Home in Santa Cruz

Well we finally made it back to Santa Cruz after a rough 140 mile trip from Morro Bay, around Point Sur. The wind was directly on our nose and the seas continually were breaking over the deck, meaning that we were cold, wet and tired for the entire 26 hours of the trip. I had some awesome crew with me though, even when some of them got seasick they didn't complain at all. I do have to say that pulling into the Santa Cruz Harbor after that trip was probably the best landfall I have ever made.

After finally getting home, I managed to get a permanent slip for "Into the Mystic!" Usually getting a slip in the lower harbor in Santa Cruz takes between 10-20 years, I managed to do it in two days. Into the Mystic only draws 4 feet, (she only goes down four feet under the water,) so that meant that we were able to go in a slip that no one else would fit in. It also may help that I work at the harbor, but either way, I have a sweet spot to keep the boat while I am in Santa Cruz!

Unfortunately the exhaust flange that was connected to the manifold broke again, I guess the guy in Morro Bay didn't do a great job. I was able to replace the elbow and reattach it but it was pretty ghetto, so I have to get a new flange and fix it the right way.

Thats about it for me, I am about to start varnishing, which will be a summer long project, but she will look awesome when I finally get her all shiny!

The Trip North

Well I left San Diego a week ago, headed to Santa Cruz. I made it back, however the boat has not yet. She is sitting in Morro Bay, after some repairs, ready to make the last push to Santa Cruz.

I wish I could say that the trip from San Diego to Morro Bay was uneventful, but we ran into a couple of problems. The most serious of which happened as soon as we left Santa Catalina on the second night. We were motoring north along the coast of Catalina heading to Ventura harbor when I went below to get a couple hours of sleep. All of a sudden I heard a noise and sat up and saw that the floorboards were underwater, (the boat was taking on serious water.) So we turned around, I flipped on the bilge pump, handed Chris the manual pump and went to check thru-hulls etc. Unfortunately, the electric bilge pump failed, there was a crack in the manual pump and we were still taking on water. I had a hand pump for the dinghy and had to use that to get the leak under control. Its funny how everything seems to fail at the exact moment that you need it.

After our little night of excitement things did calm down. We rounded Conception with no issues, (Point Conception is the sketchiest part of the trip up the coast.) As we pulled into Morro Bay however, the engine exhaust pipe shattered, pumping water into the bilge (the reason we were taking on water the first time was due to a crack in the exhaust system that I had just PAID someone to replace in SD.) I shut her down and we managed to grab a nearby mooring ball. The Morro Bay Yacht Club was very welcoming and I found someone to weld my broken exhaust elbow.

I had to get back to Santa Cruz to work, but I am heading down at the end of the week to finally get her up here. Below is a picture of our first landfall in Catalina.

Max's first Money Pit

I have never really blogged before, but I thought that buying a boat was a bloggable event, so here I go. I flew down to San Diego about a week ago where I bought a boat. I picked her up from the marina she was in, single handed her up to a boat yard and watched as she was pulled out of the water. Over the past week I have had her buffed, painted, poked and prodded and eventually renamed. 

Now she is sitting in the water, looking better than I expected, waiting for our trip up the coast. We are just waiting on a part from the local Volvo engine dealer, and as soon as we get that installed, we are outta here.

 Since I have been down here I have learned a couple of things. Boats are damn expensive. Don't say you coulda told me that, I knew what I was getting into, but shit man, knowing and experiencing are very different things. 

If anyone ever needs to buy a boat, sell a boat, ask a question about a boat and you are in California, call yachtfinders, ask for Clark, he is awesome, seriously he made me feel more welcome than I could have ever imagined. I got to go race with him on a Soverel 33 and we destroyed the start. We did a pin end port start and gassed the entire fleet. If you don't sail, all you need to know is that we finished a good four to five minutes in front of everyone else. 

There is a crazy woman from Santa Cruz, I think she wants to have my babies. Not only does she have a daughter my age, but she enjoys fist fights, drinking to excess, and sleeping with everyone that comes through the boat yard. All of the yard guys warned me to lock my boat up every time I stepped off it unless I wanted to find her in my bed... 

In other news Jon, my skipper from Santa Cruz, has a son down here who has been awesome. He has totally been taking care of me, tomorrow we are going sailing on his boat. Really awesome guy, its been a lot of fun hanging out with him. 

I suppose thats about all I have for now, later