08/02/2008, 9:30pm, moored at Two Harbors

It's been so long since I've updated the blog via our HAM radio, that I nearly forgot how! Ok, so maybe my memory is not that bad, but I can't believe I let the entire weekend slip by without updating our site with a couple little thoughts from the past few days.

We spent this weekend, Thursday thru Sunday in Two Harbors at Catalina Island. It was a last minute decision for us to make the trip, and we're glad we were able to squeeze the trip in between all the things going on back home. See, each year Beneteau, the makers of our boat, puts on a weekend event here for their Southern California owners. The event is essentially a celebration for Beneteau owners and a chance to meet new people, see the new Beneteau products, and ask questions about boat features, issues. Of course its a great way for people who are in the market for a new boat to see and experience the products. We're not in the market for a new boat, but it's always fun to see people we've met at past events and just relax at Catalina.

So, what is Catalina Island all about? Well, it's a great little island off the coast of the Los Angeles area. It takes about 4 hours from LA to get here. For us, it takes considerably longer. See, San Diego is quite a bit farther South so we allot between 12-14 hours for the trip to 2 Harbors on the North side of the island.

We left San Diego Wednesday evening about 4 or 5pm and traveled overnight to arrive here about 7am. The trip was easy, and it sure was a LOT warmer than coming up Baja. And, I was all prepared for the frigid conditions...I'd brought my scarf, wool hat, gloves, etc - all those things I DIDN'T have for the cold trip up the coast of Baja. Oh well!

We enjoyed relaxing and recovering from lack of sleep from our night watch schedule on Thursday. Friday consisted of a dingy raft-up breakfast, hiking in the late morning, lunch on the boat, dingy tour in the anchorage, and a cookout in the evening. Today was even busier with things like boating seminars, sailing, and a luau. Speaking of sailing, today we went out on the new 46ft model. She was a fast boat...ok, so we had the high performance cruising sails and also an expert racer on the boat...but still was a fantastic boat. The boat is WAY too big for me, but it was nice to see how something like that handles out on the water, and it was nice to see the other big boats and lots of owners out as well.

We'll be headed home at about 6am tomorrow morning, and we're hoping if conditions are good to be able to fly the spinnaker. We've got to do everything we can to keep up with the bigger boats! ##

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07/22/2008, San Diego, CA

That's right, we sold one of our dingies... and in RECORD time! Back in March we replaced our PVC dingy with a newer hypalon model that would hold up better in the sun. Rather than mess with selling the old dingy while down in Mexico, we decided to roll it up and store it in our front bunk and bring it back to the States with us.

Cory prepped the dinghy to sell one day including: cleaning it, taking pictures, and putting an ad on Craigslist. We launched the ad at 9pm one night, and in the morning we had a number of emails inquiring about the boat. Before noon the next day, less than 24 hours later, the boat was sold and packed up in its new owners truck! We were excited to have the space back on the boat, and the new owner was happy to have a slightly used dingy in good shape.

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07/19/2008, San Diego, CA

We didn't intend to leave the boat in the slip for > 1.5 months and not touch it, but that's just the way it worked out. After sailing for 5 months in Mexico, maybe it just didn't seem so exciting to take the boat out for the day in San Diego Bay....or maybe we just got busy. I like to think we just got busy in between our trips to Illinois and New Jersey. All excuses aside, we went down to the marina late last week and cleaned the boat with the intention of taking it out on Friday. We didn't make it out on Friday, but we made it a point to put everything we had aside to go out on Saturday.

We had such a nice day sailing. The wind was perfect, about 15 knots, not to heavy... not too light. A lot of other sailors must've thought the same thing because there were a TON of boats out on the water. We counted at least 3 regattas as well as a lot of boaters out just recreational sailing for the day.

So, we journeyed out to the ocean...checked to make sure our macerator pump repair was working - it's not, and we just hung out on the boat sailing all afternoon. All in all, it was a great day.

I have a couple of thoughts as a take-away from yesterday.
1) 2 years ago, I would have been nervous pulling the boat out of the marina basin and out to the ocean with all the boat traffic on the water. Not so anymore, it was a piece of cake - no sweat.
2) Getting our boat in and out of the slip closest to the walkway with only 3 inches on either side wasn't as bad as we thought it'd be. I guess that comes with experience too! Even though we had only 3 inches on either side, we managed to get the boat in and out without a scratch. I drove while Cory helped maneuver us out dockside.
3) Even though we're not in an exotic place like Mexico or South America, sailing still has all the charm we experienced earlier this year. And with that thought, I guess we've both now learned a true love for the sport.

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