10/23/09

Hola,

We had a nice sail on Solera a couple of days ago. Cyn and I headed out of the bay in light winds under full sail. The new staysail is a perfect fit. It has the same shape as the genoa and sets very nice. The old staysail is a smaller high cut yankee that is heavily built and will now serve as our storm sail. The wind steadily built up as we sailed out and was blowing about sixteen knots when we decided to head back. The forecast called for a norther with possible winds in the high 20’s. That’s a little more than we wanted on our first sail of this trip down. Solera was clipping along at about seven knots in a strong swell that was running out of the north. The troughs were so deep we would loose sight of the horizon from the cockpit.

Tacking a cutter rig requires a little extra effort with the two head sails. We furl in a little of the genoa then backwind the staysail as we tack. The staysail gathers up the genoa sends it through the slot between the two forstays. Then we release and re-set the staysail. This system gives us a smooth tack every time. On the way back the wind picked up even more and was starting to blow the tops off of the swell. I should have reefed the main sail but decided to just go on overpowered a bit since we were so close to San Carlos. We quickly reached the protection of Punta Doble, dropped sail and headed to our slip.

Maneuvering a large boat in the tight quarters of the marina is a little intimidating. To maintain control you have to tread a fine line between not enough speed and too much. There are a number very expensive yachts to hit and I don’t need that on my resume. Solera handles really well in tight quarters for a full keel boat. No close calls while in the marina. We stayed in a slip until after Hurricane Rick passed, then we moved to a mooring. Rick ended up being intense in the open ocean, the strongest ever measured in the eastern Pacific, but calmed down as it turned east toward land. Gave us a good scare though.

Being on this mooring is kind of bitter sweet. A SCUBA guide named Tommy had a cabin cruiser on it until hurricane Jimena hit. His boat rolled over and eventually sank while on the mooring. He lived aboard, but was in Tucson during the hurricane. Poor guy lost everything. He still says he’s “living the dream” but I sense a touch of sarcasm now. Of the boats in the bay during the hurricane most that suffered damage were either power boats or small sailboats.

I went out on Bombay, Oscar’s Pearson 34, for an afternoon sail. Winds were strong so we double reefed the main and went for it. The only time I’ve sailed faster was in Hawaii on a charter of America II. We really had Bombay moving, over hull speed much of the time. We ran east to the far side of Bahia San Francisco then worked our way back upwind to San Carlos bay. We were tacking her like a race boat. It was great fun. Bob Perry would have been proud of Even Keeled’s big sister.


Adios,

Ric & Cyn

10/13/09

Solera is in the water and ready to go with a new transmission, rebuilt exhaust system, new bottom paint, repaired water tank, new depth sounder, new staysail and new wind system. All we need is some good weather. It’s raining right now as we sit under a tropical depression. The area is incredibly green though. The hillsides look like Ireland but with huge cactus. The temps have been much better with highs in the mid 80’s and comfortable breezes. As it turned out it was really hot for only the first three or four days.

We stayed on the boat in the work yard for a couple of nights. That’s something we will avoid in the future. I would compare it to living in an RV in the middle of a large construction site. Plenty of diesels and dust. Then add a 75 pound Airedale. Morgan has been great though. She has resigned herself to the fact that this is how it’s going to be now and is ok with it. I had to carry her up a 12 foot ladder to put her in the boat while in the work yard. That was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. I have a life jacket for her with a handle on the back that allows her be carried like a suitcase. She doesn’t fight it at all, she just lets out a grunt when you pick her up then spreads her legs out like a freefalling skydiver as she gets carried up the ladder.

I came out of retirement for a couple of days to help Oscar with a rigging job. We replaced the standing rigging, repaired a furler and aligned a prop shaft on, of all things, a Cal 2-27. I enjoyed doing the work and I’m learning a lot about rigging. I plan to help out on a few more jobs as they come along, may even start up a Colorado branch of Bermex Marine. Cindy deserves special mention here. While I was working with Oscar, she did the bottom painting on Solera all on her own. It was a big job and the boat looks really good now. Saved us a few hundred bucks too.

Cyn and I are more than ready to get out and sail. We plan on a day sail to test everything out, then an overnighter up the coast. After that we’re off to Conception Bay and La Paz on the coast of Baja. There are several islands with some excellent anchorages along the way. Total round trip will be over five hundred miles. I’m estimating we’ll be out for a little over two weeks.

Ric & Cyn

Back in San Carlos - 10/2/09

Welcome to the Solera Blog!

Cyn and I are back in San Carlos for a couple of months. No problems on the way down with one exception. We stopped after crossing the border to pay customs duty on a transmission and a couple of other items for the boat. Long story short, we were delayed for two hours because our customs agent was not able to make sense of a simple receipt. I just stay calm and pleasant through these situations and things always seem to work out.

It is HOT though. We came down a little earlier than last year mainly to complete some boat projects before the good sailing weather arrives. May have been a bad idea. It was 107 in Hermosillo and 96 in San Carlos when we arrived. Humidity is around 80%. Quite an adjustment from Colorado weather. Our Airedale Morgan is with us and she made it clear she wants a bus ticket back.

San Carlos is recovering quite well from Hurricane Jemena in early September. Roads are in good shape and all utilities are back in operation. Evidence of the storm is still visible all over town if you look close enough. The clean up effort has been amazing.

Yesterday I met a fellow who was in the dry storage yard on his boat during the hurricane. He said the little arroyo nearby looked like the Mississippi. He was on the edge if the fast moving current watching the water continue to rise. If his boat floated off it’s stands his plan was to drop anchor to hopefully keep him in place. Imagine, anchoring out in (dry) storage. Luckily his boat stayed put on it‘s stands.

Today I successfully installed the new transmission in Solera! We were having issues with the old one binding up in forward. It was about a five hour job in extreme heat and humidity. The biggest problem was removing the hub from the prop shaft. Who knows how many years it has been since it was last removed, maybe 25? Anyway, after the equivalent of a thousand or so arm curls and ab crunches, it parted from the shaft. To add insult I used a torch to heat and expand the hub. The float switch tripped the bilge pump twice during the job… just from all the sweat.

Olaf is churning and gaining strength off the coast of Baja. Computer models show it heading this way in a few days. We’ll keep a close watch and do what it takes to be safe. It can’t happen twice in one year can it?

Ric &Cyn