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Away for the next couple of weeks


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Starting tonight, I'll be away for the next couple of weeks, sailing down to Southern California and back on the Aldebaran (the same ship Ransom and I were on at the NorCal festival.) We'll be within twenty miles of the coast going South, but in order to sail North, we'll have to head out towards Hawaii and then head back in. I've never been more than twenty miles from shore so this is going to be a new experience for me! Several of us will be bringing cameras, so I'll post pics when I get back.

Here's a rough idea of our route:

Sailing07-08.jpg

With any luck, I'll be back on the 14th but that depends on the winds.

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Like I said at Nor Cal, Jill, if your duffle bag feels a little heavier than usual, just ignore it. However, you might toss a granola bar into it a few times...at least until the Aldebaran is out to sea! :huh:

I know you will have a blast, and I am sooooo green with envy right now!

...schooners, islands, and maroons

and buccaneers and buried gold...

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You can do everything right, strictly according to procedure, on the ocean, and it'll still kill you. But if you're a good navigator, a least you'll know where you were when you died.......From The Ship Killer by Justin Scott.

"Well, that's just maddeningly unhelpful."....Captain Jack Sparrow

Found in the Ruins — Unique Jewelry

Found in the Ruins — Personal Blog

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Due to some unexpected weather, we cut our trip a few days short. It was still quite an adventure, though. We sailed out to about fifty miles from shore but had to detour to Monterey in over 30 knot winds and swells like you wouldn't believe. We also saw some grey whales and some dalls porpoises, which surfed on our bow for several minutes.

In Monterey, we ran into some folks on racing yachts who had come up from Long Beach and they said that the weather was almost as bad all the way down the coast and that they almost turned back. And it looked like this weather system was headed south, so we'd never get out of it.

So we stayed at Monterey for about a day and left at dawn to head north. Got knocked around some more by even wilder weather so we headed into Santa Cruz, where we spent a fun-filled couple of days drinking margaritas, singing chanteys, paddling around in our kayak and enjoying some terrific fireworks. Following the advice of the local weather gurus, we left this morning at 4:30 AM and made it back to home port in about fifteen hours.

All in all, even with the storms, we still got some great sailing in and had a blast! We're looking at a trip down to Morro Bay - I have a soft spot for that town.

Trip07-08.jpg

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I didn't take my camera

What? how can you prove you were there? :ph34r: Just kidding of course, hope you had a great time :ph34r:

Shipwreck

Adventurer of Independent Means

TALL SAILS AND MERMAIDS TAILS, THIS BE THE LIFE FOR ME

"THEM THAT DIE WILL BE THE LUCKY ONES"

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How did getting out of the bay go? (As I recall our trip, it gets pretty choppy. In fact, I was just thinking about our trip when I posted that thing in Twill about all the men going to one side of the boat causing it to tip over. :ph34r: )

"I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I am saying.” -Oscar Wilde

"If we all worked on the assumption that what is accepted is really true, there would be little hope of advance." -Orville Wright

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It's always pretty choppy under the bridge, but Aldebaran handles it a lot more easily than La Sirena. This was our second offshore trip sailing on her.

And in an amusing story about tipping the boat over, at last year's NorCal festival, we were trying to get Aldebaran out of the Vallejo marina but the tide was pretty low and they hadn't dredged it. So we got stuck. Captain Hayden asked everyone on board to run to one side and then the other to see if we could tilt the boat enough to get it out of the mud. This was right after the POTC3 movie, so we couldn't help but laugh about the similarity in moments.

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And in an amusing story about tipping the boat over, at last year's NorCal festival, we were trying to get Aldebaran out of the Vallejo marina but the tide was pretty low and they hadn't dredged it. So we got stuck. Captain Hayden asked everyone on board to run to one side and then the other to see if we could tilt the boat enough to get it out of the mud. This was right after the POTC3 movie, so we couldn't help but laugh about the similarity in moments.

Self-kedging....without the anchor? OK, everybody, HEAVE!......HEAVE!........(boat slips off after heave 5X)

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Here's a few pics - just to show I wasn't kidding about the exciting part:

Me dumping the jib (I'm in the front in black and the boat is heeled over a lot more than it shows in this picture.) Captain Hayden is minding the sheet, which I had to secure afterwards.

MeAtJib.jpg

Then it got REALLY exciting and Jack, Mike and I had to crawl forward to dump the other sails. Yes, we were completely soaked by this point.

OnDeck.jpg

When we made it to Santa Cruz, it got warm and sunny. I've since gotten to change my clothes and am wearing foulies - just in time for it to be too warm to wear 'em. But I had stuff to do - in this picture, I'm tying on the fenders.

SecuringFenders.jpg

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That's just awwwesome! Fantastic pics. Any shots with the boat heelin' the water till the sea is over the toprail?

I'm unfamiliar with the Aldebaran b/c I'm on the opposite coast, but I found this Link

Ain't she a beaut!

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I'll check, but I think when the boat was that heeled over Fern was holding on for dear life and wouldn't have been taking photos. But Captain Hayden does like to sail Aldebaran on her ear so the scuppers do get washed quite often.

I'm surprised Fern was able to take those pictures. She took a number of them of Jack and Mike out on the bowsprit (which was sometimes under water, dunking the guys almost to the waist) and me securing lines and dumping sails, getting soaked by waves coming over the sides. At one point, we almost got spun around in the water - and Aldebaran weighs something like forty tons. Really makes you appreciate the power in nature.

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:lol: That settles it, next time, I'm stowing away.

Doing straiffing runs at the shore battery at Nor Cal was like dipping your toe in the ocean. That was such a thrill, I can only imagine what actually being out in the ocean must be like.

Okay, where's that green, jealousy smilie?

...schooners, islands, and maroons

and buccaneers and buried gold...

RAKEHELL-1.jpg

You can do everything right, strictly according to procedure, on the ocean, and it'll still kill you. But if you're a good navigator, a least you'll know where you were when you died.......From The Ship Killer by Justin Scott.

"Well, that's just maddeningly unhelpful."....Captain Jack Sparrow

Found in the Ruins — Unique Jewelry

Found in the Ruins — Personal Blog

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Here's a picture of Aldebaran on an SF Bay sail, washing the scuppers:

aldebaran1.jpg

Yes, it did have that aspect quite a bit on our trip down the coast. Made it pretty exciting when we had to move around the foredeck or even brace ourselves on the lazarette.

Ransom - if you ever find your way down here again, I'll arrange sail time for you at least on our boat. Get's pretty exciting out on the bay, I'll tell ya. Ask anyone who has sailed in many places - if you can sail there, you can sail pretty much anywhere.

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**Ransom frantically checks her calender**

Trust me, I'll find a way! :lol:

...schooners, islands, and maroons

and buccaneers and buried gold...

RAKEHELL-1.jpg

You can do everything right, strictly according to procedure, on the ocean, and it'll still kill you. But if you're a good navigator, a least you'll know where you were when you died.......From The Ship Killer by Justin Scott.

"Well, that's just maddeningly unhelpful."....Captain Jack Sparrow

Found in the Ruins — Unique Jewelry

Found in the Ruins — Personal Blog

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