February 18, 2016

A busy and varied week!  Weather went from sunny and 85 to cool, windy and rainy in 24 hours!  Some big changes in my work priorities too!  I decided to do the Baja Ha Ha this year, and happily was able to conscript a couple of friends to crew.  So, with the restoration work mostly done, I started focusing on prepping the boat for voyaging.  Safety first, of course, so I pulled out my Jordan series drogue to determine how it needed augmenting for Circadian, a larger boat.  Also bought a used SSB radio for weatherfax, forecasts and cruising nets among other things.  Installation will be a major project; I just hope it all works when I'm done!  The purchase (with credit card points) of a new computer allowed me to download a new opensource charting program and made producing blog posts a lot less frustrating.  In the middle of all this, I had to prepare for and undergo an annual Coast Guard inspection to get my liveaboard permit.  But it's all good and I'm very excited about doing the Ha Ha!

February 11, 2016

The weather finally calmed down after some strong, gusty Santa Ana winds.  Beautiful and warm now.  The overhead in the v-berth is nearly done, with only a couple of more coats of varnish needed on the trim strips.  I've now moved on to the next stage, modifying and finishing the lee board for the starboard side berth.  The original lee board was removed by the previous owners and now needs to be shortened to fit my modification of the berth configuration.  It's all going fine so far.
The big swell and surf have subsided, allowing the dredge to get into the harbor, so it should reopen soon.  Not many flowers yet, but there are great sunsets!

 

February 4, 2016

I made good progress on the new underdeck headliner this week.  The wild weather continued, with big surf, shoaling of the harbor entrance and gale force winds with gusts over 56 miles per hour!  Got a few nice sunsets after the storm, though.  They are staging equipment for the dredge now, so soon we will no longer be trapped in the harbor.

Looking at the harbor entrance from inside.

January 28, 2016

Continued work on the new overhead for the underdeck in the v-berth.  The new headliner, perforated vinyl laminated to 1/4 foam rubber, has been installed, trim pieces fitted and varnished with three coats of RapidCoat so far.
I tried surfing for the second time, this time with the used board I bought a couple of months ago.  It was a lot tougher this time for a couple of reasons.  First, the waves were quite a bit bigger, which made paddling out an ordeal and trying to catch a wave a lot scarier, especially since I'm just starting to learn how to do it.  Getting through the rocks that are now the beach surface was not easy going in or out.  Secondly, the board I used the first time was 9 feet; mine is 7 1/2 feet, which makes it a lot less stable.  Finally, a "sneaker set" of bigger waves that caused problems even for experienced surfers wiped me out and washed me ashore.  I barely had enough energy left to scramble out over the rocks as the surf tried to knock me off my feet while carrying the board.  Fun!!!  I'm recovering nicely now and waiting for the next storm front to come in this weekend.  Spent last weekend in LA with Carol, and we visited the new Museum of Neon Art in Glendale.  Ate well too!