On to San Diego

Leaving Newport Harbor EARLY in the morning. we saw many people fishing from the breakwater ....

 

And sea lions enjoying the morning sunshine .....

 

 

And MANY dolphins .....

 

 

 

Beyond Newport Harbor, on our way to San Diego, we found ourselves in the middle of a “live fire drill” with the US Navy … always makes for an interesting voyage !  We were greeted by a high speed boat, lights flashing, telling us we were entering a live fire area and although they couldn’t insist we leave the area, we should consider doing that for our own safety. 

 

 

DUH ….. 

AND, in the middle of all of that, our damn autopilot decided to go on the fritz again, swinging the boat around towards shore ….

 

I’m sure the US Navy was THRILLED to have us pirouetting around amidst their live fire drill ...     (and those orange radar signatures and that green triangle are THEM !!)

Needless to say, we did manage to get back on track – Cam dealing with the techy stuff while I steered with the big wheel … and we carried on, past all the marines.  I would NOT want to be steering the boat with the big wheel for an entire trip …. Its not as immediately responsive as we are used to with the NAV or autopilot, and we tended to S our way down the coast.

We pulled in to San Diego having temporarily dealt with the autopilot issue en route thankfully, because San Diego is a VERY busy harbor and being able to steer in on autopilot rather using the wheel was MUCH safer ... for all !!

 

BEAUTIFUL San Diego and the Coronado Bridge and Hotel del Coronado ....

 

 

 

Upon arriving and (finally) finding our slip at Kona Kai Resort and Marina, we went up to the office to register and then headed to the lounge for a celebratory drink !! 

CHEERS !!

Our stay in San Diego was only a couple of days and our time was mostly spent dealing with the ISSUES and getting things cleaned up and put back together.  (Luckily the kids headed off to do some sightseeing and visiting !!)   

San Diego is a beautiful city and we look forward to exploring it in October, when we are down again. 

 

 

 As I have mentioned in previous blogs,  I am always looking for my "sign" when we are boating, that lets me know I am being looked after ....

 

 

NOT THE "OSPREY HELICOPTERS AND THE NAVY BATTLESHIP" SIGN .... although I do feel safe around these guys ....

 

 

But no ....

 

THIS is  the one .....  :-)

 

ISSUES ... there are always ISSUES with a boat ....

We have been able to deal with a few “issues” while in Newport .  We had ALCOM replaced our Bell TV system (Bell’s service cuts out at about the Washington/Oregon border) with a Direct TV system.  This will allow us access to TV programming in California, Mexico and right down to Central America. 

 

 

An afternoon spent doing this ......

 

 

Means NO MORE of this .....

 

 Just to share some of the "torn apart" moments .....

 

 

 

 

 

We were getting a little discouraged to be looking at our beautiful boat ... all torn apart !!!!

 

 

And THIS is always a fun job ..... grey and black water tank sensors being cleaned and checked.

 

The other issue we had ALCOM address was related to soft shift valves on our steering system.  The valves are (apparently) already installed (who knew !?!?!) , but the locking valve - which keeps steering fluid from going back up the lines - needs to be installed, so we had those lines and valve fabricated and installed.  This stopped the “water hammer” banging that we got in rougher water, when the rudder is really having to work.  YAY !!!

 

The third issue we have been dealing with,  is our dear old reoccurring autopilot issue.  After replacing the satellite heads just prior to leaving on this voyage, we STILL had the autopilot fail multiple times while underway…. A bit disconcerting needless to say, given some of our significant seas and running in the dark !!!  We are on the third ( yes …THIRD !!) circuit board for this system.  Now it would seem something has gone amiss AGAIN !!!  Everyone seems a bit stymied as to why this unit keeps failing, including Simrad ….

After a couple MORE auto pilot failures on our way from Newport Harbor to San Diego, Cameron did some serious "deductive reasoning" by switching compasses from the Sat Compass to the Fluxgate Compass,  then isolating our two charting programs, switching from the NavNet program and running on Coastal Explorer then trying each of these programs on the various compasses.  Having the autopilot "fail" in certain situations isolated which component(s) were the culprit. 

 

 

 

Rest assured .... we were NOT underway when all this was happening !!

 

 

After all of this, Cameron MAY have figured out what the autopilot issue is.... It MAY be the Interface Unit that connects the satellite compass to the rest of the NavNet 3D system.

If so, Cam is a TOTAL GENIUS because NO ONE ELSE ON THIS PLANET - NONE of the "experts" we HIRED (at significant expense !!) to deal with this issue .... have been able to figure out the damn (and on going) problem …..
We will know better if the autopilot is fixed  in October, when we take SL out for a long test run.

 

All of this made me appreciate how COMPLEX these boats are and how owners really need to understand the intricacies of their vessel.  A Masters in Engineering is almost a requirement !

On top of all of THESE issues, our batteries are not holding a charge (which is a BIG issue when you are not tied to a dock and plugged into shore power as we were for a few nights in Newport Harbor).  We came back to the boat one evening in Newport Harbor, to find VERY weak batteries, which made the Sub Zero Fridge / Freezer very unhappy and we were thinking the power issue had burned out the compressor !!   Cycling the fridge on and off got it working, but only temporarily.  As it turns out, we are likely in for a new control circuit board (not the compressor as originally thought).  It will be repaired in San Diego.

 

 

Dealing with a fitful fridge ..... NOT fun

 

As much of an inconvenience these problems are, they are issues that are best dealt with NOW, when they are easily fixed,  and for that we are grateful.  We were never in any danger and we were still very comfortable on the boat ....

And as discouraged as we got with some part of most every room being  torn apart, we managed to get everything reassembled and we left Sea Level in very good shape in her slip in San Diego.... batteries and fridge are all being dealt with in our absence.

 

Newport and Balboa Island

Newport Harbor is another HUGE harbor and home to over 9000 boats.  Within the harbor are a collection of small islands with residents lining the shorelines. 

We secured a spot at the Bahai Corinthian Yacht Club for our first few nights (thanks to reciprocity with our own Royal Vancouver Yacht Club).  BCYC is in a great location with easy access to provisioning ....  and Balboa Island, a MAGICAL (fairy tale-like) seaside community, right in the middle of the harbor. 

Waterway channels cut Balboa into Little Balboa and Balboa Island…. Its California’s version of Venice (they even have gondola rides)!  There are BEAUTIFUL homes rimming the shore, all with access to their own dock and beach area and charming paths meandering around the homes.  It is VERY quaint.

 

 

Magical at night .....

 

 

 

 

In the middle of enjoying all this “quaintness”, we found out we have to move spots for two nights …. And we are now floating out in Newport Channel, on “twin cans” …. Bow and stern Mooring bouys …. NOT my favorite !!

And right next to us are some sailboats which seem to be “abandoned” except for the 8 or 9 SEA LIONS who have taken up residence!!!  CHARMING …. They are adorable and very entertaining, but smelly and at 200+ # are more than a little destructive with the railings on these sailboats (which the sea lions have managed to BEND OVER as they fling their large bodies on top of the boat deck).

Cam is VERY concerned that they are going to take a liking to our easily accessible swim grid .... 

 

 

There goes the neighborhood …..

 

Later in the afternoon, Lori and the kids, David and Christine AND Penny and Lawrence, met us at BCYC and from there we walked onto Balboa Island and had dinner.  Talbots left to head back to San Diego, where they will leave to return to Vancouver .... We ran the kids over to where we were moored to show them our crazy sea lion neighbors, then Cam ran Lori and the kids back to where they had parked so they could head home to LA.  David and Christine will stay with us for the balance of our trip !!

 

 

On our last day in Newport Harbor, David and Christine took the folding bikes and went off for a bike ride ...

After the rudder / steering issue was resolved, we returned to a spot at BCYC for our last night in Newport.  We enjoyed a swim in the pool and headed up to the clubhouse for a fabulous dinner.  It was a great ending to our stay in Newport.

I have decided I really DO like being tied up to a dock … with power …. And a restaurant …. And the swimming pool (bonus !) …. And stores within walking distance ….. PANSY, I know !!

 

 

 

On to Marina del Rey (LA)

Our run down to LA was 48 hours – this time with only 3 crew!!   Seas were 1-2 M swells and the winds were 10-20 kn ( a little squirelly, but generally tolerable ). 

I was a bit taken aback when, at 1am just as I was heading up to do my watch, and an 8’ wave (the height of our boat deck) curled over the back of the boat and crashed onto our cockpit …it was like a scene out of “World’s Deadliest Catch” as the water whooshed across the cockpit and out through the scuppers ….. a bit unnerving …. 

We arrived in LA at Marina del Rey early in the morning…..  Marina del Rey is actually a number of marinas and home to over 6000 boats … a  huge marina !! .  We stayed at Burton W Chace Park Visitor Dock (recommended by Gerry Cochrane) and it is a GREAT spot.  We docked right beside a lovely park with excellent provisioning (a mall with many stores including Ralph’s grocery store and West Marine ) all within walking distance.

Saturday nites are “movie nights” at the park so in the evening we took our wine and popcorn and a blanket and enjoyed Casablanca on the hillside, right beside the dock …. absolutely magical.

 

  

We said our goodbyes to Cam Cleveland as he departed for Vancouver earlier in the day …. It was great having him with us for these two weeks.  He is a very knowledgeable boater and very easy to travel with … he’s GOOD CREW.

 

 

 

 

Up early and off for a bike ride before it got too hot.  We rode all around the marinas in this huge harbor and down the beach to Santa Monica pier, then back …. 3 hours …. It was beautiful, and surprisingly busy for 7:30am.

 

 

Lori and the kids picked up David and Christine at the airport and met us for dinner, then they all headed  back to LA … Disneyland was on the agenda for Monday for David and Christine and on Monday, we moved the boat from Marina del Rey to Newport Harbor … an 8 hour run.

Sausalito ..... and having to say goodbye .....

 

 

Some fun shots of Sausalito's boardwalk ......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sadly having to say goodbye to Brian in the wee hours of the morning .....

 

 

San Francisco just waking up ......

 

 

 

Departing San Francisco under the bridge EARLY in the am was as magical as arriving. 

On to San Francisco

As the weather provided us another weather window, we headed out from Coos Bay, very early in the morning of Aug 23 and started our run to San Francisco…. 48 hours non stop.  Brian, Cam Cleveland, Cam and I are all on rotating watch.  Running non stop is not really a “holiday” …. It is tiring and it is work – but it is a means to an end …. and we have "all the comforts of home" on Sea Level ll .

The seas started out a bit lumpy with 15-20 kn winds and 1-2 m seas at 7-9 seconds our first night,  calming down to 1m seas at 10-12 seconds and 5-10 kn winds after that and for the remainder of the leg …. Much more enjoyable. 

We motored along with dolphins swimming in our bow wake, whales spouting off in the distance.... and at days end,  beautiful sunsets ....

 

 We pulled in under the Golden Gate Bridge on Aug 25^th early in the morning and headed to Sausalito’s Schoonmaker Point Marina.   Coming into San Francisco under the Golden Gate is a very unique experience ….. beautiful bridge ….beautiful city ….

 

 

 A walk along the water from the marina, took us to the Blue and Gold Ferry and over to Pier 39 in San Francisco, where we spent the rest of the day.  We enjoyed a drink at the Buena Vista – known for inventing the Irish Coffee !!

 

 

LOVE these glasses .....

 After a ferry ride back to Sausalito we enjoyed dinner at The Spinnaker’s Restaurant (a long-time, well established  seafood restaurant right on the water!!!)

The next morning, Brian pulled out one of the folding bikes and headed off on a 2-3 hour bike ride to Tiburon.  Our Dahon folding  bikes are proving to be a GREAT addition to the boat !!

Northern Ranger arrived early the next morning after a 5 day non stop run south from Anacortes !!  THAT is a grinder, but they looked none the worse for wear when they arrived !!

 

After a rest and a clean up, the crew of Northern Ranger were ready to join us and head over to San Fransisco on the Blue and Gold … and we spent the balance of the day checking out the city then meeting up with fellow Nordhavn owners, Gerry and Doug Cochrane on ORION for a visit. 

 

We ferried back to Sausalito and the crews of Northern Ranger and Sea Level ll all went to Le Garage for a lovely French dinner  ...

 

 

 

... after which we were off to bed as we were departing for Los Angeles early in the am and (sadly) Brian was departing for Vancouver.  It was hard leaving him on the dock at 5:30am to ferry and BART his way to the airport to head home. 

Its been so GREAT having him with us … he is GOOD CREW (and always good fun) !!!