December 22, 2011

I got the heavy windlass shipped by FedEx to the manufacturer…all 53 pounds of it!   However, I was a little concerned that they had closed for the holidays when no one was available to sign for it on the first two delivery attempts. Thankfully, someone signed for it today on the third and final try.

I spent much of the week clearing the “stuff” out of the aft cabin and moving it into my two storage lockers in the marina.  Late in the week I got invited to join a group going out on “Salt ‘n Light,” a big power boat, for the lighted boat parade.  Colorful, fun; nice folks.  Fireworks show right over the marina right afterwards.

With the aft cabin largely cleaned out, I decided to try to make it usable and started working on the head.  It had been totally gutted, so there’s a lot of work to do.  It’s all inside and away from my current living quarters, so noise, dust and fumes won’t be an issue.  So far I’ve installed the only remaining locker door (restored by me earlier) and installed a new portapotty.  Probably tackle the sink plumbing next.  I also worked on the main head a bit, because the packing gland for the pump handle shaft started leaking again.  I tightened it up, so hopefully that will fix it.  I couldn’t give it a real test because the raw water intake pump for the head lost its prime again.  It seems that without regular use, it loses its prime routinely.  While I know how to re-prime it, it’s not worth it while I’m just sitting at the dock.

I took a break one morning to do some more re-familiarization of the area and to try to find some other remembered resources.  I stopped by the Ventura County Maritime Museum and discovered its collection has grown into a world class exhibit.  It has more ship models and maritime art than any other museum I’ve seen, including the one in San Francisco.  Many of the models and paintings are not hidden behind plastic, so you can get as close as you want and really see it.  It’s truly a hidden gem, lost in a fading wharf area catering to tourists.  The good news is they are moving to a bigger and better venue soon.  Even better: free admission!

On the social side, I reconnected with a couple of old friends here in Ventura, Curt and Lisa, which was great fun.  Curt invited Carol and me to join him and his wife Mary for dinner New Years Eve at the Channel Islands Yacht Club.  Although it will be expensive, it should be fun and a great dinner.  Besides, Carol voted “Yes!”

Speaking of Carol, I went into LA for the weekend to join her and her friends for a big holiday party.  We had hoped to be able to go to the Mt. Wilson observatory and look through the big telescope.  The expedition had to be abandoned at the last minute due to snow, however.  We had a good party anyway.  We also enjoyed sushi at a fun neighborhood Japanese restaurant.  With Carol spending the Christmas holiday in Iowa with family, it will be pretty low key for me.  I did buy Circadian a present, though:  a pair of large, used turning blocks from Minney’s in Newport Beach.  Circadian’s previous owner never installed any, and had the genoa sheets go from snatch blocks on the genoa track directly to the winch.  With the car far enough aft to properly trim the genoa, the sheet doubles back to the winch, resulting in way too much load for the snatch block to handle safely.  The new turning blocks are big suckers, and will handle the load easily.  Installation will be a big job, though, requiring me to make some bevel blocks to mount them at the correct angle.  I’ll probably cast some fiberglass.  Harder than getting custom stainless made, but much cheaper!

And finally, a little note for Salty Monkey:  Sorry to disappoint, but no stained glass on Circadian.  What you saw in last week’s pictures was just the light coming through a towel I had thrown over the portlight so that the camera wouldn’t underexpose the photos of the microwave.  Circadian’s companionway doors do have some fancy textured/wire reinforced glass, though.

May everyone’s holiday be the best!