The Christmas Boat

What a difference a day makes!

We walked down to the boat, but today the wind was blowing about 25 mph, small craft warnings were up, and I wasn't at all sure this was a great idea.

But the wind actually helped blow the lights out around the spreader, and my ingenious box/light winder worked great.

Here the engineer is trying to figure out "now what".

A few last minute adjustments...

And what do you think?

I  think they are pretty spiffy!

It's not really sailing, but it's at the boat!  Today we found ourselves at Big Lots! and there they were.  Outdoor lights for $1.  How can you pass that up?  And I saw another boat with a garland that looked really nice during the day, so there went some more dollars.  All in all, the lights were discounted to 80 cents, so we got less than $7 into this project.  Cheapest boat project yet!  Oh, I forgot the $10 light sensor and the $5 string.  $22.

But then, the big question!  How do you string lights up on a boat?  This is as far as the engineer and the "just do it" one got tonight.  Maybe I'll Google instructions...

The Sail that Never Was

Wednesday we had our first sailing lesson thanks to a Groupon coupon.  Friday we went to the Newport Beach Boat Show.

We wanted to practice all the stuff we learned.  

11:40  It was a gorgeous hot day.  No wind.  I forgot my hat tether.

 

We got the sail cover off, and were preparing to wind up the halyard.  But it was not to be.  The halyard only went about half way and stuck.  Wouldn't go up.  Wouldn't go down.

So!  Time to call the mast climber.  Maybe the top pulley needs some grease?  It probably hasn't been serviced in 30 years. 

OK, no worries.  At least we can practice what we learned about flaking (folding) the sail

1:15  Mainsail flaked and sail cover back on!  (It's a lot of work!)

1:45  OK, Jerry says the cover is on.  Right!

As long as we needed a mast climber, might as well put the wind vane back on top.

And how about an antennae?

Anchor lights?  A spreader light? How about a new rope halyard (instead of wire)?

All in all, it was a very productive day.

James' Sail

Since James is a sailor,  we were excited to take him sailing.  Even with a broken arm, at least he could enjoy the ride. 

We weren't too worried about the big thunderstorm we had the night before. 

We had breakfast at The Peninsula Cafe before we left, and it was drizzling.  Just a little moisture. 

 It was hot and muggy, there weren't many boats out.

Winds were light, maybe 3 mph.  

We got underway about 12:40.

About 1:35 we saw lots of dolphins.  When they got close to the boat, some were sea lions. 

We packed a lunch of tuna sandwiches, chips, and cantaloupe.

2:30 Just about the time we started to eat, we needed to tack.  

With the change in direction we were hitting BIG swells.  

Whee!  Up and down, up and down, up and down, splash.  What fun!

 
4:00 We had to take in the jib. 

It doesn't look all that rough...

We were headed for the Spruce Goose, motoring, winds about 10 mph, high seas and getting splashed.

We were out there with the BIG boats!

Well, then James, who was laying in the drain hole, got soaked.  He wasn't supposed to get his cast wet, so don't tell his mother.  

4:30 We were back sailing in the harbor,

with James steering.

A 38 foot Ericson!

Ah, the torture of having to visit your grandparents in Long Beach, CA


5:45  Docked, and all's well!

Day 2 to Denver

What a difference a day makes!  Today it maxed out about 80 degrees, with lots of wind and a couple of showers and a lightening storm.  Very pleasant.

We were up and on the road by 9:30 a.m., and headed for Cedar City Frontier  Homestead State Park Museum.  It had displays of old  vehicles, farm tools, an iron forge  and some buildings.  It was “game day”, so we got in for half price ($1.50) and could run 3 legged races, play checkers, hoops, grace, sling shots, horseshoes and who knows what else.

The Noble forge  was the most interesting to me.  Brigham Young tried to set up an iron works for the settlers.  First the creek they selected to power the plant froze, then the indians took issue with the settlers and they had to build a fort, then the creek flooded and washed everything out.  They called it quits.

Jerry found rifles, but no tractors.

Next was Beaver.  To help us decide which option to take, Jerry bought a map.  What a concept!  You can see more than a mile at a time!  We ate our lunch at a little picnic area in front of Wendys. 

Since it wasn’t 104 degrees, I agreed to try the Capitol Reef National Park loop and Goblin Valley.

Jerry wanted to take a side trip to Fishlake, and fell in love with the old lodge.  They say 20 pound trout are quite common.

When we got to Capitol Reef, we took the scenic drive, even though it was getting late. 

We ended up skipping Goblin Valley, and made it to Ray’s Tavern about 7:30. 

A quick soak in the hot tub at River Terrace Inn, and here we are!  And the river is high!

On our way - Day 1

Day One of our  Denver Rafting Trip!

Step 1:  Drive to Denver.  OK, tonight's goal:  St. George, Utah


6 a.m. came early this morning, but we were ready to hit the road!  We wanted to beat the traffic.

Obsessive planning called for breakfast at Carrows in Barstow at 8 a.m.  

Well, the Carrows is now Coco's, and eagle-eye Jerry spotted a cafe with a full parking lot.  Always a good sign.  Yummy breakfast.

We were headed for Las Vegas by 9:30 a.m.

11:00 a.m.  91 degrees

Using Trip Advisor really worked it.  It found this "Red Rock Canyon Nature Conservancy" just 15 miles west of Las Vegas. 

We picked up a sandwich and salad at Food 4 Less in Las Vegas, and headed out on Blue Diamond Road. 

Too bad the GPS had never heard of it.  A half hour of driving in the blank got us here.

Here's a picture of Jerry taking pictures.  teehee

The plan was to drive the 13-mile scenic drive, and stop along the way for a picnic lunch.

I was hoping for a little shade, but not to be. 

The cooler in the back seat kept my walnut and cranberry salad cold.  It turned out to be pretty yummy.  A banana topped it off.

Jerry got a Coke bath when he opened his Coke. 

Elevation was about 4,500 feet. 

We looked for bighorn sheep, and burros, but didn't find either.

But some interesting plants.

Lots of places to hike, if you like HOT. 

It took us longer than the estimated 35 minutes, but we drove the loop.

2:30 p.m. we headed back around to the freeway and Mesquite.

Set the GPS for DQ.  Should get there about 4. 

I have a "thing" about Mesquite.  Last year I got heat stroke there.  I was better prepared this year, but it was still 104 degrees.  Options:  inside car with A/C running or inside DQ with A/C. 

We made reservations at Best Western in St. George (the "less expensive" place was full), and filled with gas. 

Somehow it was 6:00 by the time we left there.  Oh, the time changed! 

A beautiful drive through Virgin River Canyon, made the 40 mile drive go by quickly.  

We checked into to our hotel at St. George.  This is what we found.  That's a king bed and a spa tub.

After sitting by the outdoor pool (with waterfall) for awhile, we decided on a quick dinner, and an adventure to try to find the Dixie Overlook Trail.

  


Jerry had heard about a pulled pork sandwich at Burger King, and I had apple and carrots from my stash. 

Jerry asked directions, and this is what we found at 8:47 p.m. local time.  That's Zion National Park in the distance, St. George down below.

It quickly got too dark to take many pictures, but what a fun place to explore!  It's called Pioneer Park.

Fun with silhouettes.


Do you suppose this is the Boy Scout Cave?

Here's what's inside...

And then the lights came on...

D for Dixie

The temperature is finally dropping.

I liked the little loop at the top.

Decided to make reservations at our favorite place in Green River for tomorrow night.  Not available online, but Jerry called direct and got them.

A really fun day!

Point Fermin Surprise!

It started out like any other daysail.  We got to the boat about 11:30, and left the dock about noon.

I had sliced apples and oranges, a few Chelan cherries, carrots and celery stuffed with peanut butter, and granola "just in case".   Oh, and a PB&J for Jerry.

The sky was blue, it was hot, there wasn't much wind.

So we sailed inside the breakwater to Queen Mary and Spruce Goose.  

In 1997 the port opened a 170-acre, $277 million container terminal for Hanjin. It is the largest terminal operated anywhere in the world by Hanjin, and features six gantry cranes, a 3,600-foot wharf, and the port's fifth dock-side rail facility.

 That's where the new Chinese terminal starts. I counted 14 huge cranes, and only 3 were working.  There was only 1 boat in the port.

Foss tugboat.

This is another port facility at Terminal Island.

 In the log I called it the "China wall".  We had a tack around that, and then there was another new outcrop around Terminal Island.  

Lots of trucks.

We wanted to go to Pt. Fermin, rather than up through the LA Harbor, but there were all these signs in the water.  I got out the binoculars and read "Danger".  Seems it's very shallow through there.  So we did a lot of tacking back and forth to make it around the port but inside the breakwater.

The San Pedro edge of the breakwater.

Point Fermin.

A few whitecaps.

Jerry didn't believe the windmeter at just over 9 mph.  He thought it was closer to 20.

The jib gets smaller...

Last time we were out the roller-furling was really hard to pull.  Jerry made some adjustments, and this time it worked great.  The further west we went, the more sail we rolled in, until we were definitely in "hurricane alley" when we were no longer protected by Palos Verdes.

Surprise!

The surprise came when we rounded the corner.  We remember Ports of Call, and a trip we stayed overnight there with Mindy over 15 years ago.  Now the entire basin is filled with mooring!  And cruise ship docks!  Incredible.

Then, as we were leaving, who should we see but Chez Nous!  The boat we went to Catalina in with Kevin and Joanne Kowey probably 30 years ago!  We made a u-ey and I tried to get pictures.

Then we olly-olly opsum freed and headed downwind for home.  Got back about 6:15.  A great sail!

I almost missed this picture.  This was a huge ship, with 2 sea lions basking on the front.

As long as I was pointed at the ship, Jerry wanted pictures of the "bumpers". 

Fuzzy picture of terns.  Maybe Least Terns?

Animals:
sea lions on buoys, 10
seals just playing in the water, 2
brown pelican, 1
terns, too many to count
Western grebe, 1
water-logged cormorant, 1 (his entire body was under water)



We went 25 miles! 
You can see the three big tacks on the dark green track on the way out, and all the little zags to get around the danger signs.  The expanded Port of LA doesn't show, but that's what we were tacking around.  That entire area is filled with moorings.
Then straight home!  Downwind is so much easier!

For some reason the breakwater doesn't show!  Imagine it a quarter inch south of our way back.