Santa Cruz

We arrived safe and sound in Santa Cruz this afternoon. We left San Francisco last night and had a lumpy ride down here.

We mainly motor sailed because the winds were from the South; exactly the way we wanted to go!

The weather forecast isn't good for tomorrow, so we will probably stay here two nights or until the weather improves.

Snapshots of Our Day

At The Encinal Yacht Club

Jacques from Reliance Marine Electronics came to our boat this morning and worked his magic, so our "SeaTalk" is now communicating properly with the other electronics and we have an autopilot again. He also verified proper installation of the other equipment and ran through our systems with us.

We have enjoyed our little visit here at the Encinal Yacht Club, but we think we are ready to head home tomorrow morning.

SAILING AGAIN!

And it was good.

Done at the Rigger's

It looks like we are finally done here at the  rigging shop. Our mainsail had in-the-mast furling before, so they have had to make a new tack fitting, run reefing lines, run a new outhaul, and have our hydraulic unit overhauled. They have also created a tack pennant for the gennaker and adjusted the rigging.

And miracle of miracles, we may actually go sailing this afternoon!

"Shock Wave" is on the dock in front if us. We look like an ad for North Sails and Easom Racing; "From go-fast race boats to traditional cruisers, we handle them all."

Boat Repairs on the {Secret Richmond} Riviera

Our new sails arrived this morning at 11:00 am and we quickly got busy installing them. The headsails were a snap because nothing had changed there, but the mainsail presented more of a challenge. We had "in-the-mast" furling before and now we need reefing lines and hardware. 

But still, it is so exciting to see that crisp, clean, new sail up there.

We also discovered (when we went to adjust the backstay) that the NavTec hydraulic pump was shooting out fluid like a sprinkler. Hence the title of this post. 

So this afternoon we removed the pump and control unit and will take it to Svendsen's tomorrow for repairs. 

Needless to say, we had hydraulic fluid all over ourselves, the tools, and the cockpit. Ah, the joys of cruising.