The outfitting continues.Capt’n Glass put a mixture of Awlgrip and Silica on the non skid pattern on our swim step and now you can board using the swim step without the fear of slipping off.  They matched the color of the step perfectly which had the Silica mixed in. Next will be to repeat the application on the side walkways on each side of the boat.The HP Pavilion laptop was upgraded with additional memory and Windows XP Professional was reinstalled  by the local Geek Squad  and it has been put on line  via a Ethernet connection to the Raymarine Electronics suite running under Raymarine’s RNV  navigation software.  Verizon has installed a dry loop DSL line (Phone not needed) that lets us circumvent the pricey WiFi networks in the marina which gives us high speed access to the Internet for software upgrades and a way to monitor our Re-Structure Marine Products web site for order activity.Alcom Marine Electronics and Petros Marine are working together to install the Flo-scan NEMA 2000 units which should be completed this week along with the install of the 2 video cameras, one in the engine room and one in the cockpit overlooking the stern. Dave Plotkin from Heritage Yacht Sales will be installing the Glendinning remote throttle control unit within 2 weeks.  We opted for the wired version over the wireless version so we have one less set of batteries to worry about. Hopefully, we will be done with the outfitting before the Mainship Rendezvous on Catalina at the end of June 

3/13/08   Spent 2 days at the HERITAGE YACHT SALES  dock location at the show.  Admiral Glo and I hung out on the new 2008 45 Pilot as an interested owner of the MAKAI, our 2007  43 Pilot to answer questions and give tours on the 45’s interior.  Met a varied cross section of people ranging from the serious ready to buy couples to the lookie loos who just love to go through new boats without any intention of buying.  FITO, the manager of the CORAL MARINA  in Ensenada stopped by to invite us to their next wine tasting bash at the Coral Hotel, date to be  announced.  The weather was perfect for the show, clear skies and 88 degrees, (typical Chamber of Commerce day).  Spent some time at the show with BRUCE DENTON from Mainship Corp  and discussed what it would take to install a boarding door on the starboard side to make boarding easier.  Bruce promised to check with Mainship Engineering to get their recommendations on how to proceed.  This will require a haul out and a lot of time out of the water so we will schedule it for the off season and have the work done by Basin Marine.  We put the wheels in motion with Dave Plotkin to have a Gelndinning Handheld Remote unit installed in the cockpit to facilitate stern to docking. ALCOM MARINE to install the 2 Speco video cameras and wet compass plus upgrade the Raymarine E80 software  and give us 2 copies of a schematic of all of the Makai’s electronic units and wiring/cable runs this week.  CAPT’N GLASS to repair damage to Awlgrip on the Port side of the hull.  Hopefully, PETROS MARINE will install the FLOSCAN NEMA 2000 unit this week also.   We are now officially on the waiting list for any west facing slip on either B, C or D docks.  Copies of all documents and receipts associated with the offshore delivery of the Makai plus a check for $1500.00 are now in the hands of the attorney, David Weil.  

03/24/08  We took the Makai over to the Shoreline Marina office at 11 AM to be measured and fill out all of the slip lease papers.  By the time we left the office, we had spent over $1500 which included the deposit, one month’s rent, 3 gate entry key fobs and 2 parking passes.  The Marina staff did a great job with the measurement process (see latest pics under the makai gallery).  The measurements are taken to make sure that our boat would fit into the assigned slip without excessive overhang.  We discovered that the slip’s power outlet was 50 amp/120 volt and we require 50 amp/ 220 volt power.  We called the marina office and they sent John the electrician (great guy) to the slip to assess the problem and he had us up and working on 50A/220V within an hour.   We met with Gary/Alcom Marine Electronics and decided that to install a SSB radio was not going to be necessary given the existing communications redundancy plus we have a ICOM 92 dual band short wave transceiver that gives us access to the numerous Ham repeater networks scattered along the coast. Read the rest of this entry »

We had an early breakfast and went to the boat for one last checkout the packed up for the trip home.  Don met us in the lobby at noon and we took the van ride up to Don’s car in Chula Vista.  Don then took us to our truck at the Amtrak station in Anaheim where we beat the train from San Diego by 2 minutes.  We loaded up the truck and made it home.  All in all, a very pleasant trip.

We met Spike at 8AM and after setting up a cruise plan, departed the slip.  Of course dumb me not being accustomed to the electronic engine controls tried to use the combo shifter/throttle as a shifter  and went to full power on both engines for a fraction of a second, lesson learned.  The winds were calm and the water was flat so we were able to pick a reference point and put the boat through several maneuvers including spins, backdowns, etc.   The Makai is a pleasure to drive.  The 38000 pounds of mass and wide 15’6” beam makes for a stable platform that goes where you tell it to go and stops when you tell it to stop.  Couldn’t ask for more.  Then we headed for the fuel dock to top off the tanks taking on 357 gallons of diesel at $2.40 US per gallon.

We backed the Makai into her slip, tied up and reviewed the lesson with Spike. Later that evening, we all met aboard the Crowe’s Nest for burgers and good drinks.

Every morning at 8AM, we tuned the VHF to channel 22 to listen in on the local cruisers net.  Each Yachtista logged on with boat name and marina location and discussed the days events and addressed stated needs.  Then we would switch to channel 21 for the best weather reporting I have ever heard.  I don’t know the gentlemen that does the reporting but he gives the current and forecasted conditions from the Northwest all the way down to the tip of Baja.  We met Spike Web of Spycamair at the boat and made arrangements for Spike to give us some “Local Waters” boat handling training starting at 8AM on the 5th.  We spent the rest of the day just taking it easy.  We met Max and Ginger who bought their Mainship 34 Pilot down to join the 90 day Yacht club and spent some time with them, Don Ross/Heritage Yachts and Bob and Debbie Crowe.  Don sponsored a Mainship get together lunch at the hotel for the three sets of boat owners and we all got the chance to know each other better.

Once again, we took the Amtrak to San Diego and Francisco from the Coral Hotel was there to meet us and we enjoyed the van ride to Ensenada.  We checked in and headed for the Makai and on the way there, we ran into Debbie from the Crowe’s Nest (a new Mainship 40 Trawler), walking her dog and she invited us aboard.  We then met her husband Bob and they are just two great people.  We swapped new boat owner stories and headed back to check out the Makai.  During our absence a big storm hit the marina and the increased surge snapped the portside stern cleat.  First time I ever experienced this kind of damage.  Daniel from the Coral Marina Service office was minding the boat during the storm and quickly replaced the cleat bolting it to a stronger section of the dock.  No damage was done to the boat.  The constant movement of the boat caused by the surge is really hard on the dock lines and I recommend that you use the largest size dock lines as possible since light lines will fray and snap.  Our neighbor on a Choy Lee sailboat just happens to be Lonny Ryan, the author of the Ensenada 90 day Club Guide so we are located right next to one of the best sources of information regarding the Ensenada area.   We had a quiet dinner at the hotel, unpacked and turned in for the night.

I Passed the Element 2 Technician’s test for a Ham Radio license at Shoreline Yacht Club.  Missed 2 out of 35 questions for a score of 94%.  This level of license will allow us to transmit on the 2 and 6 meter bands plus on the 70cm band.  We purchased a Icom IC-92D D-Star equipped dual band handheld for use to communicate with other hams when we are within the range of many shoreside repeaters.  This unit is considered a back up to the  helm mounted Marine VHF radios and little cellular phone.  Next we will work on the General class license which when passed will open  up more frequencies for long range communications in addition to the marine frequencies using the new Icom 802 SSb transceiver.  The Makai will look like a pin cushion by the time Alcom finishes installing antennas.
Tomorrow  we take the combo Amtrak/Coral Hotel van to Ensenada for a couple of days to use the boat.  Don Ross/Heritage Yacht Sales can’t make this trip but we will meet up with Bob and Debbie Crowe of the 40 ft Mainship Crowe’s Nest at the Coral Marina.  We will also try to hook up with Bea and Scott Van Every who have their 45 sailboat at the other Ensenada Marina.

Up at 05:30  showered and had breakfast at 07:00.  Checked out and met Fancisco, the van driver and departed for San Diego at 08:00 .  Smooth and uneventful ride.  Took approx 45 minutes to get through the border crossing.  We caught an earlier train than the one we were scheduled to take and its locomotive quit about 5 miles north of San Diego.  1 1/2hours later the locomotive from another train pushed us up to Anaheim.  Average speed about 35 mph compared to the ride down at 50 to 60 mph.

Loaded the truck and made it home at approx 16:30.

Slept in and had breakfast at 09:00.  Used a taxi to go to Agencia Arjona,the nearest marine supply store to buy some rust inhibitor and WE-40.  The stainless lock plates on both doors showing signs of rust so we removed the rust and sprayed a liberal coat of WE-40 into the locking mechanisms .

Checked out the documentation numbers and the epoxy set up well. 

Met the people from a 65 ft custom Selene that the owner had just bought over from Taiwan.   Cleaned  up the boat interior and checked that all port holes were closed  then turned off the batteries and closed up the boat.

19:30  Dinner at the hotel amidst all of the folks celebrating Valentine’s day.  Packed and went to bed early .