Chris Tanner

England

May 31, 2014July 22, 2018 Chris TannerLeave a comment

Wow, what a trip! We’ve been bouncing around seeing friends and family for three weeks, staying somewhere different pretty much every night apart from just a couple of places. It’s been a real treat, getting to see everyone again. But it’s also made us both aware that we’ve already changed a bit, in just the 6 months we’ve been away. It’s also confirmed that we made the right choice by taking the leap and moving overseas to see new places. Not much has changed back home. Things will be much the same back here in the future if or when we return.

Warm spring weather welcomed us home, which was really nice.

The trip kicked off with Rich and Sam’s wedding in the Cotswolds, everyone looking rather dapper in tweed and flat caps. One of the older gents remarked on how he’d never before been at a wedding where there were more beards on the young chaps than on the olds.

Dad managed to fly over for a few weeks to be here at the same time as us which was awesome. We spent some good time catching up and sharing plans for the future.

Rose at the RWA exhibition of the sea in Bristol. It’s inspired me to start doing some more arty stuff!

Stayed a couple of night’s with Dan and Mel in their house project. It’s coming on bit by bit. Really interesting seeing what people are choosing to do with their lives as we go off on our own tangent. Dan and Mel bought a place just around the corner from ours in Totterdown, at a great price, that needed a fair bit of work. Right in the city, close to work, close to friends, but very urban. They are going to transform it into a really nice place, but it’ taking time. They want to get it done with and then go travelling.

Had a super fun ride around the usual trails with some of the regular Bristol bike crew; Mikey, Dan, Jason, Mark.

Jon and Helen have bought a big(ish) house in Exmoor with a small bit of land – quiet, remote and peaceful. On the way down to Exmoor to see them at their new place we stopped off to see Ben’s new field. He’s just bought 19-odd acres just south of Bristol – with a stream and waterfall at the bottom. A beautiful place, but there’s no planning permission and the ground had been abused by horse grazing for years, so he’s not quite sure what to do with it. At the moment he’s shacked up in a caravan parked in the trees at the top of the field. I’m looking forward to seeing what he does next with it.

The drive down to Exmoor was stunning. It’s still early enough in the year for the leaves to still be a little yellow – they’ve not yet filled up with chlorophyll, which gives a beautiful light. All the spring flowers are still out – with amazing bluebells in the woods.

I borrowed a bike from Jon and we had a great (short) ride on the moors which ended up in Porlock where we met the girls for a cream tea in a classic Devon tea-room garden with a thatched roof, next to a church, old chaps walking by and striking up conversation. This part of the world really is brilliant (in the sunshine…) – I could see myself getting a place here at some point. It’s easy to forget the grey, damp, windy months though…

It was also striking how we were the only young ones out and about. All the other yoof would have been at work.

Back in Bath we had a leisurely weekend hanging out with loads of relatives; I didn’t get any pics unfortunately. Iain and Helen were over from Canada, Bee came across from Sussex, Nick and Pip came over, and Dad was around too. It was sunny and warm so we spent pretty much the whole weekend outside. It’s great to see Mum and David so relaxed and at home in their new house.

Had some time with Pat, Mags and their girls, Rose’s buddy Liza, and with Box and Naomi. Little Billy being much more grown up than before. Here are a couple of pics from a day out at Warley weir near bath. The idea was to go swimming, but Box’s back is in a right state so he’s been out of action, and the girls didn’t fancy it. I just about managed to dunk myself under fully and splash back and forth so yeah, I think that qualified as swimming.

We then headed over to Winchester to see Rose’s Dad and his wife Jenny. I went off for a bike ride with Jen while Rose and her dad caught up. Again, we were blessed with a tranquil English spring day, cycling through quiet, flower filled villages and stopping for a picnic by the side of the road.

From Winchester we headed down to Weymouth to see Rose’s Mum and grandparents. We had another walk, this time along the Dorset cliffs near Ringstead. But we got soaked! As a birthday treat, Rose wanted to eat fish and chips out on the docks, so that’s what we did. Except Rose ended up choosing a battered sausage.

From Weymouth we dropped back into Bath to leave the car with Mum (thanks for lending it to us!), and then caught the train over to spend our last night with Nick and Pip before they took us to the airport. Again it felt strange leaving, having said so many hellos and goodbyes in just a few weeks – especially as this time it’s a one way ticket and we don’t know when we’ll be coming back.

So long, buddies and family. Hope to see you again soon!

Yosemite and Kings Canyon

May 5, 2014July 22, 2018 Chris TannerLeave a comment

After a day or two of chilling out in San Francisco, the four of us headed off in the van to see some hills. First stop, Yosemite. I’d booked a camp site right up in the valley, next to the Merced river. We’d been looking forward to getting some swimming in, but it was freeezing cold so that didn’t happen.

Ant and I wanted to get some exercise and decided that Half Dome was a good target. We’d thought about getting passes to climb the cables right up to the summit, which involves an online lottery to restrict the number of visitors each day. We’d checked out the website but the entries had closed for the day. We decided that it would still be worth hiking up there anyway. Leaving late in the morning meant we had to put the pedal down, and were pretty much at a jogging pace. Three and a half hours in we’d reached the base of the granite dome, poking its head out above the tree line. This was also the half way point – we had another 3 1/2 hours to get back to meet the girls in the car park. After tucking a pot of macaroni salad away, we half-walked, half-ran the 7-odd miles back to the valley floor.

The girls picked us up in the van and we headed out of Yosemite as the sun was sinking below the valley horizon. Which is way, way higher than the real horizon, which mean that we still had loads of daylight. The plan was to head down to Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Park and see some big trees.

We ended up spending the night in a motel in Fresno, and then putting away a big breakfast at Blossom Trail Café just outside town. Every time we sit down for an American breakfast we see “biscuits and gravy” on the menu – which to our British ears sounds less than appetizing. We persuaded Ant to give it a go. What turned up appeared to be something like scones in a hollandaise / vanilla / custardy sauce. Hmmn.

As we headed into the foothills of the Sierra Nevada again, we passed a field full of shining cars and bikes. I spun the van round (that sounds easy, but with its crap turning circle it means a twenty-point turn in the road, which was fortunately deserted) and we spent an hour or so checking out muscle cars, trucks, bikes and lots of hairy christian Americans.

Driving higher into the mountains, we kept passing the usual altitude markers that seem to be so popular round here. I’d read that Americans are into their sports trivia and statistics – I wonder if altitude clocking is along the same lines? Not that it’s much of an achievement; you just drive up the road and you get higher. Not like the old days when these mountains were first being explored – that must have been epic.

We got into the park and turned left for Kings Canyon. Supposedly the second deepest canyon in the lower 48 states, after the Grand Canyon. Yep, some pretty impressive views.

Though I’d booked a campground further south, we figured that it wasn’t worth the time driving all the way down there, so we found a nice place near the King river near the road head. The road winds its way up the valley but doesn’t go anywhere, which made me wonder why it’s here. It’s not like it’s an old trade route. The effort that’s gone into building the road is amazing – can it be just for tourism? There were a load of cars parked up at the head of the trail, and a few hikers packing their kit for a weekend in the wilderness. That’s the way to explore this park – on foot. I don’t think we’ll be coming this way again though.

The drive back to San Francisco was fairly straightforward … a long way though in the heat, and the van is noisy. We had a great time with buddies; camping, mountains, sun…

Moving home

May 1, 2014July 22, 2018 Chris TannerLeave a comment

As we’re going to be away from the boat for most of the next 4 months we figured it didn’t make much sense to keep her in Sausalito – the slip is expensive and we don’t need liveaboard status. I thought it would be cool to be near the city, so checked out one of the marinas right next to the baseball stadium, but that also worked out pretty pricey. I found a place at Fortman marina in Alameda at less than half what we were paying in Sausalito. Rose and Anna brought the van around while Ant and I took Rafiki.

Not enough wind to sail, so we motored all the way. I still haven’t had a chance to use the new spinnaker so I was hoping we’d get the opportunity to use that while Ant was around, but no joy. We’ll run it through its paces when we’re back in September to make sure everything checks out OK before we head south (with a following wind) to Mexico.

Fortman’s is just next to Grand Marina which is where Rafiki was based when we surveyed and bought her almost exactly a year ago. It’s quite a way from the bay – perhaps a 30 to 45 minute motor before you can get any decent sailing in – but it’s a good place to leave her while we’re travelling, and a place to leave the van while we’re in the UK.

The approach is really industrial. They say that the cranes were the inspiration for the AT-AT walkers in Star Wars, but I’m not so sure. They look like creatures, anyway.

The girls got to the marina just before us, and were met by a friendly chap from Alameda Yacht club which is based just next door. Seems like a nice casual place where everyone says hi. Quite a few liveaboards too. Pretty basic compared to Clipper, where we were before – regular key entry rather than electronic fobs, but that’s fine with us.

Santa Cruz to SF

April 28, 2014 Chris TannerLeave a comment

With the ladies safely left at the bus stop in Santa Cruz, Ant and I headed back to the boat. We weighed anchor (with the new windlass which hauled in all 30 metres of heavy chain with no stress at all), and headed out to sea!

The skies were clear the whole trip, and of course we had to take a load of sunset photos.

Safe beers — Don’t panic, I found a safe place for the beers

Back at the dock in Sausalito, it was hot hot hot and still as a mill pond. Time for grilled trout on the BBQ!

SF to Santa Cruz

April 25, 2014 Chris TannerLeave a comment

Leaving San Francisco the weather was cloudy, overcast and grey, with not a lot of wind. We’d left Sausalito a little too late, which meant we were fighting the incoming tide as we headed out under the Golden Gate bridge. No big deal though, we have plenty of time. Just outside the bridge we saw our first WHALE! The grey whales are migrating back north again. We’d failed to see any on their journey south during our trips out of the bay last autumn, so it was pretty cool to see one so soon.

As we headed down the coast, the weather didn’t really improve. The wind was from the south, which is not supposed to happen! It never really picked up much, so we ended up doing quite a lot of the trip under power.

Rose at the helm — Rose snug in her new jacket

Comfy sea berth — Anna tucked up in the sea berth under a duvet

We arrived at Santa Cruz around 11 in the morning, about 19 hours from SF. We tied up to the fuel dock in the harbour, where we were going to be staying overnight too. After a shower and freshen-up, it was time to explore. Dodging rain clouds, we found ourselves in the Santa Cruz museum of Natural History, trapped by a particularly vicious downpour. Hey Santa Cruz, you’re supposed to be all sunny and hot and Californian!

Santa Cruz harbour — At the dock in Santa Cruz harbor

The night on the dock was pretty noisy and bumpy- the swell wrapping around the breakwater washing up the harbour channel making the boat jump around on its lines like a beast trying to get loose. We decided to head around into the bay and spend the next night at anchor.

The sun came out, we had a relaxed, warm lunch in the cockpit and then decided to pump up the dinghy and head ashore. The wind had picked up loads, which meant that it was going to be almost impossible to row the few hundred yards to the wharf. Hmmn.

A guy on a motorboat had been motoring around throwing his anchor off the front of his boat periodically, waiting a while, then hauling it up and trying again somewhere else for about half an hour. We weren’t sure if he was practicing or just not getting it quite right. At one point he dropped it just upwind of us and was drifting directly down towards us before (fortunately) deciding he’d not got it quite right and moved on again. He swung past us, Ant and I rowing furiously into the wind, and asked if we wanted a tow to the wharf. Yes please!

We arrived at the landing dock and had to shoo off a load of very vocal sea lions. They are pretty intimidating up close, but with a good shout and lunge they are easy enough to move on. Once we’d broken through the lines of sea lions, we had to break through the lines of tourists… Leaving the dinghy locked up under the watchful eyes of these curious beasts, we headed into town for the night – we’d spotted a live gig that sounded worth a visit, and were keen to see what Santa Cruz nightlife was all about.

A solid meal, a few hours of rock music, some night skate boarding and a short row downwind brought us back to Rafiki to tuck into bed. The wind had dropped, but the Pacific swell was still casually rolling into the bay which meant that the boat was rocking a fair bit. Not as bad as being at the dock, though.

On Monday we rowed the girls to shore so that they could catch a bus back to SF. The weather looked good for the trip back, but we’d decided that it would be better all round for the boys to take the upwind leg while the ladies explored the city and spent a calm, comfortable night in a hostel.

Thanks Ted

April 20, 2014 Chris TannerLeave a comment

I sat on the bus on the way home from my last day at work, looking out at more windsurfers and kite surfers than I’d ever seen on the bay. It was really cranking. It was sunny. I had my kite gear ready to go in the van. I had to go out. So I rushed to the marina from the bus stop, jumped in the van and hit the highway back to the city, buzzing with anticipation.

Ugh, traffic. Loads and loads of traffic. Going IN to the city at the end of the day. What was going on?! Eventually arrived at Crissy fields launch site and started to pump up my 13m on the beach. It was really too windy for this kite, but I’ve held it down in some pretty gnarly winds before and I figured I could always just turn round and come back to the beach. A guy rocks up and quizzes me about my experience and whether I’d kited there before; giving me some good words of caution against going out for the first time in a “double diamond” kite spot with a kite that’s too large … I’m so fired up, wetsuit on and ready to go, I test it out anyway and discover that my lines are the wrong length and it’s not gonna happen. The kite won’t go up and I’m not going to be able to control it. Bummer. I was so looking forward to a session.

A guy comes in toward the beach with his kite down low ready for someone to catch, so I run over and grab it for him. He comes over to take his kite and we have the usual chit-chat;

“How was it?”

“Bit gusty. You going out?”

“Nah, my 9 has a puncture and my 13 is too big”

He pauses for a second.

“Hey, borrow mine for a bit.”

Hell yes I will! I hooked up, jumped on my board and had a short but awesome session while he took his dog for a walk. I couldn’t believe this generosity. After, we got chatting, and I offered to take Ted and his lady out for a sail. They came along Sunday afternoon for a couple of hours and we had a good time getting to know each other.

I was both disappointed at myself for not having been out kiting once since we moved here, and also inspired by a complete stranger lending me expensive, dangerous kit. It feels strange, finishing full time work and moving on from San Francisco at the same time. This place is a tech hub, sure, but I’m just not inspired to get into the startup and tech scene. I suspect for me the bay area provides more in the way of biking, kiting and adventuring – that I haven’t quite managed to tap into as much as I should have done.

Maybe sometime in the future. But, for now, onward travel beckons. When I’m back, I’ll definitely be giving Ted a shout.

5 pelicans

April 17, 2014 Chris TannerLeave a comment

As usual my alarm went off at 0630, but this time it was plugged into charge at the chart table so I had to get up to turn it off. Whenever I have to get up to turn it off, I never get back into bed. It’s too good an opportunity to kick the day into action. I’m a bit groggy as I wander back and forth trying to figure out what I’m doing, suddenly launched into the land of the living after being deep asleep, but before long I take a peek outside and see that it’s calm, warm, and the sun is just about to come up.

I grab a bowl, throw some granola and yoghurt together, pull on a hoodie and step up into the fresh pre-dawn air. There’s not a breath of wind, the only sounds are the birds having a chat (argument?) and the distant rush of the highway. I shut out the highway noise and all is peaceful. I can hear rose finches, back in the marina again now that winter has passed. Last year, when we were away from the boat, one family made its nest in our sail cover.

I’m staring at a bright light in the eastern sky, trying to figure out whether it’s moving, whether it’s a plane, a satellite, or the last star to leave the sky as the sun rises, when five pelicans flap casually over the docks. They pass by overhead, the one at the back attempts to come into land on one of the pilings nearby, but the others are having none of it. He aborts at the last minute, figuring he’s gonna lose his mates if he takes a break. Maybe they sense he’s tired, maybe they’ve flown a long way and all need a break, or maybe they are lost in their own thoughts and realise they’ve missed their landing – they all come round again and settle down just outside the marina breakwater.

The sun peeks his head over the hills and the direct yellow light instantly accelerates the mood. Shadows appear. The day is here. Time to get moving.

Fried eggs — Cats’ eyes catch the early morning light, looking like dark fried eggs on the road. Breakfast time!

Mystery machine

April 16, 2014 Chris TannerLeave a comment

He sits in his van. Just sits.

Almost every day, there’s an old VW camper parked up in the same spot, half way between the two gates to basin 3, with an old guy sat inside. He’s always there. I don’t know what he’s doing, or why he’s there. I took this photo months ago after a wet night. He was there yesterday. I know he’ll be there tomorrow too.

I’ve wanted to go up and ask his story, but I haven’t.

We’ll never know.

The Lost Coast

April 14, 2014 Chris TannerLeave a comment

Just some pics for now

Fog city

April 10, 2014 Chris TannerLeave a comment

Some moody shots from out on the bay last night. The wind ranged from calm to 38 knots, visibility ranged from excellent to less than 50 metres in the fog, we started in full sunshine, and finished in pitch black. Life would get boring if it was calm and sunny every day.