Sailing: In Oceanside

A nice easy jaunt down the coast today. Just Taylor and myself on board, virtually cloudless sky and a light 6-8 knot wind.

Actually spent some time sailing her today. Got the roller furling setup and played around a bit. The wind was super changeable, the Easterly just before we set off turning to the West, then to the North later in the day and jumping around 20 degrees at a time.

I was amazed by how much she responded to trim changes, six inches here, adjusting the fairlead cars there and boom 2 more knots. Suspect that some of that was just the light conditions but also that Kraken is a boat who likes to be setup well and responds fast when you get it right.

Really looking forward to testing her out with a bit more wind.

Most amazing thing today was a pod of Orcas just off San Clemente. Who knew we had Orcas around here?

On top of that we saw some seals, a gazillion birds and just before getting to Oceanside a sole porpoise accompanied us for a few minutes, leaping from the water alongside and then running behind. Kraken is on a roll in this department as this is the third time in three sails we've had a close encounter with one of my favorite mammals.

As we docked Twister came sailing into the harbor under her Asym. Those guys look like they have it down pretty tight.

At the end of the day its amazing to have Kraken in my home town. Over the next few days I can get all the crap off her and work out how to store it in our garage and can start tweaking her towards the boat we want her to be.

Sailing: Marina Del Ray to Dana Point

This was part one of getting Kraken home (final destination somewhere TBD in the North Bay, San Diego). For two weeks the weather prediction was for no wind and sunshine, not exactly ideal but not a terrible proposition but as we got closer the weather following this balmy prediction closed in and wen driving North I could see the precursor high strata of the incoming front.

Sure enough morning dawned cold and with rain clouds all around, but also with wind. While we got a nice dosing for our troubles it definitely helped keep the pace up and a six AM exit had us pulling into Dana Point's cute little harbor at 2pm,an hour ahead of my prediction.

What of the trip other than rain? Dolphins. Lots of them! Also a whale, some seals, lots of birds and a water spout, at least the tail end of one, rather close for my liking. Also sea sickness, for some on board. I'm kicking myself for not having prioritized getting good waterproofs and fleeces on board leading to crew getting cold and going below in some fairly bouncy conditions.

Next step is getting her to Oceanside, another four hours, at some point in the next three days. Question is do I trust the weather forecast???!!

Finding our 36.7

We were proud owners of a DownEast 38, One Love (http://svonelove.blogspot.com/) with thoughts of eventual cruising when life took one of those left turns. I got a promotion and Janet got pregnant and everything changed.

One Love started to take a backseat, we no longer had time for two or three day sails so the hour plus of setup and putting the boat to bed started to take a toll (much less likely to sail for an afternoon when half your time is spent arranging your rigging). At the same time I crewed on someones S2, and the point where I realized we need to change boats was when bringing the boat back without an engine, and having confidence to do that which I would not have had with One Love. I wanted a boat like that....

A year later we put One Love on the market, sold her within a month and started looking for the next adventure.

And quickly found Kraken, a Beneteau 36.7. When researching boats I'd decided the 36.7 was a great fit for us but when I saw one in person it was such a boy toy racing boat I couldn't imagine Janet wanting to spend any time on board. However we were looking a C&C99 in Marina Del Ray and it seemed sensible to look at other potential boats while up there and there was Kraken, so we took a look.

A month later I'm starting this blog while waiting for confirmation that we now own her.

Janet and Vida proving me wrong, aided by a nice neat interior.

Pretty in the air

Pretty at the dock

The last picture is after our test sail while sitting at the dock having run out of fuel. Testing my requirement of docking without a functional engine right away. The sails on her are pretty battered and I'm not sure if they are worth keeping but she comes with an excellent wardrobe of race sails that I can't wait to start playing with.

In fact I just can't wait to start playing with her full stop! Just awaiting confirmation that we own her then will start plans to bring her down south.