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.