San Diego Fires

On a sad note, while in San Diego the skies were filled with smoke and deck was covered in ash, a terrible reminder of just how awful the fires are and the terrible damage being done to friends and neighbors. While traveling back the Santa Anna winds were gusting up to 70 mph, blowing both the truck and the van all over the road, so I can't even imagine trying to stop or slow down a fire in those kinds of conditions.
Our hearts and Prayers go out to those who live in the areas affected by the fires and to those who are brave and strong that risk their lives to fight these fires. God Bless all of them.

Joe has finally found his way back on the boat after walking around the bouy with Chuck and the blue cooler for the last couple of hours and is getting something accomplished, actually I think he is holding on to the table to protect the beautiful flowers that Paul gave me. I do need to give credit to the crew, Jake, Tiff, Joe Diane and Chuck were a great help when we were getting ready to leave for Phoenix-Thank you All!

Joe

Here we find Joe, Chuck & Jake hard at work-ok they are hiding from Diane again

Diane

Sailoress Diane is keeping eye on the boys to make sure they get it done the right way-no slackers on-board while Di is on watch!

Chuck

Chuck is found relaxin up on the Flybridge

Weekend Trip 4

Including this beautiful clipper... a gorgeous museum piece, we actually headed further out to sea just to get a close-up view of this sailing ship. Thank heavens Diane's patch worked and she was able to enjoy the trip, we hit a few big swells and I have a bruise or two to show that I was not working with my sea legs yet.

Weekend Trip 3

Here you see Punch-u-out Paul with his associate Chew-u-up Chuck, the personal bodyguards of Ms Zailey headin for an early morning breakfast at the Point Loma Cafe. Then we were off on another adventure,this time we headed out to open sea, the boat did wonderfully, with the cruise coming up there was tons of sailing vessels everywhere...

Weekend Trip 2

The whole group headed into town for dinner at Dick's Last Laugh, if you have never been it's a hoot!! If you want the beer glass, for those of you who are not beer drinkers like me, you gotta finish the beer first!

That evening Paul and I attended an informal meeting regarding the Bah-Hah-Ha, (this is a cruise of approx 200 boats leaving from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas) which gave us some insight on things needed; mooring/anchorages, supplies and timelines. The rest of the crew headed over to Jakes fav spot The Captain's Quarters for a nitecap.

Weekend Trip

One thing about living onboard you get to know your neighbors at the marina really well and thankfully everyone joins in to help one another. Returning to the slip is little bit scarier than getting out and requires the assistance from those who reside next to us, as you can see slip space is very limited in San Diego and every inch is leased out!

Bah-Hah-Ha just around the corner

I

I spent the past weekend on the Frayed Knot, it was the most incredible feeling to be on her while she was riding high on the seas. Thanks to Joe for driving, Di for navigating and Chuck for daring to sit in the back of the Goobie Van with me...(Just teasing Joe) we headed over to San Diego bright and early Saturday morning arriving at noon and just in time for the afternoon sailing. Tiffany and Baby Zailey had arrived in late Friday evening so all we were missing was Kathy who had her reunion that day, I 'm sure she was quite happy about that, since we would have had to drag her onto the boat if she was there. While we have changed our slip to an easier and more spacious spot, it still is a little hairy, but Jake and Paul seem to have this down pat!

We headed out the channel and Paul graciously handed over the wheel to me, which was a quite nerve racking. For those of you that have traveled in the San Diego channel before you are well aware of the amount of shipping traffic there, having never driven the trawler before I over-corrected constantly and scared myself to death. With the controls back under the Captain's hand we traveled down to the edge of Mexico before heading back. The boat sounds wonderful and rides like a dream, to see Paul at the helm and see the pride in his face made the trip worth everything.

We're BACK!!

A BIG thanks goes out to the Italian He-Man himself Joe Santella for his help on Sunday morn, Paul needed some assistance on maneuvering the engines for the ride and Joe was kind enough to rush over, leaving all those honey dos behind to work with Paul to get the motors loaded. The engines left for San Diego on Sunday (Sept 30) to be installed on Monday. Unfortunately, as luck would have it Driscolls had a lift go down on so Jake and Paul sat on the dock for the day. Tuesday was their day though! After a few hours of work the engines "Sat down in there so sweet" (per Paul) he is obviously taking slang lessons from Jake...a few more lines here and there and they should be complete, Jake is working feverishly to get the radar running when he isn't hanging in the Captain's Lounge (remember he is 21 now). I believe he has made some new friends there, all kinds of friends hmmm..... Joe Wheatley our Perkins expert is flying in Sat to ensure that everything is set to go as the FRAYED KNOT will be hitting the breakwater on Sunday. It has been along time coming and I along with both Paul and Jake will probably be streaming tears when she leaves the bay for the first time. The boat herself needs credit, standing the test of time and truly coming through beautifully she has been through hell, some unfortunate trusting of others to care for her, serious Floridian hurricanes, and then being dry docked for a couple of years, I am sure she will be ecstatic to be riding the seas again. Please be sure to check back for the adventure tales our her first voyage.
**If you leave a comment for Paul or Jake on the blog be sure to include your e-mail address so they can respond to you.
Thanks to all, Love to the boys and Happy Sailing!!!!