What do you get the boat that has everything?

So, in honor of last weeks boat birthday/anniversary, I dropped her off this past weekend to get hauled and get her hull repainted and some other stuff done at the same time.  After talking to a bunch of people whose opinions I trust, I decided to go with KKMI over in Point Richmond.  Everyone I spoke with said the same thing: Svendsen’s in Alameda or KKMI in Point Richmond.  Reviews and online things pointed in the same direction, to those two.  Finally, I’m from Richmond (RI) and Point Richmond is easier for me to get to from work for things like this little trip, so decided to go with KKMI.   I put forth that decision making rationale to see if I get feedback from other people who make decisions in a similar fashion – narrow the choices based on real reasons, then to decide among those final few, go with kind of odd non-reasons. 

Sailed the boat over Sunday on a day with really strange wind for the bay – it was coming from the Southeast.  Weird.  Rebecca was crew, which meant I got to take pee breaks!!! and Javier served as cabino boy (ok, he was crew, too).  It was neat sailing into an industrial area.  There are a lot of cool abandoned (or at least, they look abandoned) waterfront buildings.  I’ll try to remember to take some photos of them when I pick the boat up.

Boat got pulled out yesterday, and I went over to go over things with the project manager, Bob.  The hull turns out to be in decent shape, just ready for a new antifouling paint job.  While its on the hard, I’m going to have them install the sensor for my depth sounder, which will make me feel more comfortable in a few places I want to check out.  The other big thing they’ll do is fix the rudder.

The rudder has always had a bit of a wobble – turns out the lower bushing is worn out and the top bushing is missing completely!  I’m hoping getting this repaired will make backing out of the dock under motor easier.  Additionally, Bob pointed out that the rudder had a bad repair job sometime in the past.  Some sealant of some sort was slapped on over the paint and is now peeling off.  They’ll grind it down, figure out what the problem was, and fix it.  I’m really glad to know about this before it just fell apart!

They said I can go over there and work on it when they aren’t, so I’m planning to go over this weekend and do a little fiberglassing in the engine well plus install the holder for my swim ladder.

Happy Birthday!

Yesterday was the Indian Summer’s birthday.  Or at least, the day when I celebrate it.  Two years ago yesterday, I acquired the Indian Summer, sometime during its 37th year.  Now, its approaching 40 and still cranky as ever.

Winds were very high yesterday, but I went out for a short spin anyway.  Winds were 18 knots at the GG Bridge, gusting to 33 by Angel Island.  I sailed on the jib with a severely reefed main so that I could have a little more control.   Lots of heeling!  At one point, we heeled so far that the gas tank fell over.  That hasn’t happened since the first summer, when I figured out a better way to secure it in place.  Luckily, almost none spilled out.

Sabine (the other Tink) came with me – she’d never been sailing on  SF Bay, but had quite a bit as a kid in France.  She didn’t tell me till half way through the sail that she was a little frightened of sailing, having once been on a dinghy that demasted, capsized, and sank, leaving her and another kid clinging to a breakwater while helicoptors tried to rescue them!  I’m quite impressed that she has gone sailing again after that.

My boat got a little belligerent (or maybe I got cocky) and tried to ram a big boat (100 feet or so) in swirling winds.  It was a near miss, and in fact, I think my forestay might have kissed a line on the other boat’s bow sprit.  Luckily, no damage to either boat.

Still, had a nice sail and boat bonding, then today went out and boat the fiberglass and other things I’m going to have to use to set up the mount for the new swim ladder.  Can’t wait for those late summer afternoons in the lee of Angel Island.