10/25/2008, San Diego
After shopping for investments, I relaxed at the historic Hotel Del Coronado.
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10/25/2008, San Diego
I took some time out to look at potential real estate investments. This house seemed like a nice possibility.
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10/24/2008, San Diego
Having installed the new autopilot yesterday, we took the boat out on the bay to calibrate the autopilot. This took about an hour.
Back at the dock, I installed a backup engine starting switch right at the engine. We had some instances where the engine wouldn't start, but putting a screwdriver across the solenoid terminals got it going. The new switch replaces the screwdriver.
That being done, I investigated a freshwater leak that was draining a large amount of our fresh water supply into the bilge. This was keeping both the bilge pump and the water pressure pump working more than they should. I found the source: a pinhole leak in the side of the pressure reservoir. Water was squirting out in a steady stream.
I made a trip to West Marine and got a new pressure reservoir, and installed it. Problem solved.
While at West Marine, I purchased a bilge pump and a water pressure pump, and another head rebuild kit, just to carry with us as spares. If we don't use them, we can always return them later. Finding those parts in Mexico would be very difficult.
Meanwhile, John laid out the anchor chain on the dock in preparation for painting marks on it every 20 ft. John also installed the brackets for the dinghy wheels on the dinghy.
I spoke to Jonah, our rigger, on the phone today, for his advice. I found 73 feet of Vectra 5/16 line at 10 cents a foot. Normally it sells for 3 bucks a foot. I was asking Jonah what we could use it for. He said, not too much, but for the price: go for it. The stuff is amazing, with a breaking strength of 11,000 pounds.
Jonah reminded me that, in an earlier blog post, I understated how much rigging work we had done. We replaced all the standing rigging, and most of the running rigging, changing stretchy lines and worn out blocks where it counts. I especially love the new low stretch jib sheets, so much better than huge 3/4 inch sheets that came with the boat. The old ones were so big they pinched in the turning blocks. The new ones are even color coordinated with the boat!
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10/24/2008
We arrived in San Diego the same day we departed Catalina, at 830 pm. We tied up at the fuel dock, filled our diesel, propane, and outboard gas containers, and then proceeded to our marina at the Marriott.
The following morning, I got a ride to West Marine, where I stocked up on parts needed for projects, and then picked up the new autopilot and E80 charplotter/radar unit. All this cost, by the way, an embarrassing amount of money. I keep reminding myself that the old hardware I removed will have a good market value after I've had them refurbished.
Back at the boat at 230 PM, I started the installation of the new autopilot. I got that done at around 7 PM. The only thing remaining is to calibrate the new autopilot. This new autopilot includes a gyro, which the previous one lacked, which should make its performance much better. I'm looking forward to sailing with the new autopilot.
Then from 7 pm to 9 pm, I installed the new Raymarine E80 chartplotter/radar display. In the process, I raised the height of the instrument pod by three inches which will make it eaqsier to view and use the instruments.
Tomorrow, my big projects are to:
- install a backup engine start switch, for those moments when the cockpit engine start switch doesn't work. It'll be better than having to put a screwdriver to the starter solenoid to get it going.
- install a bigger, better fuel filter.
- unclog the aft head (oh, joy). I bought device that you can hook up a garden hose to the head to force open any blockages. This will either end up very well, or extremely badly. I can just imagine this device blowing up in my face.
Plus a million other little projects that we'll probably end up doing underway.
Pascale, the boys, and John enjoyed themselves at the pool at the Marriott while I worked on the boat all day installing the autopilot. I'm not bitter or anything, just tired, and looking forward to my chance to relax sometime soon.
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Good luck and best wishes.
Cheers,
Bill
Pascale prepared gifts for everyone on board, for our arrival at San Diego. It feels like Christmas already!!!
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John catches some rays as the fog breaks, between Avalon and San Diego.
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10/22/2008, San Diego
October 20: We left Santa Barbara and headed down to Catalina Island, the night sky was just gorgeous! By night time, we arrived at Catalina Island. We could see plankton glowing in the water as we headed into the anchorage. As we lit the water with our powerful flashlight we could see the bottom.
The next morning, my brother and I got in our wet suits, put on our fins, got our boogie boards out, and swam all the way to shore. We played on the beach for a while, the, John and my mom came to shore in the dinghy to do a little shopping. After a little while, we went back to the boat. We stayed one night there. The next day, we sailed to the other side of the island.
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