Life has a way of changing our plans and after thinking we were retired my wife and have decided we need to make a little more money and then try again. So less sailing and blogging and more new venturing.

We will be closing down our eBuy Marine site as well but these products may be available on Vtech’s website soon. (v-tech.com) not the electronic company.

Check out our new venture at aagbiotics.com. Very cool probiotics that have a marine angle in that they can help with smelly boats.

So it was that we wanted to share this river experience with our four grand children – Jakob who is age 11, Hans – 9, Olivia – 9 and Ana who is 7. Now I know this is not always the case, but these kids really play well together and so we knew we were not taking on an impossible cousin dynamic when we envisioned this adventure. We also knew that we had better be prepared with activities – fun – and food that they loved.

We left our home slip in Emeryville (San Francisco East Bay) around 0700 so we could ride the flood all the way up to our destination. Steamboat Slough is one of the larger sloughs in the Sacramento Delta and is blessed with a 1/2 mile no wake zone where it rejoins the Sacramento River near Courtland, CA. We draw near 7.5 feet so depth is always an issue for us in the Delta and going aground is accepted as part of the adventure. So with the tides with us we were off.

The kids were excited as kids are on most boats because it is like playing house – maybe that is true for me as well! As we sailed across SF Bay they squealed with excitement at each harbor seal, porpoise and sea-lion appearance. The wind is almost always abaft the beam once you make the turn into San Pablo Bay and we sailed and sailed with each of the 65 or so miles getting warmer and the water getting fresher and the channel getting narrower. From the 55 degree air and water temp of the bay to 72 degree fresh water of the slough and the 80 to 90 degree warmth of the valley sun this trip is like a mini version of a sail to the southern latitudes.

On the way they got to steer the boat, grind a winch and learn to keep their head’s below the boom. The thought of one of my daughters banging on my head if I let one of their heads get a scratch was good motivation for constant safety training. They loved hanging out in the bow of the boat and took turns ridding on the bow pulpit which is only allowed when no propeller is turning!

I really don’t think more than 5 minutes passed from anchoring bow and stern and running a line to shore tucking us up close to the bank and under some big old trees when the anchorage was filled with yells and laughter as the kids hit the water followed by the much larger splash of grandpa. As the current runs at maybe 2 knots when the tide ebbs, we kept the life jackets on and a number of floating devices tied to the boat and streaming down current for safety and fun catches.

The rest of the week included knot tying class which they seem to really enjoy and after 4 or 5 of the basics (taught by the skipper) they took off on their own and tied most everything in the book! The biggest hits were really deformed monkey fists and series upon series of overhand knots which disappear when the ends of the line are pulled. Later, there was reading hour and then movie time – safety note to grandparents – check with your kids first about what their kids can watch!

The swim thrills increased like the wind speed in a fast moving low when I rigged a rope swing from the end of the spinnaker pole. Lots of repetitions from the lifelines but only the fearless 7 yr old launched from the top of the boom. That of course was after grampa checked it out and practically rocked the boat from rail to rail!

Rope swinging off the end of the spinnaker pole!

So it is was a really special slice of life that we shared with our grandkids. We will be remembering it fondly for years to come and we hope it is filed away in each of their memories as one of those really special times with family – most of us have some – the innocent childhood ones before we all “grew up” and decided we had “issues” with each other!

Mad Mariner is a cool site – check it out at the Mad Mariner link in the Blogroll on the right.

“Miela” is a term of endearment in spainish meaning honey or sweetie and this boat is a sweet cruiser with impressive off the wind performance and an easy motion at sea. Center cockpits are dry and comfy and in-mast furling along with head sail furling make sail handling easy. Although I would miss the upwind performance of my Beneteau 42, this boat is definitely more comfortable for long term cruising.

We blasted out of Paradise Village Marina into Banderas Bay and a stiff 20kt headwind. It felt like San Francisco except the air temp of 80 degrees matched the water temp! Very (un)cool sailing in t-shirts and shorts! We had a nice run to the new marina and fuel dock at La Cruz and noticed many more boats in slips and lots of development going on land including some high rise condos. Then up to Punta Mita to anchor and met Jim from “Tomitillo” who has a great condo on the beach with his boat anchored right in front. He braved the surf to dingy us in – made a great dinner and we dined under the stars engulfed in the evening mix of warm and cool that is Mexico in winter with the surf breaking easy on the beach. We got a good surf soaking on the ride back out but laughed all the way – -cruising is like a box of chocolates – you never know… – - – maybe that is part of why we love it.

Early morning leaving Punta Mita and turning north toward a decision way point at just about Isla Isabella where we could choose Mazatlan then La Paz or turn left and cross now? We turned left. Wind was light and on the nose so motor, motor, motor with the vertical dacron stabilizer rolled out. The down side was crazy confused cross swelled seas – the classic washing machine that went on for 24 hours or so. Ugly for Karen but I will let her tell that story. She is such a gamer with never a complaint and even willing to stand her watches at the leward rail.

Everyone who has voyaged in the open ocean has their own opinions of night watches. Mine is a love – stay awake relationship. I find the solitude very satisfying and the setting on a clear night like you have entered God’s cathedral and some reverence and reflection is in order. The bio-luminescence on this trip was intense like sparklers going off in a jet black room. Then in the early morning hours the real struggle to stay awake – I start by countdown timer at 10 minutes, get up do a 360 look around, some push ups, knee bends, check 3 ranges on the radar, note the course etc. then do it all again 10 minutes later. Works for me.

Rather than run the Cerallvo Channel in the late afternoon we headed for Bahia Los Muertos and dropped the hook after about 50 hours at sea. When you imagine what it would be like in your best cruising fantasy anchorage – a warm soft breeze, white sandy beach framed with mountains and a palapa on shore with good food and drink – this is it!. Karen kayaked and Bill and I napped.l napped and then made a spectacular fresh caught Dorado (Mahi Mahi) dinner. A restful night so calm that you might of thought you were in a marina! It simply does not get any better!

Miela on the hook in Los Muertos

“Fish ON” breaks up the routine and feeds the addiction that Bill and Karen gleefully share. There is a healthy competition between the two of them with Karen besting her hubby more often than he will admit. We even snagged a sea turtle and managed to free him with little damage. The fishing was poor until we approached Baja and then the Dorado were hitting and Bill and Karen were grinning.

Bill's Dorado

Karen's Dorado

It was an easy motor up the Cerallvo Channel and then through that trickier Lorenzo Channel on on to Costa Baja Marina just north of La Paz. This is a first class marina where your slip rent includes access to the resort’s facilities. We had good recommendations for a restaurant right there at the marina but chose to shuttle into town and go to my favorite cheap eat in La Paz called the Super Burro. It is located a couple of blocks past the La Paz Marina on the Malecon and the arrachera and al pastor is just the best. Not as funky as my 2006 visit with a “fancy” indoor addition to the original open air portion but just as good. Three dinners, 4 beers – $18 USD.

The long and lucious Malecon in La Paz

Too soon too soon! Three and half hour bus ride to Los Cabos airport and home again to cool Northern California. Thanks Bill and Karen and have fun in the Sea of Cortez.

Good times, good friends, good boat, a cocktail or two and delicious food. Oh yeah – sometimes you get the best chocolate in the box.

Haming it up on the Malecon art work.

So it was time to really go cruising – 8 months in Mexico starting with the 2006 Baja Ha-Ha and on south as far as Zihuatanjeo. We had planned to spend at least half of the time on the hook and we like our comforts so how to keep the amp monster fed was a leading concern.

I had added a advertised 110 amp Balmar “marine” alternator that never made more than 60 amps and had it rebuilt to actually make 90 amps by John – my alternator guru in Oakland, CA (Genstar). The alternator is controlled by a Balmar Max Charge controller and is wired directly to a 500 amp house bank of group 31 Lifeline AGM batteries. At 50% dishcharge they will take all the Heart Inverter/Charger could put out which is about 100 amps so I knew a larger output alternator would shorten charging cycles. I chose the AGM’s partly because of their lower internal resistance which allows them to accept a higher charge rate early on and for a some what longer period of time. Secondly, my shallow bilges mandated that the batteries be placed on their sides.

One of four side mounted AGM's in shallow bilge.

We also wanted a water maker which leads to the no space issue – maybe you share it. There is no freaking room in in my engine space!!! I could barely make room for a large case alternator and the thought of adding a water maker high pressure engine driven pump just was not in the cards. So I chose a 12 Volt driven pump which draws a mere 110 amps while making 24 gallons of yummy water per hour which I could locate outside the engine space. The thought here was again to minimize engine run time ergo the large capacity water maker.

110 amp eating water maker pump

Next challenge was to get it mounted and driven which I knew would require double belts. I like puzzling over projects like this one and spent probably to many hours thinking and researching the problem. My wife would ask me “what are you so deep in thought about?” and I would reply “mounting the big alternator” and she would look puzzled and confused. The story of our lives around all things boat!

There are some brackets that I found out about after the fact that may have made this easier but this worked. I added an off the shelf brass or bronze spacer to smaller mounting foot on the engine, had a custom adjusting arm fabricated and added a spacer to that arm and used grade 8 bolts to beef up the mount. Will this hold up – I think so as it has for the last 3 years but I am sure it is straining the mount more than the original.

The next issue was the drive pulley. This is where I chose an expensive path that I don’t think was the best path. I paid over $800 bucks to have a solid piece of aluminum turned to my specifications. Getting the dimensions right so that the belts lined up with the alternator was key. It came out OK but it would have been far simpler and cheaper to have a “hub” machined to fit the bolt pattern with a threaded shaft projecting out. I could then purchase off the shelf pulleys and adjust them in and out as needed for perfect alignment. I think this could have saved me over half the $800 – live and learn.

The other issue pulley size. I chose to make the drive pulley over 8 inches in diameter which drives the alternator right up to max rpm of 10,000 at max engine rpm (3800). So what happens is that the alternator makes about 150 amps at 1200 engine rpm. This is very cool but does cause the engine to labor and stalll at idle if the batteries are low and the alternator is loaded. This is not hard to avoid as the big amps fall off rapidly after about 20 minutes of charging and are always under 90 or so by 30 minutes.

Very expensive custom machined drive pulley. Wrong!

Because there was very limited room to mount this large case amp monster I was very limited in that amount of adjustment or take up room for the drive belts. I was shocked to find it so difficult to get a matched pair of even upper end belts with exactly the same part numbers. The solution was to research online or go to an industrial belt supplier and get a guaranteed matched pair of Gates V80 Tri-Powers. These are made from some high tech vectron or spectra like fiber and after the initial run in and adjustment that is it. I have adjusted them once in 3 years and they pull together. The total stretch can’t be more than .25 inches. Very good stuff – over 1000 hrs and then are performing like new.

Gate V80 Tri-Power belts - excellent!

So how does it work? I am totally satisfied.

We like our comforts and use around 150-175 amp hours per day. We also love showers and don’t like to skimp so we use 25-50 gallons of water per day. With this system I can run the engine for about 1 hour every day at around 1000-1200 rpm with an additional couple of hours every 3 days or so to make water. As I noted the amps that the batteries can take start out in the 150-170 range if they are 50% discharged and this tapers to under 100 in about 20 minutes. I can then fire up the 110 amp water maker and the alternator handles this load with apparent ease. You do hear a slight whine and it does got hot to the touch but I have measured the temp with a infared gun and it is well within operating range. At one time I tried to use the temperature sensor that the Balmar charge controller offers but found it caused all kinds of eratic operation even though the measured temperature of the alternator was fine.

I have no idea how long the alternator will last but since it was designed to supply power to ambulances and the like which idle all the time and use lots of amps – I am pretty confident. Of this I am sure – the knowledge and support of the guys at Genstar is just great.

Antares is an early 70′s vintage Islander 30 owned by friend and boat neighbor Larry Telford. Larry’s been racing the SF Bay since before he bought the boat (new) and I have learned a ton from him.

Why race? I do not think you can improve your sailing skills any better way. Everything becomes important when you race. Inches and fractions of inches matter in trim and steering. You learn to visualize the relationship of your boat to the wind, the course and other boats. Calling when to tack or jib and seeing set and drift all gets tuned up. The feedback of your decisions is quick and because you sail with others it is sometimes brutal but can also be a great learning experience.

Antares has no instruments so you learn to see and feel and trust your instincts. This appeals to me because sailing at its best is a tactile sensory feedback experience that electronics can block. In fact my worst sailing experience involved my head in my chart plotter thus missing a cross current that took me into a fixed nav marker! I still blush in humiliation at the thought.

So go race and get over the fact that you do not know enough. Lots of skippers are looking for crew and will train. Some will just yell at you and if that does not work then find another boat. Racing compresses and concentrates learning like nothing else and if it appeals to you – it is fun!

Just made another contact on Sailnet that shares a passion for sailing and Beneteau First 42s. I look forward to the interchange.