Author Archives: bob

Here We Go

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One of the new i70 Instruments and the hole I'm going to need to enlarge to make it fit

 

 

 

 

Here's where the other three are going to go. More holes to enlarge and new cables to pull

 

 

 

 

A few of the cables in the nav station that are going to need to be rerouted

 

 

 

 

 

Ann getting an early start on the boatwork is polishing the stainless. A punishing, thankless job. Thanks anyway!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today officially started “Boat Work Week”.  Well actually it will be two weeks if we’re lucky, three if not.  More than that I don’t want to think about.

Anyway, we motored down to Ray Roberts Marine and Boatyard.  I think it’s actually called Riverside Marine, but “Ray’s” sounds better.  Just getting here took a little drama.  Two days ago I realized I had no clue as to where the key to the engine was.  I had a couple hazy memories that I might have hidden it in case of robbers while we were gone (note to self: Don’t do this again)!  Then after searching high and low through all the boat, I thought; “Well, maybe I gave it to Sharon, the marina manager”.  Problem was, that was yesterday which was a holiday in NZ so we couldn’t call Sharon and see if she had it.  No worries we thought, I probably did leave it with her and we’ll just get it in the morning.  Come morning, Ann went over to the Marina office while I met with Roger the Doyle Sails rep who wanted a couple last measurements before cutting the fabric for the new sails.  We got the measurements but No Bueno on the key.  Oh crap!  Our time to go down to the boatyard was past since the tide had changed.  Rats!  So we decided to double down on looking in drawers, under boards, etc, etc.  Each of us went back to drawers we had searched yesterday and dumped everything out on the floor and voila-The Key!  Turns out it was exactly where it should have been, but I outsmarted myself by taping a piece of grey duct tape over it with the words; “No H2O” on it to remind myself that I had closed the raw water through-hull intake while we were gone.  This was to avoid a potential catastrophic leak while we weren’t aboard.  But the grey tape made the key impossible to see in the dark drawer.

 

Oh well.  We’ve both decided that next year we will write notes about where we store everything and hide them so no burglars will find out where our good stuff is.  That way we’ll be able to find everything…once we find the notes.

 

On to business!  Now that we’ve found the key and were able to start the engine, we have now relocated to Ray’s.   We’re spending a nice, calm evening on their dock and then will haul out tomorrow.  I always get stressed hauling out.  Boats aren’t meant to be out of the water sitting on the ground.  We’ll be living aboard and will have to climb seven feet up a ladder to get to the deck and in the boat.  We have four pages of projects to complete. The biggies are:  bottom paint, varnish the brightwork, wax and polish the hull (makes it easier to clean as we travel) and install the new electronics (Crappy B&G instruments gave up the ghost.  They were only four years old and the line has been discountinued. No replacements available and they are not repairable-we’re switching to Raymarine which at least is easier to find replacements for). These days software compatibility is the issue and I’ve purchased a converter to allow my old network to talk to the new one (hopefully).  For you techies, we’re going to try and get the older NMEA 0183 standard network to talk to the new NMEA 2000 SeaTalkNG net.  Good luck to me.  More on this as the next couple weeks progress.  In the mean time, I’m drilling new holes for the different size instruments and pulling new wire, since the old cables are not compatible with the new instruments.  Grrrrr.

 

OK, time for a glass of wine and some sunset.  More pictures later of tomorrow’s haul out.

 

P.S.  On a more positive note:  We got a knock on the hull and a “Ahoy Charisma” this afternoon.  Turned out Jim Fair from Berkeley Yacht Club is docked right next to us.  He and his wife left Berkeley a year before we did and we’ve heard they were down here.  Funny what a small world.  We’ve agreed we are going to get together in the next couple days to swap lies about our trips.  Yay!

Tsunami Alert!

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That got our attention!  We’re back on Charisma after a wonderful holiday back in the States with Family and Friends.  Today, we were sitting on the boat in the Town Basin at Whangarie and a friend came over and knocked on the hull:  “Ahoy Charisma!”  We shouted back and climbed the companionway ladder to say hi and saw Tom from “Tanga” who said that there was a huge earthquake in/around Vanuatu (an 8.0 as of this writing although it will likely get downgraded over time) and there’s a tsunami alert for most of the South Pacific.  Wow, talk about getting our attention.  After a bit of chat, we went back down below straight to the internet and found….mixed results.  NOAA cancelled the alert, but the local Civil Defense authorities didn’t.  Anyway, long story short, as we’re sitting here an hour after it was supposed to hit New Zealand, we’re still floating without a care.

Got us back into the swing of cruising though.  So, with this blog, hopefully we’ll kick back into the habit of charting out what we’re doing and where we’re going.
Tomorrow, we go out “on the hard”.  Not our favorite thing.  Basically we’re getting hauled out in a local boatyard to get the bottom painted with antifouling paint.  You have to do this at least once every other year or so to keep the crud from growing on the bottom of the boat.  That’s the main reason we’re hauling, but we spent much of this afternoon planning the other projects we’re going to work on while we’re in the boat yard.  Everything from pulling all the anchor chain out onto the ground for inspection, to varnishing all the woodwork (a much bigger task than it sounds-this alone will be a week or more of solid work), to sewing some new covers for worn out cushions a version-2 of our bimini, etc.  Not the least project (which is on Ann’s list) is cleaning and waxing the hull!

 

So, at least two weeks of work where we’ll be living on Charisma in the boat yard.  Not the most fun thing since to leave the boat, you basically climb down a six foot ladder, but hey, this is an adventure.  We’re going to make it fun.  Ann already did some planning and announced that we will be eating meals in the lovely park next door to the marina.  Trees, views onto the river, grass and picnic tables.  I announced that we’ll be eating pizza in town at least two nights a week.  Beer, pizza, Rugby on the TV.  So, we’ll have some entertainment.  Stay tuned.  I’m still going to write up what went right during the last year and what we could do better; a perspective of our sailing experience over the last year.  I just have to get back into the writing groove and get inspired a little.  Is anybody reading this, and/or interesting in that?  Please let me know.

In San Diego

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Arrived at our slip on Shelter Island, San Diego at 0900. Slowed the boat down a bit during the night crossing in order to arrive after sunrise. About 14 hours time from Redondo Beach, as planned. We swung out beyond the shipping lanes almost to Catalina, then set a course of about 123 degrees magnetic for San Diego. Lots of traffic in general. The radar got a workout tracking other boats and ships and in several cases helped us with avoidance. No low, dense fog though on the passage, thank goodness, although there’s an overall fog layer that’s keeping things cool. We’re ready to see some sun again.
Once we checked in at the Marina, we took a nap from 1000, until about 1300. Then made the usual pilgrimage to West Marine to spend more money. Although to be fair, some of it was planned. We both needed new shoes and Ann needed sea boots (which she has now acquired).
Somewhere on the trip, we were running the water maker and went through a red tide. Sucked in dead plankton which has caused the water to smell “fishy”. I caught it while testing for salinity before it went into the tank, but now we are in the process of chemically treating the system to clean it. Have run the required chemicals and are letting them soak in the machine overnight before purging it in the morning and getting back to making clear, clean water. Ah, the joys of boat management.
Had a very nice dinner with Joey and Leann at a local brewpub. Very nice of Joey to lend us his truck this weekend for shlepping supplies. Thanks Joey!
Two days left to prep the boat, then on Sunday the traditional costume party (team Charisma are going as Captain Hook, the Crocodile, Peter Pan and Tinkerbell). I’m afraid I have been designated to be Tinkerbell. I just thought that since I was the Captain of this vessel that I was in charge. Obviously, I was very, very, wrong.

Santa Cruz Harbor to Santa Cruz Island

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Finally, catching up with the blog.  My “blogging” computer died at sea and I was very tempted to bury it there as well.  An old Dell laptop, the hard drive finally failed catastrophically, so we were left without the ability to send updates (the shortwave radio doesn’t easily conform to Macs).  Today, I’m going to buy a new, cheap, PC laptop for future communications.  But for now, I have internet access with my trusty MacBook Pro (yay, Apple!)

 

So…since Santa Cruz harbor…we waited out a couple days last week due to large waves/short period (in the 13 foot, 12 second range) and finally left on Thursday morning deciding to go direct to Santa Cruz Island which would be an almost two day trip.  Once out on Monterey Bay, the wind and waves came up and we had a glorious 24 hours of 8-10 foot waves and 18-20 knot winds, both out of the NW.  Truly some great sailing and after a beautiful sunset, a full moon rising over the coast and starlit sky that were stunning.

Captain Ann had her first “solo” night watches and was stellar.  She was enjoying the moon and stars so much she let me sleep a little extra through her watch.

That was the first 24 hours.  The second day, not so fun.  Clouds came in and the wind clocked around (not in the forecast at all) and turned to the SE.  Of course, right smack from the direction we wanted to go and a fairly unusual direction for this time of year.  Our only resort since we’re on a bit of a schedule at this point due to a late departure from Berkeley was to motor-sail, otherwise we would still be out there tacking back and forth.  So motor-sail we did down the coast until Pt. Conception.  About 15 miles off Pt. Conception, I was sound asleep when Ann shouted down from the cockpit that we had run into some fog.  I got up, stuck my head out of the hatch and WOW, we really ran into the fog.  Couldn’t see more than about 50 yards.  Very disconcerting when visibility drops that low.  Turned on the radar changed course 90 degrees to angle back offshore as well as head closer to our destination and we ran for about two hours with Ann driving and me watching the radar for boats and ships.  Not much fun.  In retrospect I really should have done a 180 degree turn and just stayed further offshore.

The other thing about the second half of the trip was the waves.  They changed from a nice downhill ride to something more resembling a vicious carnival ride.  They were such that we were only half joking that we going to rename “Charisma” to “Lurch”.  The NW swell was down a bit to 5-6 feet, but it was colliding directly with a Southerly swell of about 3 feet to produce a confused sea.  You rode down halfway from the top of a nice NW swell then suddenly slammed into the southerly sea and were thrown up in the air and then splashed back down.  Very uncomfortable and we were glad to have our harnesses and tethers firmly attached to the boat.

Anyway, after about 40 hours, half of which was glorious sailing, at 0700 we made it to Forney’s Cove on the NE tip of Santa Cruz Island, about 20 miles off Santa Barbara.  Dropped anchor and quickly went to sleep for about four hours to recharge.  Spent a delightful afternoon anchored, lazing in the sun, enjoying the view of this beautiful cove.  Later in the day, while having dinner in the cockpit, we saw a bald eagle fly right over the boat.

Decided to leave at 1800 for Redondo Beach (as it’s a 14 hour trip), so Ann and I could spend a couple days with her sister Joan and family before making the final push to San Diego another 14 hours!

So, “Charisma” is sitting right now at the King Harbor Yacht Club in Redondo Beach (where we stopped last year on the way North)  Great hospitality from these nice folks!

Heading out now to try and get the new laptop, so we’ll see how that goes.

Sitting at anchor on Santa Cruz Island

Santa Cruz Yacht Club Hospitality!

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We spent another relaxing day doing small projects preparing for our departure from Santa cruz tomorrow morning. It was a gorgeous day filled with a lot of swell (waves) coming into the harbor. Wisely Bob decided we would wait until tomorrow to head to Santa Cruz Island (off Santa Barbara).

I got in another fun run up to the Boardwalk while Bob again did some small projects.

Then we joined friends at the Santa Cruz Yacht Club for a barbecue. Great people. A foreshadowing of the fun people we are yet to meet!

Watched a string of boats go out for a fun Wednesday race. A beautiful sight to see. And again the full moon guided us out to the lighthouse on a lovely evening walk.

Our next leg is a 40 hour overnight – a test of our two-man ability. We will check in with you when we get back to land!

Walking along, strumming a song…

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Today we spent a relaxing, restful day enjoying Santa Cruz.

I started my day with a fun jog around the harbor and out to the lighthouse. I was watching for Ha Ha flags on boats but found none. What I did find was a young guy walking along strumming his guitar. The epitome of Santa Cruz relaxation.

The Captain was not quite so relaxed. He spent his morning doing some the minor items on our list that we had not gotten to before leaving Berkeley. (captains have the tougher jobs).

We are docked next to Gandalf, the boat that Bob races on here in Santa Cruz. One of Gandolph’s owners, Bob Dewitt picked us up for a delicious lunch at a local golf course. And on the way back to the dock he dropped us by The Dollar Store to find a few more items. Great lunch. Thanks for the taxi service, Bob.

We went out to the lighthouse nearing sunset. The lure of a cocktail on the wharf convinced Bob to continue the walk down the beach. We watched the sun set from the restaurant and were thrilled to see a gorgeous full moon that guided us back to the harbor. We spent the whole walk turning back to see the sun’s final kiss goodbye and then turning around to glow in the full moon. Full moons let me know those that are no longer with us will always be watching. So glad they can enjoy this too!

Chance Of Rain

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“Chance?!!”. What do they think chance means? It rained all day! South winds right on the nose and precip with fog meant we were hunkered down in our foul weather gear behind the wheel, motoring our way south. Whereas yesterday we had some glorious sailing, today was diesel day. But, we’re now in Santa Cruz where we’ll stay for a couple days working on finishing some boat projects, seeing friends and waiting for more promising weather.
(P.S. Ann looks hot in her new foulies)

Out The Gate

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Finally! Left today at 0900 with many thanks from our group of “well-wishers” who came (I think they heard my Mom was bringing donuts). Anyway, thank you all for coming.
A great day. Many porpoises joined forces to wish us “bon voyage” as we passed under the Golden Gate Bridge. A foggy start, but as we went under the bridge, the sun and blue sky broke through for a fantastic departure into the Pacific.
Today’s trip was modest. We’re just meandering down the coast. Day tripping so as to get into the swing of cruising without getting thrown into the deep end all at once. So…we are in Half Moon Bay Harbor, anchored outside of the marina proper, but inside the breakwater. Ann’s chopping onions for a sausage/tomato pasta. Pretty nice snugged in here. Tomorrow, Santa Cruz (or thereabouts).
(This post brought to you with the wonder of iPad with 3G service).

Wow, It’s Time…

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What a stressful week, getting ready to go.  It kept being; “one more day” and then “maybe tomorrow…”.  Always one more thing that needed to get done.  Ready to go?  Not quite, the head just clogged.  Two days and ten feet of new hose later; “Uh, I think it’s going to work now”.  So hard to anticipate what you’ll need for a year or more.  The answer; “no-one really knows.  Just go!”

So, with that mantra in mind, we ARE leaving tomorrow (Sunday) morning.  8AM.  Sitting here right now after a nice break having a farewell cocktail with Mom and Dad and daughter Kelly, who also stayed for dinner.  Right now, we’re filling the water tank and doing some final packing.  Actually storing.  We’re finding places we didn’t know existed and stuffing “this and that” into the little cubby-holes.  Ann figured out that there was two inches of room underneath the three drawers in the main cabin floor and bought some low profile cases where we’re storing all kinds of stuff from emergency antibiotics to extra toothpaste.

Well, that’s it for now; we’re exhausted.  We’ll be starting to blog with more frequency once we get out on the “deep blue”, which would be tomorrow.