Dive Bar

A while back, we purchased a dive ladder at Minney's. Ben installed it recently so now he can easily climb out of the water after cleaning the boat. It also came in handy for Kristie when she fell out of her kayak on the 4th. ;)

Independence

It's been a while since my last post. I'm officially done with school tomorrow, so hopefully I'll make time to blog more in the next couple of months.

Ben has been working on some boat projects while I've been focusing on school and work. We even took a little Bay Sail one day a week or two ago. I'll post pics in the near future but for now I'll start with the 4th of July.

We enjoyed a pretty laid-back holiday weekend on the mooring field. I finally took Bad Seed for a spin (photo, left). I'm happy to report I haven't fallen into the water... yet!

Matt and Dianne stopped by for some sangria and sunshine before heading to OB for the fireworks show.

Mark came over and gave Bad Seed a try while Kristie yakked around. 

Kristie took a spill (or two) but that didn't stop her travels around the bay.

Always the eccentric, Charlie was spotted cruising around the 

bay in his self-designed handicapped lawnchair dinghy.

Andrea and I went on a sunset row while Ben went for a sunset sail. On our journey, we met a new friend, Pete, who was stationed at the end of the mooring field... The three of us rowed back out to Pete's boat later for an unobstructed view of the six synchronized fireworks shows around the Bay.

 On Tuesday, we were graced by a rainbow over the city. No rain, though. Only beautiful, sunny, 70+ degree weather all weekend long. This summer is definitely redemption for last year.

Even Lola got to go for a ride in Bad Seed!

34/7

Spring Sailing

Ben and I have both been honing our sailing skills this year. Back in March, I enrolled in a US Sailing Keelboat sailing class at Mission Bay Aquatic Center. You might be wondering why a girl with a boat would bother taking a class when she can learn through trial and error right here at home. I am the type of girl who needs to feel competent away from my man. It seems to be a running joke among the men on the mooring field that their wives or girlfriends couldn't save them if they fell overboard. Those jokes aren't funny to me, and I'm happy to report I took the written exam a couple weeks ago and passed. So I am now a US Sailing certified Keelboat sailor. I learned tons of cool stuff, like how to tie a bowline without looking in a book (finally!), how to rig a boat, how to heave-to, the Figure-8 and Quick-Stop man overboard drills, among other things. And the best part is, now I can rent a boat anywhere in the U.S.A! (I know, I know, we already have a boat. But if we fly somewhere, we can't take our boat with us!)

As you can see in the picture above, Ben has been getting his share of sailing practice, too. Recently, he's been perfecting his skills around the Bay on Joe & Julie's "Bad Seed."

Memorial Day Sail

I thought I'd have more time to blog this summer but I decided to take a couple 6-week summer courses, so those have taken precedence for now. Hopefully, I'll make more time to write when I finally have a break in July and August. Although I haven't had a chance to write, I did find time to squeeze in some sailing. On Memorial Day, our neighbors Joe and Julie hijacked another neighbor's beautiful Hans Christian 38' and took Ben, Lola and I along for the ride. Joe tried to get me at the helm, but I have a strict policy of NOT captaining a boat that I can't afford to replace... so other than trying out the wheel for a few minutes (so different from our tiller steering!), I left the dirty work to the others and sat back and enjoyed the ride. The rollers were pretty big out in the ocean so we headed back towards home and bumped into some friends along the way. Here are some pics:

Sailing On Point

Not-So-Gray May

 This May has been unseasonably warm and sunny, perhaps redemption for last year's lack of summer. A couple weeks ago, I got my new waterproof camera and Ben, Lola and I rode our bikes (well, ok, we didn't make Lola pedal the whole way) to Ocean Beach. This is a colorful shot of the usually barren and dehydrated San Diego River.

In addition to bestowing life upon the river, the winter rains also speckled our white propane tank in shades of rust. Ben refilled the tank the other day and coated it with Rustoleum to prevent further deterioration.

Hopefully, we'll not only find the time to scratch a couple more small boat projects off our "To Do" list this summer, but we'll also get some much-needed time on the water practicing our skills.

Anchorage Two: La Playa

About a month ago, we anchored for the second time this year... in La Playa. Most of the excitement happened to one of the neighboring boats anchored here. We spent a few hours relaxing in our cockpit one afternoon, with live entertainment consisting of a peregrine falcon defeathering and consuming a pigeon on the spreader of said boat.



Once that show was over, we had the excitement of watching a powerboat drag anchor downwind, right towards the same boat. Ben helped save the day by rowing over and fending off the powerboat before Vessel Assist arrived. (No one was aboard the sailboat at the time).

Dragging...

Dragging...

Tap...

Vessel Assist to the Rescue...

The grand finale of our trip came after a night at Shelter Island's Marina Club - the home of Semi-Live Entertainment. After a few too many Sailor Jerrys, Ben's usually graceful dinghy launch got a little tipsy and we made a grand splash... right into the water. Thus marks our first submergence in almost 3 years of living on the boat. Casualties included one camera, two cell phones, a pair of flip flops, a life preserver, a sponge and a couple towels. Overall, not a horribly tragic flip. I have recently acquired a new camera and will be ready for our next anchorage, hopefully in the very near future. And this camera is... WATERPROOF!