Just getting a little update on line.

In 10 months of cruising last year I think I put up one post. I'm hoping to do a little better on the next trip.

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Well we left San Francisco early this morning sliding under the Golden Gate at about 5:00 AM. It was calm seas and a bit of wind under the heavy overcast sky. The city looked beautiful and the dark bridge looked dramatic in the dark of the pre dawn morning. I said my thanks and goodbyes to the Bay for all it has taught me over the last three years as I have prepped for the trip I am now embarking on. It was a big moment for me!

In case I forgot any of my goodbyes and thanks, I'll get another chance tomorrow morning when I leave San Francisco again!! Leave again you say? Well...unfortunately about 5 miles outside the gate I raised my main sail without undoing yesterdays reefing lines. The winch felt a bit stiff and the tearing sound explained why. So back in the gate we went. We were back at our dock by 8:00 AM. The main was stripped and in the car by 9:15 and by 7:00 PM it was back on the boat with a shiny new patch job. I have to say that Rui at Rooster sails is a great guy and really helped me out. He got me right in and even though he is nursing a back injury he agreed to fix my sail. We did it together and it was very difficult feeding that 750 SQ FT sail through the sewing machine. Rui bailed me out and got me going again. So with that we plan to leave again tomorrow (Wednesday).

Hopefully we will arrive in the Santa Barbara area by Monday afternoon.

Pictures once I figure out how to get them off my I phone

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Well we are making progress on the big list and on the home stretch toward our departure in a week or two. It continues to amaze me how much time, money, and energy it takes to work on the boat.
One item that I just finished was ordering our new anchor rode. First to even consider changing the size of the chain or rope requires a new part be ordered for the windless, (which is the winch that raises and lowers the anchor). The part required is of course $350.00. So once that part is ordered we have a choice of three sizes of chain and two rope sizes. The issue is how do we get the most strength with the least weight. A quick consultation of online, hard copy, and expert advice results in answers as murky as the mud that the anchor is supposed to anchor the boat in. 5/16ths high test chain is stronger and lighter than 3/8ths BBB. Quarter inch G7 is stronger and lighter still, but when you actually look at the chain everyone agrees that even though the specs are better, it is just too thin to sleep well at night. Anyway this goes on for both chain and rope until speaking with the distributor of the winch reveals that I have an out of date manual and the rope I have chosen won't fit the winch. Should I stick with 125lbs of 3/8ths BBB that is 75 feet long? Or would it be better to go with 150 feet of 5/16ths that is stronger and weighs 162 lbs? 200 foot of chain and 200 rope, or 100 chain and 300 rope? In the end I ordered 200 feet of 5/16ths G4 chain that will weigh about 220 lbs. and 200 feet of 8 braided rope that is about twice as strong as the traditional 3 strand nylon, but coils much more easily. I will move the chain from the second anchor to the stern of the boat to make up for some of the extra weight that I am adding with the new chain.

This is an example of the decision making process that plays out over and over as I am adding and replacing gear. You can see why I am going to be very glad to be actually sailing soon. I'm sure the repairs and boat work will continue, but hopefully with a bit of sailing mixed in.

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Welcome to our blog.

We are creating this blog to help keep our friends and family posted on our adventures.

Please visit often and send feed back. We'd love to hear from you.

Here's a picture of one of the boats we passed during the dreaded double handed Farallones race. The wind was strong and the waves were large and choppy.

By this time in the race we were on our way back from the islands and things were much calmer. But as you can see in the photo, it was a pretty rough day.

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