Sailing Steadfast
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Steadfast for Sale (not Sail)

7/14/2014

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After this last jaunt up the California Coast, Keith and I got to talking and decided that we were ready for a change.  Not sure what that change will be exactly but what we concluded is that it won't include our Spindrift 43 for now so we are putting her up for sale.  It's a hard thing to do after putting so much heart and soul into her, not to mention blood, sweat and yes, even tears.  We spent the last few days of our trip cleaning out our personal belongings and getting her cleaned up to sell. We've detailed out all the upgrades & additions that we've completed over the past four + years.

Steadfast Photos and Steadfast Specs 


I've got very mixed feelings but the primary one is excitement.  Excited to see where we go next, bigger? smaller? East Coast?  Only time will tell!  What I DO know is that we will continue to sail steadfast....even if it isn't on 'Steadfast'.
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From Avalon to Oxnard to Celebrate 4th of July

7/13/2014

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We were hoping to be able to stay on through the 4th of July in Avalon as it is well known to be quite a show of people and fireworks but on July 3rd we received notice that we were losing our mooring and had to be out by 9am.  The harbor offered us a spot in Descanso Bay but Keith and I decided just to pull the plug on Avalon and began stowing for the trip.  We headed out of Avalon right after 9am and saw hoards of large power boats heading in.  We decided to head up the coast of the island and check out Two Harbors, we noodled on the idea of seeing if they had a free mooring but decided to just continue on towards Channel Islands Marina where we have been before and which we knew had a fabulous pool and hot tub.  We motor sailed up the coast of the island and then put the jib up for awhile as we headed back to the coast of California, unfortunately it wasn't quite enough wind to get us there in decent time (the difference between arriving around 7pm and almost 10pm, so after a short time of sailing we furled the jib and continued to motor sail.  The weather cooperated for most of the way until the last few hours where the wind picked up on our nose and it was a wet ride.  All of the boys hunkered down below in our bunk or near the dodger to keep dry while Keith and I took turns exposed to the spray and wind.  It's times like these that I think a full dodger plus full cockpit canvas setup would be quite nice.  All four boys were troopers though and after pulling into our designated slip at Anacapa Isle Marina we promptly sent them all off to the pool while Keith and I proceeded to rinse down boat and gear.

Turns out we had just pulled into one of the hot spots to be for the July 4th, with a front row seat of the fireworks set off by the military.  Keith and I walked down to the store to stock up on traditional fare in preparation for a fun filled evening.  Loren was in total BBQ food heaven - he is the meat eater in the family.  Keith took the little guys out for a dinghy ride on the basin during the big show and was able to grab some fantastic shots of the fireworks.

We spent the next few days enjoying the weather and the beautiful marina amenities: steam room, gym, hot tub, pool and cabana's pool side (no cabana boys with umbrella drinks though...bummer.) 
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Avalon Tourists

7/5/2014

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I think Avalon will always hold a special place in my heart because as a very young couple Keith and I spent quite a bit of time on the island while Keith worked at CIMI.  It's a bit different now visting without being dirt poor and we had a great time sharing the area with the kids.  We went back to Jack's restaurant for brunch and everyone enjoyed filling up on pancakes, crepes and eggs which was good fuel for the guys as we packed them all into the dinghy and tossed em overboard for some snorkeling in Lover's Cove.  Keith guided the teens all along the coast where they saw all kinds of sea life, Mason even spotted an eel.  They were pretty jazzed when they got out an hour later.  The little guys had a blast just floating and checking things out.

There is a lot more to do in the area now as they have built up the whole Descanso Bay Resort area and it looks like additional construction is happening along the beach front there.  The older boys took an adventure on the Eco Tour Zip-Line Adventure which was 2 hours of zipping down from the top of the island.  After eating sandwiches from the boat the group then headed to the historic Casino to catch a movie.  The little guys were excited to hear it was Transformers, Keith and I groaned but agreed to go along with the crowd for the experience.  (Note: The movie was as horrible as we had anticipated. Even the teenagers spent the majority of the time counting how many ads they could spot.)

I was glad that we had packed as much into the day as possible because we lost our mooring the next day and rather then take one at Descanso we opted to head north towards the Channel Islands Harbor, taking the scenic route along the coast of the Island before heading off on a straight shot towards Oxnard.
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A Catalina Run then Fun in the Sun

7/2/2014

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We left Chula Vista Marina late in the afternoon to make our way to the north end of San Diego Bay where we needed to fuel up.  San Diego Bay was a stark contrast to when we came in, there were a small number of boats on the bay and the weather was gorgeous.  With plenty of time to spare before the fuel dock closed we enjoyed a beautiful and leisurely sail up the bay  with the sun and warm breeze. 

We had to wait for the fuel dock as the fisherman who passed us at full speed managed to snag the open spot but it wasn't long before we too were watching the dollar signs disappear as we filled Steadfast up with diesel enough to get us part way up the coast.  As this takes a bit of time, the boys took their time perusing the snack shop and grabbing goodies for the over night trip....I watched as junk food the likes our household never sees were hauled aboard, soda, chips and candy galore. We payed up (ouch!) and headed out towards the open ocean leaving the dock at 6pm just about on our mental schedule.

Once past the #3 bouy we headed up the coast on a straight shot for Avalan and I went below to make up some quick grub for the troops.  The weather was on our side with 10 knots of breeze and 2ft of swell, we kept the main up and motor sailed our way up.  The young ones hit their bunks about 8pm and the teens hung out with us till midnight before they too went to sleep, opting to sleep on deck huddled in a bundle under the companionway.  This left Keith and I to double team our way through the night.  Generally we do an hour or two of sleep alternating but Keith was having a hard time sleeping so we spent much of the time together, Keith was also nervous about crossing the shipping lanes at night.  At one point we saw to huge ships but it seems as if they were stationary. 

Just before dawn we arrived outside the harbor and I phoned in to see if they had any moorings available.  The moorings here are on a first come first serve but are privately owned so at any time the owner can call up the harbor and tell them they are on their way and we have to move.  Since this is July 4th week and one of the busiest of the year, I was fully expecting to get turned away or if we were lucky to get a mooring one cove over in Descanso Bay.  The harbor immediately told me no problem and they would be out to meet us and get us setup with a mooring.  Crack of dawn saw us secured off and ready to catch up on much much needed sleep.

After a few hours of rest Keith, the little boys and I went ashore and let the teens sleep in their bunks a bit more. We scoped out the zip lines which we had heard about, found the putt putt golf place and found a couple places where we could watch the US World Cup game.  We headed back to the boat to drag the older boys out of bed in time to watch the game.  The first two places we dropped into were packed without seating.  Then I saw a small Mexican food joint and they had a couple screens - and as we were trying to figure out how to see them the bartender offered to turn on the other large screen to the game.  So with good food, beer and live screen I was finally pretty content.  It was a great game, with AMAZING saves by Tim Howard but alas the US run ended with defeat.  Still, as I keep telling the boys....I don't watch to see who wins I watch to enjoy some great football.  So glad I didn't miss this on our trip!

After sitting on our butts for so long - overtime and all - we opted to hike up to the Nature Center and get a little exercise.  Probably should have grabbed some water ahead of time for the few mile hike in the sun and heat but it wasn't too bad and only Loren took to whining fully for the duration.  We were able to walk through the exhibits of the island foxes, the bison and the bald eagle story.  All of which Keith and I knew about since we have been here many times but it was nice to share again with the kids.

We headed back down the hill to the boat for some chill-ax time. The boys all jumped off into the turquoise blue clear water (with the fish) to cool off from the hike and we all settled into quiet activities.  Reading, playing games or napping.  
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    I'm the wife of the captain, a mother of three boys and a PM in the corporate world.  This blog is my view of life and activities related to our boat.

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