Strictly Sail Boat Show Part II

So, we survived the boat show. Whew! It got hotter every day. My cumulative sun exposure has given me a tan almost equal to what I would've had in Texas by now. Nothing terribly interesting to report. We talked to several hundred people about SailTime. Some of them even seemed interested. I think Lisa will be fielding a lot of phone calls in the next few weeks. We even had some interest in people buying a new Hunter and putting it into our fleet. That would be great for growth. Lisa made sure to lock in the entire Bay when she signed the franchise agreement, so we're almost unlimited with growth potential.

We made some friends by kabitzing. One couple even won a seven day charter in the British Virgin Islands at one of the vendor parties. We had already invited them over for dinner.

I received some splicing information from New England Ropes (West Marine's "parent company"), so I can get independently certified. The rigging shop that shares our building in Alameda is never hiring.

Kim has decided to move "The Twins" to Alameda, where we'll be able to use it more conveniently. It looks like I'll be moving them today to Alameda Marina. They've got a ramp around the corner that we may be able to use while leaving the mast up. We'll see.

I might be taking a friend of ours, Doug, from the band that plays at Quinn's every Thursday, sailing on Friday. That afternoon Drake's brewery has a parking lot BBQ in back, so we might check that out while we're there.

Speaking of moving boats, Kim came up with a brilliant idea: move the Precision 21 to Tahoe. It's a perfect boat for the lake, it would be in fresh water, we'd have a place to stay cheap, and it's only three hours away and very beautiful. I might just do that.

I'll make sure we post some pics & vid...

Latitude 37° 46" 36'
Longitude -122° 14" 49'

Strictly Sail Boat Show Part I

So, we helped Lisa get the boat over to Jack London Square on Sunday, hung the banner on Wednesday morning, and helped out a little on Thursday. Wednesday, I also had to get my USCG physical and spent 8 hours at West Marine for inventory. Thursday, we wanted to see the boat show while we could, so we wandered around for a few hours. It was amazing to us how many people in the sailing industry we already know after being out here eleven months. We had a difficult time even walking down the sidewalk because we kept stopping and chatting with people we knew.

Under one of the big tents, West Marine was setup. Galen, the District Manager, and the guy I interviewed with for the Oakland Store Manager job, pulled me aside, slapped an inflatable life jacket on me and called all the people in the general vicinity to gather round. "One, two, three..." WHOOSH! I was suddenly in an inflated cervical collar. Fun was had by all, and Kim got a video of the whole thing.

On the other side of the same tent, we ran into the parents of one of Kim's ex's at the Seven Seas Cruising Association. Very nice people, who remembered Kim from across the way, even without seeing her badge. We had a nice chat. It came up that I'm a captain (it's on my badge), and they said they needed help delivering their Pacific Seacraft 42 from Ventura, CA to the Galapagos and said they couldn't pay much. I assured them that the pay rate wasn't an issue. After Kim and I were walking away, we were quite blown away by how small the world is and the opportunities that just randomly pop up.

I stopped by the New England Ropes booth (part of the West Marine family) and inquired about doing some splicing and having them test it so I can get certified. I'm looking forward to that notch on my belt, even if I never work at the West Marine rigging shop.

After saying goodbye to Lisa and Delilah who still had a couple of hours of boat show to work, we ran over to Oakland Yacht Club, where John Guzzwell was the guest speaker. John was one of the first people to circumnavigate back in the fifties, and he did it on a twenty foot, handmade boat. He held the record for several years. He was featured prominently in Miles Smeeton's book "Once is Enough", about their sailing disasters in the Southern and Pacific oceans. He also wrote a great book "Trekka Around the World", talking about his circumnavigation. It also happens to be the fiftieth anniversary of his return. Ironically enough, we saw John's wife in another boat he built back in September in the locks. We got our book signed and a picture. He's quite a guy and he gave quite a presentation. To give you an idea of the kind of people we hang with now, when we signed in at the front table before the lecture, they asked if we were circumnavigators. We said "Not yet." and moved on. If you say "Yes", they give you an "I've Been Around" button. As we were waiting we noticed that a very large percentage of people were wearing buttons. We were also just about the youngest people in the room. We drove off very happy that we decided to do such a cool thing, which is possible out here.

We headed over to Quinn's for dinner and a few drinks, and to say "Hi" to the band. Kim was recruited by some swingers, which resulted in a rather amusing e-mail exchange this morning. All in all, a great day at the boat show. Tonight is the Latitude 38 party, and tomorrow is the Lats & Atts party. We're going to grill on the dock tonight for dinner after working the boat show all day. Wish us luck...

Pics & video to come ASAP. I just wanted to get this off my chest before we find out what happens to our heroes in the next exciting adventure. BTW, Lisa is doing great and already has a few really good prospects for new members. She's only owned the SailTime base for two months and here we are at Strictly Sail - Pacific!

Latitude: 37° 47" 34'
Longitude: -122° 16" 26'

While You Were Out...

So, I pulled another fast one on Kim. While she was at band on Wednesday night, I busted out the ladder and paintbrushes and decided to add a little "Craftsman" touch to our new place. I'm planning on building a removeable mantle in the Kevin Rodel style to go under the nautical print. Just thought you guys might like to see it.

Road Trip!

So, Kim and I decided to head up the coast yesterday. It's high on our Excel spreadsheet of things to do while we're here. It's the only day off I'll have for a while. We left early and went over the Bay Bridge, then the Golden Gate into Marin County. We got on Hwy 1, which winds up the coast. We could see the Sutro tower receding in the distance as we progressed. We saw a neat Steep Ravine Campground near Stinson Beach. We thought Stinson Beach would be a cool place to launch The Twins and camp on the beach overnight.

We then headed up to Point Reyes and Tomales Bay. We found Tomales Bay Oyster Co. where a lot of people had setup picnics and grills to do up giant shellfish farmed right in the Bay. We were unprepared for this and they only took cash, so we got back in the car. We stopped in Bodega Bay, where there was allegedly a Fisherman's Festival, but we couldn't actually find it. We looked at a few boats in the marina and headed East.

We stopped in Santa Rosa for lunch at Russian River Brewing Company where they are evidently a victim of their own success. The service was slow and sarcastic, which is not necessarily a bad thing. We were surrounded by locals that evidently have a frequent drinker program. Being quite full, we ran over to the Charles M. Schulz Museum which was pretty cool.

We then headed home for a peaceful evening watching downloaded torrents. All in all, a great day in NorCal. I can't wait to go even farther north to the Mendocino/Fort Bragg area and check out College of the Redwoods. Maybe this fall after the sailing season starts to die down.

Gettin' Ready for the Boat Show

So, Strictly Sail - Pacific is next week. Ironically, they've also added a Powerboat Expo right next door. Lisa and I ran down to Pier 39 in San Francisco proper for two days last week to detail "The Other Woman", the Hunter 41 that she's bringing to the boat show for SailTime - San Francisco. Lisa did all of the stainless steel, and I waxed the boat with my cordless buffer. Wow, that's a lot of acreage! My shoulders are still sore. A seagull kept trying to pilfer our stuff on the dock, and the surge in the Bay makes the boats move back and forth, which makes it rather difficult to wax the hull. We kept smelling burgers/fried shrimp/Chinese, depending on which food stand the wind was blowing past. The first day, the wind was blowing 20kts with gust around 25kts. We could see shredded whitecaps over the seawall. It's a very picturesque marina, but it's a hassle dealing with the surge and the tourists while carrying boat stuff. BTW, parking is normally $7/hour! Luckily, Lisa gets a discount.





P.S. Someone asked Kim what I was doing the other day, and she said,"He's waxing The Other Woman." Evidently they misunderstood...

Check out Nantucket Bagg!

Latitude: 37-48'26'' N
Longitude: 122-24'12'' W