Captains Log: Saildate 12/03/09
It is now my fourth night here in Alamitos Bay. This mission has gotten off on an ok start. Had a bit of a day on Monday with the launch. After paying for 6 days of guest slips at the marina office, we drove over to the launch ramp to find that it was on the inner side of a low bridge.
Monkeys.
I measured the boat from the waterline to the top of the cabin. 4 feet. The mast is about 26 feet. Antenna 1.3 feet. My eyeball guesstimated the bridge was right around 30-35 feet.
While I googled on my iPhone for the height of the Davies Bridge in Long Beach, Jed ( ) walked down to the dock and asked the gentleman who had just launched his boat, a really cool Alaskan Sumthinurother (it looked like a miniature coast guard cutter), if he knew the bridge height.
The gentleman, named Pete, said he didn't know the bridge height (I told Jed that he wouldn't, no mast means no concern), but offered to take Jed over to the bridge on his boat to read the sign posted on the support posts (never underestimate Jed Davis, one day I will learn this).
The bridge height was currently 34 feet and the tide was rising.
Monkeys and Donkeys.
Setting up the boat from the trailer is a task in it's self. Jonathan (official 1st mate OMS BayGull) and I have the steps down to an art, with our record time at one hour. Step the mast, attach the boom, mount the outboard to the transom mount, hook-up docklines, unhook towlines, launch boat, hang rudder, drop keel, prepare sails, start the outboard, push off from dock - 60 minutes.
This is amazing time when compared to the 5 hours that we spent at the boat launch the very first time we had this thing out. It was borderline madness.
Now, I'm faced with two dilemmas. 1. Jonathan busted his knee longboarding two days prior and is in a leg brace. Only able to drive the truck, tie (excellent) knots, and remind me to attach the killswitch to the engine (this has been an issue).
Jed, who has graciously offered to lend a hand, took his first boat ride EVER earlier with Pete.*
So, I already knew that it would take extra time, but now my second problem was figuring out what to do about the bridge.*
We've taken the mast down in a slip, but never raised it in the water. This was an ominous thought, but I remembered reading about a senior couple who rigged their boat (which has a much larger mast than mine) with a special hinge and winch that allowed them to raise and lower their mast while in the water to get under bridges at anytime. If this couple can accomplish this, then two healthy fellas like me and the Jedster can raise this mast while the boat is in the water and tied up in a slip.
This whole living aboard and meandering around southern California thing is about challenging myself right? Exactly.
After a few hours of setting up everything except the mast (and 10 minutes of me trying to start the outboard without the killswitch on) we were motoring under the bridge and towards the guest slip.
The guest slip was not a slip, but an end tie. Which means open water on one side.
I had mutiny on the deck, and a crew making promises to come back next week, help me launch it somewhere else where we could raise the mast on land and sail it back to Alamitos Bay.
They almost sold me on this. I was tired and it was late, but I don't want to be stranded here. The 6hp outboard is great for the harbor and I have had to use it in the ocean when the winds have died, but I don't want to have to motor to Newport or Dana Point if something comes up and they can't make it down this weekend. **
I explained this to them and pointed out that there was an open slip two boats down from our end tie. We could go to In'n'Out Burger first, and if it's still empty when we get back (midnight) then I think we can use it for 20 minutes to raise the mast. They agreed. I am blessed with good friends, and quite thankful for that In'n'Out. It helped.
Operation Ninja Step went down smoothly. We did drop the mast support (used when trailering) in the water, but that's the least of my concerns. There's a shop here called Scuba Duba, where they dive down and clean the boat hulls. I'm gonna see if I can sweet talk'em into grabbing my mast support next time they're cleaning a nearby boat.*
I should probably get Jed to come back down here and ask them.
By 1am Jonathan and Jed were heading out, back to L.A. in Jonathan's truck with my trailer, leaving me and my boat here in Long Beach for the start of this mission.
I'm a bit nervous, but that's actually assuring, because when I'm overconfident, well, I tend to duck up. Ducking up too many times causes you to Quack up, then your whole trip flies south. We call this the Law of the Mallard.
I really really really want to get a permanent slip here in Alamitos Bay. It's perfect. It's in Long Beach, but not connected to the Port of Los Angeles, which means I don't have to navigate around oil tankers when exiting the breakwater.*
Alamitos Bay is also on the Orange County side of Long Beach and Orange County is where I am currently working. So, by staying here I am right inbetween my job in OC and my friends in LA. Perfect.
The website says that there is currently a waiting list for liveaboard slips, but regular ones are available. Websites can be wrong (especially in the boat world, nobody updates them), so maybe I might get lucky.
Even if a liveabord is not available, keeping a slip here for half the week is a swell idea. Great spot for weekends. I walk right up the dock and there's a Whole Foods in front of me, and that infamous overpriced boat store whose name I will not say but you know which one I'm talking about to my right.
I'm going to go to the office and inquire on Saturday. I can rent up to 9 more nights of guest slips within this month. I'm paid for through Saturday night. I was going to sail to Newport Harbor on Sunday and stay on their $5 a night moorings, but Monday's forecast calls for rain, so it looks like another week here in Alamitos Bay.
Slip number 853, the one we used to raise the mast, is still empty. I want it. It's perfect. Cross your fingers for me.
It is now my fourth night here in Alamitos Bay. This mission has gotten off on an ok start. Had a bit of a day on Monday with the launch. After paying for 6 days of guest slips at the marina office, we drove over to the launch ramp to find that it was on the inner side of a low bridge.
Monkeys.
I measured the boat from the waterline to the top of the cabin. 4 feet. The mast is about 26 feet. Antenna 1.3 feet. My eyeball guesstimated the bridge was right around 30-35 feet.
While I googled on my iPhone for the height of the Davies Bridge in Long Beach, Jed ( ) walked down to the dock and asked the gentleman who had just launched his boat, a really cool Alaskan Sumthinurother (it looked like a miniature coast guard cutter), if he knew the bridge height.
The gentleman, named Pete, said he didn't know the bridge height (I told Jed that he wouldn't, no mast means no concern), but offered to take Jed over to the bridge on his boat to read the sign posted on the support posts (never underestimate Jed Davis, one day I will learn this).
The bridge height was currently 34 feet and the tide was rising.
Monkeys and Donkeys.
Setting up the boat from the trailer is a task in it's self. Jonathan (official 1st mate OMS BayGull) and I have the steps down to an art, with our record time at one hour. Step the mast, attach the boom, mount the outboard to the transom mount, hook-up docklines, unhook towlines, launch boat, hang rudder, drop keel, prepare sails, start the outboard, push off from dock - 60 minutes.
This is amazing time when compared to the 5 hours that we spent at the boat launch the very first time we had this thing out. It was borderline madness.
Now, I'm faced with two dilemmas. 1. Jonathan busted his knee longboarding two days prior and is in a leg brace. Only able to drive the truck, tie (excellent) knots, and remind me to attach the killswitch to the engine (this has been an issue).
Jed, who has graciously offered to lend a hand, took his first boat ride EVER earlier with Pete.*
So, I already knew that it would take extra time, but now my second problem was figuring out what to do about the bridge.*
We've taken the mast down in a slip, but never raised it in the water. This was an ominous thought, but I remembered reading about a senior couple who rigged their boat (which has a much larger mast than mine) with a special hinge and winch that allowed them to raise and lower their mast while in the water to get under bridges at anytime. If this couple can accomplish this, then two healthy fellas like me and the Jedster can raise this mast while the boat is in the water and tied up in a slip.
This whole living aboard and meandering around southern California thing is about challenging myself right? Exactly.
After a few hours of setting up everything except the mast (and 10 minutes of me trying to start the outboard without the killswitch on) we were motoring under the bridge and towards the guest slip.
The guest slip was not a slip, but an end tie. Which means open water on one side.
I had mutiny on the deck, and a crew making promises to come back next week, help me launch it somewhere else where we could raise the mast on land and sail it back to Alamitos Bay.
They almost sold me on this. I was tired and it was late, but I don't want to be stranded here. The 6hp outboard is great for the harbor and I have had to use it in the ocean when the winds have died, but I don't want to have to motor to Newport or Dana Point if something comes up and they can't make it down this weekend. **
I explained this to them and pointed out that there was an open slip two boats down from our end tie. We could go to In'n'Out Burger first, and if it's still empty when we get back (midnight) then I think we can use it for 20 minutes to raise the mast. They agreed. I am blessed with good friends, and quite thankful for that In'n'Out. It helped.
Operation Ninja Step went down smoothly. We did drop the mast support (used when trailering) in the water, but that's the least of my concerns. There's a shop here called Scuba Duba, where they dive down and clean the boat hulls. I'm gonna see if I can sweet talk'em into grabbing my mast support next time they're cleaning a nearby boat.*
I should probably get Jed to come back down here and ask them.
By 1am Jonathan and Jed were heading out, back to L.A. in Jonathan's truck with my trailer, leaving me and my boat here in Long Beach for the start of this mission.
I'm a bit nervous, but that's actually assuring, because when I'm overconfident, well, I tend to duck up. Ducking up too many times causes you to Quack up, then your whole trip flies south. We call this the Law of the Mallard.
I really really really want to get a permanent slip here in Alamitos Bay. It's perfect. It's in Long Beach, but not connected to the Port of Los Angeles, which means I don't have to navigate around oil tankers when exiting the breakwater.*
Alamitos Bay is also on the Orange County side of Long Beach and Orange County is where I am currently working. So, by staying here I am right inbetween my job in OC and my friends in LA. Perfect.
The website says that there is currently a waiting list for liveaboard slips, but regular ones are available. Websites can be wrong (especially in the boat world, nobody updates them), so maybe I might get lucky.
Even if a liveabord is not available, keeping a slip here for half the week is a swell idea. Great spot for weekends. I walk right up the dock and there's a Whole Foods in front of me, and that infamous overpriced boat store whose name I will not say but you know which one I'm talking about to my right.
I'm going to go to the office and inquire on Saturday. I can rent up to 9 more nights of guest slips within this month. I'm paid for through Saturday night. I was going to sail to Newport Harbor on Sunday and stay on their $5 a night moorings, but Monday's forecast calls for rain, so it looks like another week here in Alamitos Bay.
Slip number 853, the one we used to raise the mast, is still empty. I want it. It's perfect. Cross your fingers for me.
