a day off in San Fransisco

Jim had a day off from work so we thought a trip to San Fransisco's fisherman's wharf would be fun. It was finally time to explore our new surroundings.

This is the famous Golden Gate Bridge
the toll to cross the bridge is up to $6.
But its so exciting to go into the big city! (golden gate fact #1 approximately 50 people a year commit suicide by jumping from the bridge) and yes some survive!











pier 39 is quite an interesting place. full of people and shopping and tourist
activities. this is the out side of the bay aquarium.

















here is Alcatraz. we'll take the tour one of these days. today was just to get a feel for the place and see what all it has to offer- quite a bit. it took several hours just to walk the wharf and pier, not to mention all the museums and food and shops and cruises and submarines and the fishing and sea lions.
















phew, after all that we had to stop and rest with an ice cream. jim shared some of his cone with the pigeons. it was funny. they were sitting on his lap and taking food from his hand.

the new member of our crew aka the sea urchin

Welcome aboard!

It's a boy!
12 lbs 2 ozs
18 ins. long
4 furry paws
and a tail!
this is our salty sea dog Scupper. he is a pug schitzu mix (pug-shit)


our 1 year anniversary is comming up soon so for our present, we went to the local animal shelter and got a dog.

aaaarrrrrrgggggggggggggg..........he's a wee bilge rat!

he seems to have made himself home all over the boat where ever there is a comfortable spot to sleep. a little shy with people but he's not afraid of any dog no matter how big. he's got the big dog attitude in his wee little body.




we took him for a hike atop Mt. Tamalpias a few days ago. (Jim says-mt. tamalpias is the birth place of the mountain bike) see how happy he is? he just loved it. we were a little worried about him keeping up, with his short little legs and all, but he did fine, infact, we had to keep up with him, except any up hill parts, he didnt like those! but hey, who does right?








as part of the crew he needed a job so we offered him "dog watch" which in nautical terms means the extra left over watch shift at the end of the day. he took it graciously, and as you can see, he's a natural. he just loves the cockpit float cushions any thime there is one available for him! he really is a spunky little dog in is awake time- barking at all the strangers that pass by the boat and playing attack our feet under the blankets.

little smokey

this is jim

jims mission of the day is: get the engine started

meet perkins aka: little smokey
a 40hp perkins diesel

watch out engine here he comes!

nothin yet

then all of the sudden out of nowhwere comes the plume of success!

ohhhh yeahhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!

it wafted its way throughout the entire harbor and by the end of the day, everyone in san rafel was commenting to us
"i see you got your engine started"

rust and steel boats

so i guess it all started one day with a "you want me to what?"
but i did anyway-

the boat has a few really bad rust spots that are covered in putty, but the rust is seaping up through the cracks in the putty. so we have to chizzel the putty away, clean the rust spots and then reprimer and paint.
so here i am with my hammer and chizel ready to enjoy a beautiful sunny january day in california. throw on a tank and roll up the jeans and get started-

What do you mean "the whole boat?"

hours and hours later and many ibuprophen for the sore back, i got through 2 big spots. there has got to be a better way to do this.

Welcome to San Rafael Yacht Harbor

here are some of the regular views around the san rafael yacht harbor
where we have the boat docked.

this is the crane, thats built on the barge, that dredges the harbor, that matt built.
the harbor master matt never sleeps and is always working on something.
the crane is currently parked to the aft end of our boat and is our morning coffee view.

this is our neighbor steve, a great guy. but maybe we're
just partial because he's from alaska too!

This is gary, gary has a great boat. he almost bought our boat before we got here,
but decided on this one instead. built in 1928, and still floats,
the boat, not gary!

here is matt's son. we dont know his name but he is a regular boater around the harbor.
I think he's about 8, and handles his carolina skiff like a pro.

this is the concrete boat across the dock from us. its a bit deep in the draft for
low tide. we're pretty sure one day, its gonna break the dock in half!
you should hear the creaks as it settles.