inverter

After very much research I have decided to benefit from a pure sine wave inverter. Look the TV (when ever we get one) and all computer equipment will love it, not to speak about anything which has variable speed. So the installation was relatively trouble free and I have been running the fridge for 5 days and everything seems alright. We couldn't really find out if everything is just 100% because my portable generator is not meant to supply enough power to the charger part of the inverter (as I was told the unit prefers a very clean signal and because of it's sofisticated wiring it does not like what a portable is capable). Anyway everything was fine except when the batteries were fully charged, the third phase was suppose to occur and it is called float. Well no matter how long I kept on the generator (remember we have no electricity on the dock) it just would not go into float. OK so yesterday I had to go to Chase park because the boat just needed to be washed from all the boatyard dust and dirt and sure enough when I connect to shore power everything works out fine and the third phase, float did occur. This made me happy because I certainly did not want any over charging happening. Love the new unit and going to use it all the time. And just that you know the portable is only for us to make hot water and emergency situations but really mainly it is for hot water. After swimming to shore Darlene likes to take a hot shower. When Pete the electrician looked at the unit he made a gesture as to what a cheap unit it was, he just doesn't get it. First it is not cheap (well it is not a 7 thousand dollar unit that's for sure) and it is light which I wanted so that I can put it anywhere on the boat easily and it is perfect for what we need it for. OK enough about all this. Times are tough and I am just so proud and happy that we are where we are.

finished finally

so finally we can say that all the work is done, well not exactly but for the most part got survey and when you look at the boat you can see what we did. Must mention that there are thousands of little ittie bittie details are awaiting for me to pay attention to them... but I have to be realistic and prioritize everything when it comes to her. Hope she is happy. Must say like to be back at home, although I wish the county fixed our dock. It needs it for sure. Darlene still in New York having a horrible time...

4.18.08

Today we were also fortunate enough to meet a gentleman who is our new surveyor. such a relief when people know what they are doing. He is a licensed boat captain which makes things lot closer to reality. First things first, boot stripe and prepping all the metal work for primer and under coater. SEALIFE baby! I have been dreaming about this since I got the paint from Dave, my neighbor. If it is good for the racers and the tankers than it is my favorite... anyway...
I liked the prop in their original unfinished form but every one tells me that I'll get more speed and better gas mileage if everything is coated under the waterline. I decided not to paint the props and the shafts last time because a lifeguard boat was hauled out with all the bare metal showing. So I figured if it is good for them it'll have to be good for us.

haul out

Well here we go today was the day... she is out of the water without any "problems". The boatyard does not haul out any wooden boats, exception, boats they have known for a long time. This is certainly the case with us because Victor the general manager remembers everything about her and all 22 of her haul outs. What lines... right? Really shows off well when you can be at this angle. The reinforced bottom in the early 80's help regardless. Thank you Nicholas! God Bless.

1924

John McKusick is working on a boat from 1924 built for Henry Ford... how about that hard fact for you?

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.

shifting hassle

No longer is the case. Was so frozen I had to fix it so it will not get stuck on me, plus I did not want the linkages to get broken up because something does not want to move. took everything apart and put it together. The frozen section was however by the sprockets where the chain attaches. No more.

it is getting very nice finally

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

Happy New Year

Well, here it is 2008. The year of the RAT by eastern beliefs. Also this has been the coldest winter I can remember in "sunny" California (what a joke, this season). Could this be because of Global Warming? I certainly do not know. All and all doing much better and getting better as well. Before X-mas we took off to the island (Catalina) and had a very interesting 5 day 4 night odyssey. Very rough at times and absolutely beautiful at others. The wind generator had a work-out like never before. Next time Catalina Harbor where we'll be. Talked to the harbor master and he did say that is was windy but no swells... so there you have it.

Cat Harbor versus Isthmus, it is really hard to tell by these pictures how rough it was but let me tell you if it wasn't for Darlene who said: "I do not like Cat Harbor on the back side" we would have gone over to the back and enjoy the winds only. I love Cat Harbor and I like the back side, period...

accident

please remember me as i am. Had a great time in our first time out and cannot wait for the next.

the worst possible thing

After dinner on the way home... how much I wish to be busy again and back to normal busy... as it is right now, 3 weeks of absolute horror, but I am getting better. Paul was right behind me so that is how I got the pictures. I completely blocked out so don't remember how I got over this... I do remember this car just appear out of nowhere in the same lane as I was. Turns out that he was making an illegal turn on Sunset while I had the green light. My bike is ruinned on the front. I spend most of my days in the appartement "going crazy". Still can not drive or
just even tie my shoe laces.

"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.

yet another video

The next one will be the boat running but I'd like to finish the bottom first so it'll look good also. The bottom not being done makes everything real not finished and it is hard to tell what was done...IMHO.

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.

proper routing

I am very proud of this because of it's simplicity... I used simple plumbing supplies because the deck pipe I needed for our set up is so large ( the shackle is so huge) that I couldn't buy it in the store. I built this one and it'll be a good test as to how long it'll stay.

new location

battery box has been made and relocated to it's final spot in the galley also serving as a bench or night stand... it was previously in the engine room making work very difficult especially in the rear and adding unneccesary weight to the rear which is a real big NO, NO!

getting rid of the blue

slowly but surely we are painting the ugliest blue out of our existence... note brass window frame for the wheel house has 80 screw holes ... that is 320 holes to be plugged with epoxy and wood, since there are 4 of these puppies. See hatches waiting for the new plexi to be installed. Aluminium rings to follow for sure.

safe and ready for expansion

This is the new AC panel with the associated new plugs and new wiring for the AC side of our boat... all very neat and safe and protected from surges and spikes. Still have to make a panel for it because the box I made early on is not what Pete (the electrician) had in mind. Oh, well it'll be a great little medicine cabinet for the guest bath. All plugs are GCFI protected by the way. We have no electricity on our floating dock but that'll change soon. The galvanic isolator has been on my list of things to install for a year and so.

the electrician is a keeper

AC side is going to be done hopefully by Monday. Pete the electrician is doing a superb job... I am impressed and like what I see. But I knew this about him the very first time we met. New wiring through out the boat for the AC circuitry and also we got a new AC-Panel. I built a box for the AC panel but we are not going to use it because Pete had something else in his mind. I think the box can be used for a medicine cabinet for the guest bathroom... Also we have removed the hatches completely and all the rain gutters, cleaned them and primed all of them with this special primer ($20/each, 6 was used and I need one more can from the ship store) so they will be ready to be painted on Monday. Got the new inner lining for the one window which had to be removed because the termite people broke it. I would like to rebuild all the windows... which I am doing anyway but some I am just painting around because we have to get moving. Fixing the framing (around all the removed trimming, and now exposed outer skin) with epoxy... plugging holes with mahogany plugs and every screw hole need to be addressed because of water leakage or just plain rot. Built a battery box and a platform under it so I could still get to a bulkhead valve and the floor boards remain removable. I wanted to get inside of the engine room but it just did not happen. Starting Monday that is where I'll be, reconnecting, addressing, rewiring, removing, replacing and still running the project. Keeping Ephrain busy is a real challenge... he has learned a lot but can not leave him alone for long because he will do things on his own (which I encourage, since we are doing the sama thing all over all through out the boat) a sometimes they don't work. He will get bored and that is when things have to be revisited after my inspection. He does not get it that I only want to do it once if I can help it. Anyway we are chugging along. The project overwhelmes me and Darlene's disloyalty bothers me. I want to change that because I do not want to give her the power to affect me this way... she really knows how to take the wind out of my sails... also she knows how to put them back too. It only the balancing part which I have to figure out. She is very annoyed why we are not done with everything yet and why we are not somewhere out by the islands. I can understand this. I look at the water in the marina and just want to be skippering the BAGARRE again and want to go places. Next week will be very busy but every week is. Darlene is coming back from her vacation next Sunday. Also I will not work on Saturdays and Sundays... I need my time away from the BAGARRE. I do lot of the matterial gathering anyway on the weekend.

looking forward to...

This is what is going to happen on Wednesday and all wireing will be laid out and installed but we'll have to wait for the panel which will be custom made. Inverter/charger pricey but it is worth it. All week next week I'll be in the engine room hooking things back up and finalizing the engine room project.

more prep work

Hatches being prepped and the frames being looked at. It is all in need of TLC. Glass will have to be replaced.

aft deck

floorboards are in place and I am still varnishing the doors... corner seats are going to be enlarged.

interlux

on both sides... can I do the boot top ... that is the Q?

brass

all polished up and sealed with allgrip... this guy bicycled from Argentina to the USA and now he is going to sail back to his home in Buenos Aires. He does not know anything about sailing or the life of a mariner... here is his website:
www.fugaz.ciudad.com.ar

transom 6 coat

ready for the art work. Will Sarrah be able to do the work?... By the way... I had to fix the dinghy first because the neighbors were using it because I let them of course.

painted engine room

Just in time for the mechanic and I to work and start reconnecting everything

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).

electrician

Well, Darlene got one and he is very knowledgeable, very organized and has great communicating skills. Spent most of Tuesday with him. He was very thorough and is trying to come back around the 15th of August (this must really piss Darlene off).