Hola San Diego

10-11-12 - San Diego, CA - Cabrillo Isle Marina - Harbor Island - Day 101

Pt. Loma and San Diego in the background

We have officially made it to San Diego and are currently sitting comfy in a slip at Cabrillo Isle Marina on Harbor Island.  It doesn't seem that long ago that we were somewhere between Reno, Ohio, and San Francisco; telling people that we would see how it was going when we got to San Diego and then maybe we would head to Mexico.  Now I can't imagine not carrying on.  We have a list a mile long of things that we would like to do, buy, fix and complete before we leave.  Autumn Wind is officially NOT in sailing mode and we have been loving the ability to leave all the lights we want on, the use of hot water and the endless water supply. Our trip so far has been excellent.  There has obviously been some broken stuff and some tough times.  But overall I feel we have escaped some of the notorious weather the West coast is known for and have enjoyed many new places and met many new friends along the way. 

We left our slip in Alameda, CA on July 27th to begin our trip. 
We have lived on the boat for 101 days to date. 
We have been "slipless" (ie. in transit, or homeless) for 77 days.
We have traveled a total of 1,087.8 miles, including our time in the Delta and our trip up and down the coast
We have anchored 37 nights.
We have run the engine 151.8 hours since leaving Alameda.
Autumn Wind has consumed 70.3 gallons of diesel.
We have used approximately 3 gallons of propane for all of our cooking needs.  (hard to believe I know!)
Between our dink, Papa Kilo, and the generator we have used 5.8 gallons of gasoline.

We have consumed approximately 38 bottles of 2 buck chuck.
I have run 147.5 miles since moving aboard
Favorite anchorage so far was Port San Luis.
Least favorite place was Bodega Bay.
Highest wind speed has been a surprisingly low 28 knots around Santa Barbara Island

Unknown to us - big wind was hiding around the corner

Broken stuff has included:  Engine oil pressure switch and glow plug solenoid, seacock ball valve on head, Main sail tack to slide on boom (twice).  Keep your fingers crossed we seem to be doing good so far.
Suckiest anchorage: Richardson Bay one night when the swell was rocking the boat so bad you had to hold onto your drink or it would tip over.  Since that standard has been set, every anchorage has been good in comparison.
Dolphins/porpoises are cool to see and watch play in the bow wake.


"watch out!"  They seem to have fun with us


Whales are still a little scary to see.
I picture the boat as a small child.  Sometimes you are glad to get off of it and leave it behind for an afternoon, but every time you return and are just about to round the last corner before you see it, you get worried about it.  It is hard to get it out of your  mind.  It doesn't sound like this really ever changes.

Observations on Autumn Wind:
You could spend a lot more, you could spend a lot less.  You will see the same stuff from your cockpit.
It's hard to keep your boat envy in check when having sundowners on other peoples boat. 
Big anchors and big chain are awesome.  The bigger the better, but make sure you can pick it up off the bottom without killing yourself.  Lets just say I don't need a gym membership anymore.
A windless and bow roller that could accommodate our chain would make raising the anchor grand.  Right now it is a little bit of a fight due to smooth drum windless, big chain, big shackles and little bow roller.
Can you sense the trend.  If you could spend big money on one thing, it would be ground tackle, windless (manual or electric) and bow rollers, chain locker setup. 
You can't see past the dink on the deck.  Not sure what to do about it.  Love the dink when at anchor, don't want spend an hour putting it together every time.  It's a compromise.


Maybe not perfect, but she's ours

We need more toys.  We don't have many and have realized that there's a lot of time to kill when at anchor.  SUPs, kayaks, snorkel stuff are all good diversions.
Learning to live without the Internet/cell phones is difficult.  We knew this would happen but didn't know how much time we really spent on it until it has been gone for 5 days at a time.
No matter what you do your life will revolve around the consumption of resources and how to reduce it.  Electricity & water primarily, but fuel (diesel, gas and propane) are a close second.
By far the best thing we did was install solar panels.  This can be observed by how little gasoline we have used.  The more solar the better.
The battery monitor is almost as entertaining as TV.  We watch it religiously.
Having ceramic dishes and mugs vs. plastic WM crap that will never break is very nice and makes you feel like you actually live on the boat.  It may break some day.  We'll buy more.

The reality is that the list is endless.  There are so many great upgrades and cool gadgets that would make life "easier".  You must make a call at some point and do what you can and forget the rest.  Be safe, be prepared, remember that this is probably more of an adventure than endless fun so treat setbacks with that attitude.  Remember that some people are going to work each day, so always be thankful for the choices you have allowed yourself to make.