Saturday October 29^th 2011

It was a busy week prepping the boat for its trip from the SF Bay down to Long Beach.  I had lists of things to do and every evening after work I would work on clearing the lists.  The last thing to do on the boat list was to pick up my skipper at SF airport at 2:00pm Saturday afternoon.

Back at the boat I left Nikolay checking over the boat while I had a final hot shower and then we set off around 3:00pm.  We had the outgoing tide in our favor and scooted up the bay at around 8 knots.  The closer we got to the Golden Gate Bridge the more the tide surged us out and I watched the knot meter steadily climb.  8.6 knots.  9.2 knots.  9.8  10.5  11.3  And we topped out at 11.4 as we shot out under the bridge and into open waters.  The strange thing was that I expected to feel like we were zooming along but FastAlley felt the same as doing 5 knots.  Just stable, solid, and sedate.

With the current behind us and no wind we headed down the coast and motored thru the night at around 9 knots.  I told Nikolay that come early evening my body typically wanted to shut down and sleep – I was never a late night owl.  So if it was okay with him, I would go to sleep early and stand the midnight watch.  That was fine with the skipper.  When I came up around 11pm Nikolay had raised the sails and killed the engine and we were ripping along in good winds at around 8 knots, and surfing the ocean swells.  It was exhilarating.

It was also very cold and I had on 4 layers of clothes as I settled down on my watch.  It was a black night.  Black seas.  Black skies.  No stars.  No moon.  Just pitch black.  The deck glowed a pale white in the running lights.  I figured I didn’t have to be on full alert for traffic because if any other boat was out there its light would stick out in the night like a lighthouse.  And so I daydreamed as I stood watch.

One thing about being out on a boat rushing through the dark night with the water gurgling over the hulls, it makes one introspective.  I seldom take the time to sit and think about the meaning of Life (the answer to which is 42, according to the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy), but there is very little else to do out there.  Every fifteen minutes I would check we were still sailing on course, check the read out on the various instruments, and settle down again to watch the seas, or more accurately, feel the seas since it was so black I couldn’t actually see anything.

And so Saturday and Sunday passed inexorably as we sailed down the coast about 15 miles out to sea.  On Sunday night I was on the midnight watch again and staring towards land.  Before turning in Nikolay suggested we run the engine to charge the batteries because all the instruments were taking a lot of power.  And so we motorsailed along during my watch.  Once again the night was pitch black with just the faintest line where the black sky met the black sea.  There was a ton of bioluminescence and FastAlley left a wide luminous green glowing streak in the sea as we surfed down the waves.  I was daydreaming how incredible it would look if a submarine moved silently passed us glowing and outlined beneath the waters in a shimmer of green luminosity.  Then I remembered the sub that surfaced suddenly in Hawaii a while back, flattening a small fishing vessel and killing all 6 fishermen on board.  I decided to skip the submarine daydream and substituted a whale instead.  Then I remembered the angry whale that leapt out of the water in the South African Cape Bay and breached on top of a small sailing vessel almost ripping the back off the boat.  I decided to skip daydreaming altogether until I could come up with something more pleasant.

It was around 3am and really cold as I gazed out into the darkness.  Suddenly 5 tubes of light came streaking towards the boat.  Dolphins!  I was delighted.  More dolphins streaked towards FastAlley attracted by the sound of the engine.  They leapt, and jumped, and raced around the boat delighting in the bow waves.  With 3 hulls they had a lot of bow waves to choose from.  I was entranced.  I watched the dolphins cavorting as they streaked through the water in long bright tubes of luminescence, playing and surfing as they chased each other with unabashed joy.  I couldn’t actually see the dolphins, I could just see the streaks of glowing green light they left in their wake.  I thrilled to the spectacular display of Lights taking place in the dark water around my boat.  I wished I could capture the delightful moment forever.

Monday morning dawned grey and overcast with no wind.  The weather reports, however, were ominous.  A huge storm out in the Pacific was sending large waves our way.  We were to expect high seas and high winds around Point Conception, which is considered one of the most dangerous areas along the California coast line.  Countless boats have been demasted, rolled, and just plain sunk off Pt. Conception and now the Weather Station was warning boats to beware.  The same conditions would prevail in the Santa Barbara Channel making conditions hazardous.  Great.  I went to sleep as Nikolay took over, knowing that when I awoke for my watch we would be right in the middle of that maelstrom.

I had been watching the weather for the past 3 weeks and storm after storm had marched across the Pacific.  NOAA websites had been forecasting heavy weather for weeks.  I decided to call my mother and get some insurance.  My mother is a prayer warrior and whenever I need protection I call her and ask her to get on the Hotline to God.  She tells me that God answers my prayers too but I have noticed that if there is Fabulous Option 1 or Crappy Option 2 then God answers my prayers alright, but with crappy #2.

So I engaged my prayer warrior mom.  She said of course she would pray for good weather.  I said I wanted not just good weather, but FLAT seas.  I wanted a smooth, calm run down the coast with zero damage to the boat and the skipper and myself.  I figured flat seas was Fabulous Option 1 and asked her to pray for that.  My mother agreed.  I wanted to hear her engage God so I stayed on the line while she prayed.  Just before we left SF I checked with my mother that God was aware of my “flat seas” request.  She assured me she had passed on my appeal.

As I prepared to leave the dock my son (a budding prayer warrior) and my grandson (a baby prayer warrior) said they would pray over me for a safe journey.  “And for flat seas”, I added which my grandson dutifully tacked onto the end of his prayer.

Armed with my 3 prayers, I listened to the very alarming weather report but was not unduly perturbed.  However, in light of the ferocity of the expected weather I did assure God that if flat seas were difficult to achieve, then I would accept 3ft swells as compensation.  I went to bed in what I thought was a generous spirit.

I awoke some hours later knowing we should be at, or near, Point Conception.  I dressed and went on deck and stared out over the seas, awestruck!  The sea was flat.  Flat.  Flat.  Glassy flat.  I turned to the skipper – “This is Point Conception?”, I asked incredulously.  He grinned hugely.  “Yes”, he replied as he lounged back reading a book.  I turned a slow 360 – the sea was glassy flat in every direction.  Nothing moved.  Not a ripple.  Not a bump.  As undisturbed as a quiet, still pond.  I burst out laughing.  “This is Point Conception?” I asked again as I turned another 360, just stunned.  “Check the charts”, said the skipper.  I walked over to the glowing electronic chart and sure enough, there we were, right off the Point.

Point Conception

Nikolay went below as I took over the watch.  I couldn’t help laughing with delight as I gazed out over the calm seas.  I could just see an amused God sitting up in Heaven saying “You snot nosed human, negotiating 3 ft swells.  Don’t patronize me, you shrimp!”.

On Monday we passed through the calm Santa Barbara channel, and crossed the gentle Santa Monica Bay.  Nikolay told me to wake him a mile from the Long Beach harbor entrance, which I was happy to do.  We approached the entrance surrounded by at least 8 container ships, 2 of which were actively heading for the same entrance as us.  We were out of fuel and I didn’t want to leave the boat with empty tanks over winter, so once we were safely inside the harbor we headed for a general anchorage, dropped anchor, and settled down for the rest of the night.  It was 3:00am on Tuesday morning.

In the morning light we were readying the boat for our trip to the fuel dock when we were approached by the Coast Guard.  AGAIN?!  The sweetest young man said, “Have you ever been boarded by the Coast Guard?”.  I said, “Yes, often!”.  He was a little disconcerted.  “Are you doing training?” I asked, “Would you like to come aboard”.  Yes he would, and they did.

They went through their check list, with the trainee doing all the writing while the trainer asked the questions.  By this time I am a dab hand at Coast Guard boardings so I knew what they wanted and where it all was.  Like Annie said in SF Bay, if a Coastie has to pick a boat to board, they will pick FastAlley because she is different from the norm.  So I get boarded all the time.

Afterwards we raised anchor and approached the fuel station.  It had 2 stubby docks sticking out into the channel and was not a dock that I would be happy approaching.  Nikolay said we should back into the dock.  I thought he was kidding.  “FastAlley doesn’t have steerage going backwards,” I pointed out, “she simply goes backwards in any direction she cares to go.  She only has forwards steerage”.  That’s what the previous owner told me and that is what I had found in the 3 years I had her.  FastAlley has a vicious starboard prop walk that I find useful for turning her in a tight circle, but which makes going backwards in a straight line just impossible.

Nikolay said that nevertheless we would back into the dock.  I said that if he dinged FastAlley I would throttle him.  He was unconcerned.  He turned my boat around and started backing gently towards the dock.  We went straight back as though tethered to a shore line that was reeling us in.  I watched fascinated as he brought us smoothly alongside the dock.  Not a bump.  Not a grind.  We just slid alongside backwards.  “How did you do that?!!”, I wanted to know.  He explained the technique and I’m going to practice it until I get it right – although I’ll practice with something softer than a solid dock.  It was a pleasure to watch.

When we approached my new slip I didn’t even argue – I just turned over the wheel to Nikolay.  Once again he docked FastAlley gently and smoothly and I stepped calmly off the boat and tied us off.  I have no idea how I am supposed to dock FastAlley in this tiny spot in future?!  I share an end tie with a power boat and have just 2 or 3 feet from my bowsprit to his stern.  I think docking here will be somewhat more exciting with me steering.  None of that “stepping calmly off the boat” when I am at the wheel.

My son and his family were waiting at the dock and were all excited to see that I had arrived safely.  Kevin had offered to drive Nikolay back to San Diego where he lived with his wife and baby daughter.  On the way I had a last chance to pick his brains on boat handling tips.  He had spent his watch hours examining FastAlley and had a list of about 20 incremental improvements I could make to ready the boat for an ocean crossing.  I jotted them all down.  He also got my fridge working on battery power again – it had stopped working after an electrician did some other work for me.  Of course, Nikolay  said that if I had mentioned the problem with the fridge when we left SF instead of when we arrived at LB then we could have used it to keep the milk and cheese cold, instead of having them float around in the melting ice in the cooler box.

After dropping Nikolay we all returned to the boat and the family stayed until around 7pm.  Then I had a glorious hot shower in the marina, crawled into bed, and put on a Clint Eastwood cowboy movie.  After 20 minutes I was fast asleep and slept like the dead until the sun rose.

The list of small improvements Nikolay gave me will cost less than $200 and will make a big difference to the safety of my vessel.  The big ticket items – that I already know about – are new solar panels and a new battery bank.  However, Nikolay had some excellent suggestions on both aspects.  For example, I was going to mount the new solar panels on the roof but Nikolay said that if I don’t flush mount them then the mainsheet will rip them right off during an accidental jybe.  I hadn’t even thought of that but as soon as he said it I knew he was right because I have seen the mainsheet whipping across the roof before as I practiced singlehanding and didn’t get to the sheet fast enough.

Nikolay also tested my new batteries and declared the starter battery defective.  The problem is that the electrician had mixed battery types when he replaced my burned out battery charger, which in turned had fried all my batteries.  The new charger has 4 settings, and when charging it had defaulted to the lowest type battery setting (the house bank) so that the higher quality starter battery had suffered over the past year.  Since the electrician had both installed the charger and replaced the batteries, I should have thought that at $65 per hour he would know not to mix battery types.  Apparently not.  So my new expensive starter battery is now ruined.

Anyway, we have arrived safely in Long Beach and I have a list of things to do before attempting any deep ocean crossing, although FastAlley could go as she currently stands if I wanted to leave tomorrow.  Which I don’t.  He suggested that I implement the changes he recommends then he would drive up from San Diego some time and go over the boat with me to ensure I had her ship shape.

Hawaii – here we come!

The zipline course

Then I saw a short piece on local TV about ziplining in the Redwood forest and decided that it sounded like fun.  I had images of gentle movement through the forest canopy – like the scenes in the movie Medicine Man with Sean Connery.  I can do that, I thought!

So when my son Bryan was visiting for a week, I signed us up for a Sunday 11:30am gentle, swaying browse thru the Redwood canopies, ala Medicine Man.

OMG ! WTF !! AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHH !!!

Good Grief!  I had no idea it could be so terrifying.  There are 9 ziplines, and you travel from the one to the other until you rappel down 80ft from the last platform to the forest floor.

We were in a group of 6 because 2 didn’t arrive.  I said to Bryan that if I turn really white he should take that as a sign that I was REALLY out of my comfort zone.  A dark-skinned lady in our group interjected – No, if I turn white then it is REALLY scary!

We were taken to the Visitors Center where we waited for our guides to arrive.  As we sat in the shade of the Redwoods the earlier groups zipped overhead, and every so often someone would go by accompanied by their blood curdling scream as the zipped over.   I smiled to myself – this was going to different.

We had 2 guides for each group and our guides were just darling.  The male guide, Jesse, went across first every time and then received us as we flew over.  The girl guide, Alexis, prepped and secured us and sent us off.  She was always last off the platform.

The first zipline is easy, just a short quick ride alongside the mountain, about 40ft off the ground, and at a slow angle.  Also you are on a platform attached to a rock solid Douglas Fir, that stands tall and straight and nothing will budge it.  So that is fun.  And the ride is over so fast that you don’t really have time to think about it – maybe 5 seconds.  Bryan and I went last of the group of 6.  I can do this, I thought.

The second zipline is also short, a slightly steeper angle, and to a tree off the side of the mountain, so you zip across about 100 ft off the ground.  Short ride, a little faster but over before you know it – maybe 8 seconds.  Bryan and I went second in the group of 6.  I can do this, I assured myself.

The third zipline disappeared into the trees in the distance!!  It is steep and long and you reach speeds of 30 miles an hour!  I took one look at that, and BAULKED.  The guide Alexis is not stupid – she didn’t even react to my panic, but calmly and quietly connected up my son, and sent Bryan over as the first of the 6 of us.  I watched in horror as he disappeared into the trees in the distance.  Then she tied me up as I protested, knowing this dumb mother would blindly follow her offspring.  The birth bond thing.

I locked my eyes on the distant trees where I expected to see my son, and stepped into space hundreds of feet above the forest floor.   I think my heart stopped.

By the time I reached the platform and Jesse untied me, my eyes were popping with fright, I was hyperventilating madly, and my heart pounded at a speed that I was sure was calamitous for my health.  I clung to the trunk of the tree and howled – I WANT MY SON!!   Bryan prized my arms off the tree, and held me close as I sobbed out my terror.  I heard him saying to Jesse – “She is fearless on her boat?!  Nothing fazes her, not storms, not big seas, nothing?!”    But dangling hundreds of feet ABOVE the Redwood canopy at high speeds completely unnerved me.  And we had 5 more to go!

Added to that, the platforms were no longer on Douglas Firs, but on the more pliable Redwood trees that swayed with the zipline forces applied to them.  Nothing is more unnerving that standing on a tiny platform, way up on a Redwood tree that is swaying!!

Standing on a Redwood platform before scooting across this valley

I was still too shook up to notice that Alexis made sure that Bryan was first across every time after that – we me right behind.  She didn’t give me time to stand on the swaying platform contemplating the next run and losing my nerve – she urged me off right behind my son.

The next zipline was a short hop, not very steep, and relatively close to the ground.  I actually enjoyed it.  I was smiling as I zipped across.  I should have known it was just their bait-&-swap setup for the looooooong run across the valley!

The next zipline was a long run; so long in fact that the guides are worried that we will run out of speed and stop short of the platform.  So Jesse showed us how to lie back, and tuck up, so that we maintain enough speed to get all the way across.  The run takes about 35 seconds across the valley  and you are above the canopy with the trees waaaaaaay down there!  Again Bryan was sent over first – at this stage I was compos mentis enough to register that Bryan was ALWAYS being sent first – with me shoved off in hot pursuit.   I was wryly amused.

And way down there is the tops of the trees - as we balance on a tree platform

Actually, much to my huge surprise I enjoyed that longest run immensely.  Firstly I was getting used to ziplining, but most importantly, the angle of the line was slower so that I didn’t get that “rushing headlong to destruction” feeling.   I even took the time to look down and around me as I scooted along, all tucked up.  When I reached the platform Jesse said – You know, considering that you are so afraid you follow orders precisely, and you do it exactly correctly every time.  Well, that was more because I was deathly afraid to NOT do it exactly correctly in case I stalled in the middle of the run, and hung there frozen with fright!!

As Alexis the guide came over last she totally unnerved me by letting out a loud blood curdling yell on the way over.  I wondered what she knew that she hadn’t told us!!  I looked at Bryan in horror, but he grinned and pointed down.  We were at the platform over the Visitors Center so the guides were yelling for the effect on the waiting tourists!  By this time I was enjoying the ride so I got the joke.

Then you have to climb up a 30ft circular staircase securely bolted around the Redwood – not too scary.  And cross 2 swaying sky bridges – also not scary because you are not too far off the ground.  Nevertheless I moved with extreme caution.  Then a quick zipline to the last platform before rappelling off.

Okay, I have seen rappelling on the Discovery Channel and when someone else is doing it, it looks easy.  Jesse went first and assured us that even if we literally faint from fright (I didn’t want to hear that) then he would control our descent from below and bring us down safely anyway.

I wasn’t fussed about this part – I thought – but I refused to go first.  I was done with the “going first” thing.  And Alexis seemed to know that if Bryan went first then when it was my turn I would baulk and refuse to move altogether.   Then I would spend the entire weekend on that platform 80ft up in the air.

So another of our group went first – the bravest one – and she stood on the edge of the platform, suspended 80ft above the ground, and smiled happily for the camera.

While I protested and hung back, Alexis calmly and without any fuss, connected me up.  I refused to step off the platform into space and started crying again.  I CANT DO THIS, I wailed as tears ran down my face.  Sure you can, urged Alexis as she patted me gently, the way I did to my kids when they were small and baulked.

Staircase up the Redwood

Air bridge

Hanging 8 storeys above the forest floor

Her patting was really just gentle urging and pretty soon I was standing on the edge of the platform refusing to look down.  Then I somehow stepped into space.  I know the guide didnt push me because any slight pressure on my back and I would have backed up hurriedly until my rear was securely stuck on the tree trunk!   So somehow they managed to urge me over and out.  I dangled, frozen with fright.  Bryan whipped out the camera and urged me to lower myself so he could take pictures.  But I had a death grip on the line and didn’t move an inch – I just dangled there.  Eventually, with gentle urging from Alexis and Bryan I let up the death grip and slid down a few inches.  Then I stopped again, and dangled, utterly frozen.  More urging, another few inches.

Eventually I had hung up there for long enough without falling to a horrible death 80-ft below, that I gained a smidgen of confidence.  So I slowly released my death grip on the rappel line and gently slid downwards, in a very slow controlled descent.  I kept my eyes fixed on Bryan with an unwavering stare.  No mongoose ever stared so fixedly at a cobra.

After what seemed like ages and Bryan seemed very far away, I yelled up at my son – How am I doing?… thinking I was just inches from the ground.  He assured me I was dropping just fine which caused me to inadvertently glance down.  To my horror I was less than a quarter of the way down the tree!!   The forest floor was still forever away, hidden down there in the gloom.

reaching the forest floor - terrified

I fixed my eyes on Bryan again and loosened my death grip on the rope and slid faster.  I was in a hurry to hit terra firma – or in my case, terror firmer.

When I reached the ground Jesse reached to unclip me but I said, Wait.  I need to cry first.  And burst into tears again.  He was so sweet and patiently held me while I bawled out my fear against his chest.  He didnt rush me and when I finally calmed down he unclipped me.

Those guides are Saints!!

We walked back to the Visitors Center to remove our zipline gear and overhead a person let off a loooooong, bloodcurdling scream.  Alexis, our guide said nonchalantly – Oh, that’s Kate, she has the best scream.  I noticed that all the tourists waiting their turn to gear up, looked up nervously.

I can honestly say, without a shadow of a doubt, that I have ZERO intention of ever ziplining again!  And that goes for rappelling as well.  Medicine Man never did it like this!

Overall the trip through the trees took about 2.5 hours.  At each (tiny, swaying) platform the knowledgeable guides would assemble us and explain the forest, the trees around, and the eco-system (did you know that the forest system in the 1800s was so extensive that a squirrel could jump from tree to tree from New York to the Mississippi?).  The pauses on the platforms between ziplining were interesting and informative, and more importantly gave my adrenalin a chance to stop SQUIRTING at high speed into my system.  My body was in high gear for fight-or-fllght, and since the fight option was eliminated that just left me with flight mode which, since I was hundreds of feet up in the Redwood Canopy, really meant FRIGHT mode.

Bryan said he thought I was very brave.  He said he can still clearly remember when he was about 5 years old and I decided to take him up Table Mountain in Cape Town.  I remember that I stepped into the cable car confidently enough and it slowly took off.  Suddenly the ground dropped sharply away from us as the cable car climbed almost vertically to the table top 3000-ft up.  My legs gave way in horror and I slid to the floor in shock.  Little 5-year old Bryan (and Kevin my 7-year old) stood at my shoulder patting me with their tiny hands and saying soothingly – It’s alright Mommy, it’s alright Mommy – as I sobbed my way up the mountain.

So now as a 6-ft adult Bryan said he was very impressed when I signed us up for ziplining.  He thought by doing so that I was showing that I was over my fear of heights.

Clearly not.  I just forgot!

Bryan thought ziplining was an amazing experience.  He thoroughly enjoyed every second and said he would return with his family in tow.  He was ready to do it all over again.

Not me!  I realize now that you will never see the job description on my resume called: “window cleaner on a high-rise building”.

Here is how the Sonoma Canopy Tours explains their rides – it reads as pretty innocuous:

Here’s what you’ll experience while you zip from platform-to-platform:

Platform 1 – 2
Get comfortable at the starting deck known as Victory Circle. This junior zip will prepare you for the ziplining experience ahead as you enjoy your first breathtaking view of the forest.

Platform 2 – 3
Gain confidence on this longer and faster zip that will speed you along at heights around 80 feet off the canopy floor.

Platform 3 – 4
Now the real adventure begins. Look down if you dare: you’ll see the deep natural ravine almost 300 feet below, along with the camp that’s also part of our grounds.

Platform 4 – 5
Take in the panoramic views from high above the ancient Redwood forest.

Platform 5 – 6
Ready for a full 800 foot zip? Our tour’s longest zipline rockets you straight into an old growth forest—trees more than 700 years old that make the Coastal Redwood forest a timeless experience.

Platform 6 – 7
This quick change-of-pace zip lets you explore the forest views surrounding you and the creek below.

Platform 7 – 8
Get ready for a little workout on our one-of-a kind majestic spiral staircase. You’ll climb 30 feet in the air—just don’t forget to enjoy the view on your way up.

Platform 8 – 9
The pace slows a bit to enjoy the fern-lined ravine below. Suspended high above, enjoy the natural sway and undulation on our 175′ long sky bridge. Along the way, you’ll get to see “Walter,” the oldest tree on the property.

Platform 9 – 10
Take a breath and enjoy the view of Walter from another sky bridge as you prepare for the final zip.

Platform 10 – 11
Relish every second of this short zip to the final platform, where you’ll come back down to Earth.

Platform 11
From this last platform, you’ll rappel 80′ to the forest floor, while you see a large redwood burl “close up and personal.”

Complete your journey with a leisurely, 50-yard stroll back to Sonoma Canopy Tour’s Welcome Center.

Weather monitor - wind indicator

I have a West Marine model Weather Base 20 which works perfectly well and tells the temperature, humidity, time, and most important to me as a sailor, it tells the wind speed and wind direction.  That is, it did until one of the 3 cups on the external wind indicator broke off.  With only 2 cups left they balanced each other out and the monitor no longer spun/rotated in the wind – so I no longer got the wind speed.

I thought I would be able to dismantle the wind indicator, remove the offending piece, and replace it with a new piece with the requisite 3 cups.  The weather base is made by West Marine so off I went to WM to buy a replacement part.  I entered the WM store and headed straight for an assistant at the counter.

I explained my problem and the assistant looked dubious.  He said he thought that WM sold the entire base as one unit and that spare parts were not available.

At this time the gentleman standing next to me piped up helpfully.  Why not just stick a bottle cap in the place of the missing cup and it will work just fine, he offered.  And Coca Cola caps work perfectly, he added.

The mere thought of an ugly Coke cap glued onto any part of  my beautiful boat was about as attractive as a boil on a baby’s bottom.  I turned and gave the man a withering “You stay out of this!” glare.  He shrugged.

The attendant and I went thru the WM catalog.  Turns out that WM no longer makes that particular model, however, for just $549 I can buy a whole new latest-and-greatest weather base.  Excluding the cost of an electrician to remove the old weather station and fit the newest contraption, of course..

There are a lot of things I need for the boat right now, and a new weather base is not one of them, so I left the store.

Once I got back to the boat I studied the non-spinning wind indicator and pondered the problem.  The more I thought about the man’s suggestion of a Coke bottle cap, the more it made sense.  Eventually I decided it was worth a try, especially since the stupid indicator was not working anyway…  And there are no spare parts for it…  And I didn’t feel like buying a new one.

So off I went to the store and bought a 6-pack of Cokes.  I noticed that the bottle caps are a bright red so I decided to paint them black.  I picked up a cheap bottle of nail polish – black nail polish like people use on Halloween to enhance their witch costumes.

Then back to the boat.  Over the weekend I drank the cokes and kept the lids which I painted black.  Then I mixed up a batch of marine glue, climbed up on the roof of the dodger, leaned over the davits precariously, and glued a now-black cup in the spot of the missing cup.  I waited expectantly for the indicator to start spinning happily in the 10-knot wind but it just sat there.

Its the little fella below the big wind generator

I sat and watched the movement of the indicator – or non.movement in this case – and it seemed that since the other 2 cups were on extended arms and my Coke cup was glued straight to the mounting base, it was preventing a rotation from starting.  If I knocked it with my hand then it spun away and continued to spin, but once I stopped it again, it couldn’t restart its spin.  Obviously I must have slept thru the lesson about wind dynamics in school.

So I thought if I glued another 2 cups to the mounting then the new 3 cups would generate the start speed needed to get it spinning.  So I did that.  Now I had 5 cups on the indicator – 3 Coke caps (painted Halloween black) glued directly to the monitor, and 2 originals on their extended arms.

By this time the wind had picked up so I sat back waiting for the vroooom that would indicate my monitor was spinning wildly – but it didn’t move.  All I had done was counter balance the stupid thing again.  As I watched, the wind would catch the cup on the extended arm and shove it clockwise.  Then the wind would catch the other extended cup and shove it anti-clockwise.  So the indicator wobbled back and forth, but did not fully rotate.

Obviously I needed to replace a-cup-on-an-extended-arm like the one that broke off.  I know, I know, I shouldn’t have second guessed the original designer – but who knew 5 cups would not do the trick?!

Back to the drawing board….  I cut up an expired credit card into thin strips to use as the arm extension and glued the strips together to get rigidity.  And painted it black.  Then I glued the (4^th) cup to the extension, and glued the extension in the missing place on the indicator.

The thing started spinning madly – at last.  I bolted downstairs and my weather base showed the wind at 15 knots.  Oh joy!

Tah-DAAHHHH

So now instead of a neat wind indicator on my davit with 3 neat cups on extensions, now I have the thing bristling with Coke bottle caps – all painted Halloween black.

The next time someone comes up with a simple fix to an expensive problem, I hope I have the good sense to ask some in-depth questions instead of dishing out a snotty look.  To the man in WM that received The Look, I humbly apologize.

Cost to replace:                    Newest weather base $549         + handyman electrician at $65 p/hr

Cost to fix:

6-pack of Cokes           $2.99

1 black nail polish      $1.99

TOTAL =       $5 (I already had the marine glue)

The weather station on my Navigation station

Fireworks in the Bay

INDEPENDENCE DAY – and a long weekend – Sat, Sun, and Monday.

There are various sites in San Francisco Bay where you can anchor overnight that will give you an excellent view of the spectacular fireworks displays along the various waterfronts on Sunday night, the 4^th of July.

Annie and Darlene said they were available to anchor out with me, so the long weekend was a Go.  Annie was in charge of the menu, while I spent the week preparing the boat.

I checked that the anchor and windlass worked, checked the batteries, filled the water tanks, emptied the toilet holding tank, cleared off the stuff cluttering the guest bed, cleaned the windscreens, got new batteries for the portable radio, bought a ton of Cokes, fetched my Mac so that we could play DVDs, and just generally puttered around.

I also dropped the dinghy onto the dock intending to inflate the slackened pontoons but once I had the dinghy down where I could see it properly, I noticed that the transom had come away from the port pontoon.  I visited West Marine for friendly advice on how I could repair and re-glue the separation.  The glue alone was $128 but the advice was free – they suggested I take it to an inflatable repair facility.  That was a blow – I was expecting us to have a runabout for the weekend.

Transom coming unglued from the pontoon

Annie and Darlene arrived early Saturday morning and we cast off the dock lines and motored into a clear, warm, calm day.  No wind.  But then again, there is never any wind early in the morning in the Bay, however, around noon up comes a howling banshee of a wind as regular as clockwork.  Well, maybe “howling” is overstating it somewhat, but a solid 20 knots with sharp gusts blows thru.

Under the Bay Bridge, Darlene, and San Francisco in the background

We motored calmly up the Bay and Annie mentioned that the SFWeather said that there would be a Small Craft Warning in the afternoon.  Darlene made a joke to the effect that we weren’t a small craft so we didn’t have to worry.  Right.  As we motored under the Bay Bridge and moved out from the protection of the highrise buildings of the City to our left, we were quite suddenly slammed with high wind and sloppy waves that splashed over the bow and onto my clean windscreen utterly obliterating our view.  Darlene did a rapid disappearing trick behind cover to avoid being soaked through.

We weren’t sailing so we didn’t have to rush to reduce sail and we weren’t in any real danger, but the radio crackled on and on with Pan-Pan calls from the Coast Guard asking sailors to look out for a craft overturned near Berkeley, or a boat taking on water near the island, or a vessel sinking near….   Seems that if you were a small craft, you were in real trouble.

Alcatraz coming up

We bounced thru the bay being doused in spray.  We passed Alcatraz, and the Golden Gate Bridge to our left, and finally after a total of 4 hours of motoring we reached Richardson Bay.  I had been told to anchor near Cove Rock because with my shallow draft we would comfortably manage the 7ft depth.  We entered the Sausalito bay eagerly looking out for the rock.  It turns out that Cove Rock is actually a lump below the water and all you can see is a very large bouy marking the spot.

The Golden Gate bridge to port

Since I was the only one who sort of knew how the windlass worked, I put Darlene on the helm and we went thru our hand signals – Stop, go left, go right, go forward, go back, and power back hard to check the holding.  You have to have hand signals to impress the watching masses.  It doesn’t matter how badly you mess up, but if you hold up a fist (the military equivalent of Stop) and the helmsman responds by putting the boat in neutral, then everyone watching goes Aaaaah!  You just look professional – even when you aren’t.

Then Annie and I went forward to drop the anchor.  The first time we dropped it and Darlene powered back the boat, the anchor did not bite and we hopped backwards.  We lifted the anchor and tried again.  This time the anchor bit and held under full reverse power.

Then Annie and I tried to connect the bridle to the anchor rode with mixed success.  The anchor hangs off the middle ama which puts strain on the bow and windlass and also allows FastAlley to twirl around freely – putting further strain on the bow.  To reduce the twirling there is a bridle contraption which is a long, thick line with clips at each end another clip in the middle.  The middle clip is hanked onto the anchor chain hanging off the bow, and the two ends are connected, one each, to the port and starboard amas.  This v-shaped effect reduces twirling.  Of course it does nothing for the windage – you’re stuck with that.

Eventually Darlene at the helm got bored watching us struggling away and came up to see what the fuss was all about.  All three of us offered advice to each other on how to tie the bridle properly.  It was a hoot and I’m sure everyone watching from the houses on shore were vastly entertained with our Anchoring By Committee.  .  Eventually we got the bridle connected to the anchor, but we also had 50ft of chain out in just 7ft of water.  Basically that gave us enough scope for a hurricane!  There was no denying we were holding firm so we called it a day, retreated to the cockpit, killed the engine, and made coffee.

Sausalito with its mantle of cloud

Considering the Small Craft Warning just one mile away in the Bay, it was beautifully calm at the anchorage and the views were spectacular.  Sausalito nestles on the side of hills, and a mantle of cloud gently covered the tops.  We watched the sun set and chatted into the evening.  After dinner and a movie, I left some soft track lighting on so that we could see our way should we have to get up during the night, and we all hit the sack.

Sunday morning dawned and I shot out of bed to check my batteries.  There had been no wind during the night and so the wind generator hadn’t charged the batteries and the track lighting had run them down to a little over 12.  I switched from the wind generator to solar power and slowly my batteries came back up again.  Around noon high winds buffeted us at anchor and I gleefully switched on the wind generator and watched it rapidly top off my batteries.  Sometimes I like wind.

Annie whipping up a gourmet meal

Annie had a great menu planned and we ate generously.  We could hear the parade trumpeting thru the streets of Sausalito but we were stuck on the boat with no dinghy.

Still it was very relaxing.  Darlene bravely tried the solar shower and declared it marginal.

Anne and Darlene got energetic and started doing yoga on the tossing deck while I tried not to feel guilty at my lack of enthusiasm for exercise.

Boats started arriving in their hordes but avoided anchoring anywhere near us – because we were in such shallow water.  It was great having the waters at Cove Rock all to ourselves and not having to worry about a boat dragging into us.  Or us twirling into someone on our 50ft swing.  It got pretty crowded in the cheap seats as more and more boats arrived throughout the afternoon and anchored – way over there!

The other major consideration with a trimaran is that it is twirled around at anchor by the wind.  Monohulls with their deep keels are moved by the tides.  The bridle on my anchor stops any great swings, but the winds still have quite an impact on a shallow draft vessel with such high freeboard as my trimaran has.  So at any one time you would see all the monohulls sedately facing into the tide, and FastAlley doing a dance thru 60 degrees as the wind clocked around constantly, back and forth.  So much for the “prevailing” wind – it was gusting all over the place.

Around 9:30pm it was dark enough for the fireworks show and the skies over Sausalito lit up with color and sparkle.  Of course, my finger is somewhat slower on the camera shutter than my eye, so I got a lot of pictures of fuzzy dots on a black background.  But the show was fun to watch – it is years since I saw fireworks.

Then the two San Francisco fireworks shows started along the city waterfront but it was pretty distant and the fireworks exploded high enough that they were obscured by the marine layer.  All we could see was the rocket streaking towards the low cloud….. then nothing, just a loud bang as it exploded and the clouds turned red, green, or gold.  And the racket from the finale was something to hear – but not to see.

It was pretty cold by the end of the show so we retreated below, crawled into our snug beds, and watched a movie – The Last of the Mohicans.  It is my favorite film but I was asleep 20 minutes into the show.

This time the wind blew all night, powering up my batteries as the track lighting flattened them.  It’s a beautiful thing.

Homeward bound buoy

Monday morning dawned cold and foggy.  We lifted the anchor, un-tethered the bridle, and got underway around 9:30am.  I expected the trip back to be a hard slog against the current but there was no wind, the water was flat calm, and FastAlley flew along.  We were back at the dock by 2:00pm.

I have two wishes – I wish I had had my dinghy so that we could have run around the waterfront and followed the parade, and maybe visited all the houseboats that Sausalito is so famous for.  And I wish I had my new cockpit enclosures in place already for the long weekend.  It would have been nice to have a cozy cockpit.

…..so that just means that we will have to do this again some time!

Bay Bridge and the city

FastAlley ready for her crew to arrive

Nav station board

APRIL 2010 – BATTERIES & ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

• House bank batteries replaced
• Engine starter battery replaced
• Battery charger replaced
• Shunt repositioned
• “Amps in” dial replaced

When my boat was in Long Beach I took the boat out regularly and gave the engine a run under load, but this year I am up in the San Francisco Bay and the winters are wet, wet, wet so I found that I simply never walked thru the rain to the boat.  It just sat there at the dock, neglected and forlorn.

And it rained.  And rained.  And rained.  For months.  And months.  And months.

It April now and after the sun broke thru quite suddenly and brightly and I was off to the boat again.  I tried to fire up the engine but no joy.  I checked both battery banks, the house bank and the starter battery, and they looked charged according to my reading of the dials (I could be wrong), so I tried again to start the engine.  And again, nothing.  I tried cross-connecting the house and starter batteries with the combined effect of zero.  I shut the boat up and trudged back up the dock to my car.

The next time the weather cleared I met an electrician out at FastAlley.  He went over the electrical board, examined the batteries, checked the battery charger – and declared the whole lot dead.  The battery charger had failed and taken out the house set.  Or, he said, one of the batteries had shorted and blown the rest of the batteries as well as the charger.  Who knows.  All I did know for sure was that all 4 house batteries were fried, as well as the battery charger.

The 4 (dead) batteries in the boat are about $400+ each, which made me unhappy, however, I felt better when Duane said that the batteries were from 2003 and long past their useful life, and should be replaced anyway.  He said the life of a battery is at most 5 to 6 years so I had had good use out of them.  That only lessened the $-pain a little.

He asked when I was going cruising?  I said, Probably in 2 years.  He said that I really don’t need 4 deep cycle gel batteries while I am tied up to the dock and using shore power, and suggested that I buy just 2 house batteries, and a good engine starter battery.

New battery charger & shunt moved

Yesterday we met at the boat, with the 3 batteries, installed them, and turned on the engine.  It groaned and coughed and then started.  What a wonderful sound – I feel so lost when my engine won’t run because I won’t sail in or out of a slip in the trimaran.  I did that in my little 22ft Catalina but I won’t do that in this wide-bodied monster.

I ran the engine for about 45 minutes to fully charge the batteries.

Replacement $cost – the battery charger, batteries, shunt, dial

AC Charger, Xantrex TrueCharge,                        $280

1 EA Battery, 12V, Flooded, Group 24               $135

2 EA Battery, 12V, Flooded, Group 24              $216

Troubleshoot problems                                          $195

Replace charger+batteries                                    $130

Total, parts and labor $1,015

Still to do                                                                   $——

Probable total                                                      $1200

I hate it when I get a quote for $200 and then get a bill for $600.

Completed                                                                $ 600

ACTUAL TOTAL                                              $1615

– - – - – - o – o – o – o- – - – - – -

• Companionway Hatch Shocks
• Companionway Hatch Bar
• Heat Exchanger Bolts Replaced
• Kitchen Sink Re-Bedded
• Deck Hatch Replaced
• Weems & Plaath clock fixed

INTRODUCTION 

Let me explain that firstly I am a woman and secondly an IT Project Manager by profession, so doing boat fixes or manual labor has never been in my set of skills.  The most exercise I do is running my fingers over a computer keyboard.

 Also I have never owned any tools until I got the boat, and now I have inherited enough tools for a small workshop. 

Since trying my hand at boat projects, I have also noticed that women obviously haven’t gone into the marine parts design profession, because men seem to know automatically how things work – its seems so obvious to them – whereas I have to revert to reading the instructions and even then they don’t make much sense to me. 

 A Man’s mind obviously works differently to a Female’s mind.

 I am learning on my boat that I often have to replace parts (you cannot repair them) – I think it’s a conspiracy with marine spare parts makers because just when you replace PartA then PartB caves in. 

 I also suspect that boat parts are primed to fail serially so that you spend the entire summer working – and $spending – on the boat. 

COMPANIONWAY HATCH SHOCKS

 The shocks that hold the companionway hatch open suddenly decided to give up the ghost.  One moment the shocks were holding up the hatch, the next it slammed down narrowly missing my head.

So I examined the hatch shocks trying to figure out how to remove them so that I could take them to West Marine for replacement.  Obviously a man built the stupid part because there wasn’t any indication of how to prize the shock off its mount.  Really, if a woman had designed the piece there would have been a large arrow with engraved instructions.  All highlighted in pink.

 Empty handed I went to West Marine, found the same part on their shelves, and spent 5 minutes examining the instructions on how to remove it – it was embarrassingly easy.  I returned to the boat, prized off the piece, returned to West Marine and bought the same (length) size.

The gas shock said it would hold up 90 lbs.  The instructions said if I had 2 shocks before, then I should replace with 2 again.  I realized my hatch was at most 25 lbs, so 180 lbs was a bit of overkill, but that seemed to be the only weight:length combination that would fit my hatch. So I shelled out the $50.

Back I went to the boat, clicked the new gas shocks into place and watched admiringly as the hatch stayed open and did not slam down on my head.  Then I tried to close the hatch.  Before, with the old shocks, I simply leaned gently on the hatch and it closed.  Now I yanked and yanked but the hatch didn’t move.  Thinking the gas shocks were somehow stuck in the “open” position I went back to the instructions to figure out how to unstuck them.  The instructions didn’t cover this.

After staring at the obstinate hatch some more I realized that maybe 180lbs force to keep the hatch open, required a similar opposite force to close it.  So I grabbed the hatch, leaned my full weight on it, and down it came – reluctantly.  In fact, it took so much effort that I figured I could use the open hatch as an exercise bar for chin ups. 

Then I tried to close the hatch from inside the cabin but I couldn’t pull hard enough to bring down the hatch, and keep it down.  Back to the drawing board.  I stared mutely at the gas shocks.  They stared back unhelpfully.

Eventually I removed one of the gas shocks reducing the load to 90 lbs again – notwithstanding the instructions that if I had 2 shocks then I should replace with 2 new shocks.  Bringing down the hatch against 90 lbs force is still pretty heavy for me especially when pulling it down from inside the cabin, but at least it stays open as desired. 

Price:  $25 each  ——–>>>> pleasant surprise, I only needed one.

COMPANIONWAY HATCH BAR

When you close the companionway hatch then the crossbar or beam across the front of the hatch has part of the bar protruding out at the corner.  The screw that is supposed to keep the corner flush had worked thru the steel bar and under it, and so it was no longer lying flush.  Every time I pulled the hatch down and tried to close it, it balked at the slightly protruding piece.

Previously I had the protruding piece glued back in place, but with minimal continued use, pretty soon it come unstuck again.

This time I decided to remove the flat head (sunken) screw and get another one with a bigger head so that it could not work thru the steel.  Then glue it as well for good measure, clamp it all together, and wait. 

Of course, having made this decision I then realized I don’t own a clamp – so it’s off to Home Depot again.

I used to love shopping and browsing thru malls for all manner of frilly things.  Lately my shopping habits rotate between West Marine and Home Depot.

Cost to fix (my labor comes free):  93 cents for a bag of flat head screws

HEAT EXCHANGER BOLTS REPLACED

I thought I had to change the impeller so I got a mechanic, Bill, to take a look at the engine.  He declared the impeller just fine, but when he touched the heat exchanger it came loose in his hands.  It looked like the bolts had sheared off. 

The solenoid was also hanging loose from its mounting.

It seems the heat exchanger had 2 bolts – or is that screws, I never could tell the difference – anyway it was big and it had a thread.  One bolt was too big for its hole, and the other bolt too small for its hole.  To the casual gaze it all looked secure, but in fact was completely unsecured.  One bolt had sheared off and the base of the bolt was embedded in its hole.  The other bolt was so loose it came out in his hand.  It was basically just sitting loose in the hole, not actually screwed in.  I was so lucky that the whole contraption hadn’t fallen off during our trip up the coast from Long Beach which would have done irreparable damage to the engine.

I was bemoaning the problem to a colleague at work, telling him that the previous mechanic had put a 3/8 inch bolt in a 1/2 inch hole.  My colleague said he understood perfectly – in fact, his last girlfriend kept complaining about the same thing.  I added that when touched, the thing just fell out in my hand.  My colleague nodded – he said his ex complained about that too.  He didn’t like his ex that much, he said.  Super helpful colleague – not.

Bill drilled the embedded bolt base out and found the threads were gone so we couldn’t replace the bolt with a new one.  Instead he went off and created a base plate that he bolted to the engine and then bolted the heat exchanger onto its new base plate.  It looks and feels really solid now. 

He also bolted the solenoid to the new plate.   With all the work I have had done on the engine in the last year, I hope it lasts at least another 1000 hours before I need to rework anything again.    

Mechanical fix:  $300 = $50 in parts and $250 mechanic’s labor.

KITCHEN SINK RE-BEDDED

The kitchen sink has small bolts underneath it, one in each corner, to hold it firmly in place.  However, the tiny bolts were obviously not effective because they had rusted off over time and the back left corner of the sink lifted out of its hole, leaving a gap between the sink and the counter.

For ages I worried that when I washed the dishes any splashed water on the counter would seep under the gap and drip down onto the refrigerator below.  Finally it bugged me enough that I decided to take a peek.   Sure enough, water had seeped down under the sink and worse, had dripped onto the fridge electric cabling.

To avoid any further damage to the underlying refrigerator, I stuck blue painters tape all around the sink until I figured out a fix.  Actually the makeshift tape worked so well, that I left it like that all winter.

Now that the Spring has sprung, and the grass is ris…..  its time to fix the damn thing.

Did some shopping at Home Depot – again.  Got the acetone, got the scraper, the painters tape, the clamps, got the DAP caulk for kitchens – time to try my hand at this new boat project.

I squeezed the scraper all the way around and under the kitchen sink trying to prize it out of its hole but no luck.  It stuck firmly in the two front corners.  I fiddled around underneath and felt clamps in the two corners keeping the sink embedded.  These 2 front clamps hadn’t rusted off.  After 20 minutes of contortions trying to get the clamps unscrewed I decided the only way to reach anything under the sink was to remove the refrigerator.

Amazingly the fridge is held in place with just 4 smallish screws, so I unscrewed them, read the DANGER SHOCK sign on top of the fridge and hurriedly turned off the mains – and the batteries for good measure – then I dragged the fridge out of its cubbyhole.  This left a nice big gap under the sink that I could now reach into.  I removed the clamps on the 2 front corners – the back 2 having already rusted off long ago.   I could only heft the sink out about 2 inches because it was still connected underneath to its plumbing.  Try as I might I didn’t have the strength to disconnect the threaded hose, so eventually I gave up the unequal struggle.

I thoroughly cleaned around the sink with my new acetone, re-taped the area with the blue painters tape, cut the caulking spout at a 45 degree angle per the instructions, and squeezed the caulking under the rim.  Man, that caulking stuff is messy.  I managed to get it all over the place and especially all over my fingers.  Thank heavens for the painters tape otherwise it would have been all over the counter too. 

After I caulked it all and left it for awhile, I noticed that I hadn’t done a very thorough job – notwithstanding the amount of caulk on my hands.  So I re-taped the sink perimeter and recaulked it again.  Second time around it seemed so much simpler.  Finally I pushed the refrigerator back into its cubby hole under the sink, screwed it back in place, cleaned up the mess, and left it to dry. 

I decided to watch On Golden Pond while I made dinner.  A nice quiet movie I thought because after the last 4 hours I didn’t need any added stress.  Unfortunately its all about an old man with Old Timers having massive stress attacks as he gets lost and forgetful – so that didn’t help my stress levels any.

But the sink is looking good.  The instructions said not to use water around the caulking for 24 hours so I will check the seal next weekend by squirting water all around the rim of the sink and check that nothing drips through onto the fridge beneath.

(Next weekend….. the caulk is holding beautifully.  There is absolutely no water seeping thru).

Cost of repair (my labor is free):   $8 in caulking, tape, etc.

DECK HATCH REPLACED

Winter in San Francisco is wet, wetter, wettest with strong cold winds howling across the Bay.  Even as the weather warms, it is not much better.  In fact, Mark Twain said something like… the coldest season he ever endured was the summer he spent in SanFran.  Or words to that effect.

So when I finally returned to the boat after weeks of awful weather, I found rain water had dribbled in through a bunch of hatches.  At $300 per hatch, the wet patches were not a fun sight.

Off to West Marine where I ordered one new Bomar hatch, and picked it up a few days later.  I thought I would need a handyman to replace the hatches for me, but Bill (the local mechanic) took a look and said – you look smart enough, you can do this yourself.  He gave me a list of stuff to buy at West Marine and Home Depot, told me exactly what to do, and exited.

This is just like caulking the sink – just using a different kind of caulk and some brute force to tug the old hatch out of its hole.  First you have to use a sharp knife to cut around the rim of the hatch to “release” it where it has set itself over the years into its hole, then unscrew all the screws and put them together in a baggie so that you don’t lose them.  Then use a thin scraper and work it under the rim so that you break the seal where the rim is glued in place.  Use a hammer if you lack the strength to really get the scraper under the rim.  Once you have worked all the way around under the rim, give the hatch a tug.  Actually mine came out relatively easily – witness the water that had dripped into the boat – obviously the caulk wasn’t holding it in very tightly.

After tugging out the hatch, scrape and clean the area thoroughly using rubbing alcohol or acetone.  Maybe even sand it a little with fine 100 sandpaper to rough it up for the caulk.  Lay down a perimeter of blue painters tape so that if any of the caulk squeezes out then it will not ruin your deck.  I put down enough caulk to seal the Titanic then I dropped the new hatch into its hole and got caulking all over me and the tape as it squeezed out all over.  I quickly wiped it away with an old telephone card. 

TIP – here is a useful tip I got from someone.  Keep old telephone cards whenever you find them.  People throw them away when they are “empty”.  The edge of the card is perfect for scraping up caulk and leaving just the right size bead in place.   Or you can use your old Gold Card that has maxed out its credit limit – that works just as well too.

Don’t tighten the screws down tight right away because you will squeeze out all the caulk you just carefully laid.  The weight of the hatch is enough for now.  Replace the screws lightly in their holes.  2 hours later the caulk has set up a little so you can tighten the screws a little more, and wipe away the excess that squeezes out the sides.  2 hours later tighten the screws just short of “very tight” and leave to dry for a few more hours.  Finally when you think the caulk is mostly set, tighten the screws that final little bit.  Even though it is 8 hours later and you think the caulk is firmly set, a thin line of caulk will still squeeze out – I didn’t wipe it away, I left it in place as a sealing cushion.  Maybe a man would have cleaned it up the final time, but I didn’t.  This is my first hatch that I ever replaced and with no one watching over my shoulder, and lacking experience, I just followed my (female) logic.

Cost to fix (my labor comes free):  $260 for the new hatch + $8 in caulk, tape, acetone, etc

WEEMS & PLAAT Clock 

My W&P clock stopped working.  My first thought was that the battery was flat.  It is a French made clock so finding a small “N” battery (1/3 the size of a AAA) was easier said than done, but eventually I found 2 so I bought them both.  I installed the new battery in the clock only to find that the clock still didn’t work.  The clock innards were at fault.  Another thing to (expensively) replace instead of (cheaper) repair.  

I checked the clocks in the West Marine catalog and they cost $145 – no kidding, $145 for a clock about 6 inches in diameter with no special features like say brass numerals, or fancy interior brass clock wheels, or even a cuckoo.  Just a run-of-the-mill everyday clock.

There are a lot of parts of the boat that are very expensive to replace but I could not bring myself to shell out $145 for an everyday clock. 

So the chap in the next boat unscrewed the clock from the wall and turned it over and we examined it closely.  Before I had just glanced at the parts as I replaced the battery but now I took a good look.  Turns out the innards of the clock is just a little plastic box – the kind you see at the craft store Michaels for all those crafters that like making their own clocks.   We gently prized out the little box and examined it – yep, it was exactly like the Michaels clocks except for the raised letters that said “Made in France”. 

I took the little plastic box down to the Michaels store to make sure I bought the same size replacement part, handed over $7 for the new piece – with new clock hands – and returned to my Weems & Plaath clock.   I took the clock apart, removed the French hands (they didn’t fit the Michaels piece), replaced the hands with my new hands, noticed the face of the clock is just a plain ole piece of PAPER with black lettering, inserted my new easy to obtain USA battery – and voila! my clock works again.

So lets see….. the components of the W&P clock are the expensive non-rust outer shell that screws to the wall, say $3 to manufacture each little holder.  The faceplate of the little clock is glass so lets say 50cents.  Then there is the paper clock face with black numeral lettering, lets say 2cents.  That is a total of $3.52 for the clock so far. 

So W&P reckon that the $7 part that you can buy at Michaels actually costs more than $140 if it says Made in France.  I know, I know, there is W&P distribution and marketing costs included in the price, but Michaels has those same costs – so they negate each other in my book.

So – advice to you ladies – if your Weems & Plaath clock goes on the blink, don’t pay $145 for a new one, buy the $7 replacement part and fix it yourself.

Cost to fix (my labor comes free):  $7 in parts

<<<<<< —– End of March projects —– >>>>>>>

I got a new contract in San Jose so I moved my boat from Long Beach up to its new berth in the San Francisco Bay.  I hired a skipper, Nikolay, because (a) I have never done the trip and (b) it is September and the weather forecasts were for hazardous weather, and (c) I am conservative when it comes to putting my boat out there – I like to know that at least someone knows where we are going besides the autopilot.

I also convinced a friend to act as crew.  Been-there done-that with the the 3-hours on and 3-hours off shifts.  I prefer the 3-hours on and 6-hours off type of shift.

The Skipper arrived late Thursday night and slept on the boat, as did we 2 crew.  We were up at 5:00am  making coffee and we threw off the dock lines around 6:00am Friday morning, September 25^th 2009.  We left the dock on a perfectly still morning, the water calm, the weather clear.

Skipper and crew in the cockpit watching out for traffic

Nikolay wanted to get a very early start in order to round Pt. Conception 22 hours later, around 3:00am Saturday morning when the weather is calmest, especially in light of the storm warnings from NOAA.  The early hour would also avoid the vicious Santa Ana winds that blow this time of year, further complicating the weather.

Once outside the harbor I decided to make breakfast of scrambled egg and bacon.  I think the bacon was a little off because a few hours after eating, and on calm seas, I got pretty squeamish.  I developed a low grade headache and lay down to sleep.  Much to my chagrin I slept most of the day away only waking in the very late afternoon.

We took turns standing watch Friday night and I was on at 1:00am when we were just an hour off Pt. Conception.  We had been hugging the coast all the way up, just 2 to 3 miles offshore because Nikolay said that with the topography of the land, the seas were calmest close to shore.  I woke Nikolay an hour away from Pt. Conception for the rounding.  Since the weather reports were still for high winds and high seas, I decided to hit the sack and sleep off the next few hours.

Pt. Conception was a dud – thank heavens!!  Low wind, low waves – and again we were hugging the shore.

Close inshore. And the land rolls by.....

On Saturday my stomach was considerably settled but my riend was suffering from a low grade headache and squeamishness.  He said he had felt sick on Friday but since I was down and out, he didn’t say anything because he didn’t want to burden Nikolay with being the only person available for Watch.  So he had stayed on his feet Friday while I slept it off.  So Saturday night I started the evening watch, handed over to Nikolay around 9:00pm, and Nikolay called me again around 2:00am, and I stood watch and let my friend/crew sleep thru the night.  Tit for tat.

It was a gorgeous night, with almost no wind, and only 2ft swells.  The luminescence in the sea left a glowing tail stretching out behind the boat.  When Nikolay handed over the watch to me he said that he saw some dolphins come streaking toward the boat and he thought for a moment that the boat had snagged a fisherman’s net and was dragging it along.  He was relieved it was just dolphins.

I spent my watch peering into the darkness anticipating dolphins and I wasn’t disappointed.  Soon I saw 4 tubes of light streaking towards the bow, looking for all the world like we were being attacked by multiple torpedoes.   I was dying to go upfront and peer down from the bow at the tubes of light that were the dolphins playing in the bow wave, but since I was alone on watch in the middle of the night, and my deck has no lifelines, I thought I would stay in the safety of the cockpit and just peer over the side.

Once the dolphins got tired of playing and streaked off in their luminescent tubes of light, I saw a large fish come cruising alongside the boat.  It was about 10ft long, it could have been a shark.  Its large body shape was clearly outlined in the luminescence as it moved thru the water alongside the boat.  We were doing 7 knots at the time, but the fish cruised next to the boat as though we were standing still.  It seemed to be assessing us.  Then it accelerated off into the darkness – again like we were standing still.  Quite an eerie encounter.

Standing watch as the sun sets

The next morning as the sun rose I saw dolphin coming in from every direction.  Pretty soon I was surrounded by about 50 to 60 dolphin playing in the bow wave.  It was enchanting.  I watched for some time then decided that even if  my friend was feeling sick, he really should see this so I went below to wake him up.  He was already awake and getting dressed so we went upstairs and sat on the bow and watched the dolphin. We must have sat there for about an hour in the morning sun, on the gentle sea, watching frolicking dolphins.

Later that day as we neared San Francisco the sea turned red and I noticed hordes of huge jellyfish and Man of War in the water.  The skipper said their numbers were concentrated because they were feeding on the algae or bacteria (I forget which) that was turning the sea red.  Fascinating.

Outside the Golden Gate the wind was low and the sea calm, but once we passed under the bridge the wind screamed by and the wave chop was considerable.

Approaching the Golden Gate bridge (note the container ship)

Also you are competing for space with multiple large container ships, so that is unnerving if it’s the first time.  Fortunately Long Beach has a container ship at every turn in the channel so I am used to their incredible size – still you don’t want to be run down by one.  We maneuvered carefully around them.

San Francisco to starboard

Once we were inside the Bay we turned and headed for our marina.  We were hoping that we would reach the marina in daylight but the sun set just 30 minutes before we reached the marina so we were left maneuvering in the pitch dark.  This was not such an issue in the main channel that was clearly marked, however, once we reached the side channel in which my marina was located, the channel markers were few and far between.  And since I had never been to the marina before, we were riding blind.  I was very grateful that we were there at high tide because we needed the extra water under the keel.  We saw a blinking red light down the side channel and went carefully towards it, but at times there was only 3ft of water under us!!  Fortunately my trimaran only draws 2 ft, but you never know what may be sticking up out of the sand that could poke a hole in the boat.  It was a harrowing and a verrrrrry slow and careful drive down the channel to the marina entrance.

We reached the dock on Sunday night at 8:45pm.

Haul out

While bringing the boat up from La Paz to Long Beach, we hit a set of waves that ripped the skin of the port ama.  We did a temporary glassing in MX but it was just a rush job, and not professionally done, and it was feared that water may be trapped under the glass which would cause a whole ‘nother set of problems.

It was decided to remove the quickie repair and do it again professionally in Long Beach.  At the same time we would structurally reinforce the hulls so that it was much stronger.

Copied from the invoice of the boatworks that did the work……

Hull repairs
Upon the vessel’s arrival and prior to haulout, we visibly inspected the reported areas of the hull damage in an effort to determine if the vessel was structurally sound enough for hauling out with only slings.   After haulout, we further evaluated the condition of reported areas of damage, and reviewed the owner-supplied construction drawings.   We found that there was a fillet in the areas of cracking.  This fillet had no structural fibers in it, and the fillet was excessively large.  Over time, this non-reinforced fillet had cracked.  Upon grinding out the cracking fillet, we noted cracking in the underlying fiberglass skin.

We conferred with a Naval Architect regarding the cracking who requested that we grind out the failed fillet so that the underlying fiberglass skin could be viewed. We ground out the failed epoxy fillet and noted cracks in the underlying fiberglass skin, but did not note any visible evidence of wood rot, or structural failure.

As recommended by the Naval Architect, we ground off the surrounding fiberglass skin approximately 4” – 5” outwards from the junction of the hulls to bridge deck, and also sanded off the paint outboard of the removed fiberglass skin approximately 2” – 3″ so that we could get good continuity between the wood, the existing fiberglass skin and the new fiberglass laminates that are applied using WEST system epoxy.  WEST system bonds very well to wood and the old fiberglass skin.

Installed a properly sized epoxy fillet that is reinforced with micro-fibers. Applied two layers of DBM fiberglass roving @ +/- 45 degrees over the junctions of the hulls to the underside of the bridge deck, using West System. The areas were sanded, primed, epoxy filled, and moderately faired.

(Owner comment:  After viewing the repairs, the Naval Architect said the boat’s life had been extended 15 years at least).

Labor ………………. $7,540.00
Proj. Mgmt. ……… $754.00
Consumables……. $829.40
Supplies ………….. $2,212.06
Section total  =  $11,335.46

Replace propshaft zinc
Upon the vessel’s arrival and haulout, we noted that the propshaft zinc
was extremely deteriorated and close to falling off. We removed the
propshaft zinc, cleaned the mounting location of the zinc to remove
surface corrosion, purchased and installed a new zinc.
No Charge

This work was done professionally at a boatyard – and copied from their invoice.

Upon the vessel’s arrival and haulout, we evaluated the vessel’s charging systems to include the battery condition, battery charger, wind generator, and solar panels.

We found that one of the Gel-cell house batteries was bad and would not hold a charge. The vessel’s representative for the owner informed us that he would replace the battery himself at a later date.  (The cost to replace all 4 house batteries is around $1000).
It was also found that the battery charger was charging the start battery, but was not charging the house bank. We troubleshot the battery charger and found that the leads to the house bank had no output.  Due to the battery charger having two outputs, we connected the working output to the house bank, and took the dead battery out of the house bank.  We found that the battery charger was capable of charging the house bank with the one working output. We returned the charger wiring back to its original configuration. We recommend that the vessel owner purchase and install a new battery charger.
When we had adequate wind conditions, we checked the output of the wind generator, and the stop function. We found the output of the wind generator to fluctuate with the wind speed, and when placed in “stop” mode, the generator blades slowed as per the manufacturer’s literature.
We checked the output of the solar panels and found that it had no output. No other work was performed on the solar panel.
Upon the vessel’s arrival (at the boatyard), we inspected the hose that was contacting a drive belt, and alternator adjustment limitation. We found that at some time in the past a larger alternator had been installed. With the larger alternator, there was not adequate adjustment room for the alternator without the alternator case contacting the stud on the motor mount. In addition, the raw water hose was routed close to the alternator drive belt where the loose drive belt was wearing away the hose. We contacted the vessel’s representative regarding the limited adjustment clearance.  The vessel’s representative authorized cutting the stud of
the motor mount shorter to provide additional clearance. As authorized by the vessel’s representative, we cut down the excess stud above the lock nuts on the motor mount and were able to adjust the alternator drive belt tension. We removed the worn raw water hose. Purchased a new length of raw water hose, bronze hose barbs, and a bronze 90 degree elbow. Installed the new hose and bronze fittings so that the plumbing is routed away from the drive belt.

We checked the vessel’s forward bilge pump by activating the manual toggle switch and listening for the bilge pump’s motor. We also checked the float switch in the forward bilge by lifting the float switch and listening for the bilge pump motor. We noted that there is no float

switch on the aft bilge pump, but could hear the motor when the toggle switch was placed in the “manual” position. Though we could hear the motors running, we did not put water in the bilges to check if water activated the bilge pump or if the bilge pumps evacuate water.
NOTE: WE highly recommend that the vessel owner test the bilge pumps by placing water in the bilge and verifying that they actually evacuate the water and there are no leaks.  (Owner’s Note:  I checked the bilge pump with water in the bilge and it pumped the engine room dry).

Labor       ……………  $373.75
Proj. Mgmt………….  $ 37.88
Consumables………   $ 41.11
Materials ……………  $43.16
Supplies …………….   $41.52
Section total……. $536.92

Mechanical repairs

Mechanical repairs