Where are you going???

[Seadogg]

I haven't been sailing in quite awhile, either.  However, I DID get the fairing done on the patch for the thru-hull!
So, tonight, I'm gonna sand her smooth and put on the first coat of paint.  Hope to get everything ready to go for next week!!

Fair winds,
Nick

[AdriftAtSea]

Nick-

Any pix of the repairs?

DK

[Seadogg]

Yup.

Planning on uploading them tonight to the boat bits section.

Nick

[Zen]

Zen's "Tanjobe" day

Art, Flags, Fishes and Sails

My Tanjobe day events after some Sushi for lunch we headed down to the marina. Stop in the park for an Art Show:






Then some flag play




Then fish-N-lines





finally the sails



Ah how sweet it is...Tanjobe Omedeto Fuu-san


If you do not understand the Japanese, it's ok , just look at the pretty pictures  ;D

[AdriftAtSea]

Zen-

The fish looks good.  :D  Carp alert...

[Solace]

I finally feel like we may be putting one over on Mother Nature.
Up here its been starting to feel like fall already in the evenings. heck, I'm even wearing long pants the odd day. Anyhow, you all know what follows 2 days of rain - Monday. Had the kids for the weekend, played the Dad role - taxi and a wallet (they're teenaged daughters - what do you expect?). However, I have a new lady in my life and a group of us have concert tickets to go see Blue Rodeo (no, its not a play about gay cowboys - they are sort of like Canada's answer to the Eagles). The concert is Wednesday night - the weather looks great - and the best part is the venue is right next door to the Ontario Place Marina. We are booking two days off sailing there on Wednesday, home on Thursday.

Okay, so its not the weekend <shrugs> its sailing.

Ciao

John

[AdriftAtSea]

BTW, I just put up a post on my blog about the circumnavigation of Cape Ann I did as part of getting certified to bareboat charter. :D  It's got a fair number of photos as well.  I hope you enjoy it.

[Pixie Dust]

I had a cool weekend!  I was too tired to actually drive to PD (that is a first) but after traveling for the last 2 wks, I was whipped.  My youngest son bought a pontoon boat and invited the family to go with him to Dog Island.  That was my old stomping grounds where I first had PD slipped and I so love that area.  One of the prettiest places I have ever seen.  What a beautiful day it was.  Yes, I know, a stinkpot, however, I have a very respectful son and he pays attention to boat courtesy.  My oldest son and I fished out of his kayak and had a blast.  He caught a huge redfish which we are going to enjoy for dinner this evening.  Hamburgers on the boat, spent the night at my parents and just had some great family quality time together.  I find that time together is so all the more treasured now since I am going to be disappearing for 6 mo to a yr in a few months. 
PS- The house just got a contract on it.   :o   WOW!  I have to admit, as exciting as this is, it is also very scary for me.  Good thing Capn is now offering Grog.  Not sure which I need more, it or the Karma.   :D

Adrift- looking forward to finding some time to catch your post on the trip.

[Captain Smollett]

Sounds like a wonderful weekend, Connie.  You will cherish those times while you are "out."

WOW!  I have to admit, as exciting as this is, it is also very scary for me.

Yes, adventures are like that.  The fear tempers the enthusiasm, hopefully just enough that the two balance into a useful result: prudence and vigilence.

Just remember, a reasonable degree of fear is not a bad thing (when you are doing something dangerous), but paralyzing fear is.

[AdriftAtSea]

PD-  At least you don't own a stinkpot.  :)  Congrats on the house offer... just one more step on your journey.

[s/v Faith]

Congrats Connie!

  Sounds like a great weekend on the water.  Hope all goes well with the sale of the house, it is probably a good time to sell it.

 

Yes, I know, a stinkpot, however, I have a very respectful son and he pays attention to boat courtesy.

As I expect it to be.  ;D

 

find that time together is so all the more treasured now since I am going to be disappearing for 6 mo to a yr in a few months.

About 6 months behind you.... in the 'getting rid of stuff' mode here (at least stuff in NC).  Can't wait! 




 

 

[Zen]

Finally Vallejo
Once upon a time, well last year in Oct. Lady Zen, son of Zen and I set off for Vallejo, Ca. A small town about 12 NM from our home port. At the time we were heading against the current so I motored. About 1 hour into the trip the motor quit. So I raised the sail, turned around and went home.

This year after replacing the bad parts of the eletrical system the motor was running good. After several trips with it I had some peace.

SO THIS YEAR... ;)

Son of Zen and I set off on a two day adventure. Whilst Lady Zen had to work. So it was a father /son trip.

I planned on giving him some sailing lessons along the way.

We set off on a ebbing tide under blue skys. It was forecast was to be good weather. We had a fair wind blowing and were headed on a close haul.


Upon checking my GPS, I was somewhat concerned about how much time we were making. Even though I thought we were doing good the GPS said our ETA was 8:30. I did not thinking that was right, as my trip to marin co took 5 hours and it was now only 10:30am. Marin Co is much further than Vallejo. more than twice. My only explainaion was I had just picked the location of the waypoint by a map and guessing. So I figured it was off.

We sailed an hour, and still feeling somewhat uneasy I motored sailed the next hour or so down to the turn off for Vallejo/Mare Island. Wind was still steady , so we sailed into the entrance and the wind died. We did have plenty of time now, as I could see in the distance the bridge that marked the Marina entrance.


Only thing I was concerned about here was that I was in the path of the ferries that come through. So after a bit I fired up the engine and more motored sailing, The wind picked up some afterward but came in gusts. 30 min or so later we turned into the marina. The trip took about 2.5 -3 hrs not really pushing. So we could have made it in about 4 or so if the wind conditions were with us.

After docking with no problems,
I headed up to the office to check in. Son of Zen was left on watch. The office staff was nice. It wa only 20.00 for the night and with my newly renewed USBoating membership I got a discount of 5.00 , nice! 4 trips to some place like that and my membership is paid for. They need to expand their market area.



The marina here in Vallejo has two resturants, one is a place that has napkins in the wine glasses and silverware, the other is a blue jeans kind of place.

We went for the Jeans Venue, the Sardine Can. Both had water views. The Can place had less espensive stuff I could eat. They had breakfast, lunch and dinner. Also turns out they had Jazz on Sundays throughout Oct. Something to keep in mind.



So after getting a little more organized and a short stroll around we had lunch. Whilst heading back I grab a few shots of the sad boat.
It had been sitting in it's slip for some 8 months found out later. The owner who had taken great are of the boat before he got sick, passed away. The Boat developed a major leak and could not be saved even running two pumps. I was told perhaps on the the planks came loose, it was a wooden hull.



Afterward we sent off on the bikes to do a little exploring.

We rode the walkway to on end , turned around and came back to the other. I 'm thinking that it seems like there should be more, so looking at the path I figured out to follow the smaller walkway.

This took us down the far side of the marina and under the hwyway. Which lead to open space and a dirt trail.


Nice. We rode along that for another mile or so,  with views of the marsh and the waterway before coming to the end. Mental note to self come back at sunset.

We head back to the boat. and break out a game of Japanese GO. A first time for both of us. Slowly figureing out things it was somewhat fun.
We will need to get more lessons before it really makes sense but, it was entertaining.


Now it is getting late, sun is going down. I leave the boy to play with his
Sony something and I grab my camera and walk back on the trail. I planned on getting a few marsh sunset shots.


I leave as the sun is setting. Faster than I planned but still enough time.


Now back to s/v Zen, some reading then turning in for the night. It was a good day.

The next day, Friday was overcast in the morning and a little cool. I figured it would clear up later. I knew how long the return trip was so had no worries about when to leave. I did knew that it would be low tide when we got back, but I figured I would have enough draft to make it or I could stop in Benicia and have dinner while the tide did it's turn around. I figured on playing by ear. My only real concern was the "Zen Trouble Warning Sense" was going off. It did not feel like it was about the marina but more about the trip home. I was uneasy...

With this in mind I figured on not taking any unnessary chances. I had thought about not getting gas, but went ahead and did it anyway. Slowly coming up to the fueling station, making sure I turned the fan on after fill, which was only two 2.7 gal. That was nice. I had been out several times and the motor sail here only used a bit. I did add about 1 gal before leaving Martinez.


We slowly motor out of the marina, and raise the sails right away.
I reefed the jib, which turned out to be a good choice.
The wind had picked up quite abit, and we had strong gusts.
So heading out under sails only we made good time on a close reach all the way out of the channel. A ferry passed us, I keep a good watch on him the whole time of his approach and passing.


Once out of the channel we bore off to a broad reach and were off to Martinez again. We had a fairly strong wind, which was good as we were going against the tide. Even so we made good time. I could have run with the wind, but not having my boom brake installed yet, I did not want to chance it. Although at one point a did do the wing and wing for a short time, before the wind caught the main and shot it across the cockpit. I was expecting it so it was not a big deal, since I was ready... remember the "Zensense"...

Misfourtune and a Le$$en
After traveling a bit more we are fairly close to home. I can go to Benica or keep on heading home as we are making good time and still a couple of hours before low tide, which was at 2.5 ft for the day, so that gave me some 7 ft of space to float.
We are on a starboard beam reach heading toward the shore line. I see a stinkpot coming.
Now, I know not ALL powerboaters are "bendejos" ( if you speak Spanish you know what that means , if you do not, take a guess) I was onced helped unground by a powerboater and asked if I needed help by another, so I know there are some who are nice folks. But there is something about those big powerboaters once they are under way they think the water belongs to them.

So I am under sail, I watch this guy, there is NOONE on my port or anywhere around us. If it was me I and saw a sail boat heading across my bow I would head off and pass him to his stren and come around on the port side, easy move. NO this butthead, times it so he come cross my bow by several yrds and leaves this big monster wake!!. We make like a toy boat and go up and down! whilst I send him major bad vibs ! The second side of the wake hits, just as a major gust does. we are flying around, I hear a noise up front and caught sight of something fall. Funny how many thoughts you can have in a second. I first thought something had broke on the roller jib, no, it was the anchor breaking free of it's mount and falling into the water. I think , Oh poop!!
So I am expecting to come to a fast stop any moment as I did not know how deep the water was there, and we were near to the shore. I think, ok, quick, drop the sails, I turn into the wind, just as another strong gust hits. I am fighting to control things and expecting the anchor pull any moment. Then another quick thought, ok, Maybe I do not have enough chain to reach the bottom but it could still catch on somthing underwater. I need to stop ASAP. Finally get control and stop, drop the sails, and look forward. No chain , nothing, everything was gone. It was not fastend to anyting so when the anchor dropped it took everthing with it to the bottom. GRRrrrrr
Shucks! Darn Rude Powerboater GRRRRRRRRRRRR
The lesson here was, keep the anchor attached with some type of safety line.

Now at this point there is a steady strong wind and the current is strong against us. I'm pissed at the Rude Ass Boater and his wake and the lost of my anchor. So rather than deal with maybe going aground in the marina from & fighting the tide under sail .  Benica is closer but the place I wanted to go was close until dinner time. I figure i'll just head in to home port, since we have time. I open the jib full and fire up the motor. We peacfully head into home base, with plenty of time and water to space.

All in all a good trip, even with the anchor loss. It could have been worse. I think, well once again the "ZenSense" was right. But the Force was with us, we made it safely back which is the most important thing. The Vallejo passage was made  8)

Pictures to this will be on my website at some near point in time. Some are up now on zensekai blog

[AdriftAtSea]

If you know what the rude boat was, you may have a claim against him, as he is responsible for any damage caused by the wake generated by his boat.   I don't know if it is worth going after the rude bastid, but it might be worth looking into.  Also, it might be worth reporting him to the local marine authorities...whether it is the USCG or someone else, I don't know.  But a boater who handles his boat like that is a serious danger and risk to everyone in the area.

[s/v Faith]

Thanks for typing that up Zen,

  I don't know if it is because it is my old 'stomping grounds' or what, but I really enjoy hearing about your adventures in the Bay Area.

  If it is any consolation, if you were to head up the ICW from here such an encounter as you described could take place have a dozen times on the average Saturday.  It IS frustrating and scary.... I have come to believe that there should be a license required to operate a boat..... a conclusion I did not reach lightly (very much more towards the personal liberty side of the spectrum).  It would not prevent such an incident, but might make people a little more aware of their responsibilities.....  Currently it is very difficult to get any authorities to act on such an occurrence (at least on this coast) I would be amazed  if anything were taken seriously nearly a year after the fact.

  The principal of reciprocity prevails... (what goes around will come back around).  Glad no one was hurt.

  Thanks again, and I look forward to more.

_{(Enjoy the grog...  ;D )}

[AdriftAtSea]

I missed the part about last October... IMHO, having surface-to-surface missiles aboard would reduce the likelihood of this happening. :D 

[Zen]

:-\

You guys had me wondering, Huh ??? ??? until I re-read the story. I guess it was the wording that threw you off. Last year the trip was started and cancelled. This year, a different trip, last week is when this did happen  ;D  ;D

Hmmm, too much grog flowing around here  ;D ;D

[Zen]

I missed the part about last October... IMHO, having surface-to-surface missiles aboard would reduce the likelihood of this happening. :D 

I'm checking into a retro fit of said items  :D

[AdriftAtSea]

I've got a good supplier of reliable, laser-guided, surface-to-surface missles, as well as some very good torpedos and proximity mines.  :D

Nothing better as a defense, than a really good offense.

[Zen]

That is very true. Weighing the personal freedom thing and all. However the thought comes which is the greater value, public safety or personal freedom. We are able to own guns, but cannot carry them down the street without a permit. We can drive a car, but not without a license.
Out here BUI and DUI carry the same penalties in CA. There is the safety factor to consider. That same should be given to operating a boat. Even if it is just a basic safety class requirement.
I have been proof reading a book a guy in Japan is putting together for his sailing school there for English speakers. It is required to have a License to operate anything larger than dingy with a motor in Japan waters if it is registered in Japan. That test includes both a written and a on water test.

and yes, what goes around will come around...

Thanks for typing that up Zen,

  I don't know if it is because it is my old 'stomping grounds' or what, but I really enjoy hearing about your adventures in the Bay Area.

  If it is any consolation, if you were to head up the ICW from here such an encounter as you described could take place have a dozen times on the average Saturday.  It IS frustrating and scary.... I have come to believe that there should be a license required to operate a boat..... a conclusion I did not reach lightly (very much more towards the personal liberty side of the spectrum).  It would not prevent such an incident, but might make people a little more aware of their responsibilities.....  Currently it is very difficult to get any authorities to act on such an occurrence (at least on this coast) I would be amazed  if anything were taken seriously nearly a year after the fact.

  The principal of reciprocity prevails... (what goes around will come back around).  Glad no one was hurt.

  Thanks again, and I look forward to more.

_{(Enjoy the grog...  ;D )}

[Captain Smollett]

I have to admit that I am not in favor of boat licensing for a host of reasons.  These include waht was already mentioned: in my opinion, it will make little difference.

Almost every car wreck is caused by the stupid action of a licensed operator, especially those involving fatalities.  The motor vehicle death toll for the US FAR FAR exceeds the murder rate, so one cannot argue that licensing has made the streets safe.   Are they safer than they would be without a license?  Who knows.  We have not done that experiment.  Perhaps marginally.

Also, many folks do operate a car without a valid license.  Enforcement a license requirement would be even harder on a boat, I think.

If you institute licensing of boat operators, you must create a whole new buracracy to support the new licensing.

Was there a "cop" around when that jerk cut across your bow?  How would that change if he had a little card in his wallet? He already violated numerous Federal Regulations in the ColRegs (regarding the Rules of the Road and Safe Operation, as well as the wake damage provisions that Adrift mentioned), so I doubt adding yet another law/regulation would have made much difference.

The best you can hope for with licensing is a tool to aid pumishment (AFTER a 'crime' has been committed), but I fear the worse is simply that such an approach would only mean more cost and revenue for the various governing bodies.  Growth in government rarely makes our lives better, whether on land or on the water.

In the end, jerks will be jerks.  If you have a license, he will answer the questions to pass the test, then go out in his more-horsepower-than-brains floating lethal weapon and continue to put his life, and the lives of others, in danger.

Sorry, but that's my take on the matter.

In SC, the DNR hands out Boater's Safety materials when you register a boat.  Perhaps a simple test showing you know the Rules of the Road and can read a NO WAKE buoy (that's a big problem on our lake here), etc, should be required to register the boat.  The beauracracy already exists for registration, and you could then assume that anyone with a valid tag on the hull has passed the test.

Maybe that's the same thing as licensing, but calling it something different.  At least with this scheme, there is no NEW enforcement obligation imposed.  Just brainstorming....