Stretching It Out

 Well it looks like we will be sticking around the Bay/Delta area a little longer than anticipated. Cap'n Carey has signed up for a work extension plan. His job has turned into a bigger adventure than anticipated.  He can't help but be the awesome worker that goes above and beyond. It is in his blood.  We have accepted the fact that sticking out another year or so is not going to be that bad. He got an offer that he tried to turn down, but the benefits and cruising budget just got alot bigger, which means we will be able to stay cruising ALOT longer, and will still have a job offer when we decide to hang around land to re~build the kiddi, in Florida, or someplace like that.
  The stay there at Glen Cove had been fun. Especially since we had a couple of friends on Shear Water, that moved there from Benicia Marina. The kiddz enjoys playing in the surf on the other side of the levee. Roxi just walks out into the water and swims around, DrifterDude is starting to enjoy the water like Roxi. When Roxi does something he has to do it too.
  We are going to stay at Owl Harbor for the winter, it is alot milder than the freezing fog, wind, and rain. We still have these here, but at a slower rate. the wind doesn't howl for days, soaking everyone, every time you leave the boat. we all Love the ambiance that Owl Harbor offers. The people here are incredible. Nice, thoughtful, caring, FUN, etc. They are always concerned about your happiness here too. The wildlife here is amazing. This time of year we have the migrating Canadian Geese. the sky goes dark with them, and the noise they make is deafening at times.
We have been working away at getting things done on the boat, so that when it's time to go, we just go. She could leave right now if we needed to leave, towards Mexico, we could just get provisions, and go.  That is a humbling thing to say.
  Christmas season this year feels a bit different. Knowing that next year we will be on our way, or already in Mexico. The whales right now are hanging out with their calves, getting them fattened up for their journey north. So I am sure that there will be plenty to talk about, and show the images that we have filmed.
  So much to do, and plenty of time to do it.
bunkmate

The Beginning Is The Hardest Destination

  Wow time sure has flown by, we have been busy with all kinds of projects, and life is wonderful.

  It has taken a little bit longer than we anticipated. Unfortunately that proverbial time slippage, that always happens when your goal is an open end deal. The beginning is the hardest destination. When the destination begins, everything must be in place. The whole plan  has got to be expected. You have to expect anything to happen.  IE the following sea may wash the BBQ propane bottle over, if you do not have the proper tie down system. The Ditch Bag has got to have a certain first aid kit, for emergencies. The kayak must be in it's bracket, that is also foldaway, when the kayak is uninflated, for when making crossings etc.  You have to have provisions for at least a week, most of the time you can pull into port and get more fresh provisions, some times rice, and flour, are really good things to have aboard, extra, for the ports that have families that will trade a fish, or a chicken, for them. I have heard they really like soda pop, and can't get it locally.
  I find myself thinking about when we finally take that left turn just pass the Golden Gate Bridge. The last time we actually pass under, and never look back. Knowing that the next Destination, is not necessarily where, or when we get there.
  So the most important thing, is on the list of the , , ,
 "Will this make our boat safer and stronger??"
Why yes it will.
 There are so many projects,  I am working on getting some of the projects translated.
bunkmate

The Mastest

  We are here, and stickless. As soon as we hit dry land they took the mast off. It looks odd, and it feels pretty weird, sitting below, listening to the wind howl through everyone elses rigging, seeing the palm trees swaying, and not feel the boat dancing in the water. As soon as we get used to it being still, we are going to be getting back in the water.

 We have been working the hardest right now on the wax stripping, above the water line. Our Cap'n. figured out a method of rolling the Smart Strip, rinse with Hot/Warm water, waitng a couple minutes, scrubbing , spray with Simple Green, scrub with a green Scrubbie, super spray it with water, spray with Simple Green, clean the mess, and rinse with super power water, and vwahlaw, clean. 

  I am working on stripping the 'non~skid' from the whole top~side. The Smart Strip is pretty cool stuff, it is 100% biodegradable, and odor free. It has a tiny smell, but not a chemical kinda smell. This stuff has to be covered with plastic to keep it from drying out.  I am doing it in sections, because I have to block off the kiddz racetrack. They do laps all the time.

  We went and spent the afternoon at Glen Cove Marina, and visited our friends Dave & Kelly, on 'Shear Water'. We picked out our slip, #181. When we launch, around the 1st of June, we will head straight to our slip

The only thing really we are lacking now is experience!!!!

  We decided to paint the mast head RED. Which can be seen for quite a ways over water. We are also going to put 2 white with reflective tape strips, so we will stand out while coming back from shore, when there are alot of boats in the bay/marina/mooring field , , , .etc.
  The Cap'n did a bunch of wire replacing. He also replaced both of the spreader lights, we might actually be able to see the deck at night. The lights that were on it were filled with sand, and not very bright to start with, all yellow and old. We replaced them with LED's. We have LED's throughout the boat now. Replacing everything as we go.
  One step at a time

Meet Max

  The Maxwell windlass has been an ongoing process, since even before our S/V Cerridwen came into our lives. The windlass was high on our prerequisite list. You know, the list you make before purchasing a house, or a car, or truck. The 'gotta have' list that has to meet certain guide lines. The list that started out 'standing room throughout', because on alot of boats you just don't get the stand up room.

 All through the entire 'Blue Water' prep that has been going on, the 'Anchor Retrieval System' has been getting done, one small step at a time.
  It all started in the Battery banks, the wiring, the placement of them, how much power do we lose per-foot of battery cable, what size wire we need, should it be connected to the house bank, or should it have one of it's own, as well as where should it be located.
We decided to run it directly from the house battery bank, under the settee, where the chart drawers were. He installed all the necessary wiring, and charging bank, ran the wiring from Max directly to its own breaker box, and Max feeds now off the house bank, which is separate from the starting batteries. There was a tremendous amount of figuring out the whole process, one step at a time.
  Alot of the thinking went on where and how to put Max. The Cap'n thought of a bunch of scenarios, of which we decided that Max be just off center of the bow, to allow the chain to be brought straight out of the water, and down the pipe to the chain locker.  We have hundreds of feet of chain, that the Cap'n is glad he doesn't ever have to pull up and feed the chain locker by hand again... 8-)
  The last part is the hatch for the locker itself.  He cut the hatch door in half, and fiberglassed in a new support section from above and below the deck.  We will paint the hatch also when we paint the new non~skid on, later, when I finish getting the last of the non~skid off.  Which I will get done by the end of this week. I hope, , ,
  More on the non~skid later, bunkmate

Return To Napa Marina Workyard

  It is time to put our stay at Owl Harbor behind us. We made some friends, had alot of fun, learned some stuff. We stayed a bit longer than anticipated, but, we don't have to be anywhere. Cap'n has to be at work, so we can stay just about anywhere. It all depends on how far he wants to commute. The longer the commute, the less time he has to work on the boat.
  I will be working on the boat all day. slaving away at the endless amount of work to be done. Haha.
  We went all the way down to Glen Cove Marina, spent the afternoon, evening with our friends Kelly and Dave, on S/V Shear Water,  the couple we spent 4th of July with, up in bedrm 2.
  As we readied the boat for departure, the Cap'n checked the oil, and it was all milky white!! Water in the oil is not what he wanted to see when he pulled out the dip stick. There were a couple of reasons how the water got in the oil. A leaking gasket, but there was not any oil in the water. So he drained the oil and put in 7 fresh liters. When he checked the dipstick it showed
nothing but oil, so we are thankful it was just condensation. So we fired up the 'Rattler' and off we went.  We were going to change it before we went back in the water anyway, so it was just done a little early.

  After we got underway, everything went smooth, there was a strong wind blowing so we threw out a hankie, and averaged about 6 knots up river. We called ahead on our new Ham Radio, and had the Mare Island Bridge open so we could get up river, to Napa Marina. Just after we called,  another boat radioed that they will need the gate open too. We looked around and didn't see a boat near us to need it open. The guy on the radio again said they were doing 10 knots and would  need the bridge open. So we turned around looked and there was a smaller tri~hull, booking up towards us.  By the time we got clear of the bridge the tri~hull was just about to the bridge. As the boat went past us we saw our good friend Goose, from the Benicia Marina waving and taking pictures of us. And before ya knew it they where going around the corner, and gone. We saw them up river at one of the private docks, just down from Napa Marina.
  If you remember how shallow the mouth is at the Napa Marina, you understand why we came in with the tide. It wasn't much of a tide, but we snuck in right down the middle, and took up space on the dock.  We got here just in time, for there were a few boats that came in behind us.
  So Tuesday is the haul out day, tomorrow, getting butterflies in my belly.
One step closer to our jump date.
  We left Glen Cove @3ish and got to Napa, at 6:30ish, plenty of sunshine for cocktails at sunset. cheers
bunkmate

Ps. we got the two palm suite

Catch Up With Ourselves

  We have had alot going on, installing the windless, so our Cap'n doesn't have to pull up all the chain and rode by hand, battery box, including complete with all new wires, throughout the boat, you should have seen the glob of wires that went completely nowhere, that had accumulated every which way throughout the entire vessel.
  We have been doing a little bit of transitioning ourselves for our journey south, which by the way is coming up. Most of you know part of our plans, but the one thing everyone knows is there is no schedule. We have set our 'jump off ' date, August 11th, 2016. We are not sure from where, but we are jumping. We plan to take a couple of months to get to Mexico, November is the end of hurricane season. Then the trek down Mexico, to LaPaz, and from there, , , , , we have no destinations from there. We know we want to spend a year maybe, snorkeling with the whales, dolphins, rays, all the wildlife in the Sea of Cortez.
The windless is in the top picture, bottom left'ish. It isn't mounted yet in the picture. The battery boxes that he built, and all the battery wiring is all new wires and clamps. 
  Drifter is helping pull the wire through the soul of the boat, to the engine compartment.
  We are working forward to being in the work yard. We want to paint the top as well as the bottom. So I will be needing to scrape the non~skid off, as well as using the stripper. I want to get as much scrapped off as I can, before using the chemicals. We will be using alot at the boatyard. But as you all know how much I love chemicals and stuff by the water.
  We want to jump to Napa's boat yard as soon as we can, but we can't work in the rain either. Come the end of February we are going to move. Hopefully. But on the same hand, We love it here at Owl Harbor, the people are awesome, they actually want you here, it's not just the money, and if you need anything, they are there, all the time, the facilities are always clean, they have 2 washers and dryers, huge picnic areas, even a campground. AND they have free eggs, you donate to the chicken fund when you want. They love pets, it is a pet friendly place. With biodegradable poopy bag stations all over, and trash cans, with recycle bins too.

  More details on the projects to come.
    bunkmate