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Just starting
After todays meeting at The Marine Mammal Center I am officially an active volunteer. Based on the experience I gained in South Georgia working with animals under Ali’s tutelage they are allowing me to start with stranding rescues without doing the courses (which aren’t until next spring). Looking forward to rescuing some mammals in the bay :-). As an aside in two weeks I will be out on the Baylis tagging white sharks at the Farlonnes I am looking forward to seeing how this is all done. Will post pictures…
On the road to Nepal
My new rucksack from NZ – Macpac Belay 35 litre purchased for my trip to Nepal I leave in less than a month and am super excited. The peak I will be climbing is called Island Peak. As I don’t have the time to put into training like I did in South Georgia it could be a difficult task. I am reading all the books about the Everest Region and doing my mile a day at the swimming pool.
On Sunday a friend and I did a 10 mile hike in the marin headlands it was a stunning day with beautiful views down to Sausalito. Next hike will be with my rucksack and a bunch of weight in it to make it a little more difficult.
Check out the video below of the peak…
Two birds one stone
The water heater in one of my parents units started to play up. A call to AO Smith and the use of a amprobe concluded that it was the lower element that had died. 45 minutes later and the use of a element wrench, hose and phillips screw driver a new element was in and service was resume as normal. The second bird was that I used the water to water the plants at the front of the house. Job done time for a fizzy ribena!
Don’t play around with your laser flare…
During the May/June Sea Survival seminars we put on at SFYC we showed people a laser flare which is what I keep in my grab bag. We pointed out that planes/helos don’t like them pointed in their face. Check out this story there are heavy fines associated with doing this.
Rust removal and bilge painting
I have been tackling some of Darling’s not so sparkling aspects this week. There are a few watertight bulkhead valves which would not close even with a sledgehammer. So all three are removed and the bilge paint had come off so the whole section of the bilge between the guest cabins and engine room is now painted with white primer. The valves had to be completely changed out and were reinstalled with corrosion guard sprayed on them.
Sunny Sausalito
Darling is now safe and sound in her new berth in Sausalito. She is getting new dock lines and a step so the guests don’t have to climb up the side of the boat š It is sunny over this side of the bay and easier for me to get to so I am loving it. Next job is to get my bike sorted out so I can commute to work by bike.
Big boat big bell!
I inspected the Oyster 82 to comply with USCG regulations. We were deficient in two ways. One the oil discharge plaque which has to be in the engine space – cheap and easy to rectify. The other is the need for a 12 inch (thats correct!!) diameter ships bell. The bell is sized according to the vessel. It is now stored and will never be used and takes up tons of space but if I get pulled over during the AC events I will be good to go!
Friday nights finished up
I was invited by Glen and Gaby picture above (all pictures by Joy Stortz) to sail this summer of Friday nights. So when I got a chance I jumped aboard Q. Q is a stunning boat which is custom designed by my favourite yacht designer Carl Schumacher and was built in NZ.
Last friday was our last night and Glen let me helm the last part of the race which was really fun as the boat is so much fun to sail. We sail Friday nights with no spinnaker and a self tacking Jib boom.
The course normally takes us up to the golden gate and then back down towards AngelĀ Island before heading back across Racoon Straits and the finish off Corinthian YC.
Some nights the fog rolls in and as the sun sets it creates a silver lining for the clouds. Beautiful.
On the way back in after another podium positionĀ for the weekly dinner at SFYC.Ā I am looking forward to next year already!
It was such fun to be home enough to do this weekly racing with the team on Q.