The new normal

Dock Day 3 San Diego, CA 10/05/2016

I sure am sleeping quite a bit! Today was filled with various chores, all those mundane things like dishes, showering, etc. It takes the morning to complete just basics. Finally time to get the dodger repaired, scrubbed and back on its frame. My sewing machine did a great job. I had to do a great deal of hand cranking to get the needle through some of the layers. This is the toughest mending job I have ever done! My stitching looks like a drunk woman sewed it. The bulk and weight in combination with the shape and fairly rigid plastic windows makes the stitching hard to keep in a straight line. I also applied fray check to all the tiny tears and small holes to keep the material from tearing more or fraying. I was so hopeful to finish the work, but I had to stop, leaving the last patch on the top for reinforcement for another day!

Tim spent the day working on the stainless steel, cleaning all the rust off and he scrubbed the whole boat down, which is a big job!

Sea Day 13 San Diego Bay, CA  10/06/2016
Today, I finished the mending of the dodger and then scrubbed it with canvas cleaner. There was a lot of mossy green on the fabric. I had to leave for shopping when I was done, hoping that it would be dry when I returned. We had a sailing date with my parents and we needed the dodger back on.

After stowing the groceries it was time for the moment of truth: will the dodger go back on? It all went well until the last step of attaching the hand holds on the top! Tim had to really work it to get it back together. It is all back on! It looks much brighter and the green mossy hues are gone! I was excited to see that it was all clean. The dodger really looks much better and should hold up for quite a bit longer.

Tim and I took my parents sailing on San Diego Bay from 1430 to 1830. We had a great time. Tim was a bit anxious to try out our new spinnaker and so we gave it a try. I’ve had no experience with a spinnaker other than running a sheet on a catamaran for about 30 minutes. I don’t understand how all the parts come together to work it well. All I knew is that I needed to keep the wind behind us. Tim had me on the helm for the popping of the chute. I did a great job of keeping it full. Tim decided we needed to jibe as we were running out of sea room. The city was coming closer. That jibe did not go so well. He said go slow, but what is slow? I guess I wasn’t slow enough on the helm and things got tangled and my adrenaline shot to the moon! Tim needed the guy loosened and I couldn’t reach it on the winch from the helm and Tim had 4 wraps on the winch which kept the line from easing when my dad removed it from the tailer. It was crazy pandemonium for me back in the cockpit and sheer frustration for Tim on the foredeck. We gave up on the notion of flying the spinnaker any longer and more pandemonium ensued as I did my best to follow Tim’s commands on the helm and for the lines. We doused it and he apologized for trying. I was flat out sick to my stomach after all of this.

With just the main up, I can sail our boat quite well. When the jib is added I seem to chase the bubble to stay on course. Tim loves to see me sailing and that is the biggest thing that I need to master for our long passages so I can sail the boat alone during my watch shift. I was fatigued from the adrenaline rush and finally asked Tim to take over.

My parents had a great time with us. The time just flies when we get out on the water. We cleaned up the boat and went out to dinner with my mom and dad at our favorite gyro place; the Harbor Greek Cafe. After an afternoon of hard work it tasted fantastic! 

My parents have an RV with a truck in tow (It’s really a land-yacht with a dinghy) so we took them back to the RV park they were staying at and drove their truck back to Marina Cortez. I will be leaving with them in the morning to hop a ride back to Redding so I can get my car and return to San Diego.

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Dock Day 4 San Diego, CA 10/07/2016

I am feeling strange emotions today, ones that I cannot articulate. Trying to figure out what I need for going with my parents and taking care of business in Redding has my head swimming. The decision to go was so quick and I’ve only had a few hours to prepare. I forgot the 2 bags that were supposed to be going back to the house; So frustrating! As far as my feelings go, we've been in 12 different ports in less than a month, we have no new normal. Or is it that my new normal is NO normal? I think that the cruisers are right, its easier to be underway because you get into a groove of your watch times and sleeping schedule.

I suppose the bottom line for me is that I really don’t want to be back in Redding and I really don’t want to make the long drive down to San Diego. I know I will appreciate having my car there.

It is strange being away from Tim because we have been together every day since the beginning of June! That’s 4 months of constant togetherness. Fortunately, I have an amazing picture of him looking right at me in my phone camera to look at when I’m missing him. It puts my heart aflutter! I sure love that man!

Tim worked on the windlass today and managed to get it working! When I get back we will take the boat to an anchorage and put it to the test!

How about a health update? I’m feeling pretty rested and I know that I am getting stronger and my muscles have increased in their endurance to do tasks like grinding a winch for several minutes at a time. I’m still sleeping a lot of hours every night, but I think that it’s the darkness on the boat that allow me to sleep for so long. When we arrived in San Diego on Sunday, nearly a week ago, I had some meat that had chilli peppers as a very small ingredient, the last one on the list. As I ate the meat I wondered if it did, there was a familiar burning on my tongue. I am allergic to peppers, anything with capsaicin. I’ve been asked what happens if I have them, well now I know! I’ve had a bright red rash all over my face since Tuesday. The same rashes that I had as a child. It has been very itchy and I’ve been using Benadryl topical and pills to stop the itch. The itching is pretty much gone, but my skin is now all dry and peeling. It feels like I’m a pimple-faced teenager. I would really like my issues with my complexion to be all sorted out. Big sigh!