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Wednesday, November 10, 2010

11/10/2010 - The chill is gone

Okay, maybe not completely gone, but I was able to spend at least a few hours in shorts and t-shirt again today. Of course, once you got out of the sun, it cooled down right away.

We walked to the Sand Trap for breakfast today just because we hadn't been there yet. Best $4.99 breakfast we ever ate. Of course, if we cooked it on the boat it'd be closer to $0.99 but that's a given. Once in awhile you just have to treat yourself and contribute to the local economy.

Afterwards, we loaded up the laundry and went in to use one of the 2 laundromats in town. This one is in this little shopping plaza and is pretty darn nice for a laundromat. Unfortunately, the sun never reached the interior of the plaza so sitting outside while the clothes were being washed got a little chilly after awhile. But, the sun warmed us back up on our walk back to the dinghy dock.

Today was cruise ship day. It's our understanding that Carnival lands a ship here on Tuesday and Thursday during the summer and on Tuesday only during the off-season. This is the second time we've seen one and you ought to see how the town fills up when one of those big boogers drops their anchor.

Played with the solar panels today. A fellow sailor was bending my ear last night about the importance of getting the panels situated as close to 90 degrees to the sun as possible. At this time of year, that means they're almost vertical. I've been just letting mine sit flat (horizontal) but today I tried to align them with the sun better. It really paid off. The amps-in jumped from about 1.8 (21.6 watts) to 8.1 (97.2 watts). Since the panels are 80 watts each and one of them had the shadow of the boom across it, that's not too shabby. Kept me from running the generator today as I had planned to do. I need to improve my mounts so that the panels will be able to be adjusted easier but that shouldn't be any big deal. Hardest part will be finding the right hardware.

We've decided to head to Dana Point on Thursday instead of San Diego. Besides getting all our various chores done, we'll get to visit our friend Adele. Matter of fact, she and her friend Vince are going to cart us down to San Diego (by car) on Friday so we can get our Mexican fishing licenses. We'll owe them lunch for that one for sure. We're looking forward to what should be a pretty easy trip across the channel.

Tonight we went to the movies. The main reason was to get a look at the inside of the Casino, or at least the theater part. It was pretty amazing. Very ornate, very well restored (or is it preserved?). The movie, Mega Mind, was so-so. We kind of have a built-in prejudice against animated features so it had that to overcome. It was sort of cute but not really to our taste. But the popcorn was REALLY good. And REALLY buttery.

Before the movie, we had our friends Mike and Nita (s/v Odessa) over for dinner. Got to show them the difference between life on a 40' boat (theirs) and a 28' boat (ours). Just like when we had dinner on their boat a few days ago, we once again had a pleasant time comparing notes and picking each other's brains. They'll be taking off tomorrow for Newport (California, not Oregon). They're planning to hit Dana Point after that so we may run into them again before we meet up in Mexico sometime.


7 comments:

Anonymous said...

How come I can't see you in the webcam this morning (Wednesday)?/Beverly

Anonymous said...

Steve, did you see the "missle launch" that occured just northwest of you? Some say it was a jet contrail but the NORAD guys said they knew of a "launch" but did not know who did it.
After reading about the rattlesnakes there I also remember reading about Santa Catalina Island in Baja. The rattlesnakes on this island have developed changes. They don't have rattles, they hang out in bushes (that's where their prey items, birds, are) and they also have the more toxic venom. Be careful down there! Ken

Steve and Lulu said...

Beverly,
Maybe you were looking at the wrong boat before. We're still there although our friends on Odessa left early this morning (they were in front and to the right of us). Go to the Casino cam, zoom in on the Beach. Lower RH corner there's a boat with an open boat with a yellow hull and a blue top. We're the next boat, on his right hand (starboard) side. Nobody else next to us until you get to a couple power boats a ways away to our starboard.
-Steve

Steve and Lulu said...

Ken,

We didn't see the missile launch although some of my friends up north accused me f doing it. I also heard that the rattlesnakes here, while they still rattle, rattle very softly. If you weren't listening specifically for it, you wouldn't hear it. hey said it's more like rustling leaves than a rattle. Creepy. We'll be sure to be careful.

-Steve

Cody said...

Scott told me that the Splendor (the actual cruise ship we took) caught fire and they shipping people from it. I think he said it's somewhere near Ensenada? Not sure of the spelling or the actual fact =o). Nobody was hurt as far as I understand.

Beverly said...

Yeah, you're right, I was looking at the wrong boat. But I see you now.
Cody...that's OUR ship too. Our travel agent said the repairs would be done before our trip in March, so we won't have worries or delays. Whew! Fire was in an engine or generator so they had no electricity and are being towed back to San Diego sometime today so people can make air/hotel arrangements. They are getting a refund and a free cruise but still....! They missed Catalina!!

Anonymous said...

Good afternoon, Steve & Lulu: I see most of the boats are gone - if I am looking at the right boat, there are only five in line with you - from the yellow bottom boat on the bottom of the picture, you, then a larger boat, then an all white boat, then a boat with a dark color near the bottom - am I right. Take care and my love to both of you - Nancy