October 26, Friday, Cabrillo Isle Marina, San Diego.

There are 3 seminars today, one on rigging and one on Puerto Vallarta at West Marine and one on stormy weather at Downwind in the evening.   And today is the day that the dingy should be delivered.  I am delegated to go to the first 2 seminars and take notes while Alan collects the dingy and puts it in the water.  Then we will meet for dinner before the final seminar. 

The first seminar on rigging is, of course, all about things that break when you are hundreds of miles from land and what to do about it, complete with examples of gear that is cracked, broken or bent. It also includes all the latest high tech stuff that they just happen to have for sale in the store.  I take frantic notes for Alan, not understanding more that half of what is said but convinced that we need to completely replace everything.  When I go over my notes with him later, it turns out that he already knew all of this stuff and Rhapsody is in fine shape.  Most of the problems apply to the modern boats with aluminum masts and stainless steel fittings where galvanic corrosion sets in.  We have wood masts and hand forged bronze fittings and they are strong as the day they were made. I thought he preferred the brass or bronze fittings for the look. turns out it is also for the strength and safety.  Let’s hear it for old school, classic boats. 

Second seminar is supposed to be about sailing the Sea of Cortex and the west coast of Mexico.  It turns out to be mostly about Paradise Village Marina and hotel in Puerto Vallarta.  It actually sounds like a wonderful place to stay before we leave for the South Pacific.  Any chance any of you could come and visit us there in early March?

While I have been doing seminars, Alan has collected the dingy.  So I head on over to the dock to meet him.  He has it all put together, the motor is on and he is just about ready for a test drive.  It is cute.  Sort of round, very plastic, quite stable.  We need a name for it.  Keeping to the musical theme, I have been thinking about Scherzo, although now that I see it I like Rondo better.  Possibly B flat?  Any ideas?  Anyway, time for the test drive.  He reaches for the key and ... Oh No!! He forgot the key.  What to do?  What to do?  We finally decide to call the shuttle driver and ask him if he can take Alan back to the boat and wait while he gets the key and then bring him back again.  This is the free shuttle that West Marine has for the fleet so were not sure if they would pick up from someplace else..  Luckily the driver was glad to help so Lan went off to get the key while I investigated happy hours.  I found a lovely pub just up the street where their 1/2 price appetizers were big enough for dinner for 2.  Alan made it back with the key in time for food and a beer before the last seminar of the day.

This seminar is all about storms and what to do, complete with pictures.  Lots of the horror stories came from the Fastnet race several years ago where people were just not prepared for the horrible storm that blew up unexpectedly.  Once again, Alan has done a wonderful job preparing and we have all of the safety equipment that we need.  Admittedly we have not done enough drills but if the weather stays as lovely as it is right now, we can do them on the way down. 

End of the seminar, off we go to the new dingy and back across the bay to Rhapsody.  It handles nicely.  It is slightly wider so Alan can actually sit on the seat and work the motor, instead of sitting in the bottom like he had to in the sabot.  We even found the hand held running light.  It is the first day of fishing season and the bay is dotted with little lights marking the nets.  Almost full moon.  Lovely.