Whole again

Daring young man in bosun's chair

The mast work was finished and the masts reinstalled yesterday thanks to the daring young man in the bosun's char (see picture to right). BTW - it isn't me in the chair. The re-installation went smoothly. I spent close to three hours putting the booms and sails back on and sorting out all the lines. The end result is a boat that I can sail again.

A sailboat without mast(s) is a bird without wings. Between the absence of the masts and the attendant mess (see picture below, right), I have felt weighed down - almost crippled. With the masts back and some semblance of order on deck, I feel much freer and lighter. I can spread my wings and fly again - soon.

That is not to say that there isn't work to be done. The masts have all new internal wiring. This time it is done right which means that it is different from the way it used to be. That means I have come up with a new way to get it all hooked up. Not a huge problem - just another thing to get done. Once the wiring is finished I think I am down to just needing to get everything stowed properly for sailing and I can be off.

Home (not so) sweet mess

With this most recent delay, I won't be moving to Richardson Bay to do my shakedown sailing until after Christmas. I'm hoping things check out quickly once I am there. I will be anchored out rather than tied up at a slip. That means no plugging in to shore power. That, in turn, means that I will not have any kind of heat on the boat. With the nights getting down into the low 40s, that is not a wonderful prospect.

Disturbing news from Mexico. Apparently one branch of the Mexican government has decided to go wild on checking boat paperwork for foreign boats with the result that a large number of boats are now forbidden to leave Mexico until they prove that they have the proper paperwork. In most cases, the paperwork is OK but the boat owner was not present when the officials showed up to check it so the boat was classified as illegal. Read more about it here. Maybe I will go to Hawaii for a month instead if the situation isn't resolved by the time I am ready to leave San Diego. I would be happy to renew my acquaintance with the Hawaii Yacht Club. I stayed there when I sailed my boat out from San Diego in 1976 and then again when I ferried a boat from Hawaii to Guam in early 1977.

I probably will not post again until after the Winter Solstice and the insane religious and commercial activities that go with it so I will take this opportunity to wish you a Happy Winter Solstice. Remember, solstice is the reason for the season.