Catamaran "Meerkat"

Solar Panels In!

2011-11-25T09:10:00.000-08:00

"Meerkat" finally looks a bit more like a cruising boat!
Except for the fact she is spiderwebbed to the dock...
Solar panels ~ click here for a photo!

Kentucky Bourbon Trail

2011-10-23T10:01:00.000-07:00

Ok, this was not really a "hey, let's go on vacation to the Kentucky Bourbon Trail" idea, it was a perfect excuse to get together with several of our friends from our old C-Dock days and our 1997-2000 Mexico cruising days.
Kirby.
Suzie.
Ray.
Lucy.
Mollie.
Flat Stevie.
Tales, tastings and tour here.

Doggie!!!

2011-09-15T16:25:00.000-07:00

We have a new addition to the cat.
A dog.
Click here for new blog.

We also went to the islands and South Carolina and North Carolina and Tennesse ~~aaaaggggh avoid Pigeon Forge~~ and Kentucky.
Then back.
And had to deal with Hurricane Irene.

New blog has it all!
Well not really, but has some of it.

I Love The Ventura County Fair!

2011-08-06T09:49:00.001-07:00

Really I do.
I said it here.

Islas ~ Photos Even!

2011-08-01T17:09:00.000-07:00

YAY!
PHOTOS!
PHOTOS OF ISLANDS!
here.

Finally Photos for the 4th

2011-07-21T17:42:00.000-07:00

Finally.
Photos!
Fourth of July Photos!
On the new blog.

Wasted Days and Wasted Nights Hours

2011-07-19T19:36:00.000-07:00

So off to blogland I went.
To start the new blog.
Judith won!
Sort of...
I tried Catamaran Meerkat Dos and to keep a long ~~stupid, boring, frusterating~~ story short, dumped that blog.
Went back to one I had apparently started ~~in a drunken stupor~~ one night and forgot.
Changed that.
Changed this.
Blah, blah, blah.
And came up with Catamaran Meerkat Again!
First frustating post... HERE.

Full

2011-07-10T08:49:00.001-07:00

The blog is full.
No more photo room.
Full of ~~a bunch of crap~~ memories, trips, friends and laughter.
Off to start a new one.

Off To Prisoners!

2011-07-01T16:14:00.000-07:00

Three day weekend ~ Yay!
Unfortunately we couldn't head out this afternoon, but will leave first thing tomorrow morning.
Or as soon as our friends arrive...
Off to Prisoners Harbor with ~~876,349~~ lots of other boats!

Kayaking ~ Yay!
~~Toe rail to toe rail boats ~ Yay!~~
Hiking ~ Yay!
~~Anchor drills ~ Yay!~~
Loads of friends on their boats out there ~ Yay!
~~Loads of friends on their boats out there ~ Yay!~~
Food & wine ~ Yay!
~~Lots of radio chatter ~ Yay!~~
Fishing ~ Yay!
~~Other fishermen ~ Yay!~~
Fun ~ Yay!

Yellowbanks!

2011-06-30T07:56:00.000-07:00

Yes, we untied the boat.
Yes, we motored on out to the islands.
Yes, we even put the anchor down.

Here is where the "a picture is worth a thousand words comes in":
~~And here is where I steal Doug's color altered photos instead of putting my less than exciting pics up...~~

There.
Just saved myself from 4000 gifts of gab.
And you from having to read my drivel.

Prisoner's this weekend!

Finally on The Water!

2011-06-20T07:51:00.000-07:00

This "winter" or "wind season" as I am now going to call it, seems to have finally broke.
Yay!
Now it's June Gloom.
Fog.
Gray.
Dreary.
And drippy.
But I will take it over 30+ knots of wind.

So a day sail was in order.
But let's do it on someone else's boat.
You know, one that is easier to rig and actually un-tie from a dock?
HA!
First you have to talk your friends into driving several hours to bring the boat.
Then step the mast and rig it.
Susan and I managed to sneak away and let the guys to this...
Then put it in the water.
Once again we snuck away!
Then remember how the running back stays are supposed to be rigged.
I was there for this, but Susan...?

Then sail.

And watch our friends sail by.

And smile.

Something's Missing in California

2011-06-03T17:08:00.000-07:00

Or in my life.
A fulfilling job?
A full bank account?
Friends on the dock other than a gillnetter, squid light boat owner, Vessel Assist?
People who make sense?
Or Nun Booze.

I think it's just the Nun Booze.
Or a bad Friday.

Memorial Day ~ Typical

2011-06-01T07:34:00.000-07:00

Well, it's notoriously windy here in the Santa Barbara Channel on Memorial Day Weekend.
Gale warning the entire weekend.
20-25, gusts to 30.
25-30, gusts to 40.
So no island trip this year.
Instead?
A crazy ride on Vessel Assist's black inflatable on Friday afternoon.
Going 35 knots in the slop coming in from the 30+ on the outside.
AIRBORN!
Yikes!
Donuts!
Yikes!
Flying off of the waves!
Yikes!
AIRBORN AGAIN!
Yikes!
Heart pumping...
Ok, enough of that.
On to the rest of the weekend.
Wind. Wind. Wind. Wine. Dinner. Wind. Wind. Wind. Wind. Wind. Wind. Wind. Wind. Cleaning. Wind. Wind. Wind. Wind. Wind. Movie. Wind. Wind. Wind. Wind. Wind. Wine. G-Dock Party. Yacht Club Friends. Wine. Wind. Wind. Wind. Wind. Wind.Wind. Wind. Wind. Wind. Wind. Wine. Wind. Wind. End.

Haul-Out

2011-05-22T12:16:00.000-07:00

Days:
Too many.

Used:
6 gallons of bottom paint.
A bunch of prep & repair materials.

Had done / Jim did (remember, I did nada):
Fiberglassed over a bunch (Jim would know the exact number) of through hulls.
Bottom sanded & painted with anti-fouling paint.
Repaired t-bone hole on starboard side.
Repaired tsunami crunch on port side.
Buffed hullsides.
Removed scum line from just above the waterline.
New strainer for generator & watermaker intake.
Removed old toilet plumbing because... we now have one and soon to be two composting heads (more on this later, but in meantime, check out Nature's Heads).
Uh, what else?
Not sure, but it was a lot.

We provided:
Money into the somewhat sluggish boatyard economy.
Money into the local hotel and restaurant businesses.
Rain shelter for golf carts.

Floating!

2011-05-20T07:43:00.000-07:00

Yes, we are back in the water!
Yes, our damages were repaired!
Yes, new bottom paint!
Yes, through hulls glassed over!
And on, and on, and on...

Then: Time to put the dirty boat back together!
2.5 million tools tossed about.
Dirt everywhere.
We are halfway there...

But first...
Time to celebrate our 16th anniversary!

Further Interruption

2011-05-09T19:39:00.000-07:00

Complete and utter interruption.
Full-on life interruption!
Tomorrow we do this:

"Meerkat" goes to the spa.
Gets her damages fixed.
A bit of a face-lift.
A bunch of bottom paint.
A huge amount of cash out-flow.

Another Commercial Break

2011-05-07T10:48:00.000-07:00

Once again, time to interrupt this ~~boring, tedious, too long with too many pictures and details~~ re-cap of vacation heaven for something.
No rescues at sea this time.
Well, except for Ed getting airlifted off of "Blue Max" a few weeks ago, but really we aren't going to talk about that!
This time it's a commercial!
"Thistle" is for sale again!

I'm sorry, but did I read that price right?
WHAT?
I did?
Holy crap.
I'm very curious as to what he did with the boat.
Did he rip out the interior and re-do it?
Install a new engine?
New mainsail?
Replace the countertops?
New cushions and mattresses?
He better not have taken out that table Ron Whately made us... grrrrrrrrrrr.
Install 24k gold faucets?
What?
Really, what?

And on to Arenal!

2011-05-07T10:31:00.000-07:00

Well the boots on the fan trick worked.
I was able to put dry boots on to protect my sprained ankle.
Yay for Jim's creativity.
And now off to Arenal!
Volcano #2 on the list.

A wise decision was to drive down the hill to the highway and avoid as many sharp pointy gravel roads as possible.
Remember, we had no spare tire...
~~Or any good tires for that matter.~~

Stopped at Cafe Macadamia and Lucky Bug for snacks and shopping.
And bird viewing.
~~And internet.~~

And then the huge disappointment of the trip...
Our favorite gift shop from our prior time in CR, Toad Hall was boarded up and closed!
With squatters squatting in the breezeway.
Ugh.

Still raining with no signs of it letting up, so selected a hotel based upon it's 14 thermal pools.
Arenal Paraiso Hotel & Resort!
What else are you going to do in the rain?
Sit in thermal pools!
Oh yay.
Works for me.

But first ~ supplies, shopping and lunch!
It to La Fortuna for all of the above, including this feast.

Ok, food!
Beer!
Wine!
Snacks!
Giant bugs!

Giant bugs?
Aaaaggghhhh back to the foo foo hotel.
With the incredible thermal pools.
Flowers.
Rooms.
Beautiful ceilings.
Did I mention the thermal pools?
Laundry service.
And a sloth in a tree!

Rain Tenorio National Park Hiking

2011-05-03T18:24:00.000-07:00

So our plan was to get to Tenorio Park really early to beat the crowds on the trails.
Ah ha ha ha ha.
Ha.
It was pouring rain.
What crowds?
Plus we had to drive an hour on what was now the worst gravel, sharp rock, pot-hole filled road to date.
Up, up, rocks, stream, bridge, up, rocks and more rocks.
Finally up to the park.
And we were the first ones.
Actually, I don't even think they were open yet.

A basic, hand drawn map of the park was handed out.
Weird things in jars were on display.

And off we went hiking in the rain.
Me, looking quite like Big Bird...
I had a backpack on and a jacket tied around my waist with a yellow rain poncho over the entire ensemble.
Good thing there were no crowds...

Back to the rain.

In fact, it would probably be better to describe this day in the exact words in my travel log:

Good trail, bad, trail, rocks, puddles, slippery mud, squishy mud, gooey mud, boards to walk across, stepping stones, no stepping stones, rain coming down, I look like a flippin idiot (or Big Bird), up, down, rocks, roots, hanging bridge, not blue rio :( too much rain? More rain, two logs to walk across, luckily with a cable to hold onto, more squishy mud, now all of our shoes are covered in mud and our socks are soaked, I'm done! Crap it's pouring, not hot spings, this is crazy and we really need to get back across the river and here come all the other hikers - have at it! Beautiful waterfall, but good lord the steps going down, half way down and yes, this time I am really done! But wait, we still have a kilometer to go! AAAGGGGGHHHHH!

Funny on how the way up the trail we were so careful to not step in the giant puddles and squishy mud.
Ha.
On the way down?

Who cared...

We had to wash our shoes at a spigot.

Wet squishy socks and hiking boots.
Mud everywhere.
Ugh.
Beer.
And back down the gravel road from hell, singing "We are the Champions" at the top of our voices accompanied by Queen.

Thanks for the theme song for the day Freddie and friends!

More rain.
Hora feliz.
Cheese.
Crackers.
That pate shit in a tube.
More rain.

Had to take everything out of Jim's wallet / money belt and lay out to dry.

Had to hang my boots on the fan overnight.

An adventure in paradise.

Heliconias Lodge at Bijuaga & Cabinas Miravalles

2011-05-01T09:29:00.000-07:00

Bijuaga is off the beaten path.
Tenorio is off the beaten path.
Rain however finds this unbeaten path.
First stop ~ small hotel full.
Next stop, oh wait, let's talk about the road.
It was a beaten path.
Worst road yet.
Gravel with giant rocks.
Sharp, pointy rocks.
Pot holes.
Pot holes filled with sharp, pointy rocks.
Remember, we are down to four ~~decent~~ piece of crap street tires.

Since this area is off the beaten path, my extensive internet research found all of three places to stay.
Remember, the first one was full.
The third one had no beer or wine.
~~Cross that one off.~~
So the second one it had to be.
So dealt with the ~~beaten path~~ road and was rewarded!
The Heliconias Lodge!
And luckily it had two rooms.
Two awesome rooms!

With incredible decks!
Rocking chairs!
Views of Miravalles Volcano and Lake Nicaragua!
And king size comfortable beds!

Beers, wine, juice (Susan), crackers, bread and Monteverde cheese on our deck.
For some reason our room always becomes the party room... why is that?
Enjoyed the breeze, view and our music.

Made fun of the birders.

Hey, we found a walking stick on our deck!
What else were we supposed to do with it?

Decent dinner.
A float in a luke-warm jacuzzi tub.
Awesome sleep.
Woke up to the sounds of howler monkeys in the distance.
Lots of howler monkeys!
Howling for a long time!
Great breakfast.
Decent internet.
And a great hike!
Ferns, vines, birds, heart shaped leaves, different fauna, capuchin monkeys skittering across the tree tops, strangler figs.

Giant strangler figs!

Unfortunately Heliconias only had the two rooms for the one night, but the awesome staff member, Jorge had (after a lot of phone calls) arranged for our next stop!

So back down the gravel road from hell (hey, it was ok, we did NOT want to drive back up this thing!) to Cabinas Miravalles.

Over priced, but okay.
Good view of Miravalles!

Nice dogs visiting us.
Hot and steamy afternoon and California was supposed to be getting the cold, wet, snow-filled storm of the century ~ snow down to 500-1000 feet and we were pouring sweat.
~~HA HA HA HA HA!!!~~

To the awesome pizza place right around the corner for lunch, beers and a dice tournament.
To the equally awesome tienda for supplies.
Drinks on our patio and then the rain started.
More dog visiting.
More rain.
Back to the pizza place for great pizzas!
More rain overnight.
All good.

Off To Tenorio ~ Drive Day

2011-04-23T09:14:00.000-07:00

Tenorio National Park ~ the one that no one's heard of.
Not in the guidebooks.
Not really on the map.
However, the map is how I found it.
In researching our trip, I wanted to find three or four inland areas to explore.
Inland areas that were not too far apart.
Ones that conveniently divided the driving into four non-strenuous days.
Okay, we had Monteverde, had Arenal, Poas... what else is around...?
Tenorio Volcano National Park!
Where the aqua blue Rio Celeste is!

So up, adios to Monteverde and Carlos and the monkeys at The Quetzal Inn.
Up the hill to the "not the highway" gravel road.
A stop at Don Juan Coffee Tour to buy green coffee beans and who is that in the info booth?
The long haired frog tour guy!
That's two times in Monteverde we ran into people we had met before!
I love how my small world encompasses other countries...

Back onto the gravel road for miles.
And miles.
And miles.
To Dos de Tilaran where on my, what's this?
A paved road!
With a line down the center!

Then to Tilaran.
Fuel (that was fun).
And on to the South side of Lake Arenal!
Where the Longhorn Bar and Grille is conveniently located.
Not open yet, but the owners were happy to sell the boys some Costa Rica microbrews!
And I got to pet the puppy with the largest feet in the world...

So we were all happy!

But not as happy as we were when we got to drink real microbrew beer at The Tilawa Hotel and Microbrewery.

Jim was really happy.
Susan was happy watching us.
Lots of dirty barefeet.
Dreadlocks.
Hippie chick clothes.
"Dude!"
"Cool!"
and hand rolled cigarettes...
And why was this?
Costa Rica's version of Burning Man was to be at Tilawa in a couple of days.
Lots of "Dude's you sticking around?"
"Uh no".

Back on gravel roads.
Past the huge wind generators.

Past a billion baby cows.
Horses.
More baby cows.
Moo.
And finally on the paved road to Bijuaga!
Next stop ~ the small town of Bijuaga, rain and Tenorio National Park.

And Now for the "Scare the Crap Out of Ourselves" Part of "Scare the Crap Out of Ourselves Day"

2011-04-09T17:40:00.000-07:00

It's called "The Tarzan Swing".
The finale of the Selvatura Zipline tour.
Yeehaw.
A little lightheaded wobbley walk from the last zipline around a few bends, over a hanging bridge to the sounds of screams.
Yes, screams.
Just follow the screams, yells and hysterical laughter and it will lead you to the Selvatura ~~Torture~~ Tarzan Swing.

Oh yay, more stairs up to a rather tall platform.
Where they double hook each person to a couple of lines hanging from something.
Something up above.
In my extreme case of fear, I don't know that I looked up at it.
I was watching the backs of the people crammed on the stairs inches in front of me.
And hearing those screams...
By this time there was a stack of people behind me.
No place to escape to.
Sort of like being in the middle of an elevator.
So up the rest of the stairs to the elevator like platform where we were pushing to be last.

Yeah, let's let Alan go first!
Then let's send Jim!
Then Susan!
And by that time, possibly I will have been able to climb down the side of the platform and get the hell out of doing this.
And no one will notice I didn't do it.

So off Alan went.
Laughing.
I can't remember the noise Jim made.
But Susan?
Susan who never says the words "Oh My Gawd" (only "oh my word")?
Here, listen for yourself:

Yep, it was "ooooohhhhhh mmmmmyyyyyyy gggggggggg".
Then "Ok, I did my scary thing for the day".
If you can hear that over my hysterical laughter.
Remember, I hadn't gone yet.

Selvatura ~ Either "Really Good Timing!" or "Scare the Crap Out of Ourselves Day"

2011-04-09T09:49:00.000-07:00

Read the guidebooks!
They ALL say "No trip to Costa Rica is complete unless you do a zipline tour!"
Really, they all say this.
Or the one I have does.
I think you could fly to Costa Rica and fly back and your trip would be complete... but your fun and experience would not.

Anyway, after reading (but apparently not the fine priint) the brochures we headed up the hill to Selvatura.
A complete adventure park!
Hanging bridges!
Butterfly garden!
Frogs!
Ziplines!
~~Every way to empty your money belt of colones!~~
Gift shop!
Insects!
Nature walks!
We wanted the ziplines.
Ziplines only, even though they wanted us to buy more.
We got there just in time to be added to a tour.
A "tour"?
You mean there were specific times a day?
Only three?
Oops - got lucky and walked right into it.

Alan, Jim and I had done this when we were here four years ago.
It was the four of us and three zipline dudes.
Two to assist and one to take pics.
This time it was 40 of us and 8 or 9 interchangable tour dudes.
Completely different experience.

We sent Alan first to show Susan the ~~ropes~~ ziplines.

Fifteen ziplines.
Lots of laughter.
A couple people got stuck.
One lady had to have a tour guy go with her.
Scared, really?
I think she thought he was cute.
Kids laughing.
Everyone smiling.

Gross sweaty gloves.
Up hills.
Up steps.
Zzzzzzzzzziiiiinnnnnggggg sounds as people flew across the canopy.
Me with a totally smelly, sweaty (and not my smell or sweat) helmet.
And then the big, long ones.
The last couple lines were really, really long.
Especially the last one.
It was really, really, really, really, long.
Maybe one more really.
So long, they send you tandem.

Probably for a few reasons.
So you can't spin!
Which can be way dangerous (ask Jim how close he came to trees...)
So you don't get stuck in the middle and have to be rescued (ask Alan and Susan who didn't quite make it to the platform)
Time-wise to get all these tourists across and it doesn't take the entire day.
So you have backup to see the landing platform when your eyes are tearing from the wind (ask me who's legs were being blown sideways from the wind).
So you have backup to see the landing platform when you are laughing so hard you are crying (ask me about this too).

So when the guidebooks tell you "No trip to Costa Rica is complete unless you do a zipline tour!", I think they are pretty much right on.

Santa Elena Fun

2011-04-08T21:19:00.000-07:00

Santa Elena and Monteverde are basically the same thing.
At the top of a really long, nasty, skinny gravel road.
Santa Elena is the town (all 2 blocks of it) to the North / NorthWest - eh some direction.
And Monteverde is really the area.
And the cool reserve with huge leaves and trees.
Santa Elena has a grocery store!
With wine!
Fresh bread!
Monteverde Cheese Factory Cheese!
Beer!
Snickers Bars!
And all of this in walking distance from the hotel!
Oh and an ice chest!
Ice too!
Needless to say we went into the grocery store a few times.
Once I even heard someone yell out "Heather".
Figured I was hearing things.
Jim said, "Yeah, you think you heard your name and know someone here".
So I looked around and there was Freddy from The Sloth Sanctuary waving.
At me.
HA!

Uh, what else.
Got the tire changed for...
Get this ~ $1.50 US!
Yes, one dollar and fifty cents. Did I mention that I really love Costa Rica?

Enjoyed killer dinners at El Marquez and Restaurant El Sabor.
Yum!

Enjoyed the butterfly gardens!

The flowers!

Absolutely beautiful!

We enjoyed the monkey show outside our breakfast room.

But didn't really enjoy the monkey show on top of our roof at 3 am...

Critters skittering around.
Dropping things.
~~Laughing at the humans below.~~
Dropping more things.
Skittering some more.
Roosters crowing.

And we enjoyed our makeshift bar...

Monteverde Leaf Cutter Ants

2011-04-08T20:31:00.000-07:00

I just love these guys.

And girls.

I am sure there are girls amongst the guys.

Or one would hope...

They just don't stop.
Back and forth, back and forth.
The back ones bumping into the forth ones.
Sometimes the trails go on for an incredibly long ~~time~~ way ~~whatever~~.
The trails can be indented into the hills and trails by inches.
Usually we would spot the trail before we would see the ants.
It's amazing to see how large a piece of leaf some of them can carry.
And the ant hills!
Holy crap ~ they are huge!

Night Hike and Sloth Sanctuary!

2011-03-31T17:35:00.000-07:00

And now back to our ~~regularly scheduled crap~~ how we spent my birthday vacation in 20 billion words or less.

After our somewhat unexpected strenuous hike around the Monteverde Reserve, we "had" to stop at the Monteverde Cheese Factory.
"Had" to for their milk shakes and wonderful cheeses.
Sharp cheddars and goudas ~ perfect for hora felizes!

So back to Hotel El Bosque for naps, cold showers (the neglected to tell us they turn the hot water heaters off in the afternoons...) and their Night Hike!
With flashlights in hand, a guide and 4 other hikers off we went into the dusk on yet another trail...
With calves hurting...
More up, down, up, down.
It was great!
We saw agouti, coatimundi, raccoons, grasshoppers and other insects, a tarantula the size of a small volkswagen and the best part:
Hundreds of lightning bugs!
Then a sprint across the road to Cafe Cabure.
YUM!
We all had great meals ~ mine was chicken satay with an incredible house salad.

As Alan and Susan like to say:
It just keeps getting better and better!
And the next day it did!

Next stop, The Sloth Sanctuary of Monteverde.

No words can describe how wonderful this place was, but I will try anyway!
First of all, we found the Sloth Sanctuary by accident.
Just by driving by on the way to the Monteverde Biological Reserve.
Hmmmm... that place looks interesting!
And it was more than interesting.
It was amazing.
Incredible.
Over-the-top.
Better than better.
Instead of writing all about it and what we learned, learn for yourself here.

Cutest.
Faces.
Ever.

And then we came out to this:

Really, street tires on a rental car in Costa Rica just do not work.

We Interrupt the Costa Rica Re-Cap for: "A Question of Sanity Balance" Update...

2011-03-23T15:58:00.000-07:00

They say the third time is the charm.
I think it's really the fourth time.

First Time:
The loss of his boat "Gloria Jean" on the Oregon Coast.

Second time:
Uh, sorry no link, just heard through the small world grapevine, Dr. Phil on "A Question of ~~Sanity~~ Balance" was towed into and assisted onto a mooring ball at Catalina.

Third time:
Refer back to prior post...
Assisted by Vessel Assist then towed into San Diego by the US Coast Guard.

Fourth time:
Rescued by the US Coast Guard somewhere off the Coast of Ensenada on his way to The Marquesas...
Torn headsail.
Both dinghies gone.
Amazingly enough the bicycle was still on board!
Dr. Phil and his dirty terrier, Nellie were out there when the rain and windstorm of the year came through.
We experienced 35-40 knot winds in the harbor.
I can only imagine what he experienced out there.
No food.
No water.
No survival gear, other than his ham radio.
San Diego Newspaper with Coast Guard video.
LA Times update.

But the best I found online?
The one that made me laugh outloud?
This post from a cruiser forum:

Hmmmm...
Let's take a closer look at that.Now let's take a look at a another prior post of mine.

In fact, I will make it really easy for you all.

Here is what I (ME!) typed:
Monday, January 17, 2011
"A Question of Sanity Balance" on her way...
Too bad we didn't put a "Spot" on this old man's boat.
Sure would be interesting to see how far he gets.
Where he ends up.
I believe he put his last boat up on the beach somewhere up North.First of all a giant THANK YOU to our friends ex-dock mates for sticking us with this old, dirty, deaf, grumpy man.
The people who used to own "A Question of Balance" had the boat on the market for years.
When they finally find a buyer, it happens to be this old, dirty, deaf, grumpy man.
No marina wanted him.
Boat is too small for a livaboard.
Boat has an alcohol stove.
So when the friend ex-dock mate threw a childlike fit in our office and parking lot, we buckled and gave the old, dirty, deaf, grumpy man 60 days to get his boat ocean-crossing ready.
60 days because "he's sailing to the Marquesas"...
Which turned into 90 days.
90 days of daily phone calls.
90 days of ordering and receiving packages and mail.
90 days of assisting, repeating, repeating even more loudly, yelling, repeating again, muttering not even under our breaths.
90 days of "good lord how can we get rid of him".
90 days of inappropriate comments, questions and conversations with him.

The conversation on Friday:
How do the sails look?
I don't know I've never put them up.
Why don't you do a little shake down cruise and head down to Channel Islands Harbor ~ it's only 5 or 6 miles down the beach.
What?
Why don't you do a little shake down cruise and head down to Channel Islands Harbor ~ it's only 5 or 6 miles down the beach.
Where's that?
Do you have charts?
What?

Sorry, Dr. Phil, but if you would just put your hearing aids in, I think this 90 days of you driving us crazy could have been avoided.

Showers and laundering your clothes would have been good too.Off to the Marquesas...
Or quite possibly Channel Islands Harbor.
Well, wherever he ends up we wish the marina staff patience.
Patience, the ability to repeat everything said, a lack of sense of smell and another boat scheduled for that slip in a few days.
We wish Dr. Phil clean clothes.
Success in getting somewhere.
We wish his dog would get a bath.
And that he remembers to put in his hearing aids.

Here is photo I (ME!) included:
Let's look at that cruiser forum post again, just to make sure:

Anyone other than me see a few correlations here?

Monteverde Cloud Forest!

2011-03-21T19:30:00.000-07:00

A place on my bucket list!
Different than a rain forest...
A cloud forest!
And we were there...

Lush.
Epiphytes.
Trees.
Ferns.
Bromeliads.
Quiet.
Moss.
Orchids.
Vines.
Mud.
Trails.
Birds.
Steps.

Overgrown.

Strangler figs.
Tree roots.
Leaf cutter ants.
Fallen trees cut into stepping stones.Wet.
Views.The Continental Divide.

Waterfall.
Stunning.
Amazing.
Breath-taking.

3.37 miles of up, down, up, down, up, down.
And around.

This is where we missed seeing a Resplendent Quetzal by 5 minutes...

And across the street, this critter, a kinkajou stealing the hummingbird juice out of the feeders.

Completely entertaining!

The Road to Monteverde

2011-03-20T10:36:00.000-07:00

We still had that jet-lag red-eye omg we are on vacation tiredness thing going on, but forced ourselves up and down to the breakfast buffet between 6:30 and 7:00 am.
Hey, we can sleep after vacation, right?
Somehow squished all of our bags, humans and gear into the "Gutless Wonder" aka "Hyundai Tuscon with street tires" and headed down highway.
After we found the highway...

Costa Rican Highway: Two lane road, often without a painted line down the middle

Stopped for supplies and yay, Costa Rican grocery stores not only take plastic, but have wonderful, clean and key word "working" toilets!

This is where the iPhones and Galileo app came into being our "new favorite tool".
Our paper maps were so minimal they didn't even list the town where the turnoff to the road to Monteverde was.
The Galileo app that the wonderful, smart, handy Jim had downloaded along with the maps for areas we were going to, actually showed all of the tiny dirt roads, the towns and even us ~ the blue dot!
This kept us for getting lost more times than I would care to admit.

Ok, road to Monteverde!
Seriously.
Gravel.
Rocks.
Potholes.And bicyclists.

Incredible views of the dryer lowlands and the Nicoya Peninsula.The hotel research we did paid off as well.
What we were going for:
Quiet, towards Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, internet, reasonable.
Hotel El Bosque.

Nothing fancy, but breakfast included, hiking trails, nice staff, night hike on property, incredible flowers and critters.Loved the sidewalks...A geez (nap) for Alan.

Susan, Jim and I headed off for a hike in the Children's Eternal Rainforest, where we did the Bajo de Tigre Trail ~ a one mile, self-guided hike.
Where we had a dog for the day...
But dogs aren't allowed.
Oops...
Had a dog from the Monteverde Cheese Factory decide we looked like suckers.
He followed us to the reserve, where he got tied up with yarn (yes yarn... like that's going to work) by the reserve guy.
Dog chewed through yarn, found us in the reserve, got dragged back up the trail by Jim and then got double tied with yarn.
Luckily followed some other ~~suckers~~ tourists out.

We enjoyed the hike.
Alan enjoyed his geez.
And then we all enjoyed hora feliz on our patio.

Next ~ dinner at Tramonti.
My oven baked pizza was great ~ rest of the dinners, eh just ok.
Fun walk back at night, with one flashlight.
To bed...

Costa Rica #1 - Alajuela to Monteverde! Uh, No, I Take That Back. LAX to Alajuela!

2011-03-17T20:24:00.000-07:00

As usual, SoCal had rain the day we left.
It seems everytime we head out or are returning from vacation it's raining.
Storming.
Pouring.
Floods threatening.
It's okay when we leave, but not so good when we are returning.
So we left ~~about 100~~ several hours before our flight in attempts to get ahead of the ~~storm of the century~~ possible chance of mudslides on PCH.
All good, except what the hell do we do at LAX for the next 9 hours?
Really, I think it was nine hours.
We are considering this day to be "The Day we Lived at LAX".

Ok, I have officially changed the post title to "LAX to Alajuela".

Finally a chance to go sit in that round restaurant / bar thing my brother told me about years ago!YAY!

Drinks, rain, more rain, watching jets take off East instead of West!!Which if you know LAX, that is rare.

More rain, then drag our bags back across the road to finally check in eons later.
Got lucky and some poor soul from Taca took pity on the drowned, wet, slightly buzzed gringos dragging their bags through puddles and around abandoned luggage carts, through the cow going to the slaughter house lines a half hour before they were officially open.
YAY!
No more dragging bags.

Up to some other restaurant for dinner and more drinks.
~~Which we needed like a hole in our heads.~~

Hurry up and burn up those last of those nine hours.
Watch and listen to a sobbing bride and frantic new husband who missed their honeymoon flight to Tahiti.
Ugh.

Red Eye!
Yuk.

Arrival in Alajuela, Costa Rica at who know's what time feeling like CRAP!

Rental car ~ oh gee, this looks nice (big mistake ~ don't go for looks, go for TIRES in Costa Rica!) and off to Hotel Brilla Sol.
Which we found by complete luck.
Luck and really good navigation on my part.

All good.
Beers.
Lunch.
Naps.
And a visit from 4-P.A.C.K. !!
Our friends from G-dock way back and Mexico, who are now living outside of San Jose.Andrea, Casey, Jim, Karl and Patrick.
(Jim is not part of the PACK - that is for Patrick, Andrea, Casey & Karl)...

Way fun to catch up!
Hugs, stories, a dip in the pool and a walk up the street to a Soda for dinner.
Another big mistake.
Note to self: Wear real shoes while walking in Costa Rica.
Sprained my ankle on the way...
Ouch.
And remember, this was going to be a HIKING vacation!
Dinner, hugs goodbye, ice on ankle and wine...

Wait, something is missing...?

ALAN AND SUSAN!
Our traveling partners!
Plane late, shuttle arrived, more hugs, more plans, more wine, more ice on ankle.
To bed.

The Whole Tsunami Story ~ Fun at Tsea

2011-03-15T20:51:00.000-07:00

So first of all, thanks to Nancy in Texas for calling us at 5:30 am on Friday!
And for me for figuring out it was the phone making that racket instead of the alarm clock...
I usually leave my phone in the main salon to charge overnight.
New Rule #1: My phone sleeps with us now!

Ok, so after I figured out what the hell she was talking about, up we were.
Me down the dock to wake our liveaboard tenants.
Jim to start engines and un-spiderweb us from the dock.
A few neighbors followed us out of the harbor ~ Stan actually beat us out of the harbor!
Out to deep water.

1st question to each other: How far out are we supposed to go?
And why is it so bloody lumpy and crappy out here?
Oh, that was the second question.
Our 1st question was being answered when we started having poor cell reception.
Obviously, this was far enough.

We hovered and wallowed.
Watched other boats come out and hover and wallow near us.
Including the National Park Service Boat (who were probably tearing their docks up when the surges started!).
We were getting continual updates via phone calls, vhf transmissions and yes, facebook.
Yep, facebook.

Andy and Anchors Way were posting updates as to surges, times, situations and speculations.
After hours of hovering and wallowing and watching Stan and other boats roll like pigs, we had pretty much had enough.
How long can we stay out here hovering ~ all night?
Hmmm... How much diesel do we have?
New Rule #2: Full fuel tanks.
How much beer do we have?
New Rule #3: Full on back up of all hops products.
What about coffee beans?
Rest of the New Rules:
Back to having cruising provisions on-board.
No wineglasses or shotglasses left on counter ovenight.
Locked cabinets.
Full water tanks.
And all the rest of that crap we have gotten so complacent about.

Time to go in, right?
I mean I was an expert ~ I had watched the Chilean tsunami 13 months before.
It should be dying down now.
Let's go in!

Got many different opinions, some from phones, some from the dreaded facebook and the one that counted, was the Harbor Patrol via vhf.
Ok, we will pick them.
They win!

Amazingly enough the surges, swirling and craziness had not calmed down, but had worsened.
Ugh.

We finally got the "ok" to come in the entrance by the Harborales, however not the "ok" to return to our slip.
The awesome Harbor Patrol had arranged for a guest slip further inside the harbor, where we should be much safer.
Less surge.
Less craziness.
They escorted us in, showed us the dock, grabbed our docklines and even gave us a dock key.
The Harborales rock!

So less surge, right?

Actually yes, but still had that sense of craziness.

Again, me being the expert:
"Hey, the Chilean one was gone by now ~ let's hit The Village for celebratory drinks and dinner!"
All good until 1:00 am.

HIGH TIDE.
Not all good.
The surging, rushing, forceful water woke us up and once again we flew out of bed.
The water was rising incredibly fast.
And high.
High enough for us to believe the docks could feasibly float off of the pilings.
We had both engines on, running lights on and two of four docklines off.
Jim had knife in hand for the others while I was wiping the dew off of isenglass.
Wiping and mumbling over and over: "Please stop, please stop, please stop".
The water was now touching the bottoms of the piling caps.
Frightening.
Absolutely frightening.
Then it stopped.
The ebb started.
Huge, unbelievable relief.
Back to bed.
Only for it to happen again at 5:00 am, but with a much lower tide.
And then again at 8:00 am.
And about every two hours after that.
All day long.

The harbor was closed, so we stayed put until Sunday morning.
When I think the harbor was still closed, but we returned to our slip anyway.
Big mistake...
Remember, we are parked at the narrowest part of the harbor entrance.
Neighbors came in, lost control in the surge and went backwards at about 4 knots hitting our boat and another.
More ugh.
The sound was horrifying.
For the second time in the course of the weekend I thought we were going to lose our boat.
Amazingly enough there was very little damage to our boat.

The surges continued throughout Sunday.
Monday brought weird lump coming into the harbor.

Videos, stories, youtube, news, boats smashed, three other friends had boats hit in Ventura, harbors reporting major damage, one injury in Ventura, Sailing Center docks floated free with several boats damaged...

Nothing compared to Japan.
Nothing.
Nothing.
Nothing.
Nothing.

Got Distracted...

2011-03-14T21:32:00.000-07:00

Still sorting through pictures.

I did have them pretty much arranged into a 200 mind-numbing slideshow in lieu of a 1000 suicide-causing death sentence...

Then the tsunami tsruck.
Tscrewed things up.
Tso just another one to tide you over.
Until my mind returns to vacation from Japan, the disaster, their situation, our wasted weekend and the new chunk taken out of our transom from when a neighbor's boat hit us on Sunday.

Hiking in the awesome Monteverde Cloud Forest!

Incredible Flowers!

2011-03-08T20:18:00.000-08:00

Might take me a little while to get the pics and stories in order.
Another one to tide you over.

Awesome Vacation!

2011-03-06T19:56:00.000-08:00

An amazing two weeks!

We are calling this the sloth trip.
Fell in love with these little guys:Last time we were on a frog kick.
This time we found loads of sloth ~~crap~~ khotchkes.

Photos and stories to follow...

My Bags Are Packed... I'm Ready To Go...!

2011-02-18T13:02:00.001-08:00

Two big bags.
Two backpacks.
Car has gas.
We have passports.
Birthdays to celebrate.
Volcanos to watch.
Trails to hike.
Ziplines to thrill.
Monkeys to laugh at.
Sloths to stare at.
Beers to drink.
Food to eat.
Rain forests to explore.

Thanks SO much to our awesome neighbors, P & J for boat-sitting!
And to the assistant boat-sitters, S, K, C & other S.
And mainly to A & T for letting me actually leave their employ for two whole weeks!
I have the best neighbors, employers and co-workers!

Thanks all :)

Night of The Living Dredge

2011-02-17T19:58:00.000-08:00

Not sure why, but this monsterous dredge always seems to pick the most inopportune times to attack.
When dredging it's on harbor attack 24 hours a day.
The day part not being so bad.
But then the night.
Always one particular night...
It intrudes into our personal little marina space either the night before my birthday or a few days prior to vacation.
It cannot wait until we are on a birthday wine tasting trip or on a plane to Costa Rica.
It can't attack at day.
Nope, it always attacks at night.
It attacks loudly.
All lit up.

Like a cruise ship 75' off our stern.
With anchors and cans being dropped in our back up zone.

It's big.
It's loud.
Pipes abound.
The pipes are loud.
Well... the items flying down the pipes are loud.

Clink - oh that must have been a screwdriver!
CLINK - oh a beer bottle!
CLANK - someone's keys!
Clink - a cell phone for sure!
CLANK - aggghhh my old bicycle!

It has little loud assistants.
Minion boats with an attitude.And lots of wake.

It's scary.
Seriously scary.
Nightmare scary.
Bad B horror movie scary.
Well, the front end digger, scooper thing is bad b horror movie scary.

Picture this...
Campground by the sea.
Blonde girls camping in tents.
Boys they are interested in with their tents just down the beach.
Dredge just offshore.
Lights ablaze.
Clink.
Boys and girls around campfire.
Marshmellows roasting and turning slowly brown in the glow.
Clink.
One boy who amazingly enough has a good singing voice, playing guitar, singing along.
Clink.
A bottle being passed around.
Clank.
One girl walks down the beach to meet the guy she's had her eyes on for weeks.
The theater crowd whispers "don't go down there"...
The hairs on the back of your neck stand up!
The girl disappears.
Clink, CLANK, Clink, clink, CLANK!
The end result.
See that pair of jeans stuck up in there?
Stuff nightmares and bad b movies are made of.

The Disease is Getting Worse...

2011-02-12T08:27:00.000-08:00

Helps that in less than 7 days we will be THERE!Then full recovery is expected.
Until we get home and have a severe case of "Post Vacation Depression".

Costa Rica on The Brain

2011-02-06T09:40:00.000-08:00

We both have this horrible disease...
It seeps into every waking moment.
It overshadows all the important stuff of the week.
If I could think of anything important from the week...

Ummmm....
I think there is a big football game on today.
Not that either of us even know who is playing.
Really.
I have no idea.

Uh, what else?
I thought a lot about tangle-less hangers.
Really, I wish someone would invent hangers that don't tangle with each other.
It's like an on-going gang fight in my ~~closet~~ locker.
Drives me nuts.

Jim got hiking boots!
Real shoes.
And it was only the second pair he tried on.
Generally shoe shopping for Jim is a disaster.
A disaster for us.
About the only time we fight.
~~Or I want to chop him up into little bits and feed him to whatever eeks out a life in our harbor.~~

Uh, what else?
We saw a jellyfish yesterday next to the boat.
And we saw what dry ice does when someone "accidentially" drops it from the pier.

And we saw the whole reason duct tape is in short supply.

See why Costa Rica on The Brain is ok?

Update on There Is No "Question of Sanity Balance"

2011-01-30T08:46:00.000-08:00

Our next door neighbor is the local Vessel Assist.
So we get to hear all the ~~dirt~~ stories of groundings, rescues, sinkings and stupidities.
Seriously, don't do something stupid off the coast of "here" or we will hear about it.
Laugh about it.
Cause you know we never do anything stupid...

It appears our grumpy, dirty, hasn't washed his one and only sweatshirt in 8 weeks, deaf old man on his way to the Marquesas is no longer on his way to the Marquesas.

He's been "rescued"...Somewhere off the coast between Catalina Island and San Clemente or San Diego or some San place, "A Question of ~~Sanity~~ Balance" hailed Vessel Assist for fuel.
Uh... uh oh.
They do sell fuel at Catalina.
Ok, TANGENT!
We actually forgot to fuel up once at Catalina and ran out on the backside of Anacapa...
DOH!
Ok, so I take that "Cause we never do anything stupid" line back.

So our local Vessel Assist neighbor hears the VA side of the vhf call and calls VA South to explain the deafness, the cluelessness and the old dirty, grumpy man situation.
Apparently they take him fuel, however he is disoriented, not sure where he came from and cannot tell them when he left.
So VA calls CG.
Yes, the US Coast Guard.
Who then tows him to San Diego.

End of story.
~~Because we don't want to get involved and inherit him back~~.

Except we wish San Diego patience.
And the ability to repeat what they say.
The ability to repeat several times.
Each time more loudly.
With patience.
Endless patience.

An no sense of smell.
Remember he doesn't shower often.
Or wash his clothes or dog.
Yep, patience and no sense of smell.

Winter Sunsets ~ The Best!

2011-01-23T21:08:00.001-08:00

Helps to have the best view in the harbor too...

Wind Payback

2011-01-23T08:54:00.000-08:00

So sitting over here in the cheap seats.
"Last Chance Marina".
Where I pretty much spend my entire life...
Home, work, home.
We get beat up when we have strong prevailing winds.
Before this last trip to Mexico, we were parked across the channel at a different marina.
We used to sit and ~~laugh at~~ watch the boats in the cheap seats take the brunt and slop and crap in strong prevailing winds.And laugh some more and think "fools"!

Well fast forward and now we are the ones getting beat up.
Except...
In the case of EAST WINDS!Now we are protected and they are getting the wind, slop, crap and dirt.
And the occaisional un-furling headsail.

Pays to Know People in High Places

2011-01-21T18:10:00.001-08:00

Literally.
Way high places.
New LED anchor light.
New bird spikes.
~~Take that you crappy full of crap cormorants!~~
New windvane.
Lubrication.
Rigging inspection.
~~My neck hurt from looking up.~~
Flipped the halyard around the topping lift.
All good.
Better Kim than me.
Yep, friend Kim in high places.

"A Question of Sanity Balance" on her way...

2011-01-17T07:48:00.000-08:00

Too bad we didn't put a "Spot" on this old man's boat.
Sure would be interesting to see how far he gets.
Where he ends up.
I believe he put his last boat up on the beach somewhere up North.First of all a giant THANK YOU to our ~~friends~~ ex-dock mates for sticking us with this old, dirty, deaf, grumpy man.
The people who used to own "A Question of Balance" had the boat on the market for years.
When they finally find a buyer, it happens to be this old, dirty, deaf, grumpy man.
No marina wanted him.
Boat is too small for a livaboard.
Boat has an alcohol stove.
So when the ~~friend~~ ex-dock mate threw a childlike fit in our office and parking lot, we buckled and gave the old, dirty, deaf, grumpy man 60 days to get his boat ocean-crossing ready.
60 days because "he's sailing to the Marquesas"...
Which turned into 90 days.
90 days of daily phone calls.
90 days of ordering and receiving packages and mail.
90 days of assisting, repeating, repeating even more loudly, yelling, repeating again, muttering not even under our breaths.
90 days of "good lord how can we get rid of him".
90 days of inappropriate comments, questions and conversations with him.

The conversation on Friday:
How do the sails look?
I don't know I've never put them up.
Why don't you do a little shake down cruise and head down to Channel Islands Harbor ~ it's only 5 or 6 miles down the beach.
What?
Why don't you do a little shake down cruise and head down to Channel Islands Harbor ~ it's only 5 or 6 miles down the beach.
Where's that?
Do you have charts?
What?

Sorry, Dr. Phil, but if you would just put your hearing aids in, I think this 90 days of you driving us crazy could have been avoided.

Showers and laundering your clothes would have been good too.Off to the Marquesas...
Or quite possibly Channel Islands Harbor.
Well, wherever he ends up we wish the marina staff patience.
Patience, the ability to repeat everything said, a lack of sense of smell and another boat scheduled for that slip in a few days.
We wish Dr. Phil clean clothes.
Success in getting somewhere.
We wish his dog would get a bath.
And that he remembers to put in his hearing aids.

Tall Ships on a Stunning January Day in Ventura

2011-01-15T16:54:00.000-08:00

Nothing like a 70 + degree day in January...
~~While certain parts of the Country are buried under 6 feet of snow...~~
A little East wind in the morning to warm and dry things out.
A Saturday.
No place I have to be.
Nothing I absolutely have to do.
At least 75 boats out and about, including two tall ships!

Whoa... they sure have a lot of shrouds, stays, halyards, lines and lord knows what else.

Now if this weather will just hold...

Awwww... Our Favorite Dog...

2011-01-13T19:57:00.000-08:00

Everyone repeat after us:
Awwwwwwww......
Well, everyone who knew Cruiser can say awwwwwwwww...
To clarify: "Toshal" Cruiser, Alan and Susan's dog, not "Lovely Reta" Cruiser, John and Debby's dog.
Well, we can all say awwwwww about him too.
But her?
Awwwwww... "her" was our favorite.Our little buddy dog friend for 13 years.Hikes.
Swims.
Liking our plates and pans clean.
~~Ticks.~~
Weeks on "Thistle".
Her own hull on "Meerkat".
Hanging on "Toshal".
Taking over "Star Song" and sending Star Song's cat to "Toshal".
Dinghy rides.
People food.
Bandanas around her neck.
Bandanas often used as her leash.
Licks.
More swims.
Waiting for the word "ok" to jump off of the dinghy.
Mazatlan.
Melaque.
La Paz.
Sea of Cortez.
Newport Beach.
Ventura.
Sitting in the baby chair in the back of the car.
Sneaking her into the v-berth to sleep.
Swimming alongside my kayak.

Wow.
What a great dog.
Our little dog buddy.

Cruiser.
In doggy heaven.

Boat Renaming Ceremonies or Burning a Monkey on the Foredeck

2011-01-12T20:48:00.000-08:00

All boaters know of the superstitions of re-naming a boat.
It's bad luck!
The weather gawds are going to get you.
You will sink.
You will spontaneously combust.
Your boat will disentegrate within 15 minutes.

Sometimes we have to supercede the superstitions.
Go with the flow.
Do a dance.
Waste some champagne.
Hire a preacher to bless the boat.
Burn a monkey on the foredeck.

Sometimes boats do have to be re-named.
Well, actually a lot of times.
Take for example the following boat names we have seen:
"Salty Johnson"
"Wet Dream"
"Circumdecision"
"Too Sassy"
"Sail Bad the Sinner"
"Breaking Wind"

Remember, someday you might have to say this name in a bit of a panic to either Vessel Assist or gawd forbid, the Coast Guard!
You want the Coast Guard to take you seriously.
You don't want them to start laughing when you say "Makin' Luff".
Try saying "Hot Ruddered Bum" three times.
Or requesting help over the SSB radio by saying "My Assiss Dragon".

Remember when cruising, these boat names actually become your last name.
Forever...
We are still known to some people as "The Thistles"...
and we haven't even owned that boat for the last six years!

Speaking of "Thistle"...
Her ex-name was removed within 15 minutes of pulling into our slip.
Yep, the day we purchased the boat!
I felt by NOT changing the boat it would be bad luck.
Really.
I was not going to leave the harbor in a boat named "Rogue Wave".
In fact, I didn't even go on the seatrial (but not for that reason).
A ceremony?
Not this time.
Not necessary.
A simple scrape off of the name and slap on a new one.
Twelve years of better luck.

Next boat.
"Two Dolphins"
Ugh.
Boring!
A ceremony?
This time it was the simple "Blue Tape" ceremony.
Tape over the old name.
Tape on the new name.Worked for us.
For about two weeks...

Until we got our real name.

Almost seven years of good luck.

So far...

Fast forward a few years to Dave and Cherryl's new boat.
The boat that replaced "Thistle".
The boat that was named "U.S. Mama Duck".
Okay...
Back to wanting the Coasties to take you seriously.
Back to having to be able to say it three times in a row over SSB or VHF radio.
"U.S. Mama Duck, U.S. Mama Duck, U.S. Mama ~~oh good lord~~ Duck"
Uh yeah, not going to happen.
Back to it becoming your last name.
"Hi, we are Dave and Cherryl U.S. Mama Duck".
Uh thinking that wasn't going to happen either.
So a New Year's Eve ceremony was in order to officially christen the Duck to ~~"Shinola"~~ "Shining Star".

First a toast.Well, actually several.
I did hear some mumbling from the guests about not realizing the ceremony was going to be a drinking game...

Then a smash!~~Then some got smashed.~~
No foredeck dancing.
No preacher's blessing.
No monkey burning necessary.
Just simple ceremonies all in our own individual ways.

Light At The End Of The Proverbial Rain Tunnel

2011-01-02T17:37:00.000-08:00

Which means here comes the ripping winds...
90 mph winds blowing snow on the Grapevine.
Snow at Lake Piru.
And some crazies zipping around the harbor on a Hobie cat today...

Feliz Ano Nuevo

2011-01-01T10:27:00.000-08:00

2011?
How the hell did that happen?

96%

2010-12-30T12:52:00.000-08:00

I am at 96% of photo capacity on this blog.
I have mildew on 96% of my boat's interior.
96% of the street corners in Ventura have homeless people with signs begging.
96% of the time I continue by without making a donation to the homeless people.
And 96% of the time this bothers me.

All of this bothers me.

A Day Late and $5,674,987.47 Short

2010-12-26T09:16:00.000-08:00

But since we are doing our "family Christmas" today, I'm not late.
However, I am still $5,674,987.47 short.

And It Never Rains In Southern California...

2010-12-24T11:38:00.000-08:00

I never understood that song as a child.
Still don't.
Must be missing something.

Yes, California had seven days of straight rain.
Yes, we made national news... or so I was told by friends in Texas... not watching national news, I'll have to go along with what they told me.
Yes, we had mudslides.
Full rivers.
Full creeks.
Full streets.
Flooding.

And almost self launching boats.

I didn't mind the endless rain.
The wet cockpit.
The wet walls.
The wet floor.
The puddles.
Even the driving.

What I did mind?
The endless talking about it.
The discussions.
The amateur weathermen.
"The low is here.
It will bring in more rain."
No s##t.
It's rain folks.
Water.
It falls.
It stops.
Then it does it again.

Parade of Rain Drops Lights ~ 2010!

2010-12-20T21:04:00.000-08:00

Well Ventura was due.
Seems for years Channel Islands Harbor has been on the receiving end of rain for their parade.
Been years since we had rain on our's...
And we got it.
Non-stop.
In fact it's been raining for close to four days straight.
And we are supposed to have two more days.
Then a break.
Then two more days.
Good thing we float.

Ahh... back to the parade.I have to give these people credit.
Out there in the rain.
Generators running.
2000 wire ties on the lifelines.

Two nights of guests.
~~Rain.~~
Lasagna.
~~Rain.~~
Eggplant parmesan.
~~Rain.~~
Empty wine bottles galore.
~~Rain.~~
Fireworks.

Great fireworks!
~~In the rain.~~

Happy Birthday Alan!

2010-12-20T20:55:00.001-08:00

Well, we won't say how old he is.
Just that we surprised him ~~and hoped we didn't give him a heart attack while doing so~~.

A complete look of confusion at the door.
A few minutes of disbelief.
And a little shock.

Then all smiles!

Friends, family, fun, food and a really late night!

I think we will just continue this birthday celebration on into that Costa Rica trip.
Alan's big birthday.
My big birthday.
Susan's something or other birthday.

"Napa is for Auto Parts, Paso is for Wine"

2010-12-11T07:35:00.000-08:00

Or so the bumper stickers and t-shirts in the one Paso Winery stated.
We'll go for that, as we didn't really need any auto parts last weekend.
So Paso it was.
With Mike and Wendy of "Bodihattsva".
I have to do a google search on the spelling of that word every time I type it.
Really.
We'll call them "Bodi" for the weekend for short.

Mr. Bill came too.Our favorite times to go are holidays.
Halloween, with cool decorations.
And now Christmas, a new favorite time.

Mike not only drove the entire time...
He also carried our wine.The views were beautiful.
The brick reds of winter vines.The dark, deep purple of late harvest grapes.The gang.The hand holding dog at Penman Springs.The traditional pose with a pirate in Cayucos. The by-passing of the tavern.
The next day:
Geocaching. Harmony. Apple picking. Mud. Wineries. Dogs. Drive home.

It was all good!
The fun.
The laughter.
~~The cases of wine.~~
The friends.
The weekend...

Drive All Over SoCal & Eat Like a Pig... aka Thanksgiving

2010-11-30T20:45:00.001-08:00

I think we set a record as to how many Thanksgiving meals we ~~inhaled~~ enjoyed over this four day weekend ~~of eating~~.

First "The Wild Animal Thanksgiving".
Or "Brett Cleaned Out His Freezer".
Or "This Is Not Normal"...
Seriously, this was not normal.

We had lobster, elk, turkey, wild turkey (no, not the kind that comes in a bottle), ham, pheasant, duck, wild boar and about 27 side dishes.

The best part?
~~Besides the over the top feast?~~
The friends!
Brett, Terri and dog, Beau.
Melissa and Brock from our old C-Dock days!
And met Melissa's husband, Lee and baby, Ciena.

Awesome day.

Next day we hit a couple of wineries in between eating leftovers.

Third day, Jim cooked his traditional (meaning no pheasant or wild boar) Thanksgiving on the boat.
Excellent!
Then off to a going away party for Ed on G-Dock who is after all these years of swearing he would, sailed off to La Paz.

Fourth day ~ family Thanksgiving with tri tip ~~as we were turkeyed out~~.

Second Attempt at Surviving Winter Fall North of The Border

2010-11-24T15:15:00.000-08:00

Frost warnings in November?
Several rain storms before Thanksgiving?
Running two heaters all night in the fall?
I have no idea how we are going to do this.
Yes, I know we live in "Sunny SoCal"...
Where it never rains (yeah, right).
It's sunny (yeah, right).
It's warm (yeah, right).
And the palm trees are happy all year.Be like the palm trees...

My Amazing Cousins...

2010-11-20T08:09:00.000-08:00

Walking 60 miles in the rain!First of all, I stole this picture.
I'm not there.
I'm at home.
On the boat.
It's pouring rain in SoCal.
And my incredible cousin Julianne and her equally incredible daughter, Delaina are walking 60 miles in San Diego this weekend.
In honor of Julianne's mother, Carol Clark.
In honor of my sister, Donna Stapleton Carter.
And in honor of their friends.
I just made my donations!
Go JULIANNE!
Her link.
Go DELAINA!
Her link.

Mini Vacay in Carpinteria

2010-11-14T12:59:00.000-08:00

An absolutely beautiful weekend in SoCal!
79 degrees outside.
Sun is shining.
Not too windy.
Islands look like you could swim to them.

So since Marvin flaked on getting his cabin ready for this weekend, we went to Plan B instead.
Plan B was to inundate Cherryl's brother's house in Carpinteria.
So we did.
And only 19.9 miles away!
Makes for a nice mini-vacay!

We biked around town.
Had a cocktail.
Made a few un-necessary purchases in a cool store with stuff from Bali.
Bill and Julie came to assist in the inundating.
BBQ'd steaks.
Steamed giant king crab legs.
Made a salad.
Had a glass of wine ~~or four~~.
Baked potatoes.
Ate like ~~pigs~~ kings.
Thawed some chocolatey pie thing.
Told stories.
Stayed up too late.
Slept great in one of their three guest rooms.
Walked to breakfast today.
Walked around town.
Walked down the beach.
~~Exhausted from too much fun the night before...~~
Found a geocache.
Played with the chickens.
~~As well you can "play" with chickens...~~
Drove the 19.9 miles along the coast back home.
Saw dolphins in the waves.
Beautiful!
Just beautiful!

Week In Week Out

2010-11-11T16:23:00.001-08:00

We had a GREAT dinner and time on Friday night celebrating Jim's birthday.
Excellent food and drink at Aloha.
Of course Cherryl knew our waitress...
But I knew the owner!

Our brand new computer's card reader croaked.
So there went the birthday pics...
In trying several times to load I went the alternate route of re-formatting the discs, thinking it might just be the camera.
So no birthday pics.
Alternate route No. 3 meant purchasing a card reader usb thingy.
The thingy works, so at least my camera was not the problem!

Last week the computers at work croaked.
Computer Croaking Virus.
Must be going around.

We really did have a great weekend!
Spent Saturday poking around a few stores.
Somehow ended up with new hiking boots and sunglasses for me.
Nothing for Jim.
It was his birthday weekend, wasn't it?

And went and said "hi" to all the dogs at the animal shelter.
~~And said "hola" to the 97 pit bulls behind bars...~~
Spay your dogs!

Uh what else?
Watched some movies.
Did some cleaning.
Tossed bags of crap away and piled up some things for the thrift stores.
I so want to lighten this boat up!

Last night I spent about a half an hour reading some of my old posts from two years ago.
You remember, La Paz Life?
I forgot I had so much fun...

It's Sunday night, then the next thing I know it's Thursday night.
Get up, go to work, come home, do a load of laundry, make dinner, wash dishes, go to bed.
Then it's a year later.
We seem to do a lot of things.
Take a lot of mini-vacays.
Have a lot of visitors.
Just nothing to post on a daily basis.
Week in.
Week out.
Did I invent those lazy, but interesting La Paz days?
Did they really happen?
Did I really have something to post on here so often?
~~Was it sheer boredom?~~
Or was I really finding something interesting each day?
Something beautiful.
Something funny.
Something to talk about.
Maybe it was just different.
Different than the get up, go to work, come home, do a load of laundry, make dinner, wash dishes, go to bed thing that we all working and living in the US seem to do.
Week in.
Week out.

Happy Barfday Birthday Jim!

2010-11-05T07:35:00.000-07:00

Another 365 days gone by since the last one.
~~Good lord!~~
Must mean it's Jim's birthday!As Dave and Cherryl's birthdays were a week ago, the celebration tonight will be for the three of them.
~~Not me.~~
Ask me about the time we did their birthdays at Disneyland.
They hand out little "Happy Birthday" buttons with the birthday boys' and girls' names on them.
The ride operators are required to say "Happy Birthday you old schmuck" or whatever name the person at Disneyland Hotel decided to write on your button.
So all 832 rides we got on in those two days we heard:
"Happy Birthday Cherryl!"
"Happy Birthday Dave!"
~~Then a mutter of OMG...~~
"Happy Birthday Jim!"
Then a blank stare at me as they wondered where the hell my "Happy Birthday" button was.
Then we heard me say:
"Not my birthday".
About 832 times.

Anyway, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY WONDERFUL, HANDSOME, PATIENT, AWESOME FISHERMAN, INCREDIBLE SAILOR, WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO CHARGE THE AIR CONDITIONING IN MY CAR, SWEET, KIND HUSBAND!
And his two side kicks!

This Is Not Our Boat

2010-11-03T17:38:00.000-07:00

This is what was left behind by the other boat.
The boat that hit us.
Left it in the hole in our boat.I'm holding it for ransom.
You know, along the lines of...

Rocket Man

2010-10-26T16:02:00.000-07:00

Our friend, Rocket.We cruised and traveled Mexico with Ian and Anne of "Alana Marie" in 1997-1999.
Back when we were all kids.
Back when Curly asked Anne what Ian did for work in his former "working life".
Back when Anne replied "He was a rocket scientist".
Um, really?
So he was "Curly christened" "Rocket".
And it stuck.

Ian Ronald Gordon
April 16, 1934 ~ October 24, 2010

Always in costume.Always entertaining.
Always with a smile.
Always with his wife.Always with his friends.Always a good time.Always taking about their children.
Always giving.
Always kind.
Always wonderful memories for us.

Swiped from my post on Ian and Anne's website:
Ahhh... the travel memories!
~~ROAD TRIP!!!~~

Yep, the Pooh, PNY's motorhome and The Thistle's little Nissan 4x4 went on a 4 day road trip camping North out of Puerto Vallarta. Quite the adventure with Jim and I being with 4 crazy people. And a psychotic cat...

At our first stop we went for a walk in the morning and met this kind of loopy Mexican lady who showed us around a small town. So we invited her for breakfast. She came with us, we fed her, then she wanted to wash our dishes. By about that time, we pretty much wanted her to go home.

At Aguamilpa we had the motorhomes parked along a road - basically along a cliff that looked down to a lake, with only a couple of feet between the RV's and the cliff.
So I (Heather) had to pee and went into someone's motorhome and left the door open, because all the crazies (Anne, Ian, Curly, Carol & Jim) were up forward and we are parked along a cliff, right? As I am sitting on the toilet a small dirty Mexican boy of about 5, with a broken arm in a homemade cast came by the open door and started talking to me. He was looking for aluminum cans. I was sitting on the toilet... so in addition to our empty aluminum cans, we gave him full aluminum cans of soda. And took his picture with me after I finished what I was doing.

Then we headed to Mexcaltitan, a small island out in the middle of a lagoon.
Carol and Curly were fighting (we won't talk about why) so Ian and Anne pretty much separated them. Anne sat with Curly and Ian sat with Curly.

As we were walking around this very small island, Anne & I passed some shrimp that were drying in the sun. Anne said, "You watch, Carol is going to ask me what ever did you do with that dried shrimp you bought?". Not 5 seconds later, Carol turned around to Anne and said, "Amoeba, what ever did you do with that dried shrimp you bought?". I about peed my pants laughing. These four people knew each other so well!

As we meandered about the island we went on a Scotch hunt. Someone told Jim they sold Scotch on this island (probably one of the crazies, because really, Scotch on a little tiny island in the middle of a lagoon?). We were knocking on people's front doors asking for Scotch. Um... no Scotch, but we were offered other things. We ate not dried shrimp in a restaurant with blaring music. Blaring! Then needing a place to camp for the night we headed away from the lagoon as we were being eaten alive. We came to a police roadblock (Semana Santa - Easter Week) and Ian asked where we could camp. The police pointed to the side of the road next to a building and said, "There". So we camped basically at a police alcohol roadblock...

Truckers would also stop there and a lady would cook them dinner. So we shared our dinner with a trucker and the lady and they shared with us. At the end of the night the lady said (in Spanish) she had a gift for me, but was sorry as she only had one and not ones for my friends. She gave me a cross-stitched napkin (beautiful, by the way) and Carol and Anne were not so happy because they didn't get squat.
We gave sodas and candy bars to the police as they kind of watched over us.

Then yes, as we were driving across a two lane bridge, the storage bin on the top of PNY's motorhome came flying off into the road. Stuff everywhere. Us scambling around picking up PNY's junk. Way too funny. We could only do these four days with these people as our sides were hurting from laughing.

Probably one of our most ~~exhausting~~ favorite four days ever.

Thanks for including us in your life, Rocket.

"Caregivers Sailathon" or "Let's See Who Can Come Closest to the Committee Boat Without Hitting It ~ Oops, Sorry Hit The Committee Boat"

2010-10-23T09:05:00.000-07:00

This was supposed to be a Sailathon.
Do laps around a triangle, which consisted of a yellow racing mark and two boats.
A yellow triangle mark with a witch's hat tied to the top.
Andy & Tina's boat, "Carlina".
And our boat, "Meerkat".
This was not a race.
Let me repeat:
THIS WAS NOT A RACE!
This was see how many times you can sail around the triangle and have your sponsers pay you per lap.
All for a good cause.
Ventura Caregivers.
Ok, so one more time everyone:
This was not a race!
Had some wind.
Then it died.
Boats were going backwards at the start.Boats were coming really close to the committee boat... our boat.
We requested a few boats turn their engines on to GET THE HELL AWAY from the committee boat... our boat.
Or just fend off.
Whatever.
Please, oh please see how close you can come to my home!
Really, we like it!

We tried to be the fun boat.Halloween decorations and all.Mojitos.
It was fun for awhile.
Until I had to yell, "Don't hit my boat!"And it didn't work.
Bang.
Ouch.Holes.
Scratches.
Crack.

And until "Sunspot" got dismasted.
First, looking good.Then un oh.Jim helped them get their headsail out of the water and their anchor down.

Ok, back to ~~racing~~ sailing laps.

All good.
Except the breakages...
And the holes.And now we have to haul out.
It looks bigger than it is, but hey, any sympathy??

Money was raised.
Pierpont Bay Yacht Club was inundated.
Kenneth Crawford wines were tasted.
71 Palm mac & cheese was devoured.
Raffle prizes were won.
Awards for ~~racing~~ most laps were given.
~~War~~ Stories were told.
~~Anchors Way's employees were exhausted.~~
Desserts from Savory Cafe disappeared.
Again, money was raised!

Scottish Highland Games aka The First Half of One Hell of a Busy Weekend

2010-10-17T15:25:00.000-07:00

The cold that caught me earlier in the week caught Jim.
And put him down.
So Stan was my date for the day!
Stan, Mike, Bibiana and I hopped on our bikes and rode from the harbor to the fairgrounds.
Through The Keys, down the beach bike path, down the promenade ~ a super easy, flat, mellow ride!
Free parking right in front of the gate.
The only way to go!

We had a beer to cool off after the ride.
And listened and sort of watched the opening bagpipe bands.
This was my view.
The backs of the guards.One being quite the flirt.

We were introduced to a new clan.
Clan Batman.Saw the typical ~~sick~~ Scottish sense of humor.Saw that they continue to start 'em young ~~with weapons~~.Saw the same ~~drunk Scots want-to-be's~~ cool t-shirts that I so want to buy one for Jim.And spent the majority of the time watching The Wicked Tinkers!

And why not?
Bagpipes.
Big drums.

One local guy.
And one that ends up on your picnic table.

They play the ever so popular "We Want Whisky" song.
Apparently it works...Except for the guy who mis-understood and handed them a flask with tequila in it.
Really, tequila at the Highland Games?
That's a first.
Saw new up & coming musicians.Who got to go up on stage and play with the big boys.Watched Celtic Spring ~ awesome young musicians and dancers!
Also local.
They were playing indoors ~ no pics as I like to avoid the whole flash in the eyes of performers when possible.

And had some Scotch.Then rode home.

Today!

2010-10-09T08:47:00.000-07:00

We will see ~~men~~ people in kilts.Listen to bagpipes.
Drink beer.
~~Wonder who wears underwear.~~
Buy a new Scottish flag.
Listen to The Wicked Tinkers.
Look at more ~~men~~ people in kilts.
Drink Scotch.
Watch men throw big long longs the size of Chevy Suburbans.
~~Eat haggis.~~
Listen to more bagpipes.

Pretending to Be in The Tropics

2010-10-06T15:51:00.000-07:00

I can't say I miss being in La Paz during the summer.
Well... there were a couple of things I liked.
I liked not working.
I liked the book exchange in the marina.
I didn't like the relentless heat.
I didn't like the broken air conditioners.
I didn't like the threat of tropical storms and hurricanes.
I do like thunderstorms, but lightning and tall metal poles sticking out of the top of your home just don't mix.
So being back in SoCal where we rarely get thunderheads, rarely hear the boom of the nearby thunder and rarely see the brilliant shock of white lightning, I did enjoy a few days of this.
Mainly because I knew it wasn't going to blow 97 knots or we would have lightning striking withing spitting distance.
Being ~~a wimp~~ safe is good.
So with a little imagination, with an afternoon cocktail and ~~too many clothes on to make us hot~~ squinted eyes to make the local recognizable horizon a blur, we were back in tropical weather.

All good except the view of the underside of that last cloud...

The Rest of The Kelp Fly Epic Trip!

2010-10-02T10:43:00.000-07:00

After a bottle of vino on la playa, we headed back to the boat.
I think we had some chili dogs or some such crap for dinner.
Something easy after motoring all day.
~~And after that strenuous hora feliz beach launch in the 2" surf!~~
One Southbound cruising boat and two small fishing boats were in the anchorage that night.
And in the morning?
We were the only ones left!Ahhhh... the place to ourselves.

Which meant fishing in the dinghy first.
And catching a big halibut!
Then our own private beach!

No one around.
No boats.
No humans.
Just the locals.Some who snored.We meandered all over the beach.
Up the dunes to the foot of the canyon trail.Uh... but not up the trail.
Not in 85 degrees anyway.Left our mark.As all good meerkats do.

Next day two other ~~sets of people who make us jealous~~ Southbound boats came in.
And the big boys, "Conception" and "Island Packers" with 110 hikers.
Thanks for the warning Cherryl!

So a dinghy ride out to the point to say adios to the other locals.And the juvenile sea lion gang that so wanted us to play!

And then headed down the front side of Santa Rosa to meet up with singlehanding Stan on "Ebb Tide" and Dave & Cherryl on "Shining Star"!Did a "drive-through" in Bechers to make an attempt at waking up "Sneaky Pete" and "Veda L", but like all good fishermen were asleep...

Anchored for about a half an our by Skunk Point until the slop started coming in, then headed up the backside of Rosa to Eagle Rock and anchored in the calm ~~kelp fly infested~~ anchorage!

Leftover halibut on "Meerkat" with Daveyboy and Cherryl Wilene Holien joining us.
I think Stan was out for the count...

Uh, what next?
To Johnson's Lee, another kelp filled ~~and kelp fly filled~~ spot, but still lovely and calm.
Except for the offshore 85 degree HOT down canyon winds we had!
Loved it!

Afternoon dessert wine somewhere.And realized the Scottish Games were a couple weeks away, when we looked at our flag.Where is Stan when I need him for the Stan & Heather's Museum Quality Flag Restoration projects, anyway?

Next drive-by was through Forneys on the West end of Santa Cruz Island.
A little lumpy, so headed down the backside.
Stan had gone ahead to Yellowbanks to shorten his singlehand trip home.
We checked out Malva Real, but there was only 2" of kelp free sand to anchor in.
Our anchor is bigger than 2", so down to Willows.

Watched a feeding frenzy between the two boats that consisted of sea lions, dolphins and a gazillion birds.
~~And kelp flies.~~

BBQ or something or other on "Meerkat" in the sweltering out of the canyon dry wind.
91 degrees at 8:30 at night?At the islands?

Then the fun night...
East winds at 1:30 am.
East winds at 4:30 am.
Us on a lee shore.
With rocks behind.
And kelp.
Ick.

So when the sun finally came up, and we were 1000% sick of swatting kelp flies only to have the rest of their relatives show up in mourning 15 seconds later, we left.

But first we had to get our anchor out from underneath ~~"Shinola"~~ "Shining Star".And stay out of the kelp.
I didn't do so great on the kelp avoidance thing.
Ended up sucking up kelp on both sail drives.
A little smoke.
A little bit of panicking.
A little bit of throttle.
And a lot of running on one engine.

East winds in the channel on the way home for an hour or so.
Enough to have our headsail out on our port side, which was weird as can be.
Then no wind.
Total calm.
Kelp flies joining us for the ride home.
Turned on the second engine for the parking job.
Glass of wine for me, beer for Jim and our dockboy, Stan.
Dinner, all good.
~~Except for the 732 kelp flies that came home with us.~~

That One Particular Harbor in SoCal

2010-09-29T16:40:00.001-07:00

Ahhhhhhhhh!
We made it.
Cuyler Harbor.
San Miguel Island.

Attempting Plan A Manana...

2010-09-22T20:38:00.000-07:00

The weather report is finally calling for a break.
About time.
Really!
So off we go.With all of the provisions from last week.
A little stale bread.
Brown lettuce.
Smushy nectarines.
Bruised apples.
Moldy cheese.
~~Not~~ really!
Hopefully we can make it to San Miguel...It's about time.
Really!

Other Parts of Plan B

2010-09-21T20:53:00.001-07:00

Included eating.
And realizing it was a table full of geezers when we noticed the number of pairs of glasses on the table...And this was just on the girl's end of the table!

Included walking around Encinitas and looking at old signs.

I'd walk around any town to look at old signs...

And making Bergie drive us to the boat houses.Ahhhhh ~ perfect for the liveaboard who gets seasick!

Walking to the stairs overlooking the beach.

What would be the perfect boogie boarding beach if the water was 20 degrees warmer!Wetsuited surfers seemed to enjoy it just fine.Me?
I still need 80 degrees...

BBQ'ing.
Watching Julianne do what she thought was hot yoga.Walking the neighborhood and finding beautiful homes, doors, windows and flowers.

Finding heaven on earth for Jim.
A bazillion bottled beer brands.And purchasing one of the brands of bazillion bottled beers.Going to Stone Brewing Company for beer and lunch.And me being given free reign with the refrigerator magnets.

Part of Plan B

2010-09-21T07:46:00.000-07:00

Included a Woody car show with cousins, Julianne, Carolyn and Bergie.
The girl cousins asked for a synonym for "woody"...Not sure why, but our conversations always turn to the gutter (or poop).

Way cool cars.

Incredible restorations.
Lots of shine.
Lots of money.
And funny car show clothes.

And a dog.

Did I mention lots of money?And my dream car.Only not in these colors.

Weather Reports Just Think They Outweigh Fortunes

2010-09-20T16:17:00.000-07:00

Well, with 35+ knots predicted where we wanted to go, we went to Plan B instead.
Skip the islands for now.
Wait for better weather.
Drive to San Diego and spend a few days with my cousins who are here from Illinois.
We had Jim's adventure (going to Stone Brewing Company).
And we both had three days of awesome vacation.

Fortunes Outweigh Weather Reports

2010-09-17T08:03:00.000-07:00

At least that is what we are hoping for...
These are our fortunes from last night:And fortunes are never wrong.
Correct?
Weather is predicting some wind (more wind than we want) in the outer islands (where we want to go) and South Swell.
Swell...
A mix of prevailing wind, which will mean prevailing seas with swells from an opposing direction.
Ah well.
Maybe we will go up the coast...

Willows ~ Labor Day, 2010

2010-09-13T16:40:00.000-07:00

Yay!
A three day weekend!
So off to the islands we went.
On a Friday afternoon.
~~Dummies.~~
I didn't mind the fog, but I did mind the 25 knots we got just past the rigs.
Broken eggs all down the stairs
Huge, loud BANG!
Uh oh......
What this time?
We blew out our first reef line, which took out a few of the lazyjack lines that were attached to our sailbag.
Crap.
And the main did not want to come down.
Crap!
So Jim had to go up on the cabintop and pull it down, with me driving into the wind and the jib hitting him in the back.
CRAP!
We were doing about 10 knots too, so it was a bummer to lose some of our speed.
But it was GREAT when we got into the lee of the island.
Warm!
SUNNY!
Calm!
Ahhh... the smell of the island.
Two hours from entrance to the point!

Hora feliz with Mike & Wendy from "Bodi".
Spent one night anchored in the calm of Yellowbanks, then headed up the backside towards Willows with "Shining Star" following and "Sweet Lorraine" leaving Albert's to follow.

Dinghy cruise.
Friends.
Dave & Kellie.
Secluded beaches.
Jim & Jean.
Hikes.
Dave & Cherryl.
Drinks.
Two Jims.
Food.
Two Daves.
Bocci ball on the beach!

Rolly nights.
"Shining Star" moved into the inner anchorage.
"Sweet Lorraine" came over for happy hours.
Dinner on "Shining Star".
Dinner on "Meerkat.
Sunshine!

A driveby of "Carlina".
Dolphins on the way home.
Calm, just amazingly calm on Monday.

Next?
A nine day trip ~ hopefully making it to San Miguel and Santa Rosa!

Adios "Vamonos"

2010-08-26T21:05:00.001-07:00

So all the ex-G Dockers.
Current G-dockers ~ is anyone left there?
F or even H-dockers...
Remember Bob on "Vamonos"?
I lovingly called him "Old Man Bob"?
Walked with a cane?
Eventually graduated to a walker.
Talked as loud as full volume at a surround sound movie theater?
Which made us all talk that loud so he could hear...
Remember "Vamonos"?
When Old Man Bob left the dock for greener babes at the old folks home, the boat was sold to someone who was going to give her a face lift.
An interior lift.
A rigging lift.
A new life.
Well, the someone passed her along to someone else.
Who offed it to someone else.
Who offed it onto us.
Who is offing it into the recycle bin.
Keel goes to the lead factory.Or somewhere.
Where ever lead goes.
The once pretty hull.
The once fast hull.
Sits on her belly.Awaiting the next incision.
Cutting away her mast.
Her boom.
Her winches.
Her rails.
Her soul...

Thanks Suzie!

2010-08-25T20:49:00.001-07:00

We had a friend who bought a boat named "Thanks Larry".
The guy he bought it from made his gazillions from working at Oracle.
So the "Thanks Larry" was to Larry Ellison, Mr. Oracle.
Cause they all made gazillions...

I'm thinking of naming something "Thanks For Nothing Bill".
Because not only did my nice Canon printer not work with Windows 7~~,000,000~~, but neither did my nice Canon scanner.
Or the fun photo software that came with the Canon products.

So had to buy a new printer and scanner.
Any nice fun software come with it?
You know the kind to add text and handwriting to my maps and Google Earth pics?
What about simple cropping?
Nope.
Nada.
Zilch.
Nothing.

So... no cropping.
No text.
No handwriting...
No color correcting.
Boring!
~~Red eyes abound.~~

But thanks to Suzie, she told me about a downloadable, FREE software!
Photofiltre.com
So back to some cropping.
Adding text.
Drawing arrows.
Back to being able to wish people happy birthday on dopey pics on spacebook.
And back to monkeying around with pics to figure out just what this software is capable of.

So here's to you Suzie!

Just having a little fun!

Everything Including The Kitchen Galley Sink!

2010-08-25T07:47:00.000-07:00

It is absolutely amazing what makes a liveaboard or cruiser happy.
Things like new toilets.
New sailcovers.
Or in my case this week:
A new galley sink!
~~Wheeee doggies!~~Yep, a sink.

But a boat sink is different than a house sink.
For a house sink you hop in the suv and motor on over to Lowe's.
Seventeen different choices.
All that fit.
All reasonably priced.
Have holes pre-cut for faucets.
Takes about 10 minutes to install.
No big deal.

For ~~an overpriced, incredibly hard to find~~ a boat sink?
Takes about three years to research and find the correct size.
Oh yay ~ they do make one in the way weird odd size!
You have to order from the local marine chandlery.
Wait for arrival.
Have friend, Stan come assist.
Find odd parts.
Strange sized stainless screws.
Drill all new holes for the four or soon to be five faucets / soap dispensers.
Why five?
Fresh water big faucet.
Fresh hose water filtered faucet for drinking.
Dedicated water maker tank foot pump.
Salt water foot pump.
Cool dish soap dispenser gift from Apple and Little Lovely Lucy Lowe.
All afternoon project.
The wife is happy.

Why is the wife happy?
Larger sinks!
Deeper sinks!
Stainless steel ~ no more stained from coffee grounds and red wine dregs white sink.

And for all the friends who have washed dishes over here and ended up with wet bellies?
Come on over and try it!

Ooohhhh... can't wait to get new head sinks...

Foggy Ventura "Meerkat"... a Destination

2010-08-21T12:24:00.000-07:00

Guest after guest.
It's all good though!
I was thinking it was Ventura that was everyone's summer destination.
Suzie told me it was us the people are coming to see.

So next?
Chuck, Laura and ~~critters~~ Ethan, Aidan & Sydney came from Utah.
They came a few years back and spent the night on the boat.
Kids thought that was great!

This time?
Hotel, but a visit on the boat.Sometimes kids running amok on the boat frightens me.
~~Or makes me drink.~~
And sometimes it makes me think seriously of kidnapping.Chuck and Laura are doing an amazing job of raising these kids.
Really.
They listen.
They know who is boss.
They do as they are told.
They are polite.
They are smart.
They are way funny.
They know when to be funny and when to behave.
Did I mention cute?It was really great to see them and catch up with them.
Chuck was one of my neighbor pals back in my Port Hueneme Beach volleyball & bike riding days.
Wow ~ friends for 22 years!So two nights of fun.
Two dinners out.
Two nights of being entertained ~~and coming up with means of kidnapping~~.So...
"Motel Meerkat"...
Once again ready!

Back to Back Prisoners Trips ~ Second Time with Brett & Terri

2010-08-18T16:30:00.000-07:00

Brett & Terri can come out on our boat anytime.
Look what they showed up with:The scary part?
They came with two ice chests...

Some things not to be posted on ~~myface~~ ~~spacebook~~ facebook.
Such as full ice chests.
And pigeon removal.Pigeon removal from the inside of my boat.
Yes, inside.
Apparently he flew into the rigging, bounced off of the bimini and down a hatch.
Let's just say, there will be no more flying for this ~~flying rat~~ pigeon.
Thanks Brett!

A Friday night at the dock with us getting to know Terri.For all of you ex-C-dockers and family, Brett is Doug's brother.
Doug of "Doug, Melissa & Brock".
Who are now Doug and Shannon.
Melissa and Lee.
And Brock is now 20...

A Saturday morning departure.
Calm and flat once again!
Dolphins on the way.Same stuff.
Fishing, hiking, beer, wine, food, blah, blah, blah.
Only this time insurance clients / friends joined us on their boats!
"Enchanted Sol" & "Blue Aweigh"!And "Blue Aweigh" was Mexico pals in addition to being Ventura pals.

Uh what else?
Brett wore a girl's backpack.Terri found Carmen Alberta's friend (long story ~ see some old boring post from IDK, maybe September of 2008?)!Hike to the Guard Shack.
Whoa deja vu...
And yes, Ranger Timmy it's still the Guard Shack.

Found a usage for the round thing on the corner.
It's a BAR!A little high for some of us, but usable.

Saw a couple of these little guys again!They walked right past us.
I guess we are less threatening than wild pigs?

Posed for a ~~dork~~ picture with our friends!
Brett, Mike, Lisa, Heather, Jim, Cyndi & Bruce.

Brett went for a little ~~pee~~ walk.Um, what else?
Dinner, wine, stories, laughter.
And halibut!Another great trip with fun friends and awesome weather.

Brett & Terri ~ Thanks for making the drive up, making the time to be with us and contributing to our refrigerator so well!

The Outer Anchorage at Tenacatita ~ Never the Same Again...

2010-08-14T14:42:00.001-07:00

Well, that "one particular harbor" to Suzie...
The best birthday boogie boarding beach to me...
The beach with the kick-ass homemade mezcal for Alan...
~~The hepatitis-giving palapa for Suzie...~~
The perfect palapa filled beach with famous fish rolls for all...
The easy swim or kayak in from the boat beach...
The best garlic shrimp ever...Is no more.
The palapas.
The two small tiendas.
The food and drinks.
The kind and friendly people.
The roll your dinghy up the road, across the beach, into the surf to avoid the entrance to the estuary.
The hard working people.
The destination.
The birthday cake providing family.
The homes.
The businesses.
Is no more.

For story at Lectronic Latitude click here.

Prisoners with Julianne & Nathan

2010-08-14T10:39:00.001-07:00

Time for another island trip!
Wash the sheets.
Vacuum.
Buy too much food.
But too much wine.
Possibly not enough beer...
Get a little diesel.
And go!

Cousin Julianne and her son Nathan came up on a Thursday night.
Then we made the mistake of trying to cram all the catching up into that particular night.
Not so good for Jim the next morning...
A ~~little~~ lot slow.

We ended up backing out of the slip around 8:15 and headed to Prisoners.
It was beautiful!
Calm, flat, full of dolphins.

And the only boat at Prisoners!
The guys headed off to the fishing grounds.
And came back with this!
Nathan's first halibut.

The girls talked.
Read.
Napped?

And we did the typical usual Prisoners stuff.
Hiked to the guard shack.~~Trespassed onto Nature Nazi land.~~
Sorry, Ranger Timmy, Park Detective, but this is the guard shack!
Not the lookout.
The guard shack.
We figured we have been going to the guard shack longer than Ranger Timmy has been alive, so we will go with our name.
Long story...
But yes, Ranger Timmy we know how to use a toilet and don't carry loaded guns.

Saw island foxes!Not one, but two!
And not very timid, but quite curious.
And knew it was behind a fence...

Did I mention we were the only boat in the anchorage?Well at least until dusk...
And the hoardes came in the next day.

And the next day?
We did a toast to Delaina and Stavros on their one year wedding anniversary!~~Any excuse, right?~~

More fishing!
More catching!
~~More blood in the dinghy!~~
More cleaning!
~~More slime and goo on the deck!~~
More fish.

Dave and Cherryl came out on their boat, so dinner on "Meerkat.
A really late dinner...
I think we set a record ~ 10 pm or some horrid time?

Pictures with the cousins.

More hiking.
Well... we had to get cell service somehow!

Absolutely beautiful, flat calm ~~fog crap overcast sick of our weather~~ with awesome views out over the channel!Another great weekend.
Great fun.
Great guests.
Great time.
Love my cousins!

Computer Burial At Sea

2010-08-09T16:12:00.000-07:00

Dying computer.
Boo!
Dead computer.
Boo!
(Sound familiar Hevver?)
Can't quite find what Jim wants.
Boo!
Settle for close.
Yay!
Installation almost complete.
Yay!
Two island trips to share.
Yay!
Back to the mainland grind.
Boo!
Friends from Utah here.
Yay!
Cruising friends here next week.
Yay!
Typing on my phone!
Boo!
Lots of blogging posts to catch up on.
Yay! Boo! I mean yay!

Blog About The Log

2010-07-27T20:41:00.000-07:00

No, not that kind of log.
Not one like ~~my diary~~ the wind speed, lat & long, wind direction, wave height, blah-di-blah...
But one about the sailing rag, The Log.
You know, the one where I won the jacket?
For Stan kissing a puffer fish?
The Log!
Let's start at the back, where any well adjusted reader would.
Ads.
Sailboat ads.
Mooring ads.
Just in case I want to move to Newport or the hit me with your best East wind shot, Avalon.And quite affordable at $875,000.
$875,000 for a mooring?
For an engine block with a floaty and a slimy line in a crowded harbor?
Huh?
Am I missing something here?
Such as the boat that comes with the mooring?

Ok, skip that.
Flip back a few more pages (remember we start at the back) to the ever entertaining Harbor Blotter!
Yep, what the Harborales do for ~~kicks~~ ~~fun~~ work.
Sometimes it's as innocent as helping a boater find a dinghy that floated away.
Assisting a newbie with an overturned kayak.
Or kids with a rental paddleboat who just lost their rudder.
And sometimes it's JUSTICE.
WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND.
KARMA.Gee, you haul your boat in our yard and neglect to pay your bill for several months?
Sob ~~lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, full of lies~~ story.
~~Lie some more.~~
Then have some ~~drug addict skank thieves piece of shit~~ friends over.
With weapons.
Yes, weapons!
Hee hee hee...
Enjoy jail you washed up piece of shit, crap, lying SOB (sorry to bring your mom into this as your dad actually seemed pretty nice, but oh by the way he it totally sick of your shit too) thief, liar, liar, liar, did I mention I hate liars? worthless piece of poor excuse for a human being ex-client.
So maybe he can trade some jail favors and send us the $6k he owes us...?
Karma Mr. AngelinaJolie'sBoyfriend'sName FemaleSheepPresentTenseSuffix!

Flip back several more pages.
What is this?
Stowaway raccoons?Yep, happens all the time.
Often with bears.
Buffalo.
Cows & horses too.
And sometimes with skunks, alpacas, turtle doves, cougars, mealy worms, penguins, ladybugs (the worst!), orcas, hummingbirds (listen for the hum ~ dead giveaway), worms (yeah, well sometimes you can't prevent this one), toucans, antelope, elephants, tsetse flies, rattlesnakes and labrador puppies.
Oh those stowaways!
Seriously ~ stop your boat and don't come to the island?
~~How about stop your boat and jump overboard!~~
And there is a charge for the removal service?
How about you pay me to not bring the raccoons ~~skunks, alpacas, turtle doves, cougars, mealy worms, penguins, ladybugs, orcas, hummingbirds, worms, toucans, antelope, elephants, tsetse flies, rattlesnakes and labrador puppies~~ to the island?

And if there is a great flood is it then okay?

Ponderings From The Week or Stuff I Thought About

2010-07-24T15:22:00.000-07:00

I remembered what a good sport Big Bad Bob can be.And that flash cameras work better than phones do when taking pictures at night.

I was reminded of how awesome Stan is, when he gave this bike to me!Yes, GAVE!
I am in the course of remembering how much I love to ride bicycles.
A couple more rides and I will remember for sure.

Always tie your anchor to a cleat or the bollard after you raise it.
This I knew, but our friend Randy forgot.
He is now not on his way to Portland as he should be, but in the boatyard with over $6000 in repairs.

Don't swim with sharks.
And don't get a job with Vessel Assist in case you get a call to dive on a gillnetter's prop to remove their net or whatever and find this next to it...It's ok to steal pictures from people if needed.
(I stole this picture from other Randy...)

Uh, what else?
I hate pigeons.

Did I mention I like to ride bicycles?
That I don't care for sharks unless they are on my plate?
Grilled preferably.
That you should always tie your anchor off?
That Bob is a ~~mermaid~~ good sport?

Jellybanks with Big Bad Bob & Stan The Man

2010-07-19T16:19:00.000-07:00

Big Bad Bob Burney was out from Texas for two weeks of working.
Two weeks of work?
So we kidnapped him for the weekend.
I snuck out of The Dirt Pit at 3:00.
Engines on.
All docklines off except a couple.
Fenders up for the most part.
Boat is ready.
Jim is ready.
Stan is ready.
I am ready.
Where the hell is Bob?

Off we go around 3:30 or 4:00 or some windy time.
Put a double reef in the main outside the harbor as there was already wind.
We started heading for Prisoners and slopped and banged along.
Had the headsail out and was doing ok, but just ok, due to a filthy boat bottom.
Called ~~"Shinola"~~ "Shining Star" to see how they were slopping along and a quick decision was made to fall off and head for Yellowbanks.
Smart!

Heard a "clink, clink, clink" coming from inside and found an open bottle of red wine, cork out, rolling across the counter.
Red wine all over the counter.
Under the microwave, under the toaster, all over the flashlight collection, down the wall, on the steps, on the carpet, on the Mexican rug.
Oh yay!
Burgandy walls!
So half-assed cleaned it up, as we were really slamming and bouncing around.
Barely missed the can at Platform Gilda. Grace?
One of those G names.

Aaaahhhhhhh!
The lee of the island!
Warm, calm, flat.
In and anchored at Hungryman's Gulch.
Time for a beer (considering my wine was dried on the wall by this time).
Lucky for me, there is a wine stash.
Made an awesome dinner of Jim's homemade spaghetti and had a beautiful smooth night.
Complete with a satellite locating contest.
I was given 4 points for washing dishes, so tied with Jim & Stan.
Bob sucked at 0.

Ok, next day.
Windy out in the channel again, so let's just move over to Yellowbanks and enjoy the sun and lack of honking winds.
Did that exactly.
Here is Stan and Bob enjoying.Cherryl & I kayaked.

We had mojitos.
Mr. Bill included.

We watched a dead, stinky, bloated up sea lion drift right onto us and avoided the slick of slimy dead, stinky, bloated up sea lion along our hull and anchor chain by Jim's quick manuvering of the boat.
Yay for two engines.
Yay for watching.
Yay for Jim's driving capabilities.This boat, who we shall re-name "Duh" wasn't so lucky.
Or smart.
Or something.The dead, stinky, bloated up sea lion pretty much slid on alongside their anchor chain.
Eeeewwww.
But then caught a current and headed on out to sea.

Uh, what else?
Stan caught a mini-fish and fed it to Cherryl's cat, Scuppers.Who then threw it up all over Cherryl's brand new comforter.

Dinner on "Shining Star" with "Delinquent Sea" joining us.
Jokes, fun, conversation, do you know so & so, blah, blah, blah.
Back to "Meerkat" for sleep.

Next day.
The guys went fishing.
I made a huge breakfast.
Read.
Took a nap.
Enjoyed the incredible water color of Yellowbanks.Didn't want to go home.
But did.
Eventually.

Had a nice sail with headsail alone for awhile.
Missed the can at the oilrig at a much greater distance.
No fish.
And I parked the boat again.

Rust

2010-06-29T21:03:00.000-07:00

Twenty-two years of living by the ocean.
Twenty-two years of living by the ocean means salty ocean air on my cars.
Twenty-two years of living by the ocean means salty ocean air on my cars creates rust.
So after Twenty-two years of living by the ocean, with the salty ocean air on my cars creating rust, I figured I should buy a car that won't rust.
Hmmmmm... think, think, think...
Hmmmm... my boat is not rusty.
I should buy a car that is similar to what my boat is made of.
Fiberglass.
Fiberglass!
Fiberglass means one of these.Yeah, well wishful thinking.
Sort of like wanting to get a dog.
Not going to happen.
But I did have fun driving this thing in High School when my parents were somewhere far, far away traveling.

Leftover Lump, Willows, South Swell, Scorpion & One Barracuda

2010-06-28T20:08:00.000-07:00

That pretty much describes the weekend.
We really wanted to go out Friday afternoon and I was even lucky enough to sneak out of the ~~dirt pit~~ office at 3:00 pm.
To wind.
Snuck out to wind.
It didn't look too bad from the pier at the yard but didn't look too good on the buoy reports.
Five feet at five seconds.
Sounded like the waves were stacked on top of each other.
A wise choice was made to wait until morning.
If you call 4 am morning...
Ugh.
Out of the slip and at the ~~lumpy~~ entrance by 4:30 am.
We had a bright full moon and an incredibly neon blue phosphorescence show.
Dual trails of iridescent blue followed the boat.
Splashes of neon blue lit the surface of the water surrounding us.
Due to the leftover lump...
Every lump lit up.
Bright, neon blue.
Beautiful but ugly at the same time.
Ugly enough for me to "allow" Stan and Jim to be in charge and me to go back to my bunk.
For the next couple of bouncing, slamming hours.Well, it got good after an hour and a half or so, but since I was drifting in and out I wasn't really counting.

Motored up the backside to Willows ~ a favorite!And we were the only boat there!
But we were tired...
Got up way too early.
So read, napped, ate.
Stan and Jim went halibut trolling in the dinghy.
I read.
They came back.
Empty-handed.
I read.
Then we watched the wind circle around.Read some more.
Had a glass of vino.Watched the south swell start up.Remember those two hurricanes off of Mexico?
It always amazes me that the swell can be felt 1000 miles away...
BBQ'd tri tips and made awesome garlic mashed potatoes.
Ate.
And went to bed before it was even dark...

Woke up to a few big swells coming in from the South.
Ok, time to get OUT of here as the rocks were looking really close.
Then the seaweed fight began.
Armed with knives ~~teeth~~ and brawn, Stan and Jim fought with the largest kelp ~~monster~~ entanglement around the anchor chain.
Ever.
Lots of that ~~crap~~ seaweed slid past them into the anchor locker.
Mmmmm, mmmmm, mmmm.
Guess what the boat then smelled like?
Then in trying to feed the crew, I intermingled the lovely smell of bacon with the seaweed ~~stench~~.
Now the boat was smelling really great!
So bacon, eggs, bagels ~~and seaweed~~ for our motor down the backside.
And a minke whale sighting!Did some fishing and reading (me) on the way and dishes too ~ I did dishes! ~ and ended up anchored at Scorpion for a few hours.
Peaceful.
Quiet.
~~Except for the 250 hikers and kayakers dropped off by Island Packers for the day - hey IPCO, where the hell is my ice cream?~~
Beautiful.
I kayaked around the bay and enjoyed a beer.
Tecate in a can ~ yeehaw.

Time to head home.
Jim had thresher shark on the brain again, so we pulled out the headsail and left the main down.
Yep ~ blame it on him wanting to thresher shark fish, not being lazy!
Actually we learned last time, when we hooked one and had to drop the main in a hurry.
No sharks, but one slimy barracuda!

Doesn't my drawing look just like that fish?

Lots of dolphins.
Swimming with the bows.Feeding and jumping.
Frolicking and doing whatever dolphins do.

Back into the harbor, where I parked the boat!

Too Early. Too Creepy.

2010-06-25T17:29:00.000-07:00

Not one, but two hurricanes in the Eastern Pacific.
In June.
Yes, June.
Way, super early.This means I should be happy to be in SoCal.
Okay...
Happy to be in SoCal.
I'm working on that.

Deck Deck Deck Goose

2010-06-23T07:41:00.000-07:00

So our every-other weekend going to the islands is pretty much on schedule.
I think.
We had an off weekend, so finally kept our promise to Margi and headed to her house to stain her decks.
Jim, being a painter forever needed to be there to prep and direct us.
He went up Friday morning and I headed up after work.
Food and drinks were needed to get us through the first night.Huge steaks, rosemary potatoes and salad with fresh dressing.
We never go hungry at Margi's...

In less than 24 hours, we cleaned, prepped and stained deck #1, off her dining area.

Deck #2, at her front door.And deck #3, off her bedroom door.We also managed to enjoy her flowers.

Eat three more meals.
Torment her dog.
Sit in the hot tub with wine in the afternoon.
Watch most of War of The Worlds and are now forever afraid of tripods.
Catch up with each other.
View some pics.
Clean up our mess.
Put most of the plants back on the decks.
Even shower.This weekend?
ISLANDS!

Prisoners with "Vela"

2010-06-17T17:42:00.000-07:00

No, we were not "Prisoners" with Vela, but went to Prisoners with "Vela".
The usual spot.
The eel grass gone rampant.
Halibut fishing with no halibut to be seen.
The pier.
The dinghy dock.
The hike to the guard shack, which isn't really a guard shack ~~but what the hell else do you call it?~~...

The awesome view.

The traditional dork pictures on the guard shack steps...
Flowers.
Sea lions.
No whales.
Food.
Drinks.
Dinghy cruise to Pelicans.
Conversation.
Socializing.
Blah, blah, blah.

"Vela" was one of our Baja Bash Buddy Boats.
~~Try saying that fast three times.~~
Heidi & Aaron were on the bash and once again joined Chris for the trip from Ventura to San Francisco.
Cecil was just getting used to the whole idea.
~~And barfing a little...~~So anyway, nice trip out.
Dolpins the entire way.
First boat to the anchorage.
First to go halibut fishing.
First to come back without halibut.
First to make the offer of "want us to take your trash in?" and "Vela" gave us Aaron's dad.
New nickname for him: "White Trash".
He seemed to like it.
Of course why not ~ he got to spend two nights with us in a queen bunk and not have to curl himself around the dinette on "Vela".
What's not to like?
~~Don't answer that!~~

Plants that should have been in Avatar."Vela" and "Meerkat" anchored next to each other ~ a first since Cabo San ~~Pucas~~ Lucas!Watched the newlyweds be newlyweds.Saw dead things that made pretty patterns.Uh, what else?
Oh yeah...
Dinner on "Vela".
Yeah, dinner on "Vela".
Hot dogs in a piece of bread, wrapped in a tortilla with chili on it.
I think it was a Chris invention for underway chili dogs.
Dinner.
Interesting.

A kergillion stars.
More halibut-less fishing in the morning.
Giant breakfast prepared for me for Jim and ~~the white trash~~ Aaron's dad, the other Jim.
Motorsail back in.
Stopped half way to thresher shark fish.
And caught ONE!
But between turning the engines on, turning into the wind, dropping the main ~~and panicking~~ it jumped and got off.
Good thing.
Jim said it was huge.
Way huge.
We'd probably still be out there fighting it.

Once again, all good!

Back!

2010-06-16T08:02:00.001-07:00

Just busy.
~~Lazy.~~
No really, busy!
Work.
Dealing with Mom being sick.
Laundry.
Still haven't put the covers on the enclosure.
But Tim, Stan and Jim are going thresher shark fishing tomorrow, so they can just put the covers back on.
Still haven't washed the eel grass off of the bow, but Jim said he would wash the boat when we got in.
Yep, lazy!
I never said we weren't.
So another GREAT trip!
And one picture til I am not so ~~lazy~~ busy and can take the time to put the rest up.