Ayala Sandbox: The View from the Foredeck

The mechanics in Santa Barbara did not want to take the job at all. They looked at the engine, said that it might take a long time: they did not know where the leak was coming from: and that are not at all certain as to the character of the oil leak or the character of the seal. We had the directions for the motor, fortunately, and after two or three days, they finally pulled the whole motor up and out of its bed, took off the front portion of the fly wheel and found that when the fly wheel had been placed back on the shaft in 1949, that two oil rings had been crushed so that they were bent and constantly leaking oil.

So there is some down time ahead for my Grandfather's trip. Time to go tourist. But before I start talking about that, there is time to report on a race.

Friday, Sept. 5th, 2008 - The Berkeley Yacht Club BeerCan race started as a windless bounce in the chop of the Oylmpic Circle. I keep trying to find a good link that explains the what the circle is, the closest I can get to it is Googling "Olympic Circle Course".

Oh, what the hell, I'm just out here for fun, 'dancing on the foredeck' of the Ranger 33 Genesis. It's what I would call a 'plastic classic' - if you haven't figured it out, I love the classics.

The photos here are 'the view from the foredeck'. The boat flying the spinnaker behind us is the J24 'Vitamin J', with friends Bradley, Knut and Chris on board. I love it when they are behind us, and I get to watch. There wasn't enough wind at the beginning of the race, and they'd left their engine behind to save weight, missed their start, crossing the line about six minutes behind. They were playing catch up all the way to the finish.

Paul, the owner of Genesis, is a great guy to sail with. He's had the boat for about two years, and is entering the world of racing through the Friday Night Races. He's absorbing everything he can on each and every race. One of these days, or maybe next year, his competition, the R33 'Boogie Wogie' is going to look back and see Genesis on it's tail. That's going to be fun, and I expect to be around to see it.

It was a light wind for the circle, and I thought it

would be 'dry', so I put my camera in the pocket of my 'foul' weather bottoms. Life is a risk right? Worst case, I'll need a new camera. When I pulled my wet gear out of my sail bag, the camera came out of the pocket dry, and fired right up.