San Diego and The List

Since our arrival in San Diego we have been slogging our way through the punch list. Looming departure from the ready availability of everything to do with boats seems to spur one into full preparation mode; I have been living up to my reputation to the Admiral of being "List-Man" numero uno. Within a day or two of our arrival we had lined up our projects and started the plates spinning on their poles.

The generator now has a new starter motor and the old one has been rewound for a spare. I had succeeded in my mission to get the wing up to the 50 hour level and that triggered the "large" service after the run-in period. My escapade with the bow thruster in the 'Charlottes required a review of both thruster drive connections and  replacement of worn parts. The flirtation with varnish for the teak rail around the cockpit has come to an end; that has been stripped and simply sealed; there is just too much fishing activity for pretty varnish finishes to survive in our cockpit. The sub-zero freezer drawer has now been meticulously re-engineered by Eddie and shouldn't ice up like the Antarctic any more. Stanadyne - diesel additive - was found by yours truly at a very reasonable price on the internet and we probably have enough on board to trade our way across the Pacific rather like Captain Cook's beads. Chevron's oil production peaked this month and much is residing as ballast downstairs, along with various other necessary fluids, found at very reasonable prices on the net. We drove up to Irvine and "slept" in the Handcraft Mattress factory; an extended period on board deserves replacement of our current pallet with something really comfy. Talking of Irvine, home of Intellian, we are installing a satellite communications platform so that we can remain in email and voice contact without depending on shore-based systems. Tim at SeaNet Inc is our comms guru and deals so patiently with me as I tiptoe into the 21st century. Chart research has been done and we are on course for Navnet chips; MaxSea downloads, and paper back-ups. Admin has been tackled with my usual gusto; we have our temporary import permit for Mexico; fishing licences; special Mexican insurance, crew list in espanol.......... And on the shore power front, I have decided to go with the ASEA shore power management system. I crunched the math and decided that connecting to alien shore power in a Tahitian marina would beat running the generator every day. What else can I bore you with? Spare parts orders from our internet-based maintenance system run by Wheelhouse Technologies. Watermaker service. AC service. Honda outboard service. Oh yes, and a new bank of starter batteries. Mere detail............

All I can say is thanks to Keith and all the team at Driscolls for their diligence in looking after Last Mango. We do enjoy being here on Shelter Island.
The yard is opposite the Marlin club established back in 1931. They have decades of records on the catches made; unfortunately the one in the picture was not able to be released and it made it to the public weigh station at the Club. We will make every effort to make sure that any sailfish we may hook up are released in good shape. Shelter Island was a mere mud bank in the early 20th century; now it is a haven for every conceivable supplier of yacht services. The harbours are full of ocean going yachts and the serious fishers who migrate south soon when the hurricane season ends.

This home made ravioli was served at Il Fornaio, in Coronado. It received a "Best Ever" Admiral rating, and my scallopine was as good as I have had in Sicily. This part of California has developed so rapidly over the past 150 years; prior to that these lands were explored or annexed by Russians, Portuguese, Spanish, Mexicans.........In the early 19th century the Roman Catholic church owned 90% of settled land in California; after the war with Mexico, California was part of the Mexican Cession transferred to the US. The population of California then was boosted firstly by the Gold Rush and also homesteading Confederate soldiers after the Civil War. Susie and I were desperate to get out of town for a while and so we took to the hills and went to Bed & Breakfast land in historic Julian, a couple of hours away. Up there in the sunshine we walked around this charming little place famous for Mom's apple pie and local cider. In 1860 the town was founded by two cousins who needed to head West to find a home after the war. Even walking round the town today it seemed little had changed, except that the gold has run out.