Day 557 Running errands again.

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.

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!!

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

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!

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.

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

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.