Maybe this time

Well here I sit on the deck of our boat in 20 knots of wind getting the free signal from the Yacht Club. It's that or walk up to the Kinko's 4 kms away...and I am still getting over the Seal Flu!! So not really that keen on the walk. Yes Geoff said I caught a cold from when the seal lion sneezed on us at the dock the other day. I have spent the last two days with a runny nose and a keen hunger for fish!!

But seriously I have been sick with a cold and Geoff has just had a bit of it. So it has been pretty low key the last few days, which has been okay as the weather has been hooting! There has been a Gale warning again the last few days. But, but...tomorrow doesn't look too bad. So it is quite possible we may go for it in the morning. Not 100% because it is the weather and it tends to change. So we will see how it looks in the morning and decided then.

We have had a few visits from our friendly Sea Otter and this morning he was sunning himself on the dock next to our boat! And left a nice little or big fishy smelly package for us too! Got to admit I love these guys they are very entertaining and I am taking any visits as a good omen for our Sea Otter.

All goes well with the boat, Geoff has found a few more minor things and sorted them out, so the time here has been fortunate. Though once again we are keen to get going and start getting to a warmer climate. These 4 degree mornings are starting to wear thin....I don't think Geoff has hugged me this much in bed since we first got married!! ;)

Unseasonal luck

So they say, that the trough we had was unseasonal...hmmmm, today is beautiful, blue skies, winds haven't picked up and it looks perfect for sailing. But, tomorrow afternoon another unseasonal cold trough will hit the coast with even stronger winds that caused us to run in here!! Unseasonal, hmmm bloody typical! So here we sit with not enough of a good weather window to leave, allowing us any time to get away from all this unseasonal stuff. It is VERY frustrating and Geoff will soon go nuts, in fact if the water wasn't so cold I think he would start swimming for it!! The next break we may get could be on Sunday......cross your fingers for us!

Cold, yep it is beautiful today but last night and this morning the temp dropped down to 4 degrees and as the boat sits in that cold water it acts a bit like an esky and the inside was colder than the outside at 10am this morning. We had to give back the loaner heater when we left Alameda. So now we just snuggle together. And wait!

Each morning we have a Sea Otter who comes and plays around the boat, they are so damn cute! I have yet to get it on camera but will be more ready tomorrow. The Sea Otters at the Monterey Aquarium yesterday were all rescued babies that had got too used to humans, so now they are trained and play with toys and do tricks for the public. But when we saw them they still seemed to enjoy lolling in the sun more.

I did mention that our Sea Otter had turned a nice pace on the sail down here, she seems to sail fast in light conditions and holds well in stronger. Overall we are very happy with her behaviour at sea. Nice and dry below, no drips or leaks and not too much water on deck. The reefing system on the mainsail was a treat and not having Geoff on deck in strong conditions was fantastic. The dodger and the Bimini is also well designed and as you could see on yesterday's blog a nice dry warm spot out of the wind to hide. Oh and the new top of the ranger Bigger, Better and Beefier Autohelm? It is brilliant! Quiet, strong and not a big drain on the batteries. It handled the rolly stronger conditions with ease and doesn't seem to over steer. Apparently the technology allows it to learn about sea state so that it continually learns and auto corrects. Amazing and we love it now.

Added a few pic's of Monterey to keep you all interested.

Monterey waiting

Leaving San Fran, the calm of the first day, the sunset the first night and the fog and wind the second day!

Monterey Harbour the morning we arrived, calm ahhh.

Hey everyone...well we didn't get very far did we? I think we logged about 190 nm in our triangular sail. On leaving Alameda at about 8.30am the day was perfect, light winds and blue skies forecast and the same over the next two days. Sailing out under the golden gate was a buzz and I think I took too many photo's? We were happy and excited to be on our way.

The first day sailing was wonderful, flat seas, warm, 5 -10 knots and Sea Otter sailing fast at around 5.5 - 6.5 knots a good turn of speed, more than we were used to on Timana. As the day became night we were enjoying ourselves and the forecast was for increasing winds. Not alot but increasing, I was thinking 'okay it's going to be a fast ride' We had a beautiful sunset...and a light meal.

The first night of shifts went well too, we happily chatted about being too excited to sleep but finally settled on shifts. Geoff first up 9 pm to midnight, me midnight to 3 am, Geoff 3 am to 4.30 am and then me to daylight. And it all went easy, the motion of the boat was smooth and we each enjoyed sleeping in the aft cabin laying with head to foot across the width of the boat. Again another treat after our sleeping arrangements on Timana at sea. Geoff's shift during the early morning saw the wind pickup alittle and he let me sleep through my shift. By the time I was up at 6 am the wind had increased to 15 knots the seas were lumpier and the motion on the not as smooth. All good till I noticed fast scudding low clouds from behind? Then I noticed a bank of them.....FOG!! Just as I was telling Geoff, the forecast came in.....a low embedded in a trough was approaching and the forecast was for wind strengthening tomorrow to 15 - 25 knots, then increasing that night to 25 -30 knots with occasional gusts of 40 knots. And staying like that for four days, lordy!! Not a good forecast for the third day out at sea on a new yacht. So we went through the options...

1. Keep going and ride it out with reduced sails.

2. Head for an anchorage to the east of us, closer the better.

Problem was that most of the coastline closer to us was not very friendly and the anchorage options were not recommended in stronger conditions. Our next choice was Catalina Island about 200 nm away, too far and it would mean reaching it in the strong conditions. Not favourable. Or head north east to Monterey 74 nm away, back tracking a bit, but a good harbour easy to get into, which we would need as we would be reaching it in the dark about 10 hours sailing. It was a depressing decision, Geoff was particularly bummed. The logical and safe choice was head for Monterey. And we did.

It became a fast ride and a foggy ride with visibility down to 1 nm at times. Lucky we had not seen one single vessel since we left San Fran!! The arrival at the outer Monterey Bay area late was a bit nerve racking as it strong wind by now and trying to make out the lights to enter the harbour in a new place is never easy, especially with all the suburb lights behind them. We also had a little moment with the engine, where we thought it was going to conk out on us, but it turned out we had some water from a jerry can that had spilt in the engine bay during the rough seas. Anyway we got in okay, stressed but safely thanks to GPS and Radar. And to the sound of honking sea lions and the cold of the wind chilling us at 6 degrees. The harbour is tight and calm. I think it was near midnight by the time Geoff checked in with the Harbour Master (yes one on shift 24 hours a day) and we sat down to a hot chocolate to compose our thoughts. We slept well that night!!

The morning broke very windy and we were glad we were here. The place has oodles of character and is an old fishing village with a pier of restaurants and a bay full of sea lions and sea otters! It is the place where John Steinbeck wrote 'Cannery Row', and you can get a sense of the fishing history all over town. In the end it is a great place to visit. We spent four hours in the Aquarium this morning and I am writing this Blog from a Kinko's as no Internet connection available on the boat. Oh yeah, and a Sea Otter was lolling about in our new berth when we motored there the morning after we got in....a very good omen I think.

So, I will leave off this blog with saying, "we will wait for a good weather forecast and this current blow to clear out, then we will look for a good four to five day window of weather, then we shall try again"

We're off!!

To all those avid readers:

Tomorrow morning at dawn we will throw off the lines at Alameda and set sail for the Golden Gate and beyond. Weather forecast is looking good for the next few days and the boat is as ready as she will be. Us? We will find that out when the ocean swells hit us. No seriously were ready and keen to move. It has been just over two months since we hit the Californian shores and we are getting itchy feet.

After a wonderful four days of enjoying Christine's company we woke this morning to the decision to 'have a go'. We saw Chris off at the SFO even if she was way early for her flight, and drove our last drive over the Bay Bridge in downtown SF.

Today has been spent madly doing all the chores, clearing Customs, fresh provisions, fuel, water, haircut and paying the Marina. Just finished organising down below and the lockers in the cockpit. Tonight we will do our washing, take off all the covers on the deck and try and get a good nights sleep.

Plan is to head out and try and make the most of the couple of good days, SF is expecting a bit of a blow by Tuesday and we want to be long gone. And not stuck here waiting for another week. Remember sailors don't leave port on a Friday! If all is good once were out there....then were Nuka Hiva bound. If we find some problems or the weather changes we have the option to head into Santa Cruz or Monterrey.

So I'll sign off for the next month and wish you all peace, happiness and lots of love from us.

Karen, Geoff and Sea Otter 2

Surf city Santa Cruz

Looking at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk
Steamer Lane

Rather than spend another day waiting and worrying about the techie turning up to complete the Autohelm...we took off in our rented Chevy Cobalt south on the I-880 to Santa Cruz. This is at the north end of Monterey Bay.

We did find out before we left that Customs in Oakland could see us within a hour notice to organise clearance from the US. That would allow us the option of departure fairly quickly after getting a good weather forecast. So lets hope that Autohelm goes in quick and works, so next week we can be on standby for departure!!

Back to today's drive..... our first stop 1 plus hours drive south was Santa Cruz beach boardwalk, now celebrating 100 years of entertaining Americans at the beach. Like Coney Island. It was pretty expansive and full of fun arcades, a wooden roller coaster built in 1923, 35 other rides and features. Shame that it doesn't open till 1st of May!!! There were guys working on rides and signs being painted all in preparation...but only one little inside putt putt arcade open for business. It must be huge when it's in peak season as the whole area is surrounded by Motels!

We drove around to look at the Marina harbour and ended up at Crows Nest Restaurant an upstairs downstairs beachfront/harbour front grill. The hangout for surfers and sailors alike, with the walls adorned in surfboards, signed surfboards, pictures of surfing and sailing....our sort of place! Chrissy enjoyed her crab cakes and Geoff and I enjoyed burgers and a wonderful view out to the ocean we will soon be sailing. From here we drove north along the rugged coast to the Mark Abbott Memorial Surf Museum at Lighthouse Point. The famous Steamer Lane surf spot is here and surfers were out riding two point breaks to the south of the Lighthouse amongst the kelp beds. You could see Sea Otters out there lolling about on their backs chowing down on mussels. The surfers were wearing full steamer suits and caps and the wind was blowing a cold 20+ knots. Keen boys I tell you. But the surf looked pretty good and it was nice to see clear ocean water after living in murky bay water for two months!! We watched the surfers for awhile until we felt too chilled and then continued our drive north.

The coast line is rocky cliffs and pounding seas, small beaches and wind carved sand cliffs. It's not a very friendly looking coastline, unless your a sea lion or a sea otter! There are plenty of wind swept beaches with keen kite surfers or wind surfers, but not too many beachgoers about. We visited the Pigeon Point Light Station on the cliffs overlooking a particularly nasty headland and outcrop of surf pounded rocky outcrops. It stands 115' high and has been in continuous operation since 1872. It is now in a bad state of repair and you can only walk around the exterior, but it is also surrounded by fantastic views, native seaside plants and flowers and a Fog Horn Hut. Where to save ships from wrecking on the shores during regular fogs, they have been sounding Fog Horns since the 1800's. It is a fascinating spot that is also a Hostel.

From here our last stop further north up along the Highway 1 was the little township of Half Moon Bay, where the ultimate in bad boy big surf comps is held....Mavericks!!! Not that we could see any bad boy big surf today....but we did see the harbour and protected anchoring area, which will be handy if we need to stop in after departing San Francisco. The drive up to this area is right along the ocean front cliffs and is well worth it. It's another beautiful part of the San Fran area that has pleasantly surprised us.

Our drive home saw Chrissy cross her fourth Bay bridge the San Mateo, this is one long bridge, 11 kms crossing the south bay from west to east. We were home by around 6pm to find that the Autohelm looked nearly finished??? So Geoff will have to phone the techie tomorrow and see what the story is. Hopefully all is go?

Pasta Pelican tonight

Dinner at Pasta Pelican tonight with Roger, Dinah and Chrissy! Roger and Dinah are going to come over to Oz in January to visit us, see the Australian Open and check out Australia Zoo!



A lovely night of Pasta, steak, vino and laughs....Chrissy and Geoff enjoying themselves.

Sharing San Fran with Chris

Chris and Geoff on our way to see Customs
Bubba Gump Shrimp Co..but no sign of Forrest!
How cool is this takeaway counter?


The end of the day on the estuary.

Chris continues to show no sign of Jet lag, amazing! So after breakfast and a chat we decided it was a good day to hit San Fran for more of the fun stuff. We caught our favourite 'O' bus and were in the Financial district by 11.30 am...it was our first weekday in the city and funny but there were just not that many people about? In fact Queen Street in Brisbane would have more people in the downtown financial area than here. It was also a tad chilly in the shade of the buildings with the wind up a bit. So we were glad when we hit the Wharfs, the sun and the inside gourmet markets.

Chris and I were in hog heaven, but poor Geoff, shopping and tasting cheeses is definitely not his thing ;) Chris attempted to get the slack attendant at the Caviar Bar to explain how she could get a tasting session...he seemed very disinterested. So no caviar darlings, but after a buying cheese, chocolates and coffee (a girls perfect combination, why don't boys get that????) Next we took off in search of Customs and found it quite easily but Geoff and I weren't allowed past the security check as we didn't bring our passports, so we had to send Chrissy in with the Customs officer to ask our questions! Only to find out when she got back that we need to go to the Oakland office!

With the official part of the day done, we walked along the Piers to the famous #39 and had lunch in amongst the hustle and bustle of tourists at a little seafood joint. We browsed the gift shops, admired the fabulous jewellery in the Hawaiian Jewellers, I hinted at how much I like the gold and diamond seahorse pendant...but it didn't seem to work. We spent time in the poster shop, watched the sea lions, again and made our way to Fisherman's Wharf. The original and the best with little fishing trawlers, crusty old dudes trying to sell you a trip on the bay for $10 on a rusty 20' fishing trawler...like it was blowing 15 - 20 knots...so I don't think so!! We smelled the steaming of crabs fresh off the trawlers, looked at the boat nick knacks shop, watched the myriad of street performers and generally had a fab time.

We ended up at South Beach and turned back inland to head to the Ferry terminal. We thought about catching a cable car or trolley bus, but the queues and the lateness stopped us. But then we stopped at a Bar and had an afternoon Happy Hour; 2 Margarita's and a Corona please! hmmm Chrissy was a surprise, she finished her drink before Geoff and I....a bit of a goer here I think! ;) With a glow in our cheeks we walked back as the afternoon drew on and caught the 5.20pm Ferry home to Alameda. A short bus trip back towards town and another walk to the Mall, where we enjoyed cheap and tasty Chinese for dinner. ahhh what a day....

I think I will leave my heart in San Francisco.....

Chrissy hits town!

The sky was blue, the flowers were out, the birds were singing and Chrissy had arrived to see us, perfect!

The morning was very overcast and cold, with low cloud and as we drove south to go to the airport to collect Christine it even drizzled rain on us!! Oh no! We have been raving about the beautiful blue skies and warm days.....now it was cold and grey.

Christine's plane arrived on time and it was surreal to see her walk out of Customs, how wild that two months after leaving home, her she is, with us in San Francisco!! Looking particularly fresh for such a long flight. Chris was up to Geoff's suggestion for the long way round drive home to Alameda. That meant through San Fran over the Golden Gate Bridge and into Sausalito for lunch on the boardwalk and some gift shopping, then over the Richmond Bridge (near San Rafael) and back home via Oakland. Oh.... we didn't let her go to the boat for nap, no no no...we decided we should drive her on a coastal circuit of Alameda, through the decommissioned Navy Base, past the USS Hornet, past the wild rabbits, past the kite surfers on the west coast beach, along the main street and back up the east coast to the Marina.....poor Chrissy, she was very quiet on the final leg home. But we all perked up as we got back to the Marina and Chrissy got the honour of being the first family member to see 'Sea Otter' in person.

Right now, we are all snugly down below, with the heater on and Chrissy all set up in the aft cabin. It is fabulous to have her on board..... like old times in Spain and Georgia. Tomorrow we hope to go have a look at the USS Hornet Aircraft carrier museum or maybe go into San Fran. But we will wait and see how Chrissy feels with her jetlag.

Oh and by the time we got to Sausalito...the skies were blue and the day was perfect!

Ah...what can I say......

Shake down sail # 2

In the lee of San Francisco

Find Karen???


Today we decided to test out everything on the boat in stronger conditions. It's not like it was blowing a gale or anything but the forecast was for 10 -15 knots becoming 15 -25 this afternoon. Perfect morning for going out and heeling her over!

Geoff wanted to try out the reefing system which is totally different to Timana's. There are only two reefing points which allow us to reduce the size of the mainsail in strong conditions. Timana had three which allowed us to end up with a little triangle of mainsail flying. The difference in this system is that it can all be done from the cockpit. It means as the conditions get stronger Geoff does not need to go up for'ard to reef the main.....which is much safer and drier! We sailed out of the estuary and west then south into San Fran bay over towards South Beach Harbour and the AT & T Baseball stadium. The conditions were gusty and probably in the range of 11-16 knots with the occasional bullet (gust) off San Fran of 20+ knots. The boat handled everything really well, stayed pretty flat and did not lean too much. She hit an average of around 6 knots of speed, with some angles of sail a bit more in the stronger winds. Pretty good compared to Timana. And Geoff was a very happy boy with the reefing system....he loved it, the mainsail kept a good shape and the boat kept her speed. With the benefit of a more comfortable ride.

We also sailed dead downwind to try out the second hand spinnaker pole that Geoff had shortened and refurbed. He poled out our little 90% Genoa and it all worked perfectly.....in fact we couldn't find anything to complain about today at all! The boat was comfortable, dry on deck, dry down below...steered the course well (no autohelm yet) and was generally very friendly. I even got competitive against another yacht ahead of us and tried to out run it!!

We got back into the Marina around 2.30 pm after a pretty fast ride downwind home, we actually hit 8 knots speed!!! .....Okay I think we had a bit of current with us too ;) We tidied up, hosed her down (a wonderful luxury compared to water restrictions at home) and headed off to have a celebration dinner at the L & L Hawaiian BBQ Franchise, mmmm

The wind has continued to blow harder since we got in and we think we timed the day just right. Hopefully we can do the same for the big trip??

And we have a great week ahead of us next week too!! Have a good flight Chrissy!

Ok the news is...

I couldn't wait any longer...the great news is that Christine, Geoff's sister is coming over to visit us this Sunday!! Christine is a teacher in Murgon and the week school holiday allows her to pop over for a flying visit. Some pop over, hey? It is all very exciting as we come near to our departure date, to have family come and see us. Christine will be here till Thursday and we will be able to take her around all our fav hangouts in Alameda and San Fran. It is going to be fantastic to spend time with her and on board Sea Otter. Christine came and stayed on board Timana on our last trip, she came over to Spain and spent weeks on our little 33 footer. Hopefully she will find Sea Otter a tad more comfortable than Timana.

It has been close to two months since we left Brisbane, can you believe it? We are really on the home stretch now....Geoff is impatiently waiting outside for the techie to turn up and start the installation. Our Solar panel is working brilliantly. We are busting to go for another shake down sail....hmmmm maybe take Chrissy for a sail out around Alcatraz and over to Sausalito???

It's all very exciting....Christine's visit, the boat being nearly ready, the weather getting warmer each day........yeah!

A wee Blog

Some days you just need 'Ben and Jerry's' Cookie Dough Ice cream!

How Sea Otter is looking down below, Saloon and aft cabin shots

Today was another one of those low progress days, or no progress days. It was forecast for showers and although we haven't had any, the day was overcast and dull. Our Solar Panel continues to kick out the amps though even on a day like today.

We mucked about trying different set ups for our jack lines this morning. These are lines that run forward along the deck securely attached fore and aft. They allow you to clip your harness on from the cockpit, which means you can move safely along the deck at night, without the risk of falling overboard. The rule has always been for us, that at night on watch you are always clipped on and NO ONE goes forward of the cockpit without waking up the other person. On a new boat you need to spend some time working out where the attachments are going to be.

We got word today that the technician will come to the boat tomorrow morning to start the installation of the Autohelm...yahoo! However the stainless steel plate is not ready, so this is just partial installation. We also hope to pick up our Satellite phone prepaid card tomorrow or Friday. Which means we are on to the last few items on the list. How about that?

Next week is going to be a BIG week!! But more about why, next Blog?????

I forgot, but I remember.

Geoff wiring up the solar panel, from the stern all the way to the batteries.
The solar panel and it's stainless steel bridgework

Ahhhh FREE power!

Things you forget about what it's really like to live on a boat.

1. You forgot what a pain it is to have to manually pump the toilet. Particularly during the cold dark wee hours of the morn!
2. You forgot that all your food has to be tucked away in little cupboards all over the place.
3. You forgot in what locker you put that particular food that you tucked away!!
4. You forgot what a drag it can be walking up to the shower block for a hot shower on a cold, windy evening. brrrr
5. You forgot you have to watch where you put your feet when walking around the deck, ouch!
6. You forgot how much power normal day living takes when you have to run off batteries.
7. You forgot that boat fridges are deep wells, that are difficult for height challenged people needing to get the Vegemite that has fallen to the bottom!
8. You forgot what a pain it is to pull up cushions and boards to get anything you need.
9. You forgot what a pain it is to make beds on boats, they are NEVER normal sizes or shapes!
10. You forgot how rotten it is on a boat when it rains and you need to go somewhere!

Things you remember about living on a boat!

1. You remember how much you enjoy the safe, snug feeling of your home being a little bit like a turtle's shell.
2. You remember how much you enjoy walking, when you don't have a car.
3. You remember how lovely the peace and quiet is living on a boat, no real close neighbours in a Marina.
4. You remember how much fun it is to talk to other yachties about boats and weather.
5. You remember how much pleasure there is in not needing so much of anything that TV ads tell you, you do need.
6. You remember how much you love reading books, particularly yachting books.
7. You remember how to be ingenious about cooking with limited ingredients.
8. You remember how much Geoff seems to thrive on pottering and fixing things on his boat.
9. You remember how much you need/rely on each other when you are living on a boat.
10. You remember how much the two of you seem to get on even better when living on a boat!

And we haven't even got to the Islands yet!!