Sad at first, but then it is a New Home for the old GIRL

Yes, it was rather sad leaving but as soon as I pull in everything gets all exciting... we are with the big boys and very 21st century with water hook up and electricity... she is in her new berth so a new chapter begins...

NEW SPOT FOR THE BABY...

Went to see NewMark yesterday and first and last was given ... so we are ready but first the party for Jessy... on Friday...

Can you see the new spot?  We are all very excited...

great hike

No glasspar, no seadoo, no diving... but this horrific hike 750 feet from sea level and boy what a view. Also lots of swimming... just great, outdoor swimming pool galore.

remembering the sailing days

I do not remember such a cold summer... on the fourth the sun came out only one day the rest was rather cloudy. So last time out my fresh water pump decided to take a dump on us while boating around Catalina Island... here is the impeller from the starboard pump...









We ended up coming back a day early with one engine, cruising about 7 - 7.5 knots. It was very calm so we had an interesting time. We were remembering our sailing days when that would be our speed across the Pacific. It was rather nice and I also had to think about how nice it would have been to have an "emergency sail" set up. I always wanted to make a rig for the crane we have because a rightly designed sail could be used for situations like this. I estimate that it would add about 1/2 knot to the cruising speed. It is rather just a feeling and not a mathematical statement.
Fun all around

Memorial

Dealt with the oil leak from the starter and had a great weekend on the island. We moored for the weekend because where I like to anchor wasn't available. Having a "wet" starter is not an easy thing to deal with most shops do not know how to address the seals and all the facts about oil. They will take care of the electrical part of things... I never had a starter failing on me.... it always was the leakage.

finally here it is

Of course Darl wanted to decorate...

The funny thing is that I was thinking about the same thing...

And of course the dinner after the Harbor Cruise.

a week before Labor Day

Finally my adopted son could join me on Bagarre... Paradise Cove is one captivating spots in the Santa Monica Bay. I believe it is the best spot in the bay over all. Only spent a day but boy how much fun we were having. Great walk on the beach, jumping off the boat into the water many times, great food, amazing weather, cute dogs, Glasspar's first time out.... it just went on and on. I can honestly say it was one of the best day of my life. Bonny, Paul, and Aliman all agree.

4th of July

Finally we had a full boat... lots of food and people sleeping everywhere. Kids were incredibly well behaved. Grown ups not so much... we had a couple of fights but nothing serious. Could not ask for a better trip and having Lynn on board after the Corsica trip was truly the best thing. She was so cute and dealt with everything like a champ. I have you know but just whispering that she has a bathroom phobia... but not on the Bagarre no sirie Bob. Glasspar's first trip performing excellently and don't ask me why. After the fourth I had so many things go wrong with her... I am still trying to find out how to tow her. On the way over to Catalina we lost her and found her and on the way back she almost flipped over, the outboard came loose and was held on by the remote control cables, completely under water all 143 lbs. of it. Anyway she is still hanging around...

back from Catalina

So we went and I haven't cleaned the bottom since we painted it (4.19.08) I wanted to do a little cleaning before heading out but did not find the time and got wrapped up doing other things. SEALIFE... well it is the best indeed. Got to emerald bay just as the sun was setting... what a crossing, just dreamy really. Anyway the morning got under the boat and could not believe how clean everything looked and was. This sealife stuff really is working out like nothing I have seen.
The weekend was great and I am planning a trip to Santa Barbara island. 40 NM heading 210 should get us there no problem. I am wondering about the dogs (since they will most likely be in the water as soon as possible) and the whole sealion population, would they want to attack them or what? Underwater photography will be just the dream... maybe next weekend. Looking forward to it for sure.

before the summer rush

Moving pictures, aren't they a hoot?

Basin G

This is what I look at every day and boy are we happy to have a view such as this. The development at the end of the basin is having a major problem like the whole project is sinking. They were suppose to be ready by the end of November 2006. Now a year plus later I hear that they are in court and God knows how long that is going to take. One thing for sure, once that Marina opens we would have a lot of vacancies all over and that will be a great time for us to look for an end tie. Have to become friends with June and we are on our way.

SEAMARK

Sweet home Baby. When the county decides to fix the floating dock we'll be so grateful. The issue came up and Reuben said that he'd do the repairs if the county supplies the material. I also talked to June and want to get on his good side but most of all just want to get on the top of the list for end ties.

possible yards for a haul out

Well Dinko's in Long Beach has an elevator for a boat this size and he is well known amongst boaters for this type of work. Meeting the man was an experience I'll never forget. He wants $10,000. 00 certified check just for safety and first time dealing with us, we'll get that back once we finish our project (bottom paint and boot stripe). Also MDR Boatyard might do a haul out for us since they have history on the boat... for me it is much easier to schedule people to work with me at MDR. Long Beach would mean to stay on the boat and just camp out while the work is being done. I am scheduled for the 18th with Victor at MDR.

it is getting very nice finally

Planning on visiting all the channel islands but can you say this is just fantastic? Easter weekend.

"back to our spot for now"

After almost 6 months of being down for "remodel" I am glad that we are back to the "island". The boat stays cleaner, galvanic corrosion is not as severe and cleaning is easier... better view of the basin all of these are making the move an exciting experience. Plus I was paying $400 more each month for some lousy electricity and water and just a convenience. The electricity is third world (blew the circuits all the time). Water around the boat was filthy beyond belief, making cleaning the bottom very hard. Marine growths was so accelerated that it was hard to keep up with it. Good things: so much easier to remove items from the boat... accessibility to the bathrooms, no need to take a dinghy every time you have to get some materials... over all it was worth it I think. The county is trying to fix the whole dock because it really needs fixing but they have been coming to plan the work for 5 months now... still nothing. My confidence in the County is zero. They'll never do it. I'd like to get an end tie as soon as possible. When the new docks open up (when ever that'll be) there is talk that the Marina will have a lot of spots available. It is going to be nice when we have a proper dock instead of a third world make shift docking, which did come with the boat. I am going to get busy with talking to the various dock masters so we could get a new spot.

first trip to Catalina

everything was just superb.... started out MDR to Emerald to Isthmus to Avalon to Emerald and back to SEAMARK in Marina Del Rey.

trial run to Malibu

First time out. Paradise cove 14.6 NM from the marina. Everything worked out fine but on the way back right before the Jetty one of the plugs came loose from the starboard starter and spilled oil into the bilge. I have taken this starter back to the shop (Dynatrans in LB) 4 times. The owner thinks that I am out of my mind and do not know what I am doing... I had to keep on taking the starter back to them because it had all kinds of problems... mainly oil leaking out of it. However the trip was a good one. There was some oil spilage from the starboard V-drives but it was only caused by old gaskets. Still work to be done: bottom paint and the bootstripe. Have the paint and just want to find a good haul out place, probably in Long Beach.

Yesterday's aerial

Please remember to click on the photo to make the picture bigger and this holds true for all the pictures on this site, by the way.
1. Us, the BAGARRE
2. SEAMARK (Ruben, Thomas, Mark, Junior, Ephrain, Mario, John and "the new kid".
3. The floating dock. This is where we are usually. The county is coming next week to fix it because the dock has been terrorized by boaters of the third kind.
4. MAUI this is where the 1956 Criscraft used to be, now it sleeps with the rest of the garbage, what a shame... so much good mahogany.
5. Lily and Allie ( Lily used to be a real good mechanic but was going by the name Ralph and I was told that she was very miserable all the time... now she is very nice, always smiles has a great attitude... her friend Allie, I helped one day starting her car and now we chat every day (almost) about stuff. I am invited over to their boat for dinner. Lily is a very good cook. I can tell because one day she was preparing dinner and the smell coming out from their boat was real fine.
6. Al and Sherry, they are moving and Al used to have a million dollars but now??? Sherry has the oldest profession in the world... they were real worried because of the eviction but I think they found a better spot over by Palowan Way with a pool and better everything.
7. Ernesto, just bought his boat after going through some divorce and this is what he ended up with from all the way from Florida. I am getting to know him because yesterday I was invited to see his boat for the first time. He is an electrical engineer from PERU and knows couple of the cheerleaders from the Raiders through a friend of his. Real nice guy.
8. Top 3 floors belong to the CIA and the rooftop has cameras all over it. We are under surveillance 24/7. These two buildings can be seen from all over. Anyone asks I just tell them that we are between these two buildings.
9. Dave, the only black guy in the area, very nice and smart. He used to live on one of the houseboats belonging to Noel (father of Melony Griffith, producer of the Exorcist, married at one point to Tippi Hedren and now he is a landlord) which almost sank had it not been to Dave who called the sheriff and the fire department, so they were able to save the house boat (to Ruben's dismay I am sure. As I understand the boat has sank 3 times already and Ruben with the help of Junior has to fix it every time and deal with it whenever there is a problem). 80% of Dave's stuff got ruined. I guess Noel felt so bad (the whole story was published in the local paper because it was the dock which exploded and started dragging the boat down, so now we get the county to fix some of the crappy docking we have been dealing with all these years.) that he gave a real good deal on an other houseboat hoping that Dave will not sue. Anyway I like Dave.
10. Chinese JUNK, Sarrah and Dave. The boat has been in a couple of surfing movies and it is the second oldest boat around after our "old girl". The previous owner used to smash right into them almost every time he took the boat out and so they were very happy to see us get the Bagarre. I get all my bottom paint (SEALIFE, which I think is the best bottom paint in the world, he is a distributor for them). Sarrah is on artist and she is going to paint the logo on the back of the boat next time we get hauled out which will have to be at Long Beach City Marina).
11. Koonie, destroyed my dinghy and never even bothered to offer to fix it... I spent 4 hours fixing it and does not know if it'll hold at all.
12. Joseph, comes out every day and is looking for a fight with somebody (he is being kicked out for not paying rent to Noel) so that he could start a lawsuit. He doesn't bother me but I do not trust him.
13. Rachel, pretty funny girl now lives in the fixed up house boat (this is the one which almost sank to the bottom. Dave the guy who works for Armond Hammer Foundation used to live on this boat. Junior did a superior job fixing it up... it was such a mess after the fire department went through it you would not believe it).

yet an other death

So much great wood and this is what happens... especially in MDR, CA There is a rumor that they want to get rid of all wooden boats in the Harbor... that is very hard to believe but you never know in this wretched place. All that great mahogany... to replace it would cost a fortune... it pains me to see such waste. It took the yard 3 and a half days to kill and demolish a 1956 Cris craft.

favorite spot on the island

This is what keeps me going... will we ever? Darlene says that the summer is over... I DON'T THINK SO!!!! I actually like the off season just as much as I like the summer. The pressure is on in any case.