Cruising with Zelda

Vessel Name: Zelda Fitzgerald
26 July 2012 | Reno, NV
05 July 2012 | South San Francisco
04 July 2012 | Moss Landing, CA
30 June 2012 | Oyster Cove Marina, South San Francisco
Recent Blog Posts
26 July 2012 | Reno, NV

Getting rid of STUFF!

For the past year I have been spending my work week in Nevada. This week I am closing up the apt and changing my job. This has been very emotional and upsetting to be without a job, but I know this is the right decision. Long distant relationships just do not work, whether you are married or not. Since [...]

05 July 2012 | South San Francisco

In port

Zelda has been home now since Fathers' Day. We are slowly going through her systems so we can move on. We have a lot to do and we are discovering more and more as we go on. First things on the list are toilets that actually dump into a holding tank, electricity, refrigeration, and a new mattress ( just [...]

04 July 2012 | Moss Landing, CA

2nd attempt at getting to San Francisco

The following weekend, Laurence and Pieter get in and we head off to pick them up in Sausalito. SO, another 3 hour drive to Moss Landing. We arrive in Moss Landing and saunter down to the dock. The smell of propane is in the air, STRONG. As we get closer to the boat it becomes really evident that the [...]

30 June 2012 | Oyster Cove Marina, South San Francisco

In the beginning...

We have had quite a trial finding the right boat. We lost $10K to the supposed owner of one boat (suing in small claims court). BUT we have finally purchased the last boat we will ever own. Her name is GOING to be the Zelda Fitzgerald, after my grandmother (not be confused with F Scott's wife). Her current [...]

Getting rid of STUFF!

26 July 2012 | Reno, NV
Gale Schulke
For the past year I have been spending my work week in Nevada. This week I am closing up the apt and changing my job. This has been very emotional and upsetting to be without a job, but I know this is the right decision. Long distant relationships just do not work, whether you are married or not. Since I love my husband, the choice was simple...move back to San Francisco and the boat full time.
Anyway the focus of this blog is getting rid of stuff!!! If you have never had to close an apt AND a 5 bedroom house...to move onto a 43 foot boat...well, ...
so I am packing up a 1 bedroom apt. Should not be a problem, right?? WRONG. It is truly amazing how much you can acquire in 1 year. So, I am having an apt sale on Saturday to sell as much as I can of the stuff I have here. I really do not want to take them back to California. I mean how many towels does it take to shower on a boat? 2, well, maybe 4, so you have a clean towel between laundry loads. One certainly does not need 6-8 SETS of towels. that was easy. Now what about the kitchen stuff. When was the last time I used a kitchen gadget shaped like a bird. I think it might be a lemon squeezer, but not sure. I have no less than 4 splatter guards, more spatulas than the grocery store, and a set of china that feeds 16. I do not see banquets in my future, so the china goes...to my brother. He can feed 16 people if he wants to!!!
Now my husband has this fantastic couch...made out of drift wood. The thing is massive. I am not sure who we are going to find to take THAT off our hands! LOL... Obviously one does NOT need furniture on a boat!
Now the true crisis is our books. My husband and I could open a lending library with all the books we own...and neither one of us wants to get rid of any of them! I do not mean a couple of shelves. I am talking a library worth of books, some of whom are over 100 years old. Books do not do well on a boat, what with the issue of water vs paper. So far, our only solution is to pack them and store them. We are at an impass on this one.

In port

05 July 2012 | South San Francisco
Gale/foggy and cool with intermittent patches of warm
Zelda has been home now since Fathers' Day. We are slowly going through her systems so we can move on. We have a lot to do and we are discovering more and more as we go on. First things on the list are toilets that actually dump into a holding tank, electricity, refrigeration, and a new mattress ( just can't bring myself to sleep on an old broken down mattress).

Needless to say, the first thing Bob does while I am in Reno is take the boat out with his two friends, Carl and Darrel. He proves to himself, once more, that the boat does not respond well to anything! It moves on it's own accord. when it feels like it. Even our friend Darrell, who can sail anything, had trouble getting it back into the slip. Okay, bowthruster is now added to our list of things the boat needs.

2nd attempt at getting to San Francisco

04 July 2012 | Moss Landing, CA
Gale/ clear and blustery
The following weekend, Laurence and Pieter get in and we head off to pick them up in Sausalito. SO, another 3 hour drive to Moss Landing. We arrive in Moss Landing and saunter down to the dock. The smell of propane is in the air, STRONG. As we get closer to the boat it becomes really evident that the smell is coming from Zelda. It is a good thing that none of us smoke because the propane from two tanks has leaked into the boat. If none of you have ever seen what happens when propane ignites, it is a REALLY ugly site, usually causing close to a half million dollars in damage to the dock and the boats surrounding. Unfortunately before we could ascertain what was happening, Laurence was on the boat trying to start the engine. Fortunately it would not turn over. Bob and Laurence opened the engine hatch to discover that the entire engine compartment was filled with a milky haze of propane. It is a very good thing that no sparks were ignited.
The propane dispersed after all ports were opened, etc. The propane was shut off and Laurence and Pieter were on their way. We settled with the Harbor Master and drove 2 hours back to the Bay Area, praying for clear sailing and calm seas for Laurence and Pieter.

Next morning Laurence and Pieter brought Zelda into San Francisco. It,apparently was smooth, but cold going. Since they did not have any proprane, they were not able to make anything warm to eat or drink. I met them at the boat with hot tea. Hot showers, clean clothes, and 2 airline tickets later we sent our courageous captain and his friend home. I cannot tell you how much we appreciate the services of Laurence Sunderland. He brought our Zelda home with a sail that had disintegrated, propane rupture that could have been the end for all of us, inadequate systems, no hot water or food. Thank you Laurence and Pieter. I hope this is the start of a long friendship.

In the beginning...

30 June 2012 | Oyster Cove Marina, South San Francisco
Gale/foggy and cold
We have had quite a trial finding the right boat. We lost $10K to the supposed owner of one boat (suing in small claims court). BUT we have finally purchased the last boat we will ever own. Her name is GOING to be the Zelda Fitzgerald, after my grandmother (not be confused with F Scott's wife). Her current name is "Delight" out of Ventura. She has been anything BUT a delight so far. Let's start with the bash up from Morro Bay. We hired a delivery skipper, Laurence Sunderland. Absolutely the best guy ever. He put up with a lot to bring this boat up the coast of California at the beginning of summer. Neither my husband nor I have had any experience out in the open sea, so we thought it best to have someone with experience do the job. Little did we know were about to meet a rather famous person in the body of Laurence Sunderland and his friend, Pieter. This is the same Laurence whose son, Zak, and daughter Abby, single handed around the world. A more devoted father and husband you will never meet.
Anyway, so Laurence and Pieter take possession from the previous owners in Morro Bay. The first leg was to bring her to Moss Landing (near Monterey) to be hauled so we could see the bottom. WELL...as they say, the best laid plans! On the way they encountered some fairly interesting weather, as all who sail the Pacific in summer know. It is anything BUT Pacific! The first thing that went was the main sail. Shredded to the 2nd reef line. So they were sailing this boat with a shredded Mainsail up the coast of California. Well, they made it in one piece to Moss Landing. We came and met them. They were planning on continuing on up to San Francisco Bay. All we were waiting for was the wire transfer from the bank to go through so we could take possession of the boat. We called the bank, who assured us the transfer would be made at 9 am. Hours went by. We took the guys out for breakfast, watched the Brits play soccer on the TV at the restaurant. we waited, and waited. I finally called the bank back and they told us the wire had not gone through yet. After some expletives on my part, they finally sent it.
Around 1 pm Laurence gets a call from the owners saying the money had gone through. Off they went. We drove the 2 hours back to San Francisco. Within an hour of arriving back in Oyster Cove we received a call from Laurence that they had to turn back. The wave action was so fierce that he decided that they were putting themselves at risk to go any further. They were about even with Santa Cruz, so we tried to get an overnight slip there. No chance. Santa Cruz harbour had been damaged heavily during the Tsunami. There were no slips available and the local boat yard, Aquarius Boatworks, were so busy that they could not take the boat to do the haul out. So, back to Moss Landing. We drove the 2 hours to Moss Landing and waited for Laurence and Pieter to get in. It was getting late, but right around sundown I saw the boat coming in.
We met them at the Boat yard, because the harbor couldn't accomodate us.
We tied up to an old fishing vessel and then helped the guys off the boat. We then drove them to Morro Bay, another 2 hours away, to pick up their car.
Quite the adventure was relayed to us. They had gotten out to sea and were hit by some pretty significant wave action. If it hadn't been for Laurence having a firm grip on the jib line, he would have been swept over board..I, personally, would not want to be responsible for the death of Laurence Sunderland! Laurence told us that this was the first time he had ever turned around during a transport. I can only imagine what it was like out there.
So, we then made the trip back to San Francisco, another 4 hours. So far we had driven 10 hours total that day. It was 4 am when we got in. The next day we had to drive back to Moss Landing to move her into a slip at the Marina. We found a slip. the wind was blowing rather significantly to starboard. We were sharing a slip with a nice powerboat. My husband had never sailed this boat and she is considerably bigger than our William Atkins, Colin Archer designed, Thistle..Iolanthe. Getting into the slip was further hampered by the presence of dredging pipe down the center of the slipway. Needless to say, this didn't go very smoothly, either. The only good thing I can say is that we did have boat insurance, as of the day before.
In a vain attempt to get into the slip, our wonderful boat decided she did not want to do what was expected of her, swung her bow to port and hit the powerboat. We took out a nice piece of teak railing and scraped some of the fiberglass below. Not a good start! after much coaching and help, we got her into the slip without creating any more problems. The combination of fatigue, new boat, wind, unfamiliar marina= mess.
The plan was for Laurence to do a powerboat delivery to Sausalito the next weekend, so we went on home.


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