Travels, adventures and family …
We have a tradition to drink a rum n coke in the cockpit when the sun’s going down. When we live on a boat, are we going to become alcoholics?
This is the first post with a video; you’ll see more on my YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1jvEhzYumFBc0PeCL1ZlGQ
.. to see what he could see. And in a similar way, I climbed the mast “to see what was at the top”. Last time it was dark I flicked the switch on the dashboard labelled “anchor light”, and didn’t see the expected white light from the top of the rig. Something was up. I’d forgotten to ask Jeff the surveyor to take some photos for me whilst he was up there back in April, so it was up to me to check it out.
I’d brought my climbing harness over but had forgotten any karabiners… I managed to scrounge together enough bits of tat and tape to sort out a decent enough prussik setup. I pulled a static line to the masthead with the main halyard and hauled myself up it. Turns out that there is an anchor light, so I gave it a wiggle to clean the connections. That sorted it. There’s also the VHF aerial (I don’t know if that’s working since the radio itself is kaput), there’s a stick that looks like it was part of a windex in its youth, and that’s it. There is a messenger line poking out (just!) so I can pull another wire up when I fit a tri-color masthead light. Later I found the bottom end of the same line poking out of the bottom of the mast inside, which is good.
Whilst we’re just cruising around the bay area, we’ll be fine with just the anchor light, but for longer offshore trips at night we’ll definitely want a masthead tricolor – one that you can see from a long way away regardless of the sea state. I’ll probably replace the anchor light with an LED tricolor + all-round white.
So I’m back in San Francisco for a few days for a meeting – this time however I’m staying on the boat, which I’m really looking forward to. I stepped aboard, scaring a couple of small birds who flew across to the neighbouring boat, chirping angrily. I soon discovered a nest in the folds of the sail! There were no eggs in it so I guess they were either preparing for a family or have already had their birdlets “fly the nest”. Rose tells me they are Rosefinches, a common household bird around here. The bloke definitely looks da man with his bright coral-red plumage. After about half an hour of hanging around trying to figure out where his home had just gone, he and his lady friend moved on.
Time for me to start working on our new home; as usual with any new boat there’s a long list of things to sort out. In fact two lists; domestic and, let’s say “nautical”. The former is fortunately a lot shorter than the latter, considering the first thing we’d planning to do is move aboard to live. Having bought the boat back in April and then being in the UK ever since, I was a little apprehensive of what I would return to. Would there be a couple of inches of water in the bottom? Would everything be damp? Would the boat still be afloat?! As it happens everything was in great shape. I’d left the 12v electrics on for the automatic bilge pump [which, checking later, I discovered will still run without the 12v main power on]. One of the two batteries was completely flat, and the other was fine. Must be a power leak somewhere, or else 3 months of running the automatic bilge pump flattens the battery. Everything on board is dry, bar a couple of small water marks under one of the cabin ports where it had dripped. The toilet (heads, in nautical terms) is a bit stinky; I need to get to the bottom of this; it might “just” need new pipes.
On the nautical front I need to sort out the anchor chain – rusted away to almost nothing, go up the mast to see what’s on the top, check diesel, oil, tighten alternator belt, inspect the electrics, check seacocks and hoses and make sure I get familiar with all the inner workings of this new machine. It’s a bit like a cross between a car and a house, with all the complicated parts of each, squeezed into a small space. Engine and propulsion, sails and rigging, steering, 12v and 110v electrics, plumbing, gas, kitchen (galley), toilet and shower (heads), hot and cold pressure water, fridge… The great thing is it’s all stuff I can work on myself; unlike the van back in the UK which is all electronic. Fun times!
One pleasant discovery was the way that my 3 large bags of stuff disappeared very easily into the stowage on board. Rose and I have been thinking a lot about how much we can bring over when we come later this year. 3 bags each? How many books? Paintings? How many clothes? We’d been planning to just bring what we could carry with standard baggage, a bike and one excess bag (all full to the gunwales of course) … it’s good to know we can fit more; but should we? I’m working through a new book; “The Voyager’s Handbook – The essential guide to blue water cruising“, which says;
“In narrowing down the list of what you will bring, you will help define your new self, this person who is about to embark on a great adventure and a totally new way of life. In moving aboard and living with fewer possessions, you will begin to separate your many wants from your fewer needs. The possessions you carry will mean more, and you’ll realize how little most of what you gave up mattered to you.”
I’m looking forward to taking a step further in simplifying life.
It’s all done! After a few weeks’ slightly nervous wait, the title for our new boat has arrived! Up until this point I was still not 100% sure that the California DMV (basically like the DVLA here in the UK, but they also deal with boats) would accept transfer to a non-resident, but we’re in the clear, and she’s ours. Proper exciting stuff, and a lot less painful that I was expecting. The DMV office at Corte Madera didn’t ever have more than an hour’s wait, and I used our work address in the city as my “home address”. It does mean that she’s a US registered vessel, and with me being a UK resident we may, in some distant remote port, have a few questions to answer to over-enthusiastic customs officers … but the other option of registering with the SSR (Small Ships Register) here in the UK would mean that I’d need to get a cruising licence to keep the boat in the US. The cruising licence is only available for a year, and whilst you can just renew for further years, you need to have the boat outside of US waters for at least 15 days between renewals. Which from San Francisco is actually quite a challenge – it’s either Mexico, Canada or hanging around offshore for over 2 weeks. I was very, very tempted to plan for an extended cruise down to Mexico 12 months from now, but with my work commitments that’s not really going to be an option. So, the Stars and Stripes will fly from our stern in place of the Red Duster. We’ll live with it. For now.
So, Rose and I are busy making plans for Things To Do when we move on board later this year; my list containing things like “fix masthead light” and “fit gas detector”, and her list having “paint locker doors” and “change curtains”. We’ve got to be careful we don’t end up just having “pink” and “blue” jobs around the boat though!
Trying to figure out what we’re going to keep and what we’re going to get rid of as we move from a house (albeit very small one) is a challenge. We like to think we’re pretty light on “stuff” – but we’ve still accumulated too much over the years. Rose’s vast art library and art collection is going to have to thin down somewhat; we only have one sensible sized “wall” on the boat, and the marine atmosphere probably isn’t going to be great on books, even in California. I’ve not got much stuff, but what I do have is very big. Surfboards, bikes, kitesurfing gear, snowboard, climbing kit … I think we’re going to have to find a shed to keep some of this!
Sailing across San Francisco bay, under the Bay Bridge with Andy and Rose. The first trip on Folie a Deux! We met the previous owner, Robert, down in Alameda, transferred title and then set off. It’s only about 5 miles across to Sausalito, where I’d arranged a berth at Clipper Yacht Harbor. Having had a full survey last week along with a test sail, I was confident the boat was in good shape. I’ve discovered I’m not one for buying “projects”. I’d much rather get up and running first, and then work more on things later. Folie a Deux is the perfect starting point; very basic but in amazing condition, and ready for us to turn into something that’s really “ours”.
The wind picked up nicely, sun stayed out and we had a great sail. She’s a fast boat, even though the main sail is old and baggy! We took a trip into check out the Embarcadero up close, then shot past Alcatraz and headed out to the Golden Gate bridge. We were coming up to full ebb (where the tide rushes out through the gap between the city and the Marin headlands) so didn’t get too close as, whilst everything on board certainly felt tough and reliable, it’s still only the start of me getting used to how the boat deals with headwinds and currents.
It’s strange to think that we won’t be moving aboard for another 5 or more months, but the adventure has most definitely begun!
Last year I started to think about moving out to the US to help the San Francisco team at Brightpearl. Rose and I both feel like we’ve reached a point in Bristol where we need to move on. Although it’s a wonderful place where we have lots of wonderful friends and lots of amazing things to do right on our doorstep, it’s time for change. I’ve also longed to move back onto a boat having had a short but enjoyable period living on board Red Bull. Getting back into “big boat” sailing with Rancote has rekindled my drive for ocean adventures … and San Francisco is a great place to live on a boat.
So, I decided to check a few boats out whilst in the US this time in January. On the Saturday I spent a full day with a local broker (thanks Dana from Passage Yachts) taking a good look round ten or so boats of varying shapes and sizes. On the Sunday I took a look at a private sale in Sausalito, discovered in Latitude 38 magazine – a basic but affordable 1985 Pearson 36-2 called “Folie a Deux”. I’d seen a Pearson 36-2 the day before and immediately it felt “right”. Seeing a second one would give me a good comparison. The first had more equipment aboard; including a spray hood, new autohelm, working electronics, dinghy … but was $10,000 more. I figured that I could add the extra equipment when need required and budget allowed. And electronics are out of date the day you install them anyway.
After plenty of discussions between Rose and I about downsizing, moving countries, careers, life … and lots of research, I decided it was the right thing to do. I put an offer it, it was accepted and then deposit was sent! I arranged a survey for when I was next out in the states – although I’d given the boat a really good look over myself, I wanted a professional opinion and a haul out.
Whilst she was in the water, we had a good dig around deep inside all lockers and spaces.
Next was the haul out. Even having done this many times with Red Bull and Rancote it’s still exciting seeing a boat lifted out of the water on one of these cranes. As soon as the boat rises above you it seems so much bigger than in the water.
I was surprised at how clean the bottom was. The previous owner last had her out in 2010 (over 18 months ago) and there was only a small amount of growth. Either the antifoul is awesome or the water round here really doesn’t suit little critters trying to make a living in the shadows. Rancote has a good crop of algae on her after just one summer and a decent two coats of antifoul. Jeff ran around with his hammer checking for dull spots that would indicate a dry lamination or osmosis – with everything checking out OK. The lads in the yard renewed the anodes, and then we were back in the water!
We ended the day with a sail out of Alameda into the bay. We ran the engine fully up to speed, got the sails out and gave everything a good test. Probably needs a new main sail – or perhaps maybe I can get the bagginess taken out somehow? Short of a few other minor pieces of work that need doing, Jeff the surveyor declared her “excellent condition”.
In my opinion, when buying a boat, by the time you get to the survey you’ve generally made up your mind, and you’d have to see some fairly serious problems to back out at this point. I did so once before when looking at narrow boats in Bristol – “La Jolie Demoiselle” needed so much work I would have condemned myself to 6 months of refit had I gone ahead. Anyway – Folie a Deux came up all clean. Time to jump in and commit! Now to transfer the funds across to complete the sale before Rose comes out next weekend…
Road and Ocean 