SoCal Shakedown October 2012

SoCal Shakedown

October 2012

Shoving off from the San Diego berth

MaryJo's videos of our shakedown

Part 1
Part 2

The point of a shakedown trip is to find what works, and what doesn't. The boat has had many changes in the past few years, and more importantly, there is new crew. Before taking off on our 1400 mile passage to Southern Mexico and many points farther over the horizon, we went for a ten day trip to the Channel Islands. That was the plan anyway . . . the weather gods sent us the first cold front of the season, so we hunkered down in Catalina for most of the trip.

HIGHLIGHTS:

The captain and crew seem to be adjusting to life aboard. We have found ways to respect each others privacy, to agree on meal plans, and to have time together and apart. Our hope is to make it to New Zealand in about three years, so the confines of a small boat make it very important that we get along and understand responsibilities and boundaries.

The boat worked well. We sailed and motored (more than hoped) about 250 miles total. There was never strong enough winds to test some systems and sail combinations, but what we could test covered most of the changes that have been made.

There is a plumbing problem with the new installation of the desallinator, and a navigation light that doesn't want to work. We also added a couple small projects to make life easier for both of us. Our last couple weeks in San Diego will be busy, but there is nothing that should delay our early November departure.
We started out anchored in Cat Harbor

We did the tourist thing in Avalon
And went for a long hike around the island to limber up after being trapped on the boat

MaryJo ties in a reef
Sailing around the island we saw a huge pod of dolphins. The weather looked threatening but never was a problem.

There was lots of study time getting ready for our medical seminar coming up next week
And some fun time too learning how to work as a team in the kayak

MaryJo took her first sextant sights
Most of our sailing was in light air, so we got some spinnaker practice

The skipper turned 60 with a feast and a fine bottle of wine

The point of a shakedown trip is to find what works, and what doesn't. The boat has had many changes in the past few years, and more importantly, there is new crew. Before taking off on our 1400 mile passage to Southern Mexico and many points farther over the horizon, we went for a ten day trip to the Channel Islands. That was the plan anyway . . . the weather gods sent us the first cold front of the season, so we hunkered down in Catalina for most of the trip. HIGHLIGHTS: The captain and crew seem to be adjusting to life aboard. We have found ways to respect each others privacy, to agree on meal plans, and to have time together and apart. Our hope is to make it to New Zealand in about three years, so the confines of a small boat make it very important that we get along and understand responsibilities and boundaries. The boat worked well. We sailed and motored (more than hoped) about 250 miles total. There was never strong enough winds to test some systems and sail combinations, but what we could test covered most of the changes that have been made. There is a plumbing problem with the new installation of the desallinator, and a navigation light that doesn't want to work. We also added a couple small projects to make life easier for both of us. Our last couple weeks in San Diego will be busy, but there is nothing that should delay our early November departure.	We started out anchored in Cat Harbor
We did the tourist thing in Avalon	And went for a long hike around the island to limber up after being trapped on the boat
MaryJo ties in a reef	Sailing around the island we saw a huge pod of dolphins. The weather looked threatening but never was a problem.
There was lots of study time getting ready for our medical seminar coming up next week	And some fun time too learning how to work as a team in the kayak
MaryJo took her first sextant sights	Most of our sailing was in light air, so we got some spinnaker practice
The skipper turned 60 with a feast and a fine bottle of wine