SOLO 1- My First Longer Distance Solo Sail

2/4/2014-  I had been planning on and looking forward to a single handed (solo) trip up to the Channel Islands.   A few weeks had passed and I was just looking for a weather window that would give me three or four days of good weather.   Finally, as I neared my birthday (Feb 7) I thought that I saw a Tuesday-Friday period of nice weather.   Now, I have to put things into perspective.   My daughter in Colorado Springs had showed me her iPhone where the temperature was -7 degrees and they were in a blizzard.   For us here in Southern California when it gets down in the 40's that is winter.

I have said before that everything I have
done to Spirit of Adventure has been to allow me to single hand my boat over longer distances.   The time had come to test both myself and the boat's readiness to do this.

Note- On the day before my departure, as Mary (my wife) and I sat and talked, I asked her if she worried about me leaving on this trip.   She said, "No, not worry, more just a concern.  I would like you to take someone else with you."   I told her that my chances of dying riding my motorcycle on the freeway was probably 100 times more than doing a solo sailing trip.   She agreed.

I want to say here that my 3-4 day trip actually lasted only about 50 hours.   All was well through the first night and I was anxious to get on with day two.   During the end of day one, I checked weather for San Nicholas Island where I would head after rounding Santa Barbara Island.   There were small craft warnings with gusts to 35 knots.   I thought, "Oh, that will be fun and I may have to take in another reef in my mainsail.  I can still do it."   Then just a few minutes later I discovered that one of the reef points on my mainsail had torn the mainsail straight down towards the boom (the thing the mainsail is attached to at the bottom) and had left about a foot long tear.   I thought, "Interesting!  That should not have happened but I can still just leave it reefed and continue to sail on my trip."   Then, I heard a NOTICE TO MARINERS on my radio where the west side of San Clemente Island was closed due to flare testing by the military.  OK!  I could still round the two islands and then round Catalina and head for home.  (All of these things were starting to bug me!)  The last straw (What next?) was my radar began giving me an "Error 7 & 8" message and would no longer work.  I tried re-booting it and the message just repeated again.

Although disappointed, I realized several things.   All of these things combined were telling me to use some common sense and live to fight another day.   I had already had a great adventure on this trip.   I had seen how I could get sleep as my boat sailed itself overnight.   The Monitor Wind Vane steering had worked flawlessly.  Until then, the radar had done it's job and had given me the warning that I needed to be safe.

During the trip back to Long Beach, I did not have the safety of the radar so I would sleep for 30 minutes, wake up, look around and then do that again.   I had my radar reflector up and I had seen when one ship had actually changed it's course to go behind me instead of in front of me.  I knew they could see me and figured that I had a 50/50 chance that they really didn't wish to run over me.   The wind died just before morning and I took over the tiller at around 5 AM.   I had only really had three hours of sleep so I was tired but knew that I could not just drift around in the shipping lanes.

I entered Queen's gate just as the sky brightened and daylight began.   I had sailed somewhere over a hundred miles and had not used one gallon of diesel fuel.   My good friend Fred had kept in touch with me on this trip and had even left his cell phone on all night in case I needed to talk.   Within about ten minutes of me pulling into my slip, he was there greeting me.   Thank you Fred for being a great sailing buddy and a better friend.   I called Mary and let her know I was safe in my slip and then I went to bed (on the boat) and slept for five hours.

I loved this trip!   Please check out the 14 minute video of my trip by clicking the link here-  http://youtu.be/t6e9raRwv14

February 1st Sail with great friends

2/1/2014

Sailing with Chris & Doug

We had invited Chris and Doug sailing on Saturday and little did we know how excited they were over the opportunity.   I had stayed on the boat Friday night and was ready for Mary, Chris & Doug when they arrived around 11:30 AM.   Mary had called me from an overcast Orange, where our home, is and I gladly reported that it was clear and very sunny.   After arrival we sat in the cockpit and enjoyed Subway lunches.

After lunch and with a tour of the boat and life jacket assignments, we headed out into the beautiful, sunny Pacific Ocean.   Chris actually took the tiller as we left the marina and after that Doug took over.   Doug had sailed Sabots when he was younger and still remembered how to use the tiller.   For those who may not know, with a tiller, if you wish to go to starboard, you push the tiller to port.   The opposite is also true if you wish to go to port.

Soon we were cruising along at over 5 knots in about 8-10 knots of wind.    We headed out and sailed generally west toward Catalina for about an hour.   From there we tacked and headed north towards the San Pedro breakwater entrance.   It took us about an hour to go that distance.   The girls had put on sweaters and gloves by then and I finally put on my hooded sweatshirt.   Doug never did put on a sweater or jacket.

We returned to the marina and sat and enjoyed some refreshments in the cockpit.   A perfect ending to a perfect day of sailing.

Please take four minutes & 15 seconds to look at the video and still pictures of this sail by clicking here http://youtu.be/SjYqS_82C0A

Sailing with the Coffee Club

1/17/2014  Happy New Year

Don't tell everyone, but Southern California is having a heat spell where the temperatures at the beach is in the 80's.   Now my wife attends a coffee club each month and about a dozen retired teachers all get together and talk, drink coffee, talk some more and yes, talk some more.   My wife, Mary had invited a couple of the women for a day sail last Friday.   What a fun experience it was.

Left to right- Mary, Vivian & Vicky

Laughter & enthusiasm shared equally today.

Please watch the five minute Youtube video by clicking here-
http://youtu.be/jTsLvDNP5Ts

We will go out again!

Year End Sail 2013

12/30/2013  HAPPY NEW YEAR and thank you for reading my journal.

In a way, I hesitate on posting this because those who see the beauty of our weather and ocean may all want to move here.   When we lived in Colorado as our grandchildren were growing up we saw the amazing beauty of the Rocky Mountains and the changing Fall colors there, but alas, this is about sailing in Long Beach California.  

I have mentioned my friend Fred and he and I had planned on going sailing on this beautiful Monday.   Fred brought his wife along to enjoy the day with him and that probably prompted me to ask my neighbor Marc if he wished to go out sailing with me. Marc has a boat in the slip right next to mine and is the proud owner of Reasonable Rigging.  http://reasonablerigging.com

Marc had his iPad handy and got some great pictures that I will gladly post here.

 Raising the main is something that I do each time I go out sailing, but usually I do this by myself.   Most of the time I single hand Spirit of Adventure.   The way it usually works is just outside of the breakwater with the engine running, I set the boat on a course heading directly into the wind.  With my tiller pilot connected to the tiller, I simply push one button and the boat stays on that same heading.

With the mainsail set, I head back to the cockpit.

 Once the boat is holding it's course to windward, I move forward and raise the main sail.   Note that I am wearing an auto inflating life jacket (suspenders) and that I am not harnessed to the boat.   One hand for the boat, one hand for keeping me on the boat is my usual rule.   The water is extremely calm and if I had to do this with stronger wind or waves, I would harness myself to the boat also.

 LOOK OUT!  This is a sight that you really don't want to encounter when the tanker or cargo ship is moving.   I shared with Marc that I believe it only takes about 17 minutes for one of these moving at full speed to get from the horizon to your boat.    This one (thankfully) was anchored so we could get pretty close to it with no fear.

A very scary sight when these are moving in the ocean.

 

As we enjoyed this sail, I communicated with Fred and his wife on Later Gator and we laughed at just how beautiful this end of the year sail was.   Even Sharon (Fred's wife) commented on how perfect it was for her.

Marc, owner of Reasonable Rigging.

As we returned to our slip, we were treated with a beautiful, beautiful sunset.   The perfect ending to a great day of sailing.

Sailing With Andy

12/14/2013

The weather report proclaimed that we would have winds 15-20 knots w/gusts to 40.   I sent Andy a quick text and we both agreed that it could be a real fun time for sailing.  We met at the boat around 11 AM and the wind was almost non-existent in the marina.    Andy is a new friend and the husband of Dawn who I play racquetball with on a regular basis.   This was a first for me on Spirit of Adventure because Andy is a very experienced sailor who has owned his own boat.  I knew that I would learn from him and I did.

As we left the marina we saw a few boats barely sailing and so we motored out a ways before raising the main and unfurling the jib.   Soon Andy had us moving as we headed South and out from behind the Long Beach breakwater.   It ended up being one of those perfect days for sailing with no wind over 10-12 knots.   I could tell that Andy loved sailing as much as I do.   All in all, it was a great day.

For a short video of this sail go to-  http://youtu.be/P0uH-xryajo

Alyssa and a Thanksgiving Sail

Thankgiving 2013

This Thanksgiving was a special one for us.  First we had our great niece Alyssa come over from Tempe Arizona where she is a junior at ASU (Go Sun Devils).   It was also her 21st birthday on Thanksgiving day.   We picked her up at the bus stop in Westminster late in the afternoon and drove directly to the Thanksgiving celebration at our friends home.   What a special day that was with another neat family and getting to celebrate Alyssa's birthday with 21 candles in a pumpkin pie.

Alyssa's visit included lots of time to visit, walks along Newport Beach, dinner out at her favorite place, a movie and of course (if I am posting this here) a sail on the Spirit of Adventure with Mary and myself.   Alyssa is always up for some adventure so I was pretty sure that she would enjoy the sailing.  She did!

As Alyssa said good-bye on Sunday morning, Mary and I both reflected on just how perfect this Thanksgiving was.

For a link on Alyssa's visit including our sail go to-

http://youtu.be/sl4tXobtzRI

Late November Sail

11/23/2013

After a week of off and on rain I was itching to get out and do some sailing.   I came down to the boat and had one small mend to do on my sail.   There is a pocket for holding a line that can tighten up the luff of the jib.  That line used to hang out and when I would tack, the line would sometimes get caught and eventually it ripped part of that pocket loose.   I had purchased a palm, needles, thread and beeswax to do the mending by hand.   This is a great skill that I did want to practice.   It was incredibly difficult to get the needle through the pocket and the sail even though I had a palm.  Finally I tried using the beeswax on the needle and "presto" it slid right through the the sail material.   OK, now I know.   I was just finishing the mending when Fred (Later Gator) came down and quickly readied his boat for a day sail.   I told him I would come out and "play" as soon as I could get my boat ready.   What a beautiful day!

Sail mender's palm to help push the needle through the sail.

Once I got out of the marina and got sailing, I tried to call Later Gator several times.   I heard Fred once, but then got no subsequent reply.   I looked for him for a short while and then just decided that I would enjoy the sailing by myself.  Later we found that Fred's radio wasn't working.    Fred and I always laugh because we always exclaim, "This is the best sailing we have experienced."  We say this each time we go out.   Well, today was the best, once again.

To view a video of this day's sailing go to...  http://youtu.be/22BRybEcxdI

Fair winds to you...