September 28 & 29
That boat that had a “stuck throttle” and did so much damage to my neighbor is finally gone. A few weeks ago the true owner - someone apparently in Marina Del Rey who lets his buddy use the boat - came over at about 7am and was yelling for the buddy. I had to go to work but when I came back that night the powerboat was gone. So since then, the marina is letting people stay in the slip I think as transients. "Sex Sea" was fortunately just there for a day. Right now it’s a center-console that just says “Research Vessel” on the side, but I saw 3 people about my age in normal clothes get on it to go fishing over the weekend. Maybe the name is a trick to get stopped less by the Fish & Game.
I helped my dad and his friend Dave, who just bought a 35 foot powerboat to live on, move it from Marina Del Rey to Cabrillo in Long Beach Harbor. This was set for Saturday morning, it was just about the best weather you could hope for - sunny, close to 80 degrees, no wind, no swell. This was important because as we left MDR and throttled up the engines, the starboard side malfunctioned so be sort of limped the whole trip down the coast with just the port engine and about 10 knots.
I was happy to be a sailboat owner, because we came close to running out of fuel on the way down, and then another $100 was dumped into the tanks. Remember, my boat has used 4 gallons in 8 months.
Coordinating boat moves like this takes some logistics concerning who drives what car and picks up who and drops who off in what car. There’s a picture of the inside of my dads Mustang, it looks brand new, but it’s a few years old. Unlike my truck, which just turned 150,000 miles.
I got really stoked to be able to cook food and turn out pretty decent meals ever since the Big Bear trip over Labor Day weekend. So I’ve been trying to do the same on the boat. I am accumulating a great appreciation for the day I move onto land and have a full size kitchen, however I do love the galley, the uniqueness of making meals on a boat, and my electric grill.