Letters to old friends.

You asked about the sailing season here.  It's long.  Year round really, but it gets really hot here in summer.  July and August are brutal, but it's cooler out on the water as long as there's some wind.  In summer, often there isn't much.  All our boats have air conditioning while they're in a slip and hooked up to shore power.  The bigger ones have generators to support A/C when away from a dock. 

 

(Our recent trip down to the Caribbean reminded me of how great it is to be in the trade winds with constant 10 to 15 knots or more out of the east.  I wish we had that.  Winds here can come from any direction or strength, including none at all.)

 

At SF we are now entering the heart of our season   We had a meeting yesterday to discuss this coming week's schedule.  Almost every boat will be out this weekend.  It's a bit amazing when after a flurry of activity to get boats off on their cruises, you look around and suddenly the slips are nearly all empty and the docks are quiet.  We expect it will be busy like this right through June.  I recall last year, it didn't really slow down until after the 4^th of July weekend.

 

This year will, I expect, be busier still.  We've got more boats.  Our fleet is growing remarkably.  Last year we added four 2011 boats.  So far this year we've added three more that are used but in excellent condition – two Catalina 35's and a Hunter 44.  The owner of one C 35 has already arranged an upgrade.  He signed a deal for a 2012 Jeanneau 50 to be delivered to us in June.  Then yesterday I learned that the owner of the Beneteau 32 has started work on an upgrade as well.  And I hear of at least two new potential boat owners that are serious about placing boats in our fleet.  (Did I tell you this earlier?  I may have.)     

 

Yesterday I was diesel technician all day.  The Leopard catamaran's engines were due for service routines, including the generator.  The owners and some family will arrive today and go off on a cruise.  I wanted to get the engines serviced prior to that trip so I spent the day huddled down in the engine bays with tools and an oil pump.      

 

This afternoon I'll meet an older couple (in their late 80s) at the marina and help them get settled on the Hunter 44 they'll stay on through Sunday.  Apparently they sailed a lot when younger - owned a sailboat and cruised the Bahamas.  They don't have the agility or strength to sail themselves any longer, so they want a skipper to take them out on daysails, returning to the marina each evening for dinner at the Vinoy hotel across the street and a comfortable evening at the marina.  I've been told they both have difficult health issues.  They need a patient captain, so I've been given the job.  I gather this little charter will be for them something like a last hurrah.  Make every day count. 

 

Kim, I can appreciate your passion for gardening.  Cathy's the same, but since selling the house in Portland and becoming condo dwellers, lacks the opportunity.  She'd envy what you have.  If we lived close by, she'd come over to work in your garden.  I want to write more about Cathy: her interests, work, family, how we met and so on.  I'll devote my next email to those topics.  . 

 

RR

 

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