I’m safe and sound in Morro Bay. After a night in San Simeon Anchorage, we had a mostly-boring ride down to the yacht club today. Here’s Dave hoisting the main. Dave’s wife shot some actual video from shore watching this main go up. Hopefully I can get my hands on that and post it too.
We were able to make fresh water just fine with both engines running and the inverter on. There’s a net loss of about 15A, but I can easily make water for a few hours while plowing along without using the generator. I really should install a nicer alternator on the port engine, along with the smarter regulator. It just didn’t get finished in time.
Dave is great. He encouraged me to log everything. He was super diligent on watch. He played with the radar enough so that he’s comfortable with looking for traffic a few different ways. He figured out that the mast was reflecting the radar signal and then bouncing it off the hills in the distance, creating some false echoes. It’s great having a NASA scientist on board.
The Music
Okay I hired this jazz band to make some Jane’O music. check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3UjDIqj0TY
Okay just kidding, but I googled Jane’O on YouTube and that came up. Pretty cool, huh?
A quick video
This was a quick video of part of Leg 2. Gerry was asleep, so Blaine and I hoisted the spinnaker. Don’t let Gerry know I won’t show him how to hoist the spinnaker. It’s our little secret.
The Bugs
A few problems that now need solving. The sump pump on the shower gave out. This is probably because that compartment flooded and I didn’t test it after that happened. So I need a new sump pump. No biggie -- I can still shower even without one, but I have to empty the sump by hand.
The second, and more serious problem, is that the sensor assembly I added to the starboard engine still leaks. It was extremely loose when I tested it out. I suspect that when I screwed it in originally, I didn’t tighten it enough. Unfortunately, it’s a lot of messy work to fix it. I was able to mitigate it some by hand tightening it a little, but it still needs some monitoring.
The Plan
Legs 4-6 are going to be tough. With Alan’s last minute illness, it’s Blaine and I around Point Conception tomorrow. I still have plenty of space if anyone wants to make that trip. Winds are favorable and somewhat light.
The goal is to hit Santa Barbara by Thursday night. On Friday, I have to fly back to the Bay Area to deal with the temporary import permit. This means flying to San Francisco, getting some paperwork that i left behind, and then fly back to Jane’O on Saturday. Why does Mexico have to make it so hard to visit?
Santa Barbara to San Diego will be solo, as Blaine has plans in LA that weekend. I’ll just peck my way down the coast and stop frequently. SoCal is a much easier sailing destination so I’m not worried about that so much, unless I get some Santa Ana winds, which means I will just wait.