Returning to Talaria on 9/8/11 was blissful. Even Snoball is happy to be "home" again. In this past week we have made the lists all sailors do as they plan to depart on the next leg of adventures. We plan to leave 11/1/11 from San Diego traveling south towards Panama City. The sail plan includes anchoring along the route to enjoy the pleasures of the Pacific coastline before we transit the canal. So this picture is Rick upgrading parts on the boom that we found deficient on our trip south from the Pacific NW in 2010.
We have wonderful memories of the past 6 months seeing freinds and family during our land travels. But we feel the pull of the wind and a desire to continue sailing.

Finished!! Finally despite sore knuckles and knees we finished replacing the caulking of our teak decks. After receiving bids of $12K to $17K, we practiced on a section and found success. Thanks to a generous neighbor with a custom tool that helped scrape the old caulk from the sides of the teak planking. We worked 5 hours every day for 6 weeks and did it for $600.00. Using Teak Decking Systems SIS 440 and #218 fine line tape from 3M under the caulk worked great. We lightly sanded the caulk flush to the planks and will let it gray naturally. We love the teak decks for the secure footing on deck when sailing. One of the NO items on our list when shopping for a boat was teak decks.....funny how you 'think' you know what you want.....

Tomorrow we leave Talaria for land based travel to our niece's wedding, daughter's graduation and to play with our grandson. We aren't certain when we will return but have a trusted neighbor to watch over her.

Lazy days in San Diego

Decisions may be harder with no deadlines. We had a great bit of difficulty trying to decide whether to stay a few more months in SD or move on south to Mexico. But finally after much deliberation at the pool side, we have decided to stay in SD for a few more months. We will finish up projects on the boat and more easily fly to Boston for Christmas with Karen and Isaac. Then possibly sail to Mexico in January......or maybe not...... but that would mean we would stay in SD until after hurricane season until Nov 2011. Guess we need more pool time....
Seriously, we have a couple of big projects such as a Bimini (sun cover over the cockpit) and possibly solar panels to work on. I am seriously knitting. This week I finished a hooded sweater and mittens for a 5yo boy in Bellingham that I love, fingerless gloves for Karen (hand spun yarn from her beloved Sheltie) , and working on another pair of socks ( hand spun yarn wool/bamboo). I have started spinning again and joined a spin in at a shop in Encinitas. Common Threads is a fantastic yarn/fiber shop with an incredible stock of yarns. The owners are so nice and helpful, reminding me of Great Yarns I left behind in Everett. Snoball likes it when I sit to knit or spin, have to keep the cat happy....

Traveling Times

End of September was a time for traveling to Washington to see family and old friends. We spent time in Bellingham with Andy, Rebecca and Felice. Hiking on Mt Galbraith with Andy and Felice was a highlight. We saw many friends and x-coworkers. After 2 weeks we began our road trip to CA. We took our time, camping and hiking with Crater Lake and Yosemite being our favorite stops.

The additional fun things were wine tasting and brewery hopping. Starting in Seattle with Elysian Breweries 3 pumpkin beers which I love. Rick loves Rogue brews and we tipped a few in Eugene OR. A great find in the Clear Lake area of CA is called Robledo Family Winery. We continued on to taste alot of great wines in the Russian River Valley. We skipped the Napa Valley due to $$$ wines do not fit into the retirement budget. Crossing CA to the Amador and El Dorado county wineries we enjoyed Eastern/ Terre Rouge winery finding a great 10 year old Syrah. Stone brewery was another stop just before San Diego where we had more great brews. Overall we had a great road trip with no deadlines.

Entering San Diego Bay

Sailing into San Diego Bay is fun on a sunny Sunday afternoon as there were thousands of boating sailing throughout the length of the bay. Our marina is 12 miles from the harbor entrance. We are docked now for a while at Chula Vista Marina. Time to reflect on our passage of 1500 nautical miles, do repairs and plan for the next adventure. We will be sad to say good bye to Denis on Wednesday. We will be a team of 2 again.

Sailing with Denis

Sailing with Denis was a joy and essential at times. He is a great helmsman, boat repair trouble shooter and easy to get along with. Here he is sailing in the sunset toward San Deigo.

On the hook at Catalina Island

We sailed to Catalina island and hung on the hook at catalina harbor. We took the dinghy ashore to walk across to Two Harbors (the town in this area of the island). We encountered flowering catus and wild winds blowing across this narrow isthmus. Two Harbor is a boaters town across Santa Monica Bay from Los Angeles. The mooring buoys are packed tight and you must pick up a bow and stern line. There is a general store with island prices and a pub with EXPENSIVE beer. We spent 2 nights in cat harbor on the quiet side of the island.