Well Dang It!

We try to keep things family friendly here on the blog site. There are a lot of words I could have used in the title, but ‘dang it’ pretty much sums it up. While we’ve been playing ‘musical anchorages’ in San Diego, other things have been happening and not all of them involve sitting in the cockpit drinking wine with friends. Some of them involve frustrating turns of events that could, if we had worse manners, have resulted in words being thrown across the water in frustration, only to land in someone’s tender ear. So even though I thought my next post would be about the Cruiser’s anchorage in San Diego, it’s not. It’s about this episode, which is filed under ‘it ain’t all pretty sunsets and tequila, people’. If you follow us on our Facebook Page you’ll already have been among the first to know this story.

My point here is that shit happens when you are busy living life. Thankfully, no one was hurt.

Newsflash: There are always projects going on aboard Galapagos. It’s a big boat, it’s an old boat, and some of the systems on board are getting a bit long in the old tooth. Even though we are kind of ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’ types, sometimes that’s not the best way to go. Today, it looks like we paid a price for putting off something we should have done back in June. I say ‘looks like’ because I’m still not certain it wouldn’t have happened anyhow. Here’s our tale of woe.

Our boat has an old Profurl headsail furler. For the non-sailors, that is the thing you see on the pointy part of the boat that allows you to pull a string to unfurl the big sail in the front, then pull another string to roll it back up. The idea is that you then have your sail ready to go all the time. It’s supposed to make things easy. And generally it does. Until it doesn’t. Lately Mike had been noticing that the furler unit was a little stiff; it was hard to get it to turn. He’d look up at the top of the forestay but couldn’t see anything amiss. That’s because the mast is more than 50 feet from the deck of the boat, so it’s a long way up. Even with binoculars, it’s hard to see that one small little area on a moving boat in the glare of the brilliant California sunshine.

Yesterday (while he was sick enough to cough up a lung) he was putting on the new jib lines (see, we really DO keep upgrading things) and he needed to unfurl the headsail a bit so he could reach the old lines and untie them. The thing didn’t want to unfurl. Hmmm. He looks high and low, then notices he can now see with his naked eye some fraying at the top of the halyard. The NEW halyard. That’s not a good sign. “We’ve got a problem”, he says. “What else is new?”, I think. He puts ‘go up the mast and look at that dang fraying’ on his never-ending list of things to do before we get to Mexico, coughs up his other lung,  and goes about his business getting the new jib lines attached to the sail. I sigh deeply and go back to whatever I was doing.

There used to be a very pretty splice here.

A few minutes later he pops his head down the hatch and says we now have a REAL problem. The fraying he noticed was the harbinger of doom that was REAL problem: The halyard has just snapped while he was standing there. Literally. He hadn’t touched anything. It just snapped and popped down into the mast. Let’s just pause for a moment of silence while all the sailors who read this heave a huge collective sigh. I know you’ve been there when it comes to halyards in the mast. So now we have a broken BRAND NEW halyard, an unscheduled trip up the mast to trouble shoot this,  and possibly more parts we need to get before we can leave for Mexico. By the way, that’s just a few short days away.

On the one hand, DANG IT!  And other more forceful words. But if you are going to survive this lifestyle, you have to look at the bright side of things and the bright sides are considerable, including that we were anchored at La Playa and rafted up to friends on S/V Blue when this happened, not racing across the water on a nice broad reach. Also we are not in Mexico, land where finding parts for sailing boats is not easy and importing them from the U.S. is expensive and not for the faint of heart. Not to mention the usual language barrier.

See that hook on the right? It’s not supposed to exist. Mike found fibers caught in that gap.

So we hoist Mike and his deadly cough up the mast to assess this latest turn of events and he sees that somehow the halyard has wrapped around and rubbed against the halyard swivel at top of the furler. The friction created has actually melted the side and created a sharp edge. In a Hercule Poirot moment, he found tiny pieces of shredded halyard caught on that little hook in the photo. This sharpened edge sawed through just enough of the splice for the entire splice to let go. Oy.

These Profurl units have a ‘wrap stop’ that is supposed to keep the halyard from getting wrapped around the forestay and this is where our powerfully bad decision making came in. (Also in reading on the interweb about this problem, I see that it’s a common problem with the Profurl units and that leads me to surmise that it’s a poor design. Which leads me to mistrust it in the future. Which leads me to want a new furler, which we probably need because this one has been nothing but trouble and Mike has had to fix several issues with it on this trip already.  I see a newer furler unit being carried in a suitcase in our future because we can’t really get one right now.)

The new unit, which is basically a piece of plastic.

This summer we had a rigger climb the mast and to have a look around. He told us that ‘wrap preventer’ was worn and would need replacing. So we ordered a new one. But we didn’t replace it right away. Why? Let’s not even go there. The ‘why’ gets lost in all the other things we were doing at the time, all the projects and details and all that stuff. We probalby could have used a project manager for all the projects we had going at once. It wasn’t broke, so we didn’t fix it. Now it’s broke, and so is our halyard. Pretty much that sums it up. Dang it. Do we feel like rubes? We do. Oh well. It’s not the first time, and it won’t be the last.

So here’s where we are at: we have the part. We pulled the halyard down, reversed it, and pulled the good end  back up the mast so now Mike can do the eye splice on the end and it will be ready to go again. He’ll install the new ‘wrap stop’, and when everything is put back together I’ll pull the headsail out while we are tied to the dock and he can watch the unit working from his perch at the top of the mast. We still cannot figure out how that halyard had enough slack to get against that piece of plastic and create that much friction. The angle must be all wrong. And this is what he will observe in situ. Then he can decide if further action needs taking.

Yes, we are at the visitor’s dock at Shelter Island until this is sorted. It’s 1$/foot, no matter what size slip you get. So we got the slip where you can pull straight in with no turns and it’s terrific. There is zero security here, and apparently some nefarious goings-on happen here. But there is electricity, which we needed for a different issue I’ll write about later. And there is unlimited water. Our decks are looking grungy and could use a rinse. Galapagos is sparkling in the sun with all the salt on her.  S/V Blue pulled in next to us. So it’s all good.

So far, we’re still on target. S/V Galapagos, out.

 

 

 

Musical Anchorages

We’re in San Diego until December 1, when we plan to slip away in the wee hours of the night to make our way, finally, to Ensenada. We’ve been here now for, let’s see…since…um, I think November 15? It’s hard to say. When we’re in ‘explore’ mode, I write everyday in my journal and that helps me keep track of the days.  Somehow both of us stopped writing in our journals with the first anchor drop in San Diego. We’re not really ‘exploring’ so much as we are waiting to leave. I don’t know why that’s different. It just is. Of course, we could have left for Mexico already, but we made reservations for December 1 at the marina in Ensenada, and we figured we’d just wait until then to check in. That gives us a little more time to make final orders for parts and all that jazz. Plus our friends Kevin and Cressie on S/V Blue are here and we’ve been enjoying hanging out. It’s kind of like hanging out in the dorm back in college but without staying up all night and the ensuing hangover the next day.

Hotel del Coronado, historic and beautiful. You can walk to this from the Glorietta anchorage.

Cruisers who come after us might like our impressions of being a sailboat traveler who is ‘stuck’ in San Diego for two-ish weeks. Lots of cruisers find marina space here for awhile either through yacht club reciprocal benefits or through deeper wallets than ours. Those people are going to have had a much different kind of experience. If you are anchor-outers, like us, you are going to work harder. That’s because there are limited anchorages in San Diego Bay, and they are all  tightly regulated.

Like many places in the U.S., San Diego has trouble with ‘derelict’ boats. Usually these are boats whose owners do not have the means to keep them looking decent, keep their hulls cleaned off, and generally take care of their vessel. Sometimes that’s because they are destitute and living on a run down boat is the only kind of housing they can do. Whatever the cause, most communities do not welcome these kinds of boats. Not here, not in the Pacific Northwest, not anywhere. So there are a lot of rules that everyone else has to follow because no one wants derelict boats in their neighborhood. And that’s why we’ve been playing ‘musical anchorages’ since we’ve been here. We go from place to place, following the rules and hoping people don’t think our boat is derelict.  Unless you want to stay on a dock somewhere, you will play this game, too.

Sunset at Coronado beach.

You can go to the Port of San Diego website to make reservations at any anchorage, and reservations are required even though there is no fee. Only a certain number of boats are allowed to be at any anchorage at once. You are not allowed to reserve more than one place for the same date and each anchorage is good only on certain days of the week. We also found out the hard way that you cannot cancel a reservation on line after the first day of the reserved dates. So if you get to a place and change your mind and need to go somewhere else, good luck. That’s not going to happen unless it’s a weekday and someone is available to answer the phone and change your reservation for you in person.  It’s a complicated system and it doesn’t work on a Safari browser so heads up, Mac users.  You won’t get very far as no hot links or drop down menus show up. You won’t even be able to create an account.  Use a different browser.  However, if you call them on the phone during the week and during business hours they are helpful and friendly and you will be pleased with the service. Have your registration or documentation number handy.

Landing on the muddy La Playa beach. We chose to leave our engine on the boat. Photo by Phillip White

We started at the La Playa anchorage on Shelter Island. This is a fairly nice anchorage with good holding between two of the many yacht clubs.  The only problem with this anchorage is that there is no public dinghy dock of any kind anywhere in the area. There is a small beach at low tide that is easy to access and one end has some rocks you can tie onto.  I spoke with one of the Harbor Patrol police about pulling the dinghy up on the beach and he gave me mixed messages about leaving a dinghy there. You can do it (and people do) as long as no one who lives in the neighborhood complains. Pretty much what this seems to mean is that if you leave it there for the day, it’s going to be fine. But longer than that and the neighbors might call and report a dinghy and then the police might impound it. We did leave our dinghy there for the day and it was fine.

Also he told me that we are not allowed to leave our dinghy at the police dinghy dock down the channel. I guess we could swim ashore? Thank goodness for a blog reader who is a member of the San Diego Yacht Club, which is right by this anchorage. He gave us permission to use their dinghy dock and we were very grateful for that. You are allowed to stay at La Playa only Friday through Sunday. (Hey, that helps me remember when we got here! November 17.)

Galapagos and Blue rafted up for Thanksgiving at La Playa. Photo by Phillip White

One of the great things about La Playa is that once you figure out how to get ashore, there is every kind of marine service within easy walking distance. A huge West Marine is about a mile away and an even better chandlery, Downwind Marine, is even closer. It’s as good as Fisheries Supply back home. They have an impressive selection of sailing hardware. Sea Breeze Marine charts and books is in this neighborhood and is the go-to place for the most recent Mexico paper charts and for that cruising guide you’ve been putting off buying.  You’ll find a laundromat,  but at $5.50 per load of wash, the marina at Ensenada starts to look really close. Their cost is $1.25/load.  (I’ve waited this long. I can wait longer.) Von’s grocery store is 1-2 miles away, and a little farther is a Trader Joe’s. We have enough food to last until Easter now. There is a free pump out facility that is easy to access at the Police Dock at the head of the channel coming into the area.

After La Playa we had reservations for the Glorietta anchorage at Coronado. This anchorage is completely different from La Playa in almost every way. You get a view of the beautiful Hotel del Coronado from the anchorage and there is a convenient public dinghy dock just across the bay; very close. Leave your engine on your big boat and row over. This is a more ‘touristy’ area than La Playa so you won’t find marine stores or services. But it’s beautiful and historic and a great place to stretch your legs and go to the beach. Be sure to take in the little museum of the area, free or by donation, your choice. It’s well worth seeing. If you need groceries or hardware, those can be found on the main drag. There’s a Von’s grocery about a mile from the anchorage. Taking an Uber to the local Gateway Costco is about 9$ from this anchorage. We were at Glorietta on the days leading up to Thanksgiving and can say this anchorage is popular with the locals. The fact that it’s regulated keeps it from being super crowded.

Dinghy racing at La Playa. Photo by Phillip White

The third anchorage available to cruisers is the ‘cruiser anchorage’, which is close to the downtown area and right by the airport. It’s a large anchorage and the Harbor Patrol told me there are three dinghy docks available for public use. We have been advised by other cruisers to lock the dinghy, the outboard, the oars, and anything else we can lock when we leave the dinghy at any of the public docks.  We haven’t pulled into that anchorage yet, choosing to go back to La Playa to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with our friends on S/V Blue and with another friend who moved back to San Diego after a short stint in Gig Harbor. (Yeah, the weather ate her alive her first winter. She’s a wise woman to move back here. It was almost 90 degrees on Thanksgiving.)

We should be going to the third anchorage, the ‘cruiser’s anchorage’ early next week. You have to have a simple boat inspection to get your permit to stay there, but then the permit is for 30 days and you can renew it twice before they make you move on. We’ll report in with our assessment of that anchorage next time.

Be ready to play ‘musical anchorages’ in San Diego if you don’t want to pay for a slip (if you can find a slip). But also be ready for a different kind of musical treat. Because there is such a strong Navy presence in San Diego and sound carries over water, you will be treated to the musical stylings of ‘The Star Spangled Banner’ in the morning and ‘Retreat’ in the evening. I surprised myself by enjoying this piece of military tradition. Maybe you will, too.

Walking along the beach at Coronado while anchored at Glorietta. Our first glimpse of the Coronado Islands, in Mexico!

Today we spend a last day with S/V Blue before heading to the visitor’s dock for a night to get our batteries 100% charged. Mike is working on some tweaks to our charging system because we anchor out so much that the batteries take a real beating. Until next time, S/V Galapagos, out.

Watt’s in a Name?

We enjoyed our time at Newport Beach and Balboa Island. That area is a city of canals lined with multimillion dollar properties and boats; a never-ending panorama of lovely architecture and flowering plants and trees. I don’t know if I could live here, but it’s sure a nice place to visit for awhile. The community has many public docks that make going ashore easy. I admire a place that provides these kinds of amenities to the public. It’s almost like they welcome you to come here!

Way back in Channel Islands Harbor we noticed that most of the homes in that area came complete with one of those little Duffy electric boats. I’ve seen those at the boat show in Seattle and was always a little confused by them. Who owned such things? Where did they use them? They seemed quaint and a little bit boring. But down here in canal cities, they make a lot of sense. They are one step up from a nice dinghy with their weather-proof enclosures; like little floating sunrooms. They are adorable. People have dinner in them, go out together to the ‘dock and dine’ establishments, have small parties in them, and generally use them as easy and comfortable transportation along the canals. You kind of need something like that here, so I would hope that if you spring for one of these 15 MILLION dollar homes all crammed up next to each other, you’d get a little Duffy boat free with purchase.

This one is ‘Take Me Ohm’.

I can’t see this little Duffy’s name, but do you notice how their big powerboat matches their house? Man. That’s something. I’d like to see the towels and linens in this place. 

At least half of these boats have names that allude to their being electrically powered. We are always entertained by boat names and these have given us a lot of amusement. We saw “Ohm 4 Now”, “Tres Ohmbres”, “Pacific Current”, “Watter Dance” and so many more, some more clever than others. It’s almost like the Duffy boats without these electric names had been left out of the club.  I think if I had a little Duffy boat I might be tempted to name it something like ‘Ohmer Simpson’, or ‘Joule of the Nile’, or maybe ‘Current Sea’.. Get it? Perhaps Mike was less amused by these little plays on words than I was. He would name his ‘Nicholai’s Revenge’. You might have to look that up to understand it. (As an aside, he also named our Hydrovane ‘Carly’, after Carly Simon who wrote the song ‘You’re so vane’. You see how he rolls?  He wants you to have to dig deep for your chuckles. Sometimes his associations are too loose even for me.)

Our chosen stand.

While in Newport Beach we had to pay homage to the TV show ‘Arrested Development’ by seeking out a frozen banana stand on Balboa Island. Our kids can beat just about anyone in ‘Arrested Development’ trivia, and if that’s not something to crow with pride about I don’t know what is. We found two ‘original’ frozen banana stands and went with the one that most closely matched Mike’s shirt. We ordered the classic frozen banana covered in a chocolate flavored shell and rolled in crushed nuts. They were delicious. Both stands have been around for decades because, you know, “there’s always money in the banana stand”. [vsw id=”04SLXwjJvqg” source=”youtube” width=”425″ height=”344″ autoplay=”no”]

MMM. Frozen banana with chocolate and crushed almonds. Pretty nifty!