Sailing on Starshine
| Vessel Name: | Starshine |
| Vessel Make/Model: | Outbound 44 |
| Hailing Port: | San Francisco, CA |
| Crew: | Pat and Melodie Williams |
| About: | We have been "working the plan" since 2004 when Pat began taking sailing lessons. That lead to a few sailing vacations on sailboats. Melodie took some classes too. We purchased our boat in 2011. |
27 February 2019 | Alameda California
26 February 2019 | Mazatlan to San Francisco
26 February 2019 | Mazatlan Sinaloa Mexico
01 May 2018 | El Cid - Mazatlan
09 April 2018 | Marina Mazatlan
07 March 2018 | La Cruz de Huanacaxtle
23 January 2018 | La Cruz de Huanacaxtle
04 December 2017 | La Cruz de Huanacaxtle
24 October 2017 | Oakland, CA
04 September 2017 | South Lake Tahoe CA
04 September 2017 | Culver OR
04 September 2017 | Culver OR
04 September 2017 | Redmond Oregon
17 July 2017 | Polson Montana
31 May 2017 | Our new Camper in Ira Texas
04 May 2017 | Nuevo Vallarta, Riviera Nayarit Mexico
04 April 2017 | La Cruz Anchorage
12 March 2017 | Chamela Bay
12 March 2017 | Tenicatita Bay
18 February 2017 | La Cruz de Huanacaxtle
Recent Blog Posts
27 February 2019 | Alameda California
Goodbye Starshine
Melodie and I have accepted an offer on Starshine. We close escrow on March 8, 2019.
26 February 2019 | Mazatlan to San Francisco
The Baja Bash
Preparing for the Baja Bash (the trip north from Mexico to California). They call it “The Bash” because the prevailing winds and waves are from the northwest. So you are basically going uphill (if that makes any sense).
26 February 2019 | Mazatlan Sinaloa Mexico
Summer 2018
As many of you who have followed our blog over the last four years you’ll note that I have not given it any attention since last spring. So let me fill in the blanks.
Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz Island
18 September 2014
Pat - Sunny
The Santa Barbara Harbor Master assigned us to a 60’ slip in between two power boats. The bigger boats made Starshine look small.
We plugged into shore power for the first time in two weeks. I’m very happy with our energy management. Many cruisers experience problems when they first leave home. Trying to judge their energy usage based on graphs or guesses, verses real life energy use. Our solar panels are doing well, plus all the motoring kept the batteries in the 90-95% range.
We used the access to fresh water to wash the boat. We also made a run to the local Ralphs grocery store. We walked the 1 ½ to the store, then took the bus back to the marina.
We left Santa Barbara and sailed over to Santa Cruz Island. We were going to anchor in a spot called Scorpion Cove, but it was too windy. We dropped anchor in Smuggler’s Cove and stayed there for two nights. We put the dinghy in the water thinking we would go ashore. We chickened out though and just took a tour of the anchorage and neighboring boats. The beach is made up of rocks, not sand, and it’s rather steep. We want to get some more experience landing the dinghy before we try something more challenging. The wind really blew the second night we were there, gusting to 30 kts. The anchor held great and we did not drag. The sand bottom cleaned all the SF Bay mud off the chain.
We had a leak that was forming in the engine pan. The pan is separate from the bilge so it contains any oil leaks. The leak was salt water. I ran the engine and saw there weren’t any leaks from it. I figured it was either the genset or the water maker. I cleaned up the spilled water and started the water maker. Sure enough, there was a small drip coming from the end of the high pressure tube holding the membrane on the water maker. Of course it had to be on the far end of the tube! Melodie took a photo of me tucked under the swim step so I could get a wrench on the loose fitting. The leak had caused our spare anchor rode to get wet. I laid all the rode out on deck to dry in the sun. In the scheme of things it was an easy fix.
We left Smuggler’s Cove and sailed over to Ventura. We had planned to stay 1-2 nights in Ventura. The Ventura YC had a spot at their guest dock, but it was a tight fit. We checked the local marina and they charged $1.50/night/foot. So we chose to leave Ventura and go to Channel Islands Harbor in Oxnard. It’s only 8 miles from one harbor to the next. We had heard from our friends on s/v Nova that the Pacific Corinthian YC was nice. I’m glad we listened to them. We got a spot on their guest dock and the people and the facility are great. We will stay here for 3 nights before heading to Marina Del Rey.
We got a funny email from our insurance agent. He wanted to confirm we were not in Mexico and nowhere near Hurricane Odile. I assured him we were not. I’m hoping they can get Cabo San Lucas cleaned up before we arrive in early November.
Melodie and I cleaned all the salt off the boat yesterday. I have noticed that the boat isn’t really dirty like it got it Alameda, just salty from all the spray.
We plugged into shore power for the first time in two weeks. I’m very happy with our energy management. Many cruisers experience problems when they first leave home. Trying to judge their energy usage based on graphs or guesses, verses real life energy use. Our solar panels are doing well, plus all the motoring kept the batteries in the 90-95% range.
We used the access to fresh water to wash the boat. We also made a run to the local Ralphs grocery store. We walked the 1 ½ to the store, then took the bus back to the marina.
We left Santa Barbara and sailed over to Santa Cruz Island. We were going to anchor in a spot called Scorpion Cove, but it was too windy. We dropped anchor in Smuggler’s Cove and stayed there for two nights. We put the dinghy in the water thinking we would go ashore. We chickened out though and just took a tour of the anchorage and neighboring boats. The beach is made up of rocks, not sand, and it’s rather steep. We want to get some more experience landing the dinghy before we try something more challenging. The wind really blew the second night we were there, gusting to 30 kts. The anchor held great and we did not drag. The sand bottom cleaned all the SF Bay mud off the chain.
We had a leak that was forming in the engine pan. The pan is separate from the bilge so it contains any oil leaks. The leak was salt water. I ran the engine and saw there weren’t any leaks from it. I figured it was either the genset or the water maker. I cleaned up the spilled water and started the water maker. Sure enough, there was a small drip coming from the end of the high pressure tube holding the membrane on the water maker. Of course it had to be on the far end of the tube! Melodie took a photo of me tucked under the swim step so I could get a wrench on the loose fitting. The leak had caused our spare anchor rode to get wet. I laid all the rode out on deck to dry in the sun. In the scheme of things it was an easy fix.
We left Smuggler’s Cove and sailed over to Ventura. We had planned to stay 1-2 nights in Ventura. The Ventura YC had a spot at their guest dock, but it was a tight fit. We checked the local marina and they charged $1.50/night/foot. So we chose to leave Ventura and go to Channel Islands Harbor in Oxnard. It’s only 8 miles from one harbor to the next. We had heard from our friends on s/v Nova that the Pacific Corinthian YC was nice. I’m glad we listened to them. We got a spot on their guest dock and the people and the facility are great. We will stay here for 3 nights before heading to Marina Del Rey.
We got a funny email from our insurance agent. He wanted to confirm we were not in Mexico and nowhere near Hurricane Odile. I assured him we were not. I’m hoping they can get Cabo San Lucas cleaned up before we arrive in early November.
Melodie and I cleaned all the salt off the boat yesterday. I have noticed that the boat isn’t really dirty like it got it Alameda, just salty from all the spray.
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