Leaving L.A. Aboard Train 14--Coastal Starlight

I'd love to put a picture here but still having problems with the downloading thing. We're sitting in the lounge car on the Amtrak train to Seattle (we're just going to Salinas--8 hours), drinking wine and watching the suburbs of L.A. pass by. Very fine feeling to be on this small adventure. The windows are big and the view bright and truly a southern CA thing (graffitti, palm trees, desert vistas, distant hazy mountains, warehouses, junk car lots, sunshine). The wine is $13 for small bottle (train-track robbery?) but we're on VACAY so we'll hand over the cash.

The state of Amtrak, that heavily subsidized American train system? The trains are clean and efficient (so far), the terminals borderline seedy (you just can't keep the homeless from sleeping off their lastest jag in the comfort of the fat lounge chairs--hence the stains and grit) the attendants friendly and helpful. We do love traveling by train. We've Euro-railed about the Continent, and taken the Trans-Sib across Russia and we've been curious about the American train experience.

Had a great afternoon/evening with Eli and Bailey yesterday. Walked all around the San Diego harbor and had a very fine diner out at an Italian restaurant on Coranado Island right on the harbor. Couldn't have been better. Up at 4:30 this morning to catch this train--don't like that aspect of traveling, but it's always worth it.

In a tunnel now--dark. Later.

San Diego: Day 3--Some Observations

The weather is beyond perfect here. Clear desert sky and air cooled by the sea. Perfect everyday. That's what I'm told and so far I have no reason to doubt it (see below).

The architecture is very fine. Mostly Spanish/Mexican mission style. I like that.

Lots of military and lots of money here. Expensive homes, big boats, ego autos, great shopping and restaurants.

The harbor is beautiful, the water wonderful. Lots of old, tall ships and the aircraft carrier Midway is now a museum. I toured it yesterday. And old ex-pilot who was one of the many docents on board, told me the Navy still owns it but lets a civilian corporation run it as a tourist attraction. He said the Navy inspects it regularly to insure it's being maintained properly. Apparently another museum ship sank.

Because San Diego is perfect, the place is a madhouse--freeways filled with speeding cars, people jostling, running, in a hurry to get some where, jets taking off, jets landing (military, civilian). But everyone seems happy to be here roaring around in the fine desert air. I'm enjoying it, too.

I got my hair cut by a real Valley Girl yesterday. Said she grew up right here. Was dressed for the part, showing off augmented body parts to nice advantage, and her voice was high-pitched and you, know, like, a Valley Girl (she had to be in her late 30's).

If I was young and rich, I'd probably enjoy living here. I'm not, so I'll stay where I am.

Terry is done with her business after lunch today and we'll meet Eli and Bailey for an afternoon stroll along the water front and dinner. Tomorrow we catch the 6:00 AM train up the coast.

Life is good.

San Diego

Tried downloading pix for this blog but Terry's computer doesn't have the necessary driver. Tried downloading it from the Nikon site, but I'm apparently too stupid to get it right. In any event.....

....we flew here yesterday--biz class--and ate and drank too much and felt disgusted with selves. Was a nice flight, though. Right over Wichita, Kansas (flat with many farms laid out in big squares) and then over the Grand Canyon and the Salton Sea. Spent day with Eli and Bailey, Terry saw the boat, was impressed, and now we're at the Marriott Hotel down by the Rio San Diego (San Diego has a river? Yes, with real desert water.). Tomorrow while Terry works, I'll help Eli and Bailey take on fuel (2000 ga.) and change engine oil (50 gallon drums).

Meanwhile, Michael Jackson remains dead (his mother has filed for custody of his children. Why not? She did such a great job with her own kids.), the Republicans are fighting tooth and nail to keep the American people from getting universal health care, our troops pulled out of the cities in Iraq, and the Red Sox won another one. Oh, yeah--and another airliner falls into the sea, 150 dead. What's going on? Aliens? Must be something logical like that.

If and when I figure out how to download pix here, I'll add a couple. We're here until Thursday morning when we catch the train up the CA coast. Looking forward to that.

Home: Computer Problems Slow the Blog Production Rate

We didn't ask the gods for much. Just a following sea, following wind, no fog, and wide berth from the big guys--like this tug coming up behind us (it's worth looking over your shoulder now and then). You could get complacent in this busy, busy part of the ocean, off the Jersey coast, especially on a nice day after days of fog when everything seems very sweet.

But that was last week. It was a different world. We're home now. The boat is out of the water, halfway up the Delaware Bay (more than halfway home) and I've left two messages with the fix-it guy whose boys are supposed to make repairs.

Truth be known, after three weeks on the boat in the rain/fog, setting our schedule by tide tables, corkscrewing down standing waves at harbor entrances, it's great to be home for a break (see below). I'm tending the yard, worrying about the greenness of my grass, the thickness of my mulch, the health of my cats. I love waking up in the morning and not worrying about the anchor/mooring/tides/currents/fog/bilge pumps/schedule.

Still, they say the true test of a yachtie is this: After getting the hell beat out of you at sea, after having been scared to death for days, after swearing you'll sell the damned boat as soon as you get it tied up at the dock, after cursing the whole bloody idea of boats, after all that---three days later you start thinking--"well, maybe it wasn't so bad after all..." and off you go again. I'll be off to finish getting the boat home as soon as things are tightened up and the bilge is dry. With luck, we'll make it from the upper Delaware Bay down to Onancock in five days...but this is a boat.

Meanwhile, Sunday, we're off to San Diego for a conference (Terry) a visit with son Eli, and a train trip up the coast of California to see friends. Hope my laptop is fixed today.

Here's a pic of our back yard, a work in progress. Feels good hanging here for now.

Cape May and Up the Delaware Bay to Greenwich, N.J. Where We Leave the Boat for Repairs

Terry and Bill Negotiate the Cape May Canal

We may have set a record--for an Alberg 30--going up the Delaware Bay from the Cape May canal to the Cohansey River. We had the wind behind us, the tide with us, the engine helping us, and the jib out. As we left the Cape May canal and plunged along farther out into the bay, the ocean swells coming in behind us rose up bigger and bigger until we were surfing down their fronts. At one point, I saw 9.2 knots on the GPS.

The object was not a pleasant day on the water, but rather to get the boat into a safe harbor and contemplate what to do next. We were taking on 5 to 10 gallons a day through the rudder post and the prop shaft packing glands and we could not reach them to tighten them down. The weather had been abysmal for three weeks and was scheduled to continue that way.

Brother John had flown home, as scheduled, from Atlantic City, and Terry joined me for what we hoped would be a nice week or so finishing the cruise to Onancock. We were also joined by sailor who has been plying the Delaware in his own Alberg 30 for the past 20 years. Bill had offered to help us up this notorious small body of water, and we accepted.

After just five and half hours, we were at the entrance of the Cohansey River and an hour later, we turned into the wind and current and slipped up against the dock and tied off. That night, it continued to rain hard and we continued to take on water. By morning, we made the decision to haul the boat out here and get done what needs to be done. The boat fix-it guys here know Alberg 30s, have a great reputation for excellent work, it's close to home, and we have friends/family here.

So, the boat is "on the hard" waiting for much needed attention, and Terry and I are back home. I'll be driving up there checking on things and hope to get the boat back in the water and finish the trip in August or September. Meanwhile, I'll keep up my ususal blog here, every few days.

Free at Last: Atlantic City to Cape May, New Friends

Here we go, out the channel and away from a city where rich are rich, poor are poor, and both meet in the middle in the effort to alter the rules of probabilty (do we understand that life is stacked against us?)

After four days of fog, we woke up that morning with the misery gone, the wind (a breeze, really) from the north, and a promise of sun and fair currents. And so it was to be.

Here's brother John at the helm on a fair day at sea between Atlantic City and Cape May.

This is the view from Seawind at the moment: Utsch's marina, Cape May, N.J. A great marina with class-A showers and ship's store. They give you a bag containing a bottle of their own wine and some other treats when you sign in. Never heard of such a thing.

Our old friend from our Guam days lives here. Jay came out to greet us as we turned into the channel. He's a big-ship captain and also runs his own fishing boat. It was great seeing him.

My eyes want to slam shut. I'm beat--pooped, dead on my feet, exhausted--on and on could I go? Certainly. Tomorrow says we'll motor up the Delawar Bay. 'Til then.

Thank You, The Donald (Trump) for Your (Expensive) Hospitality

Here our beautiful boat sits, with any luck at all, for the last night in the glow of Donald Trump's magnificence.

After four days at $90/day, with the addition of fog (Trump apparently can't control the weather--was he charging us for the fog?) the weather guessers are telling us we'll have ten knots from the north tomorrow, with moderately sunny skies. Good enough and good for us.

Today, my bro and it worked on the boat, and then took the jitney into the boardwalk. Such a place--a freak show, a sideshow, an all-American dream. We found what we wanted in, of all places, an Irish Pub, which brags wonderful portions of solid food and dark, welcoming, non-threatening decor with (unread?) books on the wall behind the bartender instead of mirrors. We ate, drank, and then walked down the boardwalk to the Trump Taj Mahal and, rather than gambling, took a nap in one of the spacious, dark lounge areas. Wonderful.

Then back here, to Trump's Marina, and the thrill of a rock n' roll band that is blasting at 140 db. Good luck sleeping tonight. But, we're up with the seagulls and slipping our dock lines, off for Cape May.