H2uh0 - Bonehead Moves on the Water from SF Bay and Beyond!
Friday, February 26, 2016
Eddie Would Go!
The Eddie Surf Contest finally took off after a 7 year drought. The last event took place in 2009 at the North Shore's Waimea Bay. Huge waves pounded the contestants, some as big as 50 feet. It was an epic day in memory of an epic surfer, Eddie Aikau. Story and vid
here.
Friday, February 19, 2016
Spring has Sprung...Time to Buy a Boat!
In the Bay Area at least. This week we have seen sun burning temps in the 70's to 80's and then hail and rain earlier this week. As it gets warmer, you should get the ball rolling with your sights set on buying a boat for sailing the bay or your local lake. It does not have to cost a fortune to own a nice 30 foot boat. In our area, it can cost $7-$10k annually to own and maintain a 30 footer. Here is a run down of the basic annual costs:
Berthing $4000
Insurance $350
Bottom Cleaning $300
Tow Insurance $100
Property Taxes $150
Equipment Upgrades $500
Fixing things that break $1500 (average)
Bottom Paint $1000
That's a close estimate on an average year. The older the boat, the more things will need to be replaced. In the last 18 months, we have replaced our diesel for an electric engine and redone the standing and running rigging and put on a new furler. All major expenses, but split 6 ways. Fortunately, those expenses come around once in a great while. Did you know a well taken care of diesel will last more that 30 years?
In my situation, I could afford the $10k per year but I did not want to spend that much of my hard earned cash. So I explored bringing in some partners. We started with 3 and now have 6 total. We each put in $100 per month to cover basic costs and build a small kitty. We set up a weekly cal so each partner gets a week when the boat is his/hers (yes, we have a female partner, Val). When its not your week, get in touch with said partner and ask to use the boat or join in on their sail. It has worked great and all for $3.00 per day per partner! I am the lead partner and take on the care and feeding of the boat. If there is an issue, I am usually the one getting it taken care off. I do not mind, as I am always learning and since I sail the most, I break most of the stuff : }.
Here was the criteria for our purchase 15 years ago on our 1981 Newport 30:
30 footer that could cruise the bay in comfort and style
Legal head
Inboard diesel
Standing headroom, 6'4"+
Sleeps 3-4
Wheel steering
Rigged for a spinnaker
Turn key
$15k budget
Many people take several months to a year to find that perfect boat. We found ours on the 3rd boat. She was far from perfect but what boat that is 20+ years old is? This boat has brought so much joy into our lives and I could not imagine not being able to access our beautiful bay the way this boat has for us.
Here are a few examples of boats for sale from the local Craigslist that you could purchase today!
1976 Pearson 30 Sailboat - $8900 (brisbane)
Beautiful 1981 Catalina 30 Sailboat - Ready to Sail or Liveaboard - $13000 (sausalito)
Cruising sailboat and live aboard - Cheoy Lee Luders 30 - $20000 (emeryville)
All of these would be perfect for a partnership. We also have an annual work day on the boat with all the partners. It's amazing what can get done in a day when you have 6 folks and 12 hands.
We have a partnership agreement that everyone signs that outlines the duties of all partners. Happy to share that if you are interested. Lastly, when a partner leaves, it is up to that partner to find a suitable replacement. I have been very happy with our set up and have enjoyed each and every partner.
Be sure to read a few articles about boat buying before you set foot out the door. There are few things you need to know even before calling your first boat seller. It has been a great 15 years for us and I look forward to many more. Good luck and enjoy the ride!
This pic is from the 2003 Great Vallejo Race. Our 1981 Newport 30.
Berthing $4000
Insurance $350
Bottom Cleaning $300
Tow Insurance $100
Property Taxes $150
Equipment Upgrades $500
Fixing things that break $1500 (average)
Bottom Paint $1000
That's a close estimate on an average year. The older the boat, the more things will need to be replaced. In the last 18 months, we have replaced our diesel for an electric engine and redone the standing and running rigging and put on a new furler. All major expenses, but split 6 ways. Fortunately, those expenses come around once in a great while. Did you know a well taken care of diesel will last more that 30 years?
In my situation, I could afford the $10k per year but I did not want to spend that much of my hard earned cash. So I explored bringing in some partners. We started with 3 and now have 6 total. We each put in $100 per month to cover basic costs and build a small kitty. We set up a weekly cal so each partner gets a week when the boat is his/hers (yes, we have a female partner, Val). When its not your week, get in touch with said partner and ask to use the boat or join in on their sail. It has worked great and all for $3.00 per day per partner! I am the lead partner and take on the care and feeding of the boat. If there is an issue, I am usually the one getting it taken care off. I do not mind, as I am always learning and since I sail the most, I break most of the stuff : }.
Here was the criteria for our purchase 15 years ago on our 1981 Newport 30:
30 footer that could cruise the bay in comfort and style
Legal head
Inboard diesel
Standing headroom, 6'4"+
Sleeps 3-4
Wheel steering
Rigged for a spinnaker
Turn key
$15k budget
Many people take several months to a year to find that perfect boat. We found ours on the 3rd boat. She was far from perfect but what boat that is 20+ years old is? This boat has brought so much joy into our lives and I could not imagine not being able to access our beautiful bay the way this boat has for us.
Here are a few examples of boats for sale from the local Craigslist that you could purchase today!
1976 Pearson 30 Sailboat - $8900 (brisbane)
Beautiful 1981 Catalina 30 Sailboat - Ready to Sail or Liveaboard - $13000 (sausalito)
Cruising sailboat and live aboard - Cheoy Lee Luders 30 - $20000 (emeryville)
All of these would be perfect for a partnership. We also have an annual work day on the boat with all the partners. It's amazing what can get done in a day when you have 6 folks and 12 hands.
We have a partnership agreement that everyone signs that outlines the duties of all partners. Happy to share that if you are interested. Lastly, when a partner leaves, it is up to that partner to find a suitable replacement. I have been very happy with our set up and have enjoyed each and every partner.
Be sure to read a few articles about boat buying before you set foot out the door. There are few things you need to know even before calling your first boat seller. It has been a great 15 years for us and I look forward to many more. Good luck and enjoy the ride!
Let your ear hairs grow!
Meet Brad Funk - sailor and Olympic hopeful. I love his attitude about sailing and how he explains the wonders of our sport. Sounds a bit like my feelings about sailing. Especially the feeling of oneness with nature. I have come to realize that I connect with my spiritual side when on the water. Enjoy this vid!
For the last several months, I have been dealing with our battery pack with serves our electric engine. It's been a long process but we are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. We hope to be back on the water in next 10 days (my last sail on Addiction was December 6th). In the meantime, I am heading out with John today on his 42' Islander. There may be some rain, but it should be just a short, light shower. Happy weekend and get down to your boat and enjoy.
For the last several months, I have been dealing with our battery pack with serves our electric engine. It's been a long process but we are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. We hope to be back on the water in next 10 days (my last sail on Addiction was December 6th). In the meantime, I am heading out with John today on his 42' Islander. There may be some rain, but it should be just a short, light shower. Happy weekend and get down to your boat and enjoy.
Saturday, February 13, 2016
Friday, February 12, 2016
Surf Report for Maverick's Big Wave Contest
Forecast Outlook:
FRIDAY: Large WNW swell builds to it's peak with 3x overhead (15-18' faces) wave heights at most well exposed spots along with larger sets. Deepwater focal points are running 25'+ (faces) on the best sets during the more favorable tides. Many spots are overloaded/washed out with too much swell.
WEATHER/WIND: Calm to light NW winds early with NW flow trending up through the morning, then moderate NW flow in the afternoon. Patchy fog possible in the morning, otherwise, expect a mix of sun and clouds for the day.
Check out the event and stream the waves to your computer here.
Trivia time: Where did the name Maverick's originate? The name of Jeff Clark's dog. Clark started surfing at Mav's back in 1974. No one would join him at the break for another 15 years.
Mav bonus Vid: Laird Hamilton
FRIDAY: Large WNW swell builds to it's peak with 3x overhead (15-18' faces) wave heights at most well exposed spots along with larger sets. Deepwater focal points are running 25'+ (faces) on the best sets during the more favorable tides. Many spots are overloaded/washed out with too much swell.
WEATHER/WIND: Calm to light NW winds early with NW flow trending up through the morning, then moderate NW flow in the afternoon. Patchy fog possible in the morning, otherwise, expect a mix of sun and clouds for the day.
Check out the event and stream the waves to your computer here.
Trivia time: Where did the name Maverick's originate? The name of Jeff Clark's dog. Clark started surfing at Mav's back in 1974. No one would join him at the break for another 15 years.
Mav bonus Vid: Laird Hamilton
Wednesday, February 10, 2016
Maverick's gets the green light for Friday
After a no go last year, the wind, tides and waves have lined up for the big wave contest in Half Moon Bay. The contest will take place on Friday and you can stream it on Red Bull TV. Cowabunga I say!
This is from last Thursday.
This is from last Thursday.
Grenadines Bareboat Charter Feb. 2016 Log
And so begins our adventure to the Grenadines. Chris and I arrived at
St Lucia about 2:30 on Saturday. We took a cab to the base and promptly
sat down for the skippers briefing. We learned more about the area we
will be cruising from Alex. He had some very good suggestions and laid
out the course we should take. We adjourned and headed out to the
boat. Alex pointed out all the cool features of our 43.3 Beneteau. Our
other crew had done the provisioning and were in the last phase of
putting everything away. We have a nice fish dinner and then head to
bed.
Up at 7 and get ready to check out of St Lucia at the customs office. We have a few minor issues on the boat and head out about 10. Once clear of the harbor we raise the sails and head south for the Pitons. The wind is glorious and about 17- 20. After lunch, the Pitons appear in the distance. What a sight. As we approach the bay, a boat boy greets us and says he has a mooring for us. We follow him in and he hooks us up. He say he has some tours for us if we are interested. We are and so we jump in his boat and head to an awaiting taxi. We head off to a nice garden a few miles up the road. We are over looking the town of Souifre. Next we head to the volcano that created this island. It is still smoking and bubbling. Our last stop was a thermal waterfall. We go for a short dip and then back to the boat. Had a great sunset along with some fish tacos.
We were up early for a 50 mile sail to Bequia. The winds were strong and were we're flying for the first 5 hours. I decided to give the crew a break and went to the lee of St.Vincent. Worked great as we were able to have lunch in light winds. We arrived in Bequia about 4 and promptly headed over to Customs yo check in. We picked up some needed items and returned to the boat. The bay is crowded with more than 100 boats. We had a nice dinner of carne asada and some wine.
Our next stop was a highlight. We had a nice 10 mile sail to Mustique. This is a private island and home of many stars from the movies and rock and roll. We pick a mooring and were promptly charged $80 for the privilege. We walked around town and stopped by Basils to find out about the bluesfest that night. The show started at 9 we were told. After an amazing dinner and some star gazing, we headed for the bar. It was several different players with an all star band. They were great. As I walked by one of the tables I introduced myself to several gentleman. One of them was Joe Louis Walker from the Bay Area. He would be performing later. We had a nice chat and my friend Chris came over and it turned out they had many mutual friends. We danced and laughed the night away and before we could say John Lee Hooker, the night was over. What fun we had.
Wednesday we were all a little worse for the wear. We departed about 12 and had a motor of 20 miles to Tabago Cay. What a nice spot. We anchor and head to the beach for some Frisbee and snorkeling. We will be here for 2 nights.
We met some nice kids on the beach and played some Frisbee with them. Had a great dinner aboard and then some fine rest. The next morning we headed off to a nice beach nearby and had some fun. We snorkel and then climbed the hill for a full view of the area. Awesome. We hit another beach and had some fine snorkeling. The best snorkeling so far. Chris and I really enjoyed it. We headed back to the boat for lunch and some naps as well as some hammock time for me. At 5:30, Niel came by and pick us up for an island dinner. Lobster, great wine and our feet in the sand. What a great time. We all slept well.
I had noticed a wind direction change and knew the wind would be back on Friday. It was in a big way. We were seeing gusts up to 30 with just a jib up. We headed to Union Island to check out of St Vincent. Taking off for Carriacou, we hit the height of the wind as well as a little rain. After one big gust over 40, we headed for shelter. We got the anchor down and prepared another fine meal paired with some red wine. That night we did one hour anchor watches as the wind was between 30-40 knots. No problems.
We were up early to head to a rendezvous dive in the next bay. We motored the 2 miles to Tyrell Bay and headed to a dock for fuel. Our instruments were not showing us our fuel/water/batt levels so we wanted to make sure fuel would not be an issue. After setting the hook, Colleen and I took off for a two tank dive. The dive site was less than a mile away so soon we were in 60 feet of water and circling a large pinnacle with great coral and lots of fish. There was one point when I was in a swarm of Sargent Majors that was very special. The next dive was similar but not as deep. Several sting rays and lot of eels and fish. We even saw a sea snake. Easy, fun dives that were awesome. Colleen had a great time taking photos.
Back to the boat and Chris and I took off in the dingy. There was a racing boat nearby with six women onboard. We found out they were mostly from the the UK and racing in the Carib for the season. Most of the ladies ignored us, but Claire was nice and gave us the skinny on the boat and where they were racing. Then we headed over to the mangrove river nearby for a cruise. Very quite with a beautiful setting. I had some hammock time and then a little happy hour on the boat. After sunset, we headed over to a restaurant for a nice fish dinner. It was shack like but right on the beach and we walked in with bare feet. Very nice.
Up at 6am for departure and a 36 mile sail to St George's on Grenada. We had an excellent 4 hour sail to the lee of Grenada. Winds were 18-25 and we blasted across in the morning sun and some clouds. In the lee, we started to get some big gusts and we rounded up a few times. We were due at the base by noon and we pulled in at 11:45.
What a great time we had on our adventure. Our crew was wonderful, the food and beverage was outstanding and the boat was great. All in all a very memorable cruise and my favorite of the 4 I have done. The beauty of the islands was stunning and the locals and boat boys took good care of us.
I hope to return to this lovely spot some day!
Up at 7 and get ready to check out of St Lucia at the customs office. We have a few minor issues on the boat and head out about 10. Once clear of the harbor we raise the sails and head south for the Pitons. The wind is glorious and about 17- 20. After lunch, the Pitons appear in the distance. What a sight. As we approach the bay, a boat boy greets us and says he has a mooring for us. We follow him in and he hooks us up. He say he has some tours for us if we are interested. We are and so we jump in his boat and head to an awaiting taxi. We head off to a nice garden a few miles up the road. We are over looking the town of Souifre. Next we head to the volcano that created this island. It is still smoking and bubbling. Our last stop was a thermal waterfall. We go for a short dip and then back to the boat. Had a great sunset along with some fish tacos.
We were up early for a 50 mile sail to Bequia. The winds were strong and were we're flying for the first 5 hours. I decided to give the crew a break and went to the lee of St.Vincent. Worked great as we were able to have lunch in light winds. We arrived in Bequia about 4 and promptly headed over to Customs yo check in. We picked up some needed items and returned to the boat. The bay is crowded with more than 100 boats. We had a nice dinner of carne asada and some wine.
Our next stop was a highlight. We had a nice 10 mile sail to Mustique. This is a private island and home of many stars from the movies and rock and roll. We pick a mooring and were promptly charged $80 for the privilege. We walked around town and stopped by Basils to find out about the bluesfest that night. The show started at 9 we were told. After an amazing dinner and some star gazing, we headed for the bar. It was several different players with an all star band. They were great. As I walked by one of the tables I introduced myself to several gentleman. One of them was Joe Louis Walker from the Bay Area. He would be performing later. We had a nice chat and my friend Chris came over and it turned out they had many mutual friends. We danced and laughed the night away and before we could say John Lee Hooker, the night was over. What fun we had.
Wednesday we were all a little worse for the wear. We departed about 12 and had a motor of 20 miles to Tabago Cay. What a nice spot. We anchor and head to the beach for some Frisbee and snorkeling. We will be here for 2 nights.
We met some nice kids on the beach and played some Frisbee with them. Had a great dinner aboard and then some fine rest. The next morning we headed off to a nice beach nearby and had some fun. We snorkel and then climbed the hill for a full view of the area. Awesome. We hit another beach and had some fine snorkeling. The best snorkeling so far. Chris and I really enjoyed it. We headed back to the boat for lunch and some naps as well as some hammock time for me. At 5:30, Niel came by and pick us up for an island dinner. Lobster, great wine and our feet in the sand. What a great time. We all slept well.
I had noticed a wind direction change and knew the wind would be back on Friday. It was in a big way. We were seeing gusts up to 30 with just a jib up. We headed to Union Island to check out of St Vincent. Taking off for Carriacou, we hit the height of the wind as well as a little rain. After one big gust over 40, we headed for shelter. We got the anchor down and prepared another fine meal paired with some red wine. That night we did one hour anchor watches as the wind was between 30-40 knots. No problems.
We were up early to head to a rendezvous dive in the next bay. We motored the 2 miles to Tyrell Bay and headed to a dock for fuel. Our instruments were not showing us our fuel/water/batt levels so we wanted to make sure fuel would not be an issue. After setting the hook, Colleen and I took off for a two tank dive. The dive site was less than a mile away so soon we were in 60 feet of water and circling a large pinnacle with great coral and lots of fish. There was one point when I was in a swarm of Sargent Majors that was very special. The next dive was similar but not as deep. Several sting rays and lot of eels and fish. We even saw a sea snake. Easy, fun dives that were awesome. Colleen had a great time taking photos.
Back to the boat and Chris and I took off in the dingy. There was a racing boat nearby with six women onboard. We found out they were mostly from the the UK and racing in the Carib for the season. Most of the ladies ignored us, but Claire was nice and gave us the skinny on the boat and where they were racing. Then we headed over to the mangrove river nearby for a cruise. Very quite with a beautiful setting. I had some hammock time and then a little happy hour on the boat. After sunset, we headed over to a restaurant for a nice fish dinner. It was shack like but right on the beach and we walked in with bare feet. Very nice.
Up at 6am for departure and a 36 mile sail to St George's on Grenada. We had an excellent 4 hour sail to the lee of Grenada. Winds were 18-25 and we blasted across in the morning sun and some clouds. In the lee, we started to get some big gusts and we rounded up a few times. We were due at the base by noon and we pulled in at 11:45.
What a great time we had on our adventure. Our crew was wonderful, the food and beverage was outstanding and the boat was great. All in all a very memorable cruise and my favorite of the 4 I have done. The beauty of the islands was stunning and the locals and boat boys took good care of us.
I hope to return to this lovely spot some day!