UPDATED 9.1.99
10.7.98 14:00 - NEW OWNERS Spent the night cleaning and organizing. The fuel dock opened at 7:00, we got there about 7:30. Patty handles the boat with confidence already, I was nervous but she was good. After filling up we headed out to sea NW. Tried to figure the GPS (took all morn') while Patty motor sailed (dead reckoned) out to Catalina. It was afternoon and the wind was light on our nose all the first leg. Turning the corner north the sails filled and we killed the diesel. Sailed till dark doing 6k with 12-15 of wind, not bad. We started the diesel at dark, lit up the boat (I'm nervous about the heavy shipping) and had some soup. Patty took first watch and I took a nap on deck. Didn't get much sleep and about 20:00 sent Patty to bed, that big beautiful bed in the warm aft cabin. I froze. Hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans, fowlies, and a big quilt. I could have used a bon-fire. All night I kept pulling the rpm back being ahead of schedule and finally just before 4:00 I went below and ask Patty if she wanted to try at night. No luck, back to the freezer. Set a course out to sea and nap under my quilt, shivering. In an hour I reversed course and crawled back under my quilt. Next thing I know Patty is poking her head, nice and warm head, out from the cabin. We head in, got chased off by a gunboat (Navy exercise at Pt. Magoo) found the entrance, our slip, and a hot shower. Cleaned up the boat, had a nap, drank beer. Life is good again. MF
10.11.98 - Built the dock steps at the house. Patty stained. Slept at the house, dreamt about the boat. MF
11.1.98 - The next couple of months were maxed out with selling junk, moving aboard, fixing the boat, and getting use to the commute to work. MF
12.27.98 - Found a bent shaft on the shift cable, repaired. Unhooked the oil pump from the HOT 12v to diesel. Remounted VHF, Stereo. Got the Coleman dinghy running, lots of fun. The best weekend yet (maybe the 4 days had something to do with it). Really relaxed for the most part. Went next door (REEL'N ROWDYS) to play 31. MF
12.31.98 - I mounted the fridge and VCR/sat receiver. Also repaired a lamp. This was the last of my have toddies below deck, Tomorrow I'm above deck!!! Patty came home from work early (I had the day off) so she helped make corn beef and cabbage with black-eyed peas, most good! MF
1.1.99 - Happy New Year. We had a great crews this 'morn, although it was under the iron jenny. The sails still need to be worked on so we just had a little motor out a couple of miles. In the afternoon I finally got to start work above the deck! Cut the lifelines and installed them temporarily to see if we really like them with the gate in the middle. This allows us to step off the boat at the closest point to the dock and also keep the port lee cloth hung (for privacy and cuts down on the wind). MF
1.3.99 - Polished all the portlights and dodger windows. We can really see outside now, what a difference. I used Maguires M.G. for plastic, Highly recommended by me from now on. Also rebuilt all the snaps above and below. Patty did all the corrosion and I drilled old ones and replaced. Also put some brackets on the dock steps to screw them to the dock. MF
1.17.99 - Brought down and folded the headsail to get to the furler. Took apart the furling system (head) and found corrosion that forced a keeper into the bearing. 30 .25 balls from the bottom bearing all over the marina. Need to get parts and fix bad threads in the 5/8-18 left-hand threads for forestay tensioning. Plumbed fresh water to the head flush. Used an extra valve and T to inject it at the seacock. This should take care of our salt-water smell in the head. MF
1.24.99 - This looks like its turning into a weekend log. Rebuilt headsail furler top and bottom. New stainless steel balls in the lower but the upper was a smaller size. Cleaned and replaced the upper bearings. Patty replaced 152 balls in the upper bearing without dropping any!! (I would have dropped half over the side.) Installed a new block for the furler lead at the drum. Sewed and rehung jib. Sewed and tightened main. Permanently mounted dish. Went to the masthead. Very nice view and I took up the camera. Removed wind instruments for rebuild. Checked lights and found one out. MF
2.7.99 - Replaced port top lifeline. Filled batteries. Pumped holding tank. Cleaned false transom and painted document number inside. Rebuilt wind instruments but didn't get a chance to put it back up. MF
2.12.98 - New eye-splice both ends of anchor road (bottom with thimble). New bow roller and anchor clevis pin. Cleaned and flaked anchor locker. MF
2.13.98 - Back to the top (of the mast). Replaced wind instruments and aligned. Broke a speed cup but left the direction up. Checked the masthead light to find no power. Back on the honeydo list. Patty helped clean the transom and install new homeport lettering. Looks marvelous and it makes legal. Washed decks.
The marina had a party for our dock for winning the Christmas lights contest. Met lots of new faces and conversation was great. The party moved to the dock and jumped from boat to boat and we stayed with it till dark when Salty started shivering. MF
2.14.98 - Patty is giving me a great present. WE GET TO GO SAILING! We've been working up to it, now comes the pay back. The wind came up (15-20knots), a quick pump-out and we're off. The dredger moved to the north side of the entrance channel which gave us more room but EVERYBODY was out. Rookie lesson #1: Didn't raise the main (both sails are on roller furlers but "raise" still means let out sail) until we were outside (2-3' waves). Not to rough but we are out of practice. Jammed the main. I even climbed on the boom (loads of fun in a small sea) but nogo. I put enough force to rip a small piece of leach tape, I guess that will need to go on the honeydo list. Went back in and tried to clear the jam. Nothing worked till I used the vang as a block to pull straight down. Not much damage. Off to the outside, with the main up. Put up the jib as soon as I adjusted the leach rope on the main, a tiptoes reach. Now were sailing, loads of wind. Left the jib a little loose, figured to point off a little (lesson #2, not realized until next tack). The boat heeled too much (~25-30) with a little too much helm but everything but the pans cabinet stayed in its place. The wind is very cold and thick on the outside and we need to get good foulies. Tacking to the north (port tack) I wanted to point so I sheeted in hard and the boat almost sailed itself (#2 realized). Patty let me take the helm for a while, wheel pressure was very light and we were doing 5.65 knots in 20 knots of wind at a close point with 20 deg heel. Third leg (cold) on a dead run for the channel. Following wind and seas, not much wallow and even surfed on the top of 2 waves. She should be fun with a spinnaker up. Rolled the sails extra tight should be better to unroll next time. I think I'll try the main by hand for the first few feet. Back in the slip, I put her in but hit the steps a little, and all washed off. Time for a beer and relax, a good day all the way around. If it was easy landlubbers could do it. MF
2.15.99 - Not much boat work done, had an appointment in town. After business we went to Pirates Grub & Grog to chug and chuck (drink and throw darts). Met some league throwers, Patty impressed them beating me badly and even getting a hat trick. The wind settled down but the cold settled in. Another good weekend. MF
2.21.99 - Replaced galley ac duplex outlet with a quad and added switch for the ac light. Hooked up GPS to the dc power. Reconnected nav-table light to port dc lights. Slow weekend for work, Patty made me do all the normal chores. MF
4.3.99 - Rebedded main saloon forward port portlight. While the fixture was out we cut it down to fit with nothing extra sticking out. Sure looks better but now I need to do the others. Oh well, at least all the ports will be rebedded in the same year. No more leaks. MF
4.10.99 - Found another leak. Starboard deadlight. Rebedded, found the hole in the fiberglass much larger then the fitting.?? Had a great dock party. The B dock birthday bash. What a turnout, everybody came and was in great mood. Patty made a double pot of Gumbo and it was delicious. MF
4.11.99 - Rained all day. The last bedding leaked. Water down the starboard side and into m hang-up locker and even into my sock cabinet. Can't fix a leaky roof on a rainy day. We spent the day watching old movies with buckets and towels on the starboard side from the galley to the transom. This sucks, next weekend I'll have to try again. MF
4.13.99 - Helped another h40 owner on the Hunter Owners Web. He wanted the model numbers for the instruments and I may as well log them also; Signet MK172.4 (depth), MK267 (speed), MK 254 (wind). MF
4.17.99 - Re-bedded the starboard deadlight. Used lots of 5200, we'll see if this leaks. Found corroded wire for the water pump. Used the bilge manual hot wire to get the water back. Patty scrubbed the water line (soar muscles and sunburn). I dove the prop, Looks O. K. Things don't grow as fast around here as Hawaii. MF
4.18.99 - Went out sailing. Left around noon and stayed out for a couple of hours. The entrance was very crowded both ways but nobody tried to go under us. The wind was 10 knots and the seas 2'. The boat handled very easy and did 5.5 knots. Saw ONE LOVE and got within hailing and we took pictures of each other. Very nice day. MF
4.24.99 - Kayaked around the entrance mole in the morning. Large swell on the outside. Worked on REEL'N ROUDYS starboard engine most of the day but got together on the dock for dinner. MF
4.25.99 - Waved good-by to O'TAY TOO (h45). Barb was the first person we talked to at the marina and she gave that all-important first impression of family and Art was the confident sailor I enjoyed watching back into his slip. We'll miss seeing you around everyday but you're not that far. Rewired bow nav light and fixed the stern. Rewired fresh water pump with a RED(?) wire found running ground from engine block to stereo. Patty de-taped the deadlight and trimmed some of the 5200 off. We need to finish with a small blade and scrub the area. MF
6.6.99 - Sailed to Anacapa Island north shore. Not much wind so we motor-sailed out with a very smooth ride. Set the knot-log with the GPS. What a cruise, I got very excited and it reminded me of the inter-island trips in Hawaii. Saw lots of seals and a HUGE pod of dauphins headed west when we were headed home. Two detached from the pod and surfed our bow-wave for a few minutes. Must do it again soon. MF
6.20.99 - Helped Leslie's graduation, BZ. Replaced the flat zinc and added a shaft zinc. MF
6.26.99 - Sailed on the south side of Anacapa Island to Smugglers Cove on Santa Cruz Island and back on the north side of Anacapa. Finally enough wind. 15 knots of wind doing steady 7.5 and even crossed 8 knots when surfing. There was a lot of fishing boats on the south side of the islands, not to many in Smugglers Cove. The cove was very pretty but had a small swell coming from the south, I don't think I'd like to spend the night. Spent 45 minutes trimming the sails on a beam reach to get just the most speed and found the trim was only good for 10 degrees of wind. She is fast but particular. The entrance was like a LA freeway and tended to spoil the whole trip but I guess I'll get used to that too. MF
6.27.99 - I felt so good about yesterday's sail I washed the boat and polished the stainless steel. It got so hot we took a kayak ride just to cool off. MF
8.29.99 - Winds 5-10, seas 2-3 - It's been a long busy summer without much sailing. We went out to do anchor drills. Anchored twice behind the sea-wall without much trauma. Coming off the first anchor we got sideways a little but worked it out (better signals) and the second was picture perfect. After all was stowed we went out the north entrance and headed south to the PH (Port Hueneme) buoy. With the light winds we only did about 3kts but it was very quite on the water. We used PH for a turning mark and spooked a young seal off into the water. Three older seals just watched to see if there was any chance for a protest. Entering the south entrance I started the diesel but there was a noise in gear. Not much friction because the prop still freewheeled in neutral with the sound. Decided to sail into the main harbor just in case. It was fun sailing the entrance having the people watch. Poked it into the slip without any problem and after washing the decks I went over the side to find the shaft zinc and thrown a nut and slid against the strut. I removed it to find a replacement nut and will reinstall it next weekend with some 5200 on the threads to keep it tight. The bottom looks good, it has a slick beard but is clean everywhere I touched the boat. MF
10.25.99 - Winds 15-20, seas 4-6 - Today is a free fishing day in California (no fishing license needed). We went out at 09:30 in the fog and motored for the first few hours headed for Santa Cruz. The winds picked up but the fog never lifted. At Santa Cruz I learned to reef. We were still under full sail in 20+ and over to 30 degrees. We were taking a lot of green water when it grabbed the man-overboard-pole snapped it in half and swept it overboard. I doused the headsail and Patty did a pretty man-overboard drill. We picked up the bottom half of the pole (the part with the float) but lost the other half. Resetting the sails I reefed the main and headsail and we picked up two 2 knots. This boat is over canvassed and I need to reef earlier. I also started out in shorts and a T-shirt but added a sweat shirt, windbreaker, sweat pants, socks, shoes, and towards the last we even rapped up in a quilt. Coming home we sailed off the run by about 30 degrees but the autopilot couldn't handle the following seas. We got back about 18:30. The center on the main saloon had a lot of stuff piled up in it (things that left where they were supposed to stay while underway). We saw sharks, seals (two dead), kelp, and diving birds but when we got home we went out to get sushi. MF