Check It Out

Magic is now officially for sale.

Check out this site and let me know what you think!  I've looked at the site SO MANY TIMES my head is spinning.

magiccatamaran.blogspot.com

And cross your fingers!

Bit by Bit....

And so it goes.  Life on a boat in a boat yard.

The bottom painting is going on & looks great.  We should splash on Tuesday and then be at the docks for a week.  At the docks we will finally have WATER in our tanks & use of those heads....No more walking a city block for anything related to water or hygiene.

I am working hard on a web posting to sell the boat.  Our plan is to get in the water & take some pictures.  Post everything and then leave for the islands.  And hope.  We are going to try and sell Magic on our own while cruising this season in Mexico.  We will be advertising in Latitude 38, the go to source for boats & cruising on the West and Best Coast.

If that doesn't work....well, we will move on to Plan #2.

Bye Bye Cyclone Octave

We arrived in LaPaz just a day or two before Octave.  And she opted to skirt the city and make landfall further up the Baja Peninsula.  Our impact was a whole lot of gray skies, high humidity, high temperatures, and occasional rain.  Only 1 or 2 showers of any intensity and they were just an hour or two.  Just enough to leak in through 1 hatch -- the one over MY bunk.  Life on a boat.  Glamourous.

So now we are plugging away at our project list.  We are scheduled to go back in the water on October 22; from there we will be a week at the dock cleaning and getting ready to cruise up in the Sea.

Our big project this season is bottom paint.  Gallons and gallons of it.  Anything to keep the critters and plants from calling Magic home this season.

La Paz

The Baja is a long, lovely finger of desert dangling off the southwest tip of California.  Mostly desert, the peninsula is a rugged and desolate landscape with small, hardscrabble villages dotted here and there.  Mostly where there is water...so along the Pacific Coast and Sea of Cortez.

Highway 1 rolls across this land -- up and down, twist and turn, up and down.  Two lanes; no shoulder.

On and on the road goes.  A mileage mark is a major distraction!  Hours stretch by without any other traffic.

But -- it is the only way to drive to LaPaz and so we drove it.  We arrived safely on Friday; checked out Magic and found her dirty but otherwise fine.  The next couple of days will be focused on getting her ready to go back in the water as early as possible.  There is that pesky storm system floating around south of the Cape but it promises just a good dousing and not much wind.

Oh, cruising! Oh joy

Jiffy Lube Saves the Day!

Our days of summer play are winding down as we look ahead to the 1,000 mile drive to LaPaz and working towards getting Magic back in the water.  So we pulled out from Oakland after totally enjoying redwood hikes, Star Pizza, City Guides walking tours, and lazy hours with dear friends.   We returned to Davis for a last pass through the storage unit and dinner with Bryan.

The last chore was an oil change.  We opted to use Jiffy Lube in Davis even though it was "early" for a change -- our other option was San Diego after arriving there on Tuesday afternoon.  With a few extra minutes in our day, we went into Jiffy Lube and lo & behold:  a leak in the radiator!  Oh my!

Next stop was our mechanics at City Auto.  Yup.  2 radiator leaks actually.  Maybe you could have driven the car to the Grapevine (hills up from the Valley into the LA Basin) before everything sizzled and fizzed.  Fix it NOW!

So...the new radiator was ordered and we will spend a few hours Tuesday morning at a European bakery and THEN drive to San Diego.

Oh cruising....

City by the Bay

Bessie is under wraps for the season.  The couple of hours it takes to close up an RV is a marked contrast to the several weeks it takes to pack up Magic.  Oh well.

We have spent a few days in the Bay Area -- a few errands, a bit of chilling, and mostly catching up with friends.  Our tourist day was a ride across the new Bay Bridge span between Oakland and Treasure Island and then a City Guides tour of the murals in the Mission.

The bridge seemed light and airy -- with incredible views across the water.  It will be even more stunning when the old structure is completely removed.

The murals in the Mission were gorgeous with a combination of themes, colors, sizes, and whimsical details.  The tour was only a sample of the 100s found throughout this neighborhood.  I have long wanted to explore this corner of the City and finally it happened.  I was not disappointed.....

Bessie under wraps in a secure and locked storage yard.

New Bay Bridge with 1 tower and cascading cables.  Bike and running lane between spans.

Into the City we go!

Finally -- a new span!

English on right:  No One Should Comply with an Immoral Law.  Monsenor Oscar Romero

Mural covering several garage doors.

My favorite:  Indigenous Eyes:  Will They See War or Peace?

Detail of Left Eye

Detail of Right Eye

Ongoing work to repair murals -- the time is mostly in the preparation of the surface.

Theme focused on gentrification throughout the Mission neighborhood.

Flag reads:  Don't Waste Water and Keep it Clean Because Across the Water is Where We Find the Wild Things!

Mural depicting the struggle of Indian and Nepalese women for land and water rights.

A tiny corner of a mural at St Peter's Church

Women & Water.  

Detail from large mural honoring local priest who set up AIDS hospice

Wow!

Mission is multi-cultural neighborhood and murals spoke to wisdom from all perspectives.

Half of mural on Elementary School.  Unseen to left are large figures depicting elders (connoting ancient wisdom); central portion reflects passage of time; these children are the hope of future through eduction.