Feeling like cruisers now

Although we are in the marina we still are hiking 3 miles to get to grocery stores.  Still trying to figure out the bus system.  Santa Barbara has proven to be very beautiful.
Sam has proven to be a trooper and walking the whole way however she stops and picks flowers sporadically.  She takes the term smelling the roses to a whole new level.

Some more of Morro Bay and Santa Barbara

Samey playing at Morro bay. 

The volcanic plug behind the kids as they play in the sand at Morro bay.

That is Sand Dollar rafted off Appa. They are our good friends from Seattle. They are also doing the Haha. Their boat is a CMS 41. Or maybe a CSM. Anyway she is a very cool boat. They have 3 kids also and their youngest, Easton, is 9 and he and Ben have hit it off. 

They are heading to Long Beach for a couple weeks then down to San Diego.  We plan to meet up with them again in San Diego. 

Here is Appa at Santa Barbara after our sail here. The old French princess did really good.

We left Morro bay at 1700 or so and had the dinghy well secured on the bow and I figured that we could stow stuff once under way. I was soooo wrong. 

Jen's blog has the details more or less but needless to say, I won't leave an anchorage again until the boat is stowed and ready. 

My friend Michael in SD told us that the seas would be very confused and that is exactly what we got. I could get the boat surfing for a minute down this hissing seething wave and then get knocked down by a wave that comes out of nowhere. 

So we are sailing along and the three year old has to poop. She is a strange kid and will sometimes use the head but most of the time she wants a diaper and then to be left alone. She'll close her cabin door and emerge when she wants to be changed. Of course it much to rough for going into her cabin so I go below and get a diaper for her which Jen applies. About an hour later Sam is ready for her diaper to come off. I grab her and put her on the companion way area and take off the diaper. Ben immediately pukes. Now I have this toxic diaper that is close to leaking and I have to go below and put it in the garbage. I managed to put it in the garbage despite the boat and the seas conspiring to have me paint the interior with baby crap. 

At 2000 (8pm) and attempted to contact Sand Dollar on the SSB. I put the autopilot on and went below. Wasn't able to hear Sand Dollar but did get ahold of Moments and chatted with them for a couple minutes. They are on the Coho Hoho and it was good to talk to them. 

I went back on deck and watched the autopilot handle the seas. It was doing a pretty good job but was using up a ton of electricity. I turned off the fridge to conserve power. Knowing that the conditions were to rough for Max to drive and he was also sick as hell, I decided to let the autopilot drive till it either failed or the conditions got so bad that it would be dangerous to have it drive. I needed to rest before we got into the bad stuff.  I tethered myself in and laid down on the cockpit seat.  

I am kinda fatalistic and was worrying about all the stuff that could go wrong.  I just don't think of something going wrong, I visualize it. In graphic detail along with the all the gory stuff. Scarred from being a paramedic and ER RN I guess.   It is an immense thing taking the family on this boat that I have been working on and totally relying on her to keep us safe.  I have never felt so responsible for so much in my life. While going down the coast to SF, I felt great. Worried a bit about breaking something but not really concerned about safety. On this trip around Point Conception though I felt sheer wait of our lives. I felt alive. Really alive. It was amazing. I can still feel the leather of the helm in my hands. It helps that I hand steered for close to 10 hours straight. 

As I blogged earlier, the autopilot did indeed fail right around 2200 or so. Maybe earlier. I think that it did an amazing job and served us well.  I figure it to be about 18 years old and it lived a pretty hard life.  Rest in peace Autohelm type 2 linear drive. 

After the AP died, it was up to Max to handle all the sails and he did a great job. We furled in a bit more jib and keep the main at the second reef.  The boat never felt overpowered and we never spun out.  

We gybed at 1203 in the am to make sure Point Conception. The winds increased to steady 25 knots and gusting to mid 30s. Waves were about 12 feet or so. Nothing to outrageous. Very rolly though as the waves very coming from every angle at times. We did have the moon out with us and no fog for which I am grateful. 

Once we got past the Point, the wind shut down and by 6 am we were motoring in glassy seas with a hint of swell. 

We decided to continue on to Santa Barbara and skip San Miguel for now. Once I am back from Seattle next week, we"ll consider going out to the Channel Islands. For now we are happily ensconced in the marina and going to the beach and hanging out. Well Jen and the kids went to the beach today. I played boat mechanic and replaced the auto pilot ram.

Appa came with an Autohelm AP but as I said earlier, it was old.  Hell, it was older than Max.  I bought a new course computer (brain) and a new ram (steering part). The new ram is exactly like the old one. Exact. I decided to keep using the old ram till it died and the swap out for the new one. Which is what I did today. All day long. 

Everything was corroded together so bad that it took heat and brute force to free the ram from the boat. I redid the wiring and upgraded it and also heat shrinked all the connections.  I also used tef gel on everything so that the dissimilar metals would make nice and not weld themselves together. 

At some point during our trip around Conception, the steering system started to squeak. I had never greased the steering and I am sure the previous owner never did either.  Never crossed my mind.  The steering system has what looks like zerk fittings to grease the wheel shaft but has no nipple. I had a large syringe from work used for irrigation and such.  I filled that up with grease and pressed down onto the hole and viola, grease came out around the fittings and squeak was gone.

I then greased the chain and inspected it. I also went below and took off the pulleys that hold the wire aspect of the steering system and greased them up also. Put light oil on the wire and we are all set.  

Tomorrow I'm going to the beach. 

Round Point Conception

We left Morro Bay yesterday at 1700 with plans to make San Miguel island by the morning. Winds forecasted for 25 knots with gusts to 30. 10 foot seas. The forecast for the entire next week looked the same. We decided to go.
I've been in worse weather but I can't remember when.
We had a near knock down that exploded the autopilot.  Water coming over the side into the cockpit and the autopilot in it's death throes, grinding it's gears to bits.
More later. Motoring now as no wind once round Point Conception.  Sun out and dolphins at the bow!
Heading to Santa Barbara to lick our wounds and then tomorrow to the channel islands. 

Made it!

109 miles more or less. We are tied up at the Morro Bay Yacht Club. 

Jen and Max after our first overnight passage.  All the kids did great and we are getting our rhythm together. 

I am continually impressed with the way Max is stepping up and handling things. If he wasn't here, it would be a an entirely different experience. 

The wind climbed into the 20s as we came into the channel and there are now small craft advisories out till Friday night. We are going to stay here and wait for a decent weather window to round Point Conception. 

Hopefully this weekend we will meet up with our friends on Sand Dollar in the Channel Islands. 

The family's first overnight sail

The early morning was painted-white veined with streaky pink, like the inside of a mussel shell.  Estero Bay was ribbed with swell left over from the previous day's gale, and the boat rolled badly in the airless calm as we made the crossing to Morro Bay. Downstairs, all the loose bits of our life were on the move: books spilling from their shelves, a stack of dinner plates slithering back and forth inside a locker, the drumbeat slamming of an unfastened wardrobe door.  It sounded as if a poorly executed robbery were going on down there.

Don't I wish (you also I imagine) that I could write like that. That little bit is from this splendid book I'm reading called Passage to Juneau by Jonathan Raban. My dad gave it to me and it is a great read. 

So here is my droll prose for your reading enjoyment....

This post is covering the morning of the 12th. I am writing it and then saving it as we have no Internet just yet for posting. 

0726 Wednesday morning. Under sail, sliding towards Morro Bay. We motored most of the night but at 0300 the wind filled in and we have had full press of canvas out ever since. The rest of the crew is sacked out and I just put the kettle on for some coffee. The waves are gently rolling us we run downwind hitting 7 and a half knots at times.  The wind is blowing about 13 knots and the sky is overcast but with the sun peeking out occasionally giving me hope of a sunny day. 

After having the motor on for hours, the contrast is nothing short of amazing. Now all I hear is the water sluicing around the boat with an occasional rumble as the boat gets picked up by a swell and we surf down. The creaking and groaning of the lines as the sail gets more pressure is absolute music.  The sound of the wake left by Appa goes from a gentle gurgle to a full on roar as this old French Princess gets her groove on. 

While making coffee, I hear some clicks and tones that might be whales or dolphins but I haven't seen any yet. To quote the movie Space Balls "we ain't seen shit!"  Couple whales waaay off in the distance and 5 dolphins briefly played with the boat on our way to San Francisco has been about it. Tons of otters in Monterey Bay though and seals. Lots of them. 

The autopilot (Ang, another Avatar reference) has done a marvelous job of driving Appa this whole trip. Ang can steer by wind direction or compass heading. I dare say that Ang does a better than most humans. 

Left Monterey Bay yesterday after 2 days there. Saw the aquarium.  It was very cool. A lot like watching an IMAX movie at times. They have this giant tank called the Open Sea. 1.5 million gallons or so.  The glass was 50 foot high and couple hundred feet long. Maybe. Huge anyway. 13 inches thick. Hammerhead sharks, mahi mahi, tuna, turtles, rays, 15,000 sardines, etc.  We sat in front of the glass and just watched the fish go by.  The jellyfish display was crazy. The retro and psychedelic way they had them on display was trippy. 

Hit the beach, rode our scooters, shopped at Trader Joe's, you know, the usual stuff.  

Jen made chicken stir fry on our way down the coast and we feasted. We then watched Surf's Up. Samey now wants to surf. She laughed and laughed at that movie. It is one of our favorite movies. 

We should be getting into Morro Bay in a couple hours. The gps says 1130. We'll check the bar report and make sure that it is safe for us to go in. Morro has a nasty entrance is you don't time it right. So far we look golden. 

This is us. Check out the SOG (speed over ground)!  

Motoring past Pebble Golf course at Monterey. $500 to play there. I hear it is famous. 

1038 in the morning. We are about 15 miles out of Morro now. This is Max resting after his watch. 

Jen just got out of bed with Samey. Ben has been on deck with me since about 0700.  He has been dozing on and off.   The kids woke at 0500 or so and stayed up for an hour or so. 

Here is Samey in her "lair". 

1145am. "Wing on wing" less than an hour out. 

I'll post more photos later. Jen's blog should have some also. The links to the family's blogs should be to your right. 

And we're off!!!

Left the wonderful encinal yacht club this morning at 0700 and went under the Golden Gate at 0905 (or so) at near slack tide. 
Heading to Half Moon Bay today. Not sure tomorrow. 
Bucking current right now and no wind.
Jen and the 2 boys are getting their sea legs and Sam is playing in her bed. It would be nice if she took after me and my mom with our "iron guts". 
Sitting at the helm, rolling in the gentle Pacific swells with the diesel urging us toward new destinations feels good and like we are suppose to be out here.

EYC's gravitional pull

We left this morning at 7am. Flashed up the motor and powered out the estuary. I went down below to get seasick meds for every one and noticed the alternator wasn't charging. I went through the checklist of possible problems and could find none. So we turned around and headed back to the dock.
I then switched out alternators and still nothing. Weird.
I then chased wires, checked connections, etc.
I then remembered that unchanged a couple parameters on the control panel to help better the battery bank. Changed those back to default and viola. We are charging again. Stupid stupid. If it ain't broke, don't freaking touch that crap. Especially on the "French Princess".  We are going to spend the day swimming and doing homeschooling.  Tomorrow we are off.