Malibu

Set out this morning from Oxnard, had originally planned on sailing to Santa Barbara Island but found rolly seas and no wind so we changed course and headed for Malibu as it was closer. We had to motor most of the way here, there were no waves to speak of, just a nasty rolly swell, made me quite queasy. The only bright spot were the dolphin and pelicans that entertained us on the way, seems the fish are back after a few weeks of the sea being void of all life. We eventually did get some wind and were able to put up the head sail just before arriving at Paradise Cove, would of made for a nice sail had we had the energy to keep going.

Sitting in a rolly anchorage still feeling a bit queasy, the stove is keeping the cabin quite toasty, looking at all the mega million dollar homes, wondering who's wifi signal I'm borrowing. I was told Cher lives in one of them. We should be heading for Catalina in the morning, then we'll continue pushing on, getting a bit tired of the cold Pacific Ocean, dreaming of warmer waters.

Oxnard

A bit of a tsunami came through here on Sat afternoon. My dad and I were out doing laundry and shopping so we missed it all together. Jim said that the harbor rose about 3 feet and emptied all in about 15 minutes creating quite a current. The rushing water dislodged a nav buoy in Ventura Harbor but the most damage was done by a fisherman who freaked out when he heard the tsunami warning and headed out at full throttle creating a wake that broke water lines on one of the docks and damaged several small boats that smashed up onto the docks.

Now that all the excitement over the tsunami has passed, we are sitting here at the guest dock in Oxnard waiting for a weather window. A cold front bringing wind and rain is beginning to move through the area, not a big one but winds are out of the south. It's forecasted to blow out of the W or NW by tomorrow. Next stop - Santa Barbara Island then Catalina.

Had to replace the water bladder tanks, the leaks couldn't be stopped in the old ones, which we had put in shortly before leaving the bay in Aug. They seem not to be constructed as well as they had been in the past. We may have to find a new system for storing water all together as the new ones also leak. Found a leak in the dinghy as well, it's been repaired and it is holding air now.
We are now truckless, my Dad came out from Texas to take it home with him. He's pretty happy to get it as he hasn't had a running vehicle in about 3 years. He's now on his way to NM to buy some clay. Hope he makes it back without any problems, we've replaced just about everything on that truck, can't imagine what else could go wrong with it.

A Snowy Egret and a Great Blue Heron

Out of the Boatyard

I haven't posted anything in awhile, I guess I've been suffering from writers block or lack of interest.

We just left the boatyard after a month of sitting on the hard. We had initially hauled out to install a new system for the self steering and then found we had some serious paint failure problems which resulted in a lot more work than we had planned on and then we had several storms that hit one after another that we had to wait out. So after a couple days of sanding we went with the Smith system which requires a zinc cromate primer followed by a 2 part epoxy barrier coat. The spots where the paint failed were mostly in the areas that had been welded during our last two haul outs, the old original barrier coat still looks great, unfortunately that paint is no longer available. Installation of the new rudder required a bit of welding and more paint. Jim then had to come up with a new configuration for steering. We'll take it out someday soon and see if it works.

We went ahead a got a slip at the marina so we'd have some time to finalize preparation for the sail to Mexico. Seriously hoping that there won't be anymore delays.