November 16ish.

The weather all work-week was warm and sunny, in fact it felt like summer and there were really good waves to surf and bodysurf.  I had a fun session during work on Thursday with a handful of coworkers. I bodysurfed and they all rode boards.  Aside from the guy on a longboard, I think I had the most fun.  The tide was low so the waves were breaking very steep and fast. 

Anyway, over the weekend, Mia was over and the main priority was to spend as much time studying and at a law school function. (It was really cool, they provide legal advice to the less-fortunate at a homeless shelter in Squid-Row). This meant I could spend the same amount of time not bothering her, so I went to work on a few boat things.

This solar powered light used to be mounted on a plastic rod and screwed to the stern rail, that eventually broke, so I drilled some holes and tied some string to make it a portable, hanging solar light. I’m happier with it now than I used to be!

I took apart the base of the main shroud/side-stay that goes through the deck. This was the last one I needed to check, and my concern was that it could’ve been suffering from crevice-corrosion.  That’s when salt water leaks into the core of the boat, is on metal, and without oxygen it begins to rust straight through the metal.  The lower stay in front of this one had that problem and I replaced it first-thing when I bought the boat. During the survey, this was the only place that a water-moisture-meter picked up as possibly having moisture in the deck. However, it feels super solid and there’s nothing else as a bad sign. I checked it, it seems perfectly fine and well-sealed.  I added more sealant to the cracks and butyl-taped the rest of it. Now I feel much better about it. Fingers-crossed my whole rig doesn’t break and ruin my home during a starboard tack.

I surfed on Saturday morning in Redondo Beach. It rarely gets good there because of being blocked from most angles of swell, but things lined up and I was in the water for more than 2 hours, I have the neck rash from my wetsuit to prove it… and some pretty wild hair, too.

I made these bagel/egg/(turkey)bacon/avocado breakfast sandwiches that were a hit for Mia and I. It was a delicate balance of using the microwave, toaster, and skillet, while making coffee, without drawing too much electricity through the outlets at the same time.

On Sunday afternoon we knew it was going to be dark around 4:45, so we took the boat out to the pump-out dock, and then anchored in the main channel to watch the sunset. I took Mia through the part of the harbor where there are bars and restaurants because she had never seen it, and then a very bright full moon came up. It’s really difficult to get a good picture of the moon through a cell phone, but if you squint it’s basically like being there in person..and squinting.

This is about the same week last year that I moved on to the boat. Maybe I’ll write something up about what I can take away from it all in 1 year. (That’s my version of a writers cliff-hanger)