There's sometimes a silver lining to having a girlfriend who is a busy attorney. Mia's work schedule required her to work extra hours Saturday and Sunday. It meant that I was going to be alone and therefore hyper productive to catch up on the perpetual project list.

I had originally wanted to do some of the higher priority tasks in the morning and then go sail the dinghy in Marina Del Rey. But the weather, as sunny and warm as it was, provided absolutely no wind all weekend. In addition, I haven't loaded the dinghy on the roof of my campershell before and prefer to run through that procedure with someone else to help so I know what to expect when I do it by myself.

So the list, I had to replace a couple bolts on the campershell roof rack and loosen all the roof fittings to fill the bases with weather sealant. Now they're all finally waterproof. I had to mount a dodger snap-button back to the underside of the traveler because it had corroded off. Since this required me to buy a tube of 3M 4200, which doesn't have a shelf life after you open it, I used the rest for sticking the cupholders back on the dinghy and I taped off the base of the mast and gutted out the old sealant and resealed that. I taped off the v-berth skylight which has a slight leak, and cleaned out the old sealant and resealed that as well. I had to find a replacement cap for an external radiator reservoir because the original cap was metal and rusted through, unfortunately nowhere sells this type of thing without replacing the entire reservoir, so I got creative and hunted through Smart & Final for a bottle or jar with a cap that would work - I found one - hopefully whoever has this boat next doesn't doubt my ingenuity when they find a green chili sauce cap with a rooster stamped on it holding the radiator fluid in. I cut up a 12-year old wetsuit to use the neoprene as a removable chafe-resistant pad around my bow and stern cleats to protect the boat from the dock line rubbing, bonus, it will quiet down the creaking sound of the line which occures when it's really dry outside. I installed a couple of these metal anti-chafe (wearandtearpads.com) near my cockpit cleats to prevent chafe from the roller furling line as well as an additional dockline that I use. I took the dinghy for a couple of rows around the marina during both days, took the big boat to the pumpout dock and fuel dock for a CNG tank that they no longer supply, I went surfing in the middle of the afternoon thanks to some lingering swell and those nonexistent winds.

It felt fulfilling to check this stuff off my list. All that is currently left of the list is building a lock for storage in the bed of my truck, going to MDR for the CNG tank, and then big project boat stuff.

A Cenoura in the rain to muddy horse walks at the farm.  

my favorite of these is the center photo of the white fence and grass. Still learning the camera and how to best show these photos online.  

MLK Jr Weekend provided me with a 3-day weekend and came along perfectly timed with a good weather break between much needed California storms. Mia and I left Friday nightafter work and drove up to San Luis Obispo to hang out with her family, see some friends, take horses for walks, go for a surf, freeze my feet surfing, get my cracked iphone screen fixed, etc etc and other things. There are constant reminders in this area that I would be lucky to live up here. Driving around to the horses or just to get groceries you’re on roads surrounded by people’s ranches, green land, wineries, and you see people outside hiking, riding bicycles, using the open space and enjoying the fresh air. It’s a contrast from Los Angeles, which has its benefits, but is overall crowded and concrete. There’s no shortage of moments I am thankful for when I am up there, so it was a good and relaxing weekend.

On Monday in the late afternoon I was on a borrowed surfboard from James with him out in the frigid (to me) water at the Avila Beach pier, waiting for rideable waves to roll in, and keeping my eye on a heavy-duty sailboat a couple hundred yards away that had their crew in the cockpit having drinks watching the sunset before pulling anchor and motoring south, and super grateful for this exact experience. The sun went behind the mountains over Avila harbor and I was no longer able to prevent my hands and feet from going numb by keeping them out of the water to dry. I was in the shade and the temperature got even cooler. We bother agreed a wave or two more and we’ll paddle in. When I got back to their house I sat in front of the fireplace with my numb feet inches from the flames and barely even felt its warmth for the first 10 minutes. Finally I thawed out, though.

We stayed through until Tuesday morning and left super early to make it to work on time. There was something interesting, and mildly depressing, about it taking the same amount of time this morning to get from Ventura to work as it would have to just leave from home in Redondo for my regular 15 mile commute to work. We didn’t have much traffic and we were sneaking past most of the LA mess by cruising on highway 1 through Malibu into Santa Monica just after the rush.

Installed fog lights on my truck before the wild 40kt wind and flooding rain. this weekend had probably the most heavy and consistent rain the area has had in years. 

I've seen this metal hung up in a parking lot close to the boat, finally had a reason to park there and go get a morning coffee with Mia. There's an artist loft / fabrication place behind the wall so I suspect they put this together

"Bad" weather is actually good weather for everyone. Rain causes growth and replenishes water for the drought. I can't complain...except maybe that sleep is difficult at the marina during these so callled storms. The rain sound is nice on the boat, but as water collects it falls from high up on the mast and can drop onto the clear roof hatches in a torturing off-rhythm inconsistent thump. I finally laid down old towels to absorb the impact. People's halyards slap and in really high winds my own rigging sends a rudely awakening shudder through the hull. But I'm pleased to take the good with the bad. 

Took a walk to get lunch during work, snapped some photos.  

The internet is inspiring. Back when I was researching for camper shells for my truck I came across a lot of pictures from people who go into wilderness and have a storage/sleep setup inside their camper shell. I'm not as crafty as they all are and I decided to start my project at 9pm after work on Friday night, knowing I was planning on camping the very next day, so I made it simple. All it took was some sawing, gluing and nailing and I came up with roughly was you see below (I changed the foam cushions to eliminate road vibration). It costed $90 total and I have leftover wood and supplies. 

Things I said on Saturday between leaving the boat and getting to the campground:

"I forgot the pan for cooking and kettle for coffee" - "I forgot my sleeping bag" - "I forgot Ice" - "I forgot about wood" - fortunately solutions to my forgetfulness were all in reach. 

We drove to Blue Jay Campground in the Cleveland National Forest near Lake Elsinore on Saturday afternoon to find is almost empty. It works on a first come first serve basis so you drive around, pick a site, and go pay for it at the front entrance under the honor system. Camping out of the truck rather than a tent meant that we had our eyes set on a parking spot that was close to the fire, preferably in shade and as flat as possible. I used the extra wood from the project to level the truck so we could sleep comfortably. Mia helped to set up our inflatable sleeping mats as I started a fire and we were settling in for the night. The whole night around the campfire we just kept saying that we need to go camping more often, its a fun, cheap, and exciting way to spend a weekend. 

On Sunday we stopped by my favorite old sandwich shop in Fullerton where I went to college, it changed a bit and had a lot going on around it, but was filling. I kept thinking I would sail the dinghy today but there was absolutely no wind. This ended up great because I went to storage to drop off the camping gear, grabs surfboard and went surfing in the nice conditions. Bonus, now my surfboard fits it the covered storage under the sleeping platform I built in the bed of my truck. 

We got new pour over coffee filters (because I lost my French press filter to the sea) and used the morning fire to boil water.  

First Christmas with Andrew. Can you spot the pacifier gift I gave him?  

Waking up at my moms house two days before Christmas knowing that the next couple days will be filled with cooking, eating and seeing family, it made the long drive after work and 1:30am arrival all worth it. By Friday night both of my brothers and their wives and baby Andrew were all there. Saturday was Christmas Eve which meant that Mia and i were planning on leaving after a special dinner. We opened presents, had dinner and hit the road heading for SLO.  Christmas Day and the next day I spent with Mia's family then I left early to go back to the work.

A couple examples of the great thoughtful gifts I received are below - a Fujifilm Insta Mini 8 camera, which spits out wallet sized instant pictures like a Polaroid. I was given an Amazon gift card which immediately went toward more film and a brown leather carrying case for the camera. I got a west marine gift card which was desperately needed to replace the jib halyard, thanks to Mia's braiding skills we were able to rig up a way to run the new line behind the old line and up the mast. Mia also gave me my first pair of hiking boots so we tested them out on New Year's Eve in Palos Verdes, it was raining and muddy but a lot of fun.

Rainy NYE hike to bluff cove