09/29/2008, Half Moon Bay and Santa Cruz
On our way from Half Moon Bay to Santa Cruz....But first, an update on the weather....I am Soooooo looking for warm weather...it's still foggy here...high fog, but a chill in the air. No wind to speak of, back to motoring down the coast. Hey Gene & Corey, sound familiar?
more soon...
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09/28/2008, Just out SF Bay Bridge Channel
Out the Gate! Turning left soon...as we go I'll be sending weather reports as it improves...I can't wait...It's about 60 degrees, 10 knots on our nose..motor-sailing down the coast..
Of course, I'm cold..looking for SUN, blue water and warm wind.
I'll keep you posted as I Thaw out!
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09/28/2008, Richardson's Bay - Sausalito
Anchored close to Her....isn't she beautiful! This yacht is amazing! I'm sure that we'll run into more like her in our travels and exotic ports of call. Now....WE'RE OUT THE GATE!!
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09/27/2008, San Francisco
Madness on the bay as 100's of boats accompany the Maltese Falcon through the Golden Gate.... She's an amazing vessel... check out www.symaltesefalcon.com
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09/27/2008, Redwood Creek
We did not move far, but far enough, anchoring in Redwood Creek to avoid the low tide this morning.
Do: Enjoy the sunrise
Do not: Reflexively think about what boat projects need to be done (not many, thankfully)
The Stanford rowing team is out in force now that school is in session. Had to warn off one single sculler who was about to t-bone our boat... "sorry, don't usually see boats out here..." huh? Look around friend.
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09/26/2008, Redwood City
No more count-downs... we're here. 8 years after dreaming the dream, 5 years after hatching the plan, Rina and I are departing early Saturday morning for the coast of California and beyond to Mexico. Are we ready? On what level? Overall Rina and I are jazzed to finally be off after years of focusing on this goal. From that respect it is very gratifying to set aggressive goals and then meet them. The learning curve for both of us has been steep. For Rina, learning the boat, navigation, safety at sea, weather routing, all in order to gain comfort in an alien environment. For me, it's been sailing skills, engine-electrical, electronics, navigation, communication systems, the project management task set from hell and both of us at times feeling pretty overwhelmed by it all. For somebody as tragically optimistic as myself, it was sometimes quite a gut check.
This last week has been intense, with work wrapping up on several high notes, letting go of the our home to renters, seeing the mutt for the last time in awhile, fixing various bugs in the electrical system on the boat and dealing with the emotions of it all. It will take some time to climb down from the crescendo of the last several weeks, all while dealing with the excitement of the journey ahead of us. I must say that I am especially proud of Rina for her positive attitude during this period. Our collaboration has never been better and it speaks volumes to me about her willingness to explore new paths together...
So... friends and family.... Stay tuned for the adventure.... Don't be strangers.... Comment on the blog, ask us questions and keep us close as we head out there.... Enjoy the sights and our blunders as we figure out how to fight off the pirates, hurricanes, giant octopi, 15 foot manta rays, drunk panga drivers, etc.... kewl!
Next stop Richardson Bay to see the Maltese Falcon come through the Golden Gate.... we promise a full report and pics of this magnificent sailing vessel.
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09/24/2008, Redwood City
We now have Google map integration, where you can see where we are, assuming we're not too lazy to update it! Click on the map over on the right and it will show the map above, click on the position and you can see the related blog....
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09/24/2008, Redwood City
Finishing up our last projects on the boat before we head out the gate and turn left.... Buoyweather shows calm conditions for Sunday, when we leave.
It took all day, but Rina and I installed our new 110A alternator and replaced the impeller, which, while it was in good condition, was 4 years old. Also installed a Speed Seal, which makes it MUCH easier to replace the impeller next time... thumb wheels, rather than a socket wrench.... Everything worked correctly the first time, contrary to my normal modus operandi. That was until we put the galley sink cabinet back in place. (It needed to be pivoted out of the way to get to the impeller) Once we put everything back together and turned on the water in the sink, only a dribble came out. Bummer, perhaps we kinked a hose when moving the cabinet.... In a classic case of "it's usually the simplest thing, not the most complex" we checked all the hoses, replaced the filter element under the sink, then thought.... Hmmm, I wonder if the little screen on the faucet is plugged up.... Sure enough...
All told, a very long, but gratifying day of boat projects.... Now it's just the little stuff left.... Locks here and there, a few more of "Rina's Racks" nets to sew to keep stuff where it belongs....
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09/24/2008, Redwood City
Winding down on boat projects. Above is a pic of our now completed navstation... Includes a chartplotter, moved from the cockpit, a freshly installed satellite phone with data kit, SSB Receiver with data kit for recording cruiser nets and downloading weatherfaxes, monitoring panels for the AC Inverter, charging system and genset, barometer/weather station, USB cables for the Wifi extender, SSB data, Satphone data and chartplotter integration. Now we just need to learn how to take advantage of all of this... I'm sure there will be learning curves on the SSB and Satphone data integration, but most of the rest is straightforward.
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09/11/2008, Alameda
Rina, Alyssa and I headed to the Baja Haha reunion party in Alameda last night and had a great time meeting Mexico-bound crews and catching up with friends from our last Haha in 2006. Alyssa was pleasantly surprised that the group was not a bunch of "rich, uptight snobs" LOL.
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