dock" area for the night. The marina staff had given us permission to go there if we wanted to to avoid the pandemonium that will be taking place where we had been tied up. It only had 3.5 feet of water under us so we slipped across the way and tied up to a long dock that belongs to another boater but he is off in Alaska and isn't expected back any time soon. We figure we will move over to "J" dock tomorrow afternoon when the tide is in. The only problem with that is that we can only leave the marina during high tides. We'll just take it as it comes and see what happens.

Another project I took care of was to reenforce the head board of the mainsail. You can see in the picture that the top of the sail has two slides in it that attach to the mast. It used to have only one. I added the second on the right side of the plate. Now it will be better supported as it get pulled up the mast. When we had had the sails inspected by Port Townsend Sails, they had recommended that this be done. Since I had taken a class on sail making and repairing from them, I figured I could do it(perhaps not as well) a lot cheaper than they could. Out came the 1/2" webbing and a needle and thread(industrial waxed thread for sails) and on it went. Not the main is better prepared for what is to come in the future.

I've already made a list of jobs for tomorrow. the weather down South is supposed to be rotten for the next five days or so, so we could be here for a while. No problem, I have lots of jobs that still need to be done.

Tomorrow is another day. More to come!

Day 476,477 & 478 Into Newport

2009-08-20T22:49:00.000-06:00

Sit back and get something to drink cause this is going to be a long blog post!!!

We're here in Newport, OR after a long 50 hour sail/motor trip South.

We left Neah Bay about 0930 on Tuesday in beautiful skies. On Monday when we arrived, we barely beat the fog in. As you can see from the pictures, it was right behind us as we pulled in. Just about every boat that followed us in came in in a misty vale. It covered the harbor and then vanished, then back for another shot. This went on for several hours in the afternoon. One minutes it beautifully clear and the next--fogged in. One thing we have noticed is that when the fog rolls in, the temperature drops like a stone. Once gone, it's nice and warm all over again.

The top photo is of our first sunrise as we headed West out Juan de Fuca Strait. The waters were beautifully calm for a change.

The last photo was taken on Tuesday morning as we rounded Tatoosh Island at the West end of Juan de Fuca as we were heading out to sail to Newport. It was a glorious morning with bright blue skies and a marvelous wind from the Northwest pushing us along beautifully. We had all our sails up to get as much wind as we could so we would move at Zephyrs maximum speed. Out came the Genoa and Main and then for fun, we put up the Forestaysail sail to boot.

As we headed out from Juan de Fuca, Tracy called to me that she saw a whale about 100 feet off the port(left) side of the boat. We both looked out the side to see if we could see it again--nope. Suddenly, we heard this "woosh" sound from beside Zephyr. We looked at each other and then started looking around Zephyr to see what might have made the sound. Suddenly, there was a Humpback whale not 15 feet from the port side of the boat. I could have jumped on hers(or his) back she was so close. We saw her back as she slowly rose right beside Zephyr, her tail still under the keel. She rolled on her side and stared at us with one dark black eye, then blew again through her blowhole and dove under the boat and was gone. That's about as close as we ever want to be to a whale, especially a Humpback. They can grow to anywhere from 39 to over 50 feet and weigh in at over 75,000 pounds. Now that was cool--scary but cool.

Off we went just having the time of our lives in absolutely perfect wind and seas. As the day progressed, the wind got stronger and stronger so we finally rolled in the Genoa sail and just had the forestaysail sail and main up and were still moving along at over 7 knots. As the Sun went down, we just kept on going. By midnight, the winds had grown to about 35 knots or about 40 miles per hour.

When you go off shore--or even in shore, it is a cardinal rule that we ALWAYS wear a life jacket, even when we are in the cockpit. Once we are away from shore, we carry tethers that hook onto the life jacket and are then hooked to what are called "Jack Lines". These are nylon webbing straps that clip to the bow of the boat and run the length to the stern. Ours is hooked at the bow to the base plate for the forestaysail sail and then is tied to rings I installed on one of the shrouds(wires that hole the mast up)on each side and then is tied off to the large cleat on the stern. This way, when ever you leave the cockpit, day or night, you hook your tether to the "Jack Line" and should you fall overboard, you won't go far. Some books recommend the lines be on deck and some books recommend that they be shoulder high to keep you from tripping on them. We have set ours up with the straps high along each side of the boat. It's easier to clip and unclip as you work your way down the deck.

With the winds being that strong, I clipped on to the "Jack Lines" and made my way to the mast to put a reef in the mainsail(keep in mind, it's about 0100--yeah 1:00 am blowing 30 knots and pitch black). A mainsail is set up with "reefing points" that can be setup to have the main sail up but in smaller and smaller sections as needed. Our mainsail has three reefs in it so it can be made quite small but engaging each reefing point in turn as the winds would grow. This time, we set it up with just the first reef. Tracy stayed in the cockpit to control the boat and the halyard(line that raises the mainsail)while I worked out on deck. First, the main halyard that holds the sail up has to be loosened and the sail lowered--not a lot, but still lowered so one of the reefing eyes(straps that are put through grommeted holes in the sail with rings sew in the straps)that are on the sail up near the mast can be attached to big hooks on the boom. Then the sail is raised but not before the line at the end of the boom that goes through the back end of the mainsail is pulled tight. This line pulls the back end of the mainsail down and pulls it out so that once the sail is raised, it will still have the right shape to allow it to power your boat(are we having fun yet?). Now Zephyr was under control. We were dead tired but under control--oh, did I tell you there was no moon that night? It was pitch black. Apparently, Mother Nature had finally gotten the email that we were out there and she was out to have some fun with us. Not only did she make it blow, but she continually changed the direction of the wind. Now ocean sailing is supposed to have winds relatively constant not only in speed but also in direction. At least that is what the books we have read tell us. Apparently, this is not the rule along the Washington/Oregon coast line. We were almost 90 miles off shore and getting thrown around quite a bit. We finally decided to just take down the forestaysail sail and start the motor and motor sail for a while using the auto pilot to guide the boat. We were absolutely worn out and that is the time mistakes get made. the motor was started and out I went(hooked to the "Jack Lines of course) and down came the forestaysail sail. I hooked the halyard(raises the sail) to one of the cleats at the bow to make sure it didn't fly around on deck in the wind and made my way back to the cockpit--winds still about 35 knots in a pitch black night. With this done, the auto pilot could be engaged and Zephyr would just motor along on a set course. We could finally sit back and relax a bit. It was a long night for both of us.

As dawn arrived--no more Sun of course(thanks Mother Nature). We had totally overcast skies and that was how it was for the entire day. Not one bit of Sun broke through the clouds. We continued on motor sailing as the winds had now dropped down to about 5 to 8 knots and it had shifted to being out of the Southeast--right where we needed to go(thanks Mother Nature). Every forecast we had had the winds to be coming from the Northwest. On we went, hour after hour of gray skies and the drone of the motor. We took time out to catch a few hours of sleep as the day progressed yet one of us was always on deck in the cockpit keeping watch for other ships and fishing boats. We had our AIS(Automatic Identification System) running on our computer screen, but that only shows you really big boats. Being over 90 miles off shore, we saw no ships at all.

By Wednesday night, we started heading back toward shore and coming into Newport Harbor. As we headed in, our AIS started showing us other ships--the big ones--and where they were headed. About 2330 hours, we were faced with one ship heading South--right up our stern, and two ships heading North--right at our bow. All would pass with in about three miles of each other with us right in the middle of it. We could not have picked a worse time to try and cross the shipping channel. It was the only time I ever saw three ships come together like that. If I had continued on the course I had set, the South bound freighter would have come right up our stern and hit us. If I changed course the wrong way, the ships heading North could have hit us. So I changed our course so that we would head back out to sea until they passed us. "He who changes course and sails away, lives to sail another day" of some such saying. Even changing course, they passed with in a few miles of us and out in the ocean, that is closer than we would have liked.

As dawn broke this morning, we were only 35 miles from Newport and making good time. It was still overcast and gray but no fog--at least not yet. As we neared Newport, I spent some time on deck(still hooked up) cleaning up from the night before. I found the forestaysail sail halyard snap shackle(raised the sail) that clips onto the the top of the sail and had broken at some time. Luckily, it happened after I had lowered the sail to the deck. We didn't have to go up the mast to pull the halyard back down to the deck. If it had broken while the sail was up, there would be no way to get it back down with out going up the mast to retrieve it.

As we approached Newport, the fog started settling in(or course) and we entered the harbor entrance in the white stuff. Not bad, but even some fog is too much fog. We entered the marina and tied up to "F" dock. We expect to be here for several days. Several reasons. One, the weather down South is turning rotten with winds in the high 30 to low 40s and we don't want to face those. Oh, and of course, the winds are coming from the South.

Secondly, we found that the new propane line to the stove had broken some time during our trip South. Tracy had tried to use the stove and found it wouldn't turn on--no gas. What I have failed to tell you, is that we had a propane problem while in Neah Bay on Monday. The switch that turns on the propane had failed again. This was the third time it has happened. You turn on a switch in the main cabin and that activates a valve at the tank that allow the propane to flow through the lines and get to the stove. The first two times it has happened, all we had to do was unhook the line from the propane tanks and reattach it and strangely, the propane would come right back on. Not this time. It was not coming on. The voltage at the valve was only reading 3 volts. The company that makes it says it should read closer to 12 volts when turned on. I installed a new valve and still nothing. So out with the valve and I just plumbed it straight into Zephyr. It worked just fine. Now that we were in Newport, Tracy wanted to cook something for dinner and no gas. I hadn't turned it off at the tank so when I checked, the tank ready empty. It had read 100 pounds the night before. I pulled out my wrenches and I checked each fitting at the tanks to make sure I hadn't not tightened the copper tubes from the tank to the stove. All appeared tight, so off with the old tank and in with the one we keep to use with the barbecue grill. I turned it on and Tracy started yelling to turn it off. We were leaking propane gas below decks. The night before, Tracy had complained that she kept smelling rotten onions on board. Sorry, it wasn't bad onions, it was propane from the tanks. The line into the stove had sheared--or just simply broken. It's amazing we didn't explode. Tomorrow, my first job is to set off to get a new hose or have one made that can take the swinging motion. We can't leave with out it being fixed. I also need to have the propane tank refilled and about a dozen other things that need my attention.

So it's off to bed as it is quickly approaching midnight here. Tomorrow is another day--hopefully sunny for a change.

Day 475 Into Neah Bay and out today!

2009-08-18T10:01:00.000-06:00

We made it nicely into Neah Bay out at the west end of Juan De Fuca and are preparing to head off shore today.

We beat the fog that kept coming and going as we sat at anchor and watched other boats come in after us shrouded in the stuff.

This will be short as I have a few last chores to do so we can get out of here. The next you hear from us should be from much farther South is a few days. Maybe Newport again. Who knows?

We're finally off!!! YEAH!!!