22 February, 2000
The birthday week is back. Suzy and my birthday are separated by 5 days (and some years). Several family members were also born in this month. If you can do the math, it makes you wonder what all of our parents were doing in the month of May. On Wednesday we had our usual "pizza night" at Ed's. The tradition (if you can call it that) is for the previous birthday boy (or girl) to give the gift of a single malt to the current celebrant. I got a bottle of chardonnay instead, but it was still pretty good. Thanks, Pat. Thursday we went to Quinn's Lighthouse for sea shanties courtesy of the Sons of the Buccaneers (S.O.B.s) and several pints of ale. During one of the breaks, we had an all out peanut tossing "battle" with the other patrons. (Quinn's is one of those places where the floor is covered in peanut shells.) Friday night we completely forgot that we were supposed to go to Berkeley Yacht Club for dinner and instead had drinks at a bar a few blocks from the office, called the Owl Tree. No peanuts on the floor this time, alas.
Saturday I filled the chainplate holes with epoxy, rebedded the leaking bolt on the stanchion base and put the water pump back together. I found the missing impeller vane without removing the heat exchanger cover, thank goodness. It would have been a chore to remove that beastie. I got everything clean and put away almost on time, picked up Suzy at Sven's at about 5:10 (ten minutes late) and then took BART into the City to see the Chinese New Year Parade down Market Street.
Some observations: I was surprised to see commercial "sponsors" advertising in the parade. There were a few airlines, one automobile dealer and the U.S. Census (looking for workers at $15.50 / hour!). The parade was much longer than I had expected. My past experience in Washington D.C. was that the parade had to run around the route twice just to fill up the time. In San Francisco, the parade lasted at least two hours before we tired, and it was still going when we left for dinner.
Sunday, the weather was gray and dreary, so I finished up my tax returns. But Monday turned out to be a very nice day. Bill showed up around 11 o'clock or so. I hadn't cleaned the bottom of the boat since November and I wanted to inspect the prop zinc to see if the galvanic isolator I installed in January was actually working. I also wanted to put some padding around the prop nut so when the engine mechanic moved it on Tuesday, it wouldn't ding the skeg. We spent a good deal of time just chatting before we got our gear on and got in the water. Bill's first stop was the bottom in search of a pair of lost safety goggles I dropped on Saturday while working on the chainplates. He never did find them (at $3.95 a pair, it was no great loss), but he did find a rather nice '92 Dry Creek Chardonnay - intact no less. We know this because after the dive, we pulled the cork and drank it. I must say that cellaring it in 55F water, with no sunshine or air kept it rather well. We were a little worried about salt water contamination, but the cork was covered in wax or something that kept it dry on the outside. I checked the zinc (fine, phew!) and then proceeded to scrub four months of growth off of the prop. After I finished, I went looking for Bill, and he apparently went looking for me, as we both surfaced at about the same time (with Suzy in the middle saying, "He's over there." and pointing at both of us). We put the padding on the prop nut (a sponge with a bunch of long cable ties) and then cleaned the bottom. After four months, the growth was much more stubborn than usual. We both had a good aerobic workout (and consumed most of our air).
By about 3 o'clock or so, we were showered, the toys were put away, and the lazarette was cleared out in preparation for Tuesday. We walked over to the Meridian Restaurant (about 50 yards from the gate house) and had beer, appetizers and salads until sunset.
Tuesday morning arrived with the predicted winds and imminent rain. Marty arrived to take the transmission off the engine, and I hung around to watch and stay out of his way. Twenty year-old marine engines don't come apart too easily, and this was no exception. Most of the bolts were in good condition, but the shaft-coupler had fused with the bolts from corrosion (not uncommon). One engine mount refused to come off (so Marty removed the bottom bracket instead and will cut the nut off in the shop). When I left at about noon, Marty was on his way to find a flexible 7mm socket to remove the bottom two bolts from the case, which were otherwise inaccessible. I have high hopes that he was successful, but I'll find out when I get home tonight.
Copyright © 2000 Ken Mayer