A short delay on the bay but it's time to go

Laundry day again - Day 25 of 27

So this is the life of a sailor? I could get used to living on nautical time. Priorities change, nothing seems rushed. I bought a couple more books, and some DVD's, and a computer game for my laptop, I went ashore two days ago, and kind of toured the town. There are a lot of curio shops and artsy stores. The inhabitants are friendly, and they speak our language. From the looks of the native huts in this region, I don't think I could afford to live here. And although they accept shiny coins and cards in exchange for trinkets, they seem to insist on gold and platinum...

The boaters are getting restless; some of the bigger cruisers are leaving in the dead of the night. I spoke with a skipper who offered to pilot my boat around Point Conception to Sacramento for $900.00. I have a few extra bucks since I got the news that my radar could not be installed without a Radar Arch back in san Diego. Something I did not realize was that an Arch was required to support a Radar Antenna. I thought that there must be a radar mast, or some way to elevate a single antenna. Truly frustrated, and without any immediate solution I cancelled the radar unit, the TV, and the satellite dish. I'll take care of those issues when I get back. As far as a Pilot is concerned, I think I'll just wait out the weather a little longer and continue solo. Foolish? Adventurous? Only time will tell.

The Harbor Master says that Saturday may be a good day to leave, there is a high pressure front coming in with south and southwesterly winds, which he suspects will flatten down the seas for a few days.

Belay that last, now it looks like tonight’s the night! The Harbor Master says that the winds have changed, and the swells are lying down. There is a flurry of activity around the harbor; I need to get ready.

Hurry up and wash - Day 20 of 25

I'm coming in! I brought two shirts and a pair of long pants and a pair of short pants. I need clean clothes!
I pulled up to a guest dock, took a cab to the Laundromat, I went sight seeing, bought a couple more books, ate dinner, and pick up some more groceries (apparently it's going to be cold cuts for me).

I still have perishables on the boat, but I don't seem to have a stove to cook on. It works just fine with the 110 electric, but the alcohol plunger doesn't build pressure, and I just don't want to mess with it right now.

But wait! I found a barbeque that clamps to the railing on deck, it's BBQ'd steak and corn on the cob tomorrow night! Santa Barbara is pleasant, they have a Club here that has concerts by the bay, and I can hear them quite clearly on my boat. I wish I could find their schedule so I could plan out my evenings better. I stocked my bar with brandy and champaigne, eat your heart out Robin Leach.

The forecast is still pretty grim, the bay is getting considerably full, lots of boats are trying to get to the San Juan Islands for the summer. The Harbor Master said that the beginning of June is when all the boaters head north, and October is when they head south, but the last two years, the weather has not cleared up for boaters until later in June, and early in November.

Well, I could think of worse places to be stuck in.

STILL ALIVE IN SANTA BARBARA

Hurry up and wait... - Day 16 of 21

I pulled into Santa Barbara at 1815 hours last evening, got me a slip for the night at the marina, I think I am going to anchor out tonight and see how that works. The first day of my voyage went without a hitch (whew!) and was pretty exciting to boot. I saw more sea life yesterday than during my entire naval career.

I never realized that there were so many varieties of birds at sea. I saw fishing boats going out and coming in with their great net masts extended out scooping up what I can only imagine to be cans and cans of chunky tuna.

There were many smaller islands in view, dotting the Pacific Coast than just the popularly known Catalina, and San Clemente, and for the most part the coastal shore was clearly visible to the starboard side of my craft, a good sign I was traveling in the right direction.

I saw my first freighter off on the horizon, and negotiated my way around oil derricks off the coast of Santa Barbara, then cut my way through about two miles of oil spill (naughty, naughty somebody) and watched the water turn from calm deep greens, to choppy blue swells, to pearly pale elastic knots of water all around me.

I saw first hand sea mists laying over the water, and blindingly bright reflective mirror seas shining and sparkling and pure (kind of gives you a headache if you stare too long). Memo to self, buy sunglasses at first opportunity.

The word in the harbor is, a low pressure point has lain in and boats are pulling into the bay to wait it out. I may be here a few days. Guess I might as well get comfy and wait her out too.

I see water! Lots and lots of water!

Seaward Ho! - Day 15 of 20




I'm at a Catalina Harbor fueling dock, getting too much gas... 71 gallons! I just topped off yesterday with 40 gallons, and I don't think the kid filled 'er up (at least I’m hoping that’s the case).

I finished outfitting my boat yesterday: food, tools, el Grande first aid kit, and played with the GPS Chart plotter for awhile. I was impressed with the fact that the boat icon showed me in my slip and had "Silver Gate Yacht Club" written next to it on the screen.It's in full color and bright enough to see in full daylight. I feel very confident in the software’s knowledge now.


I took the boat over to the fuel dock, pretty basic stuff, you pull up, a kid meets you and secures the boat and fills her up for you, you never even have to get out of the boat. Mcfuel drive thru’s! But don’t even ask about fuel prices! Just find the highest priced gas pump in town and double it…



From there I went over to the pump out station (to address something special the old owners left for me) and discovered the cap was frozen. So is that how it works? Do you just keep the boat until the sewage tank is full then sell it? So after returning to my slip and pounding on the darn thing for an hour or so with a hammer and a screwdriver, block of wood, pocket knife, coat hanger, and can of crisco to no avail, I ended up removing the entire pipe fixture and replacing it with a shiny new pvc pipe and pretty, rust resistant, stylish $200.00 chromed pump out cap by nightfall. I decide the pump out station would wait for morning.



After a brief breakfast and my morning cup of coffee I ceremoniously began my maiden voyage in grand elegant style by pumping out the boat’s sewage tank (note to self, purchase clothes pin for nose first opportunity), I then departed San Diego Harbor on the first leg of my journey at 0530 hours (that is nautical terminology for O dark thirty).




As the sun came up, I saw dolphins, whales, and a sunfish with an eight-foot fin span sunning itself on the surface. As I watched it approach my bow, I thought man that is a huge chunk of white plastic; I wonder what it came off of...

this is NOT a photo I took, I grabbed for my new Cannon Digital Rebel and snapped away, only to discover that while fidgiting with my new toy, I left the memory cards at my brothers house.




The water was a little choppy, minor two-foot swells, one right after the other. The twin engines seemed to be cruising at 3300 rpm smooth as can be, that engine synchronizer is cool, but once the two motors match harmonies, it seems pretty obvious they are in sync.I am heading for Santa Barbara next, if things go well I should get there between 6 and 7 pm (oops I mean 1800 and 1900 hours).

Land Locked! - Day 13 of 15

Well this has gone smooth...Not!

Coming down from Red Bluff on the Amtrak Hound Express bus (I had visions of snoozing in a sleeper car the whole trip, naïve me!) We were informed in Sacramento, that we would still be transferring to a train, but its departure time was a special secret; not to be divulged to common folk like us who aren’t not quite smart enough to grasp the oh so difficult complexities of intricate choo- choo scheduling. Fortunately the news on the black and white T.V. screen mounted for the pleasure of the Ticket Counter Personnel shed a little light on the subject by announcing the exclusive live breaking commentary on the bursting of a San Francisco Levy, taking out a Railroad bridge, and (Amtrak?) communication lines necessary for Michael to complete his journey...serious danger...lives are at stake... stay tuned for news at eleven!

Well it only took me 23 hours to get to downtown San Diego. No worries getting into the Yacht Club now. In fact when I showed up, there were literally thousands of people milling around, this is the weekend of the locally renowned Wheelchair Regatta! (How apropos) I had to spend the rest of the day fending off the advances of young Marine Corps Cadets trying to escort me onto a boat, any boat for my 'special' ride, and little old women telling me if I want to ride on a boat I have to get in line like all the rest of the special people. I stopped at the front desk, asked for my boat key, and upon receiving it made a mad dash for my slip to hide out for the remainder of the day.
Well after negotiating my way through the herd (I suppose school or bait ball would be a more nautical term) of maritime do-gooders, I flung back the canvas cover from the helm of my precious new boat to take my first peek at... nothing. No holes drilled, no loose wires dangling, no mount brackets, no antennas, no radar, no GPS, no TV!

What a rewarding end to a very grueling day, at least I was grateful to have made it to Shelter Island at all. I set up housekeeping and spent a quiet night alone with my new beauty. I have to say the lull of the harbor with its soft lights and gentle tides makes for some cozy sleepy time.

Yesterday I had a few choice words with Butt-Crack Bruce who, true to form offered up a weak excuse; that when we spoke on the phone his worker was at the Marina to do all the work, but the desk clerk insisted that there was no key for the Grumpy Bear anywhere behind the counter or in the office.

at that point I knew I had Butt-Crack now (ha-ha) and I lashed out over the phone saying that I was in San Diego this very minute. ThatI had been at the Yacht Club a full day and when I walked up to the desk and asked for my key amidst chaos and hundreds of very busy people, that key was immediately dispatched to me without hesitation, thought or any unnecessary search of the surrounding area. Bruce (or BC as his fellow employess call him behind his well proportioned backside) was flummoxed, and stammered a sincere sounding apology and promised to have someone on the boat within the hour. I told him there was no need to pick up a key, that I would personally escort the gent to my boat.

As I was waiting for the service guy to approach me, I contemplated the type of service I would now likely receive. A clerk was opening up the small office behind the reception desk and setting up for business. She smiled at me and said "You're Michael aren't you? the guy that bought Grumpy Bear. I thought so, look I am really sorry about that serviceman the other day, you know we always keep our keys on the bulletin board, I never thought to look in the desk drawer. We tried to get the gentleman back, but it was too late..."

I thought to myself, I wonder how far out of the harbor will I get before my boat begins to sink...

The repair guy shows up.

A rhetorical question: Can Billy Gibbons be reincarnated if he isn’t even dead yet? I swear the installation guy was the spitting image of ZZ Top's Lead Singer just as he looked in say 1970. A real flashback for me, lol. He even had a southern Texas drawl. (do you think maybe ol' Gib's left a few illegitimates scattered around the countryside?)

As it turned out the serviceman was quite congenial, happy and easy going, perhaps too happy; he just might be a bit of a man’s man, batting for the other team if you know what i mean (I don't know why I say that, maybe it was the pink and yellow deck shoes). And I am certain he did not sabotage anything 'cause I watched him from a safe distance like a hawk during the entire installation procedure. All went well and we held a amenable cordiality. He even invited me out to a BBQ dinner as he was finishing up to which I politely declined as it totally creeped me out. Also I had a lot of preparation ahead of me to outfit my boat for the big cruise.

Another day or two and I’m out of here.