Getting ready...

Days 5-8

8/29- 9/01/2016 Redding, CA to Alameda, CA

With my Toyota Camry loaded to the gills, and just enough room to see out the back window for safety, we left for Alameda to hopefully find our boat all safe and sound, thinking about that seacock that was left open again. We purchased a little cargo cart to help us haul our stuff down to the boat as the marina didn't provide any. We arrived to find our boat was fine and proceeded to make 6 trips from the car to the boat. About 3 miles for walking! I was beat! 

In preparation for unpacking at the boat I had already rolled our clothing and placed it all in the bins that were destined to be our dressers by sitting on our v-berth shelves. I neatly stacked them and packed them in our bags. I unloaded them onto the shelves and voila! Done! Then it was time to sleep!

In the morning, 8/30, I set to work cleaning out each compartment and laying in non-slip so our items could stay put. Tim was extremely frustrated throughout the day because of the incredible mess that was created by organizing all our stuffs from 2 carloads. I worked on this all day and it seemed that I just hadn’t done anything! We will sail tomorrow! I just needed Tim to provide his expectation for time so that I could settle all the dishes in the galley and stow the foodstuffs. If it came down to it I would stuff all the extra stuff into a giant duffle so we could go sailing.

In the morning, 8/31, I again set to work, this time things seemed to move very quickly forward. I did stow items on dirty shelving just to get it away so we could take a sail. Tim and I worked together to take all the extra bags, boxes and stuff we decided not to keep on the boat back up to the car. Then we ate a quick lunch and headed out.

Our first stop was the pump out station at the marina. The pump didn’t seem to be working and we called the maintenance man. The very large hose was plugged! How in the world could the hose that size be plugged by something from someone’s holding tank? I don't want to know. The plug finally cleared and we pumped out, then added cleaner and re-filled with water and sucked out all the water until it looked clear and the tank was empty. What a relief! We had no idea how much was in the tank and overflowing the head is not something you want to have happen, ever. Peace of mind has been granted. 

Then we motored out for our first sail just the two of us. We discussed beforehand how we would raise the sails and we did it just the way we planned. The wind was building in the bay, as predicted. We sailed in very large circles. Tim says the boat handles ever so nice. I can tell it is not bobbing like a bobber like other boats we sailed over the summer. I’m taken by how shallow this bay is! As one who has sailed in the Puget Sound area, this is novel. The boat was sailing well in 17-18 knots of wind. The wind increased to we put in a reef, which was fairly quick as Tim figured out the new system. We enjoyed sailing 8.3 knots in 20 knots of wind. Tim is a very happy man now! We also worked with the Monitor wind vane and experimented with sail balance. This is going to be a great tool for us in the near future. The time went really fast! I decided not to work the helm today. I focused on all the lines, winches and sail trim. I listened for the sounds the boat makes at different speeds. The boat feels solid and hearty! My arms are tired and shaky and my core feels tight. I’ve left today with a great deal of learning. 

We returned to our slip without any issues, this is getting easier as I am able to nearly do the splits to step off the boat onto the dock. It was time to check my stowing work to see if things stayed put or we had problems. We sailed at 30 degree heel for short periods of time. All was sound! We did find one of the sliding storage doors has slid open in the galley, one that runs across the beam rather than that bow to stern. We will have to fix that so It can stay put. I also discovered a leak in our v-berth! Quite a few waves strolled over our bow and down the sides as it drained off back into the bay. 'Water always wins' and found its way down a small crack around a stanchion. I checked this area because when I cleaned the v-berth it looked like water had flowed there before. Our bed cushion was pretty wet on the Starboard side, (Tim’s sleeping side). It was pretty dry by bedtime.

I spent the rest of the evening packing to leave on vacation in the morning and completing the final cleaning of compartments and re-stowing the items. It was a great day!

In the morning, 9/01, we packed up for our road trip to Washington after an overnight stop at the 'land house'. We tidied up the boat, picked up the list of things left to get to complete our organization and functionality of our boat home, then headed back to Redding.

Lynette