Boatwork

Back at Linda's after a flying visit around the country to organize storage and sell boat stuff at Minney's in Costa Mesa. It was 85 degrees there, and for the coast, hot, hot, hot. And here we plan to cruise south...but the chores remain before that. We make manageable lists: cancel the haul out - move it to later this month; get help on the electronics; set up the Electrasan so we don't have to walk two blocks to use the marina head; and throw things away. Or donate. Things we thought were important for the boat get stored in Linda's garage for use later and the rest gets examined very hard. If we put something interesting at the dumpsters in the marina, it disappears immediately. We also had to resew the sail cover due to the new slides added - the sail coverlooks like a patchwork quilt with all the sunbrella fabrics, but we would know it as our's anywhere. We sat in Linda's garage area and unstitched seams, looking over the beautiful eucalyptus trees. So, the real fun part begins this week at Svendsen's Boatyard, and then the even more fun part, the sailing, begins sometime in early August. We have sails, we have electronics, we have charts, we are ready for adventure.

The work ethic

We are periodically at Linda's house, bless her heart, for work project's that can't be done in the confines of a boat. Robert was given a honking great table saw (his choice over watches with diamonds, for pete's sake) as a retirement gift, and was cutting up Honduras Mahogany for various shelves while I was remodeling the sail cover in front of her garage. We are the guests who came to dinner and stayed awhile: we join her in the Zone eating program (not as rigourous as Linda), we watch tv like people who have never seen it before (we have a flat screen to install on the boat and finally found our dvds and music in the overflowing Alameda locker) and we walk the beach (Moss Landing, where no one will yell at you for an off leash dog) and then we go back to the boat and do projects. The haul out is Wednesday afternoon at high tide - apparently you can't get to Berkeley Marine in our boat except at high tide as the channel is pretty shallow. I hope the next blog chapter won't have a photo of us stuck in the Berkeley channel with our almost 8' draft. There are plenty of exotic places with deep water we will be exploring - giving up the Bahamas and skinny water islands was not too heartbreaking as we will be getting to other exotic places faster. So much paradise, and so many projects. That is, if we ever get out of the Bay area. The dogs are tired of the road, too. That's them on their futon in the back of the van, 100% cotton sheet, no less, asking: "Are we there yet?"

The high road to 4th of July

Lake Edison is at 7,700' in the Sierras, but to get there you have to go over 10k' first, Kaiser Pass: a single lane road that hovers on cliffs above deep rocky valleys covered with pine and fir. And mosquitos. There are at least three parts where you don't want to meet any oncoming traffic as backing up is for suicidal drivers, there is no curb or barricade between you and a 1000' drop, and if the scenery hasn't paralyzed you with the absolute grandeur, then the fear of the road might. The little resort at Vermilion Valley sells tee shirts that say "I Survived the Road to Lake Edison". Well, as surfers say, they should have done it years ago when it wasn't paved. Not to say the present pavement has potholes in which a jeep could disappear. We did that road, hugging the cliff side so closely the first time, that the rocks shattered the side mirror. On the way down, Robert's 85 year old

other, who had joined us for the adventure, muttered swear words as we met traffic in tight places. Bridget and Dave brought their kayaks - see above, and we brought our new foldaboat which skims the waves better than the inflatables. The bottom photo shows a small line if you look carefully, below the massive mountains, that is the dam that created the lake. There are streams, waterfalls, trout and crazy hikers from the Pacific Crest Trail who have not one ounce of fat on them when they arrive at Vermillion Valley. And peace and tranquility after five days, and not one firecracker!