Thursday, October 6, 2011

Pit Stop in Oxnard

By Aaron

We’ve been in Oxnard at Channel Islands Harbor Marina for about a week now.  Kind of a long stop for us but the weather has been fantastic and it’s a good location to work on boat projects. 

IMG_2475 (Large)There’s been a definite change in the flora compared to only a few months ago

The project list and status looks something like this:

Oil change – done (At our old marina in Seattle you just take your old oil and dump it in the recycling tank.  Similar here, except that it’s witnessed by a harbor patrol officer who also logs the amount of oil, boat name, hailing port, etc.)

Fuel filters change – done (the inept mechanic that changed them last time actually put the Racor housing back together without putting a new filter in!  Fortunately the secondary filter was in and still relatively clean, but I changed them both.  Oh, and the inept mechanic was me.)

Fix wiring problem with %#!$&*# starter (Again.  I’m going to have to run a new, heavier gauge wire and it will be a pain)

Install fresh water foot pump (This, like many boat projects, involves making a big hole in a perfectly good piece of teak so I’m procrastinating)

Fix problem with autopilot hydraulic arm connection to rudder post radial  - done (Third time’s the charm I hope)

Wire up NEMA 0183 connection from plotter to autopilot (Currently only steers a compass course and we’d like it to steer through a series of waypoints – so we can just go to bed on our next overnight passage.  The GPS is so accurate we’ll just wake up in a new slip the next day.)

Connect this:

IMG_2497Itty bitty screws to hold down two little wires, so far so good.

To this:

IMG_2491This is the NMEA 0183 wiring bundle coming from the chartplotter.  You can see part of our NMEA 2000 network in the background where you just connect the T pieces together.  I much prefer  the Tinker Toy like NMEA 2k installation. 

It was my first time doing any NMEA 0183 wiring and In the end connecting up the plotter to our old autopilot turned out to be simple to do.  I wish we had done this a long time ago!

Replace masthead anemometer – done (Warranty exchange with Garmin – the old one was giving temperature readings high enough to put it squarely in Hell and could not be corrected with an offset)

Replace SPOT messenger – done (Warranty exchange with SPOT – old one starting randomly sending HELP messages all by itself)

Get our mail forwarded – done

Varnish – done (We didn’t get as many coats on as we would have liked, but with rain in the forecast we’ll have to take what we can get)

Replace jib halyard shackle – done (had a snap shackle on there before and we weren’t quite getting a full hoist on the sail)

The projects are going well and we should be getting out of here in a few days.  One thing I like about Oxnard is there’s a donut shop on practically every block.  And I’ve got a thing for donuts.

IMG_2474Boat projects are hard work.  Cruiser TIp: To burn calories you gotta eat ‘em first!

Nicole pretty much does all the varnishing on the boat, and she does a really nice job.  Last year we removed the Cetol and took it down to bare wood.  We built it back up with Epifanes Wood Finish Gloss.  We’ve been very happy with that and used it again for our maintenance coats.

DSC_0779Putting on Bella Star’s makeup

7 comments:

  1. Hey guys,
    Welcome to Oxnard! If you're walking the docks, keep an eye out for our friend Greg on S/V Nightcap (http://gregrudzinski.blogspot.com/). He lives aboard there and is a wealth of knowledge on all things boaty like navigation using a sextant (used to be a ship's navigator) and how to make delicious French Onion soup cruiser style. He's also an awesome local resource for marine stuff in Oxnard.
    If you do meet him, make sure to say hi from us!
    Cheers, Julia and Jacob

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  2. Hi, Julia! I just checked out his blog, and it turns out we're in the same marina! We'll have to go see if we can track him down today. Hope all's well with school and your fast, new boat. Take care!
    -Nicole

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  3. Bella star! Well I've missed you again. I read your blog this morning and discovered that we were in the same marina. I walked over to the marina office at 10:30 to learn you had checked out earlier. Drat. I arrived in Oxnard on Tuesday so we had a few days of overlap. I missed you in Monterey as well, just barely. We will probably cross paths again further south. It would be good to share a beer. Oh - who am I? We met briefly in shilshole. Friends with hello world.

    Safe travels. Craig on S/V Luckness.

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  4. We're jealous of your warm sunshine and palm trees! Om Shanti is back at the dock in Bellingham in the rain and cold. We are really looking forward to getting down to San Diego on the 22nd - hopefully we'll get to catch up with you guys and share a beer or three!
    All the best!
    Heather s/v Om Shanti

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  5. Craig - We'll be in San Diego all week. How long will you be in Oxnard?

    Heather - you guys have accumulated many many more months of sunshine and palm trees than we have, but we're looking forward to catching up. Can't wait to put your cruising guides to work! We'll be leaving San Diego in a week since we need to haul out in Ensenada so unfortunately we'll miss you! Sure wish we could have met up with Om Shanti in the sea.

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  6. Aaron - I've gotten involved with a few boat projects here and will try to leave on wednesday or thursday. I'll then head out to the Channel Islands, and after that San Diego. I'll try to time San Diego to miss the Baja Ha Ha fleet, as I want some dock space for Luckness while I head back to Port Townsend for a course. It sounds like you'll be in Mexico soon! Perhaps we'll meet down there somewhere... I just discovered your "click here for our current location" feature on your blog, and will use it in the future.

    I'm enjoying reading the Bella Star blog, I bet every boat coming down the coast has different impressions and stories to tell, its been good hearing yours!

    ReplyDelete

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