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So, here’s the problem with this port… there is way too much to do and see while still having things that absolutely have to be done on the boat while we are here!!! San Francisco is one of the premier places to visit for the sights and experience of being in S.F. but the time here is limited. We picked up the repaired (previously torn) main sail today and there are still projects calling out for completion BUT there are also about a bazillion places to catch as touristy places that, I for one, would like to see. Yikes!!! Too many places and not enough time!! We will see how this unfolds but for now I am trying to focus on the safety aspects while waiting to see if any particular day has space in it for all these great places to visit. I have been here many times in the past and still have not seen a quarter of what the average tourist sees because there was always an agenda that didn’t allow for a “time-out” to make the stops necessary. Today we did manage to go to a great marine chandlery, then to the other end of the bay to North Sails and then into Sausalito to mill about so it has been a good day with a mix of things. We did also get caught in the rush hour and spent a lot of time just bludgeoning ourselves with an urban problem we don’t wish to participate in any more. Oh well, no good deed goes unpunished. It also meant that the problem I wanted to finish today never even made it to the organization stage.
“Tomorrow,” I say to myself resolutely, “I will finish the radio.”
In any case, I am enjoying the sunshine and now feeling a part of this marina with all the people we have met this far. Ah yes, this brings up the issue of tools. While I had a great shop at home it did not translate into having everything I need at hand when I need to create something here. Much of what I had is now residing in a basement in Portland or a garage in Las Vegas, you see. I don’t really want to buy a tool for every need because it would likely sink the boat to add all that weight. In meeting all these new people there have been tools offered when I bring up what I am working on. We do have lots of tools to offer too, when it comes to it, so among the informal fleet it seems there is always something available to fix whatever needs fixing. We have lots of creative ways offered to fix things too… that is, everyone always has at least one opinion on how a job should be done best. Lots of logic but usually only a few ways are really useful when all the facts are known. It’s amazing what the solutions offered are sometimes too. I like this aspect of chatting with fellow cruisers; there is always a surprise or two hidden in the conversation.
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As it turned out the skipper declared a tourist day and forbade any work to be done. We pointed the rental car toward the city and shortly found ourselves on the Embarcadero cruising all the touristy stuff. What a fun day!! It did involve lots of walking and my knee problem slowed me down a little but I managed not to injure it further and walked everywhere we wanted to go. We came across the maritime museum and admission was free due to being a national celebration for newly naturalized citizens. So we clambered all over the large sailing square rigged cargo hauler Balclutha and watched a film about its voyages around Cape Horn. The boat was a relic in many ways and spoke to lots of issues of how things were still done a hundred years ago. Those were some tough S.O.B.’s doing that work at the time.
We managed to miss a turn off when we got back in the car to point toward the next attraction… the wave organ near the St. Francis Yacht Club and ended up in Sausalito where we ultimately met my cousin Steven and wife Judy. We had a great dinner with lots of stories and a waiter who became part of the party for awhile. It turns out, too, that Steven has a new record label taking up his band (Jackie Payne Steve Edmonson Band) and he put two new CD’s in my hands. The first is “Master of the Game” and the second is “Overnight Sensation” which I had a good chuckle with Steven about. It would seem obvious that there has been nothing overnight about their climb but that was what a fan said during his obtaining and autograph! The link for their stuff is www.payne-edmonson.com so everyone can check it out. The titles are all I have seen so far so we will have to get them on the CD player later today… I am expecting great things after the last CD. We had dinner at a place with live music too and while we waited to be served we had a view of the Maltese Falcon anchored in Richardson Bay. What a stout yet gorgeous looking boat. A link for this is www.symaltesefalcon.com.
This was all a good call by Steven and Judy because it also got us into Sausalito, for one, and secondly because it was easier to haul ourselves back to the marina from there than it would have been from San Francisco. Since we had gotten up bit earlier than usual and stayed out later than the norm we collapsed into bed at the end of the day with at least a faint smile when we got back to Faith.
Finally!!! The solar panels that we physically put on the boat in Portland are now attached to the battery system. It took awhile because there were so many other things to take care of first. Now we have charging capabilities and I am a truly happy camper with the work done!! It took a few hours hunched over in the engine compartment (on this boat it’s closer to a real engine room) to finish this but all is good now.
Next will come the HF (shortwave) radio. This one is pretty much done already because I spent some time working on it in Bodega Bay and just have to drill a hole in the deck to poke the connecting wire through and attach it to the backstay. It will be great to have long range radio again… it’s something I miss when I don’t have it. Originally getting my Ham license over twenty years ago (I think) was a wonderful thing because I enjoy radio in general anyway. That’s the memory of sitting on a pile of pillows with my ear clued to a giant receiver that my father had and tuning in the BBC when I was a kid. Later I was drawn like a strong magnet to radio. Many years later I realized that my father had been a radio operator in WW II so there was a reason he had the radio in the first place. A bunch later I figured out that he could copy Morse code at about 35 words per minute. I bought him a radio at that point but I don’t really know if he used it much. It was just a way to connect with him that only sort of worked at the time. Anyway, long circumnavigation avoided, the radio has, ever since, been a connection to the world. I can’t wait to have the last of that project hooked up!!
As mentioned previously, the last of the must do’s for this week is redo the pull cord that was attached to the dinghy motor until Bodega Bay. There is a Home Depot not too far away to get what is needed for that. Then too there is a office supply place near that to get a few things needed as well as a Radio Shack to garner a replenishment of all the connectors I have gone through since Portland.
The good thing is that we will be renting a car for the last week we are here… this should give us access to several other places we need to go. Think here of the broken mains’l and the odds and ends that need attention.
One of the things about going cruising again is that getting around is always by public transportation, a dinghy or your own two feet much of the time. There are times when renting a car is an option but usually the adventure of a bus ride or walking somewhere is the best short term option. The dinghy is also a really good way but it too often means that you go to some dinghy dock and then start your trek to your destination. I am looking forward to this because, to me, it is part of what is healthy about the lifestyle. It also it helps regulate the pace at which things happen. We are so used to instantly transporting ourselves wherever we want to be and without much thought that this is taken so much for granted.
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Dock parties are a definite part of cruising and we just had one of the best ones I have ever attended. It was informal and with one of the best food presentations I have ever seen. As they say, “OMG” good food from every direction not to mention several bottles of wine. This IS, after all, wine country. We have some great many fantastic dock-mates here going on to join Ha-Ha with us!
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So far we have walked to a Chevy’s nearby for dinner… then to a small but well supplied store and then to a larger commercial complex. The total distance has been about 6 or 7 miles all told but it was a way to see this little part of Emeryville/San Francisco without traffic pressure. The walk along a bit of boardwalk was the best. It was a meandering path with great views of the bay. I have walked it three times now and I really enjoy it. A little before we left Portland I had tweaked my right knee so have been recovering ever since but I can’t pass up a good walk. I just have to be careful not to reinjure or further injure it.
When we are between ports it has been a good time to let the knee rest and recover. I can’t believe that I am as old as I am… except for stupid injuries I still feel about 25. What’s with that anyway? A veteran of so many miles under my keel doesn’t seem possible when I am waking up in the morning… then I put my foot to the floor and recall that everything doesn’t work as well as it once did. I am in the right place for me right now in so far as small aches and pains don’t really slow me down that much!! Maybe I just don’t know what slowed down is! At any rate, the best part of where we are right now is that we are close enough to much of we want to see and most of what we want to get to is within a fairly short walk. There is probably some study or statistic that says good things about all this but since I can’t cite any of that right now I will have to do with feeling good to be alive every day.
Well, it’s about time to light the BBQ and shish kabob some shrimp.
Well, we finally got as far as San Francisco! So we now have the dinghy motor that needs a fresh rope pull, the one that was there came off in my hand as I tried to start the motor to run the gas out of it at Bodega Bay, the solar panels to complete the connection and the HF radio (shortwave) to, finally, finish the antenna connection, the mains’l to have repaired, groceries to replenish, various sights (and sites) to see and, of course, meeting more of the Ha-Ha fleet as they gather strength on the way south. Here we have already identified several boats in this marina going south to join the Ha-Ha. They are quickly identified and conversation and information exchanged as we get to know what the fleet will look like. In each place we have stopped there have been more and more boats going to Mexico… we gravitate to the same places at the same times. I wish I had pictures of the whales and such that we saw on our way down from Bodega Bay but my trigger finger seemed to be asleep when each batch was spotted. Ah well, the day was sunny and warmish so it was better to soak up the small amount of heat than to worry over getting pictures. We keep saying it will be warmer soon… Mexico here we come!! We crossed the bay and are in the Emery Cove Marina for the next several days finishing work and waiting for fresh crew to arrive. It should be a fun respite but all too soon we need to get back on the hunt for more sunshine and to start actually sailing with the repaired sail. It will nice to get far enough that I can throw a line off the stern and fish a bit too. I don’t have a license for California and we don’t go far enough off shore that it doesn’t matter.
Bodega Bay, what a great change of pace! We have a berth on the dock of Spud Point Marina just down from the office and laundry/showers. It’s sunny and wonderful unlike the last few weeks of cold, foggy dampness. We have a problem to solve why we are here (the dripless shaft seal lost its set screws somewhere along the line and is leaking) but the part is on its way. Waiting in this case is very pleasant. Here is saying that has become our excuse to chuckle now and then, “If we had only known!” So many times when things go wrong it is something that was not yet contemplated or if contemplated not figured into the spare parts boxes just yet. You then just shake your head and set about finding whatever is needed to fix the problem. I am still looking to our stop in San Francisco to find a few things that will complete projects AND add to the spares bag. The dinghy is in the water and we went to dinner last night across the bay. This is more like it. We may not have easy access to a grocery store but we do have a comfortable place to rest and repair for what is ahead. This place brings to mind that the “Birds” was filmed here. It is basically a bird sanctuary and there are lots of the flying folks everywhere. Even white pelicans with their black tipped wings are here. We sat in the restaurant across the bay watching something very sandpiper like fly in close formation of 50 or so tiny birds a few inches off the water. It looked very much like schooling fish turning in unison. My sense of humor is improving with the weather too.
