Spring Break

We must be havin' too much fun.....

Isn't that the saying whereby the time flies because of it?  Actually, we did go fishing on one of the Charter Fleet (purported to be the largest on west coast) boats.  This came about while wondering what to do for brother Vern's birthday.  We decided on a half-day excursion, purchased the tickets, and headed out into the ocean just past the kelp beds.  We immediately caught double cheesburgers and cans of brew.  Not bad for the first half-hour out.  Then we were obliged to hang small, wiggly, anchovies on fish hooks and drop them into the water.  Lucky for us, there were a school of beer cans in the galley, otherwise we would have been skunked.  But our luck changed, just barely, and we ended up with a rockfish each, plus Nancy's half-pint rockfish just before the closing bell rang.  While heading back to port, we watched fish being cleaned and a very large crowd of keenly interested fowl crowding the cleaning station.

Heading out of America's Cup Harbor

Nancy and Birthday Boy looking forward to great afternoon

Nancy and Vern supervising filetting of the catch

Pelicans were part of the crowd

As were the Seagulls

Got back to Shakedown, started up the barbie, cooked our catch, ate it, and had birthday cake for desert.  Then April 11th came to a close....

Cake didn't last long after flame was extinguished

The very next day, fun was not what made the time fly... Worked on a leak on our Noah RIB (inflatable dinghy).  While doing laundry had to stop and balance washing machine, as it decided to start walking during spin cycle.  Hauled RIB onto foredeck and went back to working on the air leak(s).

Well, the old gal gave us a good 6 or 7 years of faithful service, but the barrier between two of the three air chambers had collapsed and the seams in the bow were just falling apart.  Two tubes of glue and a few patches couldn't keep up with the splitting.  Finally just gave up and decided to replace it and give away the carcass.

So out from the lazarette came the Achilles LT-4 dinghy, filled it with air, put in the wood floor, added 2 hp Honda, and we were back in business.  So now we had an inflatable with motor, the Walker Bay relagated to row boat, and an 8hp Tohatsu outboard hanging on it's storage rack.  The search for new RIB began.

On the 19th, we both had our eyes checked by the Optometrist at Costco in Poway (of course brother Vern provided transport once again).  Both prescriptions changed, so we headed to Lens Crafters and got new glasses ordered. 

Spent the rest of the month doing "routine" tasks, like filling the water tanks every third day or so, chasing down an electrical problem feeding the navigation suite switch panel (ended up loose screw at positive terminal), researching dinghies, replacing AC lighting with DC LED lights, installing replacement sound (AM/FM/CD) system, changing both primary fuel filters for main engine, tracking down Chart Plotter electrical failure (fuse holder separated from ground wire), picking up new glasses, getting through the Santa Anna winds, with gusts to 40 kts, and other routine events.

May 4th was apparently the official day for StarWars fans, because heard on the radio...."May the 4th be with you". (well, I thought it was new and amusing)

May 5th (Cinco de Mayo) was another date that is worth remembering.  We bought a new RIB at West Marine.  Got a great deal.  It's a 310 Hypalon (for those who care).  But it was late in the afternoon and we weren't prepared to accept it and they weren't prepared to deliver it.  So plans were made, and executed, for a May 6 delivery.  It arrived at the dinghy dock, we extricated it from double-boxed shipping container, pumped it up, dropped it in the water, and towed it back to Shakedown for commissioning.  

Out of box and pumped up at the dinghy dock

Commissioning complete and resting aside its new home

On the 7th, the new RIB went for it's own shakedown cruise.  It handled extremely well and got up on plane within about 1.5 seconds after the engine was "goosed".  Very happy crew, to say the least.

For our friends in Richmond (MBYH), this photo was taken because we recognized the ship from our many a walks around the bay trail over to the Pavillion....you should recognize her...

Car carrier heads out of San Diego bay

Hopefully the "fun" continues as we look forward to visits from friends and family and our "plan" to head south come October....

End to another fun-filled day....