Humdrum

Things have been slow lately. We are finishing up our Boating Safety class this Wednesday. Our engine has been out of commission, so we haven't been able to leave the mooring ball yet. We've been meeting a lot of the locals and some of them have offered to go sailing with us, which means free lessons! YAY! But until the engine is working consistently, we won't be going anywhere. (It's too tricky to get in and out of the mooring without a motor, especially for two novices like ourselves!) The Beer Can Races are held every Wednesday night in San Diego Bay and one of our neighbors has invited us along with him and some friends. Hopefully, we will be able to join them next week... once we finish our boating class.

That's about all that's been going on. We're just learning all the ins and outs of boating life... and there's a LOT to learn. The life of a sailor is a slow life and luckily Ben and I blend right in. (Much different from our east-coast upbringings!) Hopefully, I'll have more to say in my next post. Until then...

Pride Parade 2008

We attended the San Diego Gay Pride Parade this morning in Hillcrest. Here are some pics:

Photo Op

Here are some miscellaneous photos:

Here is a view of Ben at the top of the mast:

Here is a view that Ben took from the top of the mast:

Here are two pics of Lola with her short summer 'do:

Dinghy

This Dinghy is our ride. Just as you have a car, we have a Dinghy. Without this Dinghy, we're either stuck on the boat or on the Hard. As I described in my last blog, there are different docks we can lock our Dinghy to. Because we have to row everywhere, we tend to use the two docks closest to our boat.


Here is a picture of the main dock:



The other day we docked Dinghy and went ashore for a walk. We usually lock Dinghy on the side of the dock closest to our boat. As we were returning from our walk, I recognized Dinghy on the wrong side of the dock and panicked. Dinghy must have come unlocked and started drifting! We ran down to catch Dinghy before it was too late. As it turned out, Dinghy had been tied up to the dock by a friendly neighbor. Somehow our lock had failed and Dinghy was on the loose, drifting across the bay! One generous resident of our community saw Dinghy on the move, rowed over, lassoed her and reined her back up to the dock. We owe a special Thank You to Jim for saving Dinghy. And a special 'F' You to Master Lock for the $#!%%iest piece of crap we've ever purchased.

Home Sweet Home

View Larger Map

The above map will give you a better idea of where we live. Our boat is in the line just to the left of the red "A" marker on the map. To our north is the San Diego International Airport. West of us is the U.S. Coast Guard Station. Downtown San Diego is to the southeast and Coronado Island toward the southwest. One day we hope to be amongst the boats moored out in the water, away from the wall.


View Larger Map

This map shows where we dock our dinghy (see blue map markers - the two on either end are the dinghy docks and the one in the middle is Mother Culture). Once we get a motor for it, there will be many more places for us to visit and dock. For now we usually only use the two docks closest to Mother Culture. The docks are the best place to meet people and find out what's going on in the community.

It's A Girl!

This is Mother Culture. She is a 33ft. Islander Sloop, built in 1966. She is moored in the San Diego Bay, right near downtown San Diego. We are living aboard and our new home offers the best of both worlds. We are walking distance (after we dinghy to the dock, of course) to downtown San Diego and we have an awesome view of the city. But (more importantly) since we are living on the water, we don't have to deal with all the wackadoos in the city. (With the exception of one wackadoo named Cider Jack who happens to live on the bench on land just about 15 feet from our boat... but luckily he can't get any closer to us). I have included some pics of the boat (note the view:)) and I will be chronicling our adventures here. But please don't hold your breath waiting for pictures of exotic places. First, we must learn to sail!