Window Removal

We finally got around to removing the broken sliding window. We've been putting it off as we were under the impression, from speaking with various people, that we'd have to pull out the entire window frame from the boat. 

We took out all the screws and were trying to find an appropriate tool to pry the frame loose when I noticed the weather stripping around the fixed piece of glass was removable. I pulled that off and realized there was basically caulk holding the piece in place. Once we popped that out, we just had to pull down the top center piece of track to get the sliding piece out. Easy peasy.  We're trying to source new fuzz lined track to replace that while we're at it. 

Partner in Command Class

When we were at the OBYC cruise out the other weekend, the couple tied on one side of us said they'd signed up for the US power squadron "partner in command" class, FKA skipper saver. The idea being to teach the partner who perhaps doesn't drive the boat much enough to get back to the dock to save the skipper in an emergency. I do drive the boat but don't dock it so was interested in some pointers so we signed up. 

We either had to get there Friday or be there Saturday by 7 am, which would mean getting up at 5 am. Not fun. We ended up getting there Friday after dark, our second night boating experience in just a few weeks, right after saying why we don't care to boat at night in the delta! Only the last bit was in the dark, and the power squadron island is right off the river / main channel so it wasn't too bad. 

We'd brought a steak to grill but our friends who'd told us about the class had hamburgers already cooked for us! So nice! We had dinner on their boat and chatted for awhile before heading to bed for a good night's sleep before the class. 

We were very lucky to have a small class and each boat had its own instructor, where normally they share one instructor to two boats.  We started out with a "classroom" session on the covered deck. We talked about various safety topics like life jackets, using the VHF, knots, etc. Reading over the book in advance, I figured I wouldn't learn much in the classroom section. I actually got two good pointers on the cleat hitch. This is the simplest of knots but few people do it correctly. We thought we knew the correct way but learned we actually didn't. Now we do!! There were some other good pointers but the real meat was the one on one time on the water. 

We were assigned an instructor named Gary. Over the course of our on the water time we learned this was his first time teaching the class. He was great. I drove the whole time. He wasn't supposed to touch the controls at all, though he did the first time we came alongside the dock. He remembered not to the subsequent times. I learned a lot about how the boat handled and had a great time, despite getting soaked it the pouring rain. We drove from up top for the better visibility. I had my foul weather jacket but not my pants. Reminded us of our sailing days! 

The instructors put together a great dinner for us, including homemade carrot cake. All this was $50 for the two of us. The asked us if we wanted to join the island and we weren't interested- until we took a walk outside their fenced off end to the rest of the island. It was wonderful, and the annual fee is nominal. We're thinking about joining. I really recommend the class for any partners who want to increase their confidence driving in close quarters! 

Matt said I should mention I docked the boat several times, including ultimately being the last of the four boats to return to the dock to stern in, between two other student's boats (there was lots of room so it wasn't scary). I also drove off the dock the next day and most of the way back to Willow Berm. Matt docked at our slip. The current was running pretty hard which is nerve wracking even for Matt. I'll wait and try that at slack tide! 

Hinky Dinkin'

Saturday we got the Hink back up and running. Matt took the alternator to a shop that said they could rebuild it but apparently that didn't work out as we ended up with a brand new one. It went on easily. If you've been reading this blog or are familiar with boats, you know "easy" boat projects are few and far between! 

Emboldened by success with the alternator, we finally installed the swimstep we'd bought the same day we bought the boat. While not quite as easy peasy as installing the alternator, it wasn't bad as far as boat projects go. 

Then it was time to go for a ride! You might think that after the easy time we had with the two projects that something would go wrong. Nope! The worst thing that happened was I had a margarita with lunch and it was awful. We were out a little over three hours and the boat ran great. The alternator was recharging the battery just fine. All in all a great day! 

Also we got our subwoofer back (on Pineapple Girl). We got a surround sound system last December and have not had much luck with the sub woofer. The original one went out and the place we bought it gave us a new one. That one went out and the place we bought it directed us to the manufacturer. The manufacturer had us ship it to So Cal for warranty service. 

Two weeks after we shipped it, Matt called for a status update. The person he spoke with refused to look up the status and said parts were on order and it would be two more weeks. It showed up on our doorstep the next day!  Per the invoice, a defective amp was replaced. It works great and our fingers are crossed that it will keep working this time!! Sure don't want to have to use the warranty shop again. 

Labor Day Weekend

We spent Labor Day weekend on an Ox Bow Cruise Out at Decker Island, a spot called Horseshoe Bend that is just off the Sacramento River. We were all sterned into the island, at a spot with a nice beach at low tide. The current was ripping through pretty hard, which led to our first broken glass of the weekend....

We were coming in to side tie alongside a boat with higher freeboard than we have. The current pushed us into them pretty hard and with the height difference, their gunwale (the upper edge of the side of their boat) was in the middle of our stanchions (the stainless posts that hold up our handrail). The current was pushing us against them so hard that the stanchions were bending in. I was pushing against them, trying to create some space so we could pull forward and get off of them. I could not get us off them so Matt ran down from the helm.

We were both pushing as hard as we could when I heard a CRACK. My first thought was the teak handrail had broken. That would truly be a catastrophe as the railing is a work of art. I couldn't see the wood because it the cover was on it. I had kind of a sick feeling of dread... Then I heard Matt behind me cussing and turned to find the cracking sound was actually the window cracking from where Matt had braced himself to push off the other boat. It was the sliding part of the window and we should be able to replace it for around $60. Plus all the time it is going to take us to remove and reinstall the entire window :rolleyes:

Also broken over the weekend: one clock and one champagne glass. Turns out glass is a modern third anniversary gift. Guess Pineapple Girl was mad we didn't bring her anything?

In three years we have put 286.6 hours on the port engine, 282.2 on the starboard (probably really closer to equal to the port as we had a time the starboard hour meter wasn't working) and 88.2 hour on the generator. We've put in 902.6 gallons of diesel at a total price of $3477.26. For all the fun we've had, it's "a bargain at any price."

Three Years

This weekend marks three years with Pineapple Girl II!! We're headed on a cruise out with Ox Bow Yacht Club tomorrow... One night (and dinner) at Outrigger Marina on three mile slough and two nights anchored out at Decker Island off the Sacramento River. It's been TOO LONG since we got the big boat out of the slip. Really looking forward to it.

Finally!

More than two months after we got our new water pump, I installed it today. It is MUCH quieter than the west marine one we installed right before Memorial Day. We're keeping that one as a spare. Now that the hoses have the quick connect ends installed for the west marine pump, swapping out for the other pump was super easy. Glad the quick connect fittings are standardized. The hardest part was squeezing in close enough to screw it down to the shelf.

Matt fixed a leak in the water supply line to the dishwasher. I managed to get a shot of his leg as he was hanging his torso into the corner storage to reach the water line at the bottom. :)

Carrie sent us photos of Hinky Dink underway from our trip to Giusti's last weekend.

Night Boating II

Two weeks after explaining why we haven't been out at night in the delta... We were out at night on the delta.

We'd planned to take a long weekend last weekend to anchor out with some sailor friends... Then spent Friday at a funeral instead of anchored out. Took the runabout out to visit our friends Saturday and found out they were headed to our marina for the night so we made plans for the ten of us to take our ski boat and one other ski boat to dinner that night. Departure time was pushed back as it took them awhile to get settled in and cleaned up but the timing still worked out to get home before dark... Except we had to wait about an hour and a half for a table for ten at Giusti's in Walnut Grove. Not too shocking to have to wait for a big group... The food was fantastic...

So it was dark when we left to come home. Very dark. No moon dark.

There are certain running lights required at night and one of our lights, the 360 degree white light at the stern, does not work. We'd brought a suction cup mount battery powered one from our dinghy (that we've had for two years with no occasion to use) "just in case". The other boat had a spot light and we had a chart plotter with depth sounder. They went first with their light and we started off back down the river, backtracking the way we'd come.

For some reason the stern light decide to make a swim for it shortly after we left. Luckily someone noticed right away. It was actually pretty cool, not only did in float but it floated with the light pointed up. We went back and easily retrieved it. We had a small piece of line we tied to it to tether it to the boat after the light over board drill. The boat we were following noticed we'd turned around and waited for us.

A short time later we were passed by two boats traveling the same direction at what sure seemed like high speed. It was really hard to see their wakes to take them at a good angle. We were all in our life vests for safety and weren't scared, it was more weird to see their lights woosh by.

We then had an uneventful stretch where we spent time admiring the stars and noticing how the dippers were visible from completely different sides of the boat as we wound down the slough. We were able to maintain a consistent distance from the other boat by listening to their music. They have huge speakers on their wakeboard "tower" and when the music got louder we knew they'd slowed down so we would too.

Once we got close to willow berm we saw the lights of another boat headed our way. As I mentioned, we have a chartplotter. The boat we were following was over a shallow spot in the middle of the river so we were hanging to the left a bit. The other boat went right between us. It was probably at least a 30' boat, moving at a good clip. In my opinion, too fast for the conditions (I.e. PITCH DARK!!!).

We dropped off our passengers shortly after and were very happy to be back at our slip safely after an exciting trip home. The return took about twice as long as the outbound trip as we were feeling our way along in the dark. We slept pretty well after a long day on the water!