Kosmos Haul Out and Off to Phoenix

December 14th – A couple weeks ago, the weather turned cold and rainy. In San Diego, December usually has mild weather and the rain don’t start until January. The earlier than normal and heavier than normal rains are a result of El Nino, an unusual weather pattern that occurs every 2 5 years. The El Nino pattern affects a huge chunk of the world, and affects each area differently. In Panama, it has a negative effect on the wildlife, in Indonesia it brings drought, and in Southern California, it brings excessive rain. Of course, since Southern California has been in a severe drought for the last three years, the rain is a welcome relief.

Our marina was feeling a bit ominous. The docks were deserted. The days are short and were very gray. While it was warm and dry inside Kosmos, on the walk to and from the boat, the moist, damp air seemed to permeate our clothes. The especially strong winds made a perpetual “woooo” sound through the sailboat masts that sounds like ghosts howling. It was the perfect setting for a horror flick.

So, we were quite pleased when we woke up early this morning to blue skies, bright sunshine and no wind. And the forecast said no more rain for the next few days. Yay! Weeks ago we had scheduled Komos to be hauled out today for new bottom paint, and we had been worried that the adverse weather would affect the bottom painting.

We pulled out of our slip shortly after dawn broke. The water was flat as a pancake and looked like a mirror beneath us as we headed over to the boat yard. Unfortunately, we were heading east, so the incredibly bright early morning sun was blinding us. But we were so happy to see the sun that we didn’t mind the glare.

Like the haul outs in both Australia and Turkey, we pulled Kosmos into a special finger slip and secured her. A huge machine called a travel lift rolled up to the edge of the dock. The travel lift has straps, and the straps were lowered into the water and secured underneath Kosmos.

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The machine slowly Continue reading

Replacing the Starter Battery

Time seems to pass by in a quick sort of way these days. Here is a story from a little while ago…

Sunday, September 13 We had been procrastinating on putting in a new main engine starter battery largely because we were undecided about whether to replace it with the same size or a smaller one. On our last bay cruise, we noticed that the secondary alternator that charges the battery seemed to have inconsistent voltage drops. Hmmm”¦ was it the battery or the alternator causing the issue? We realized we couldn’t put off replacing the battery anymore. It was time to make a decision.

Our starter battery is a size Continue reading

Boating Tidbits and Q&A

Monday, August 24 — While we are not moving relative to our around the world pace, we are still using Kosmos. We start the engines every week. Also we have taken the boat out twice since Eric fixed the transmission cooler. The first time it took Christi literally all day to get the boat ready to go. Since it had been so long since we had moved Kosmos, just about every storage space aboard had to be re-packed and an almost overwhelming number of things needed to be stowed. But, the good news is she found some stuff she had lost weeks before!

On that first outing, we went out to Continue reading

Cruising Costs

Since this Q& A is so long, it gets its own post!

Q: What is the exact cost of cruising, and why will no one will tell me?

A: We briefly addressed this in FAQ #26 and on this post, but since the question keeps coming up, we’ll try to be more explicit. When we were trying to budget, we were also frustrated at the lack of hard numbers for costs. But, now we understand why. There are many factors that can affect/change the costs.

First, nothing will dominate more than Continue reading

Adjusting to the Routine

Sunday, June 14 As hard as it is on Eric to work the long days, he is actually enjoying work. He is enjoying being intellectually challenged and stimulated. He is enjoying being needed and recognized. Even though he misses cruising life and free time, he is getting a lot of fulfillment out of working.

The opposite is true for Christi. She finds Continue reading