Aquarium - Chapter I: Initial Set-Up and Newbie Mistakes

All right, I warned ya that there might be some Copy/Paste action going on ;-)

I'm actually posting the progress of my tank on one of the Reef Message Boards and, well, I'm too lazy to re-type it all. So here goes:

(Note: I'm also too lazy to try to figure out how to re-size the jpgs, so things might look weird!)

* * * * *

Okay, I'm gonna attempt to document the creation/progression of my Nano Tank here - complete with Newbie Mistakes and Panic Attacks! (Oh, and pictures, too!)

So grab yourself a cold one and enjoy.............

Chapter I: Initial set-up and Newbie Mistakes

I must've been a good girl last year because Santa brought me a BioCube14 for Christmas.

Here it is - fresh out of the box:


(Excuse the mess - it was the day after Christmas, after all!)

I got lucky in that we still had an old TV stand (albeit a dusty old TV stand) that ended up being the perfect size for the tank. Okay, maybe I'd like it to be about 3-4" taller - but it's an "okay" height for viewing when you're sitting on the sofas. I asked DH to cut a beefier backer-board for the stand and I spray painted all of the exposed particle-board with black semi-gloss spray paint (thinking that the likelihood of me dripping on it, and turning it to mush, was pretty high!). The beefing-up of the stand took about a week and, in the meantime, I started ordering more gee-gaws for the tank.

Off the top of my head I'd ordered a Refractometer (eBay); Media Rack and Fish-Saver (InTank); Chemi-Pure; underwater LED pond lights; Koralia Nano Pump; and probably some other stuff I can't remember right now!

I also went to the LPS and picked up a bag of Instant Ocean and Live Sand. Then off to the local water-store where I bought 10 gallons of R/O filtered water (BTW - that's exactly what the BC14 holds: 10 gallons!).



I then proceeded to make Newbie Mistake #1: The sand goes in the tank BEFORE the water ("D'oh!").



Now mind you, I had been reading numerous Reef-Tank Message Boards, and absorbing information like a sponge, but somehow I still managed to miss "The Basics!" Hint for other Newbies: Put the sand in first. Mix your water/salt in a separate container to the correct SG. Then put a small bowl on the sand; pour the water into the bowl and let it slowly overflow. That way you'll minimize the whole Sand-Storm Effect (or so I've read).

Of course, there really wasn't anything in the tank at this point - so the sand-storm shouldn't have mattered - and would have cleared up on it's own, I'm sure. EXCEPT: I'd already contacted a guy thru Craigslist who was selling appx 20# of live rock (from a 4-y/o established tank) for $2.00/lb. And I had already arranged to drive up and get it the very next day! Oooooops!

Soooo... What-to-do? What-to-do?!! (Newbie Panic Attack #1). Well, the BC had come with a filter pad/cartridge thingie - that looked pretty cheesy to me. LPS (that SELLS BioCubes) *doesn't* sell BioCube Filters (Hmph!). I'd already ditched the BioBalls (b/c I planned to run a refugium) so the center back chamber was clear. I ended up stuffing a bunch of filter-floss into a media bag and wedging it, crossways, into the center chamber thusly:



That didn't do a very good job of filtering out the clouds, unfortunately. So I pulled out some polyfiber filter "sheet" material (that I was using on my FW tank):



I cut a slice roughly the same size as the media bag and wedged it on top:



Better. But still not as good as I'd like (Yes, I know: "Patience!!!").

So I pulled out a 100 GPH power-head and stuck that on the side of the tank.



Left that running overnight and by morning, the tank looked like this:



Yaaayyyyy!!! Crisis Averted!

Okay, that about covers the tank set-up thru last weekend. Stay tuned for Chapter II: Live Rock

Happy New Year!

We had a quiet one, at home. Actually kinda nice for a change. I'm getting to where I don't like dealing with big crowds (or spending lots of money!) just to feel like sh*t the next day!

* * * * *

Not much going on - but I did go into the office yesterday. On my way home, I stopped at Neptune Aquatics in Milpitas. They were recommended by some posters on norcalreefclub.org. They have THE coolest little BioCube 14 set-up on the check-out counter!

Full tank shot

I asked a few questions about the tank (I'm sure I'll have more!) and the guy was extremely helpful. They've done the same thing that I intend to do as far as setting up a Refugium in the center chamber - with chaetomorpha macroalgae and live rock rubble (I'll probably skip the rubble). And they do sell chaeto - Yay!

This tank *does* have stock lighting so I'm feeling pretty encouraged! I've been reading where some hobbyists drop loads of money on upgraded light fixtures - and I really don't want to do that!

They even have a clam in there (up at the top)!

Cool!!!

And they've got the cutest black-and-white clown-fish who's hosted a Duncan coral.

You can't see him real well, but he's nestled in the top of the anemone-looking thing.

And there's also a couple of gobies in there. I really like the "character" of the Twinspot goby. He is quite the little earth-mover! He kept diving behind the green coral, scooping up a HUGE mouthful of sand, then spitting it out a few inches away! It was hysterical to watch!

The Twinspot is a little blurry

(not enough contrast for my camera to pick it up)

I don't even know what-all is in their tank, but I'm gonna do my damndest to try to replicate it. I like how the live rock is piled up almost all the way to the top. I want to do something similar - but hopefully leave a swim-thru down near the bottom. I'll probably buy a bunch of their Marco Base Rock (it's not live rock - but it's cool-lookin'!) and a few chunks of live rock to get the tank cycling...

For now - still not much happening! I'm still waiting for the Big Brown Truck to bring me more goodies! In the meantime, Rog cut out a backer-board for the TV stand, and I've spray painted it black (naturally, it started to rain *while* I was doing that!!!). Hopefully, we'll get the stand assembled this weekend. I'll also start to re-arrange the living room - once I take the Christmas Tree down.

It'll happen. Might take forever, but it'll happen!

Couldn't quite make it three! (B.O.A.T.)

BOAT = Break Out Another Thousand!

Okay, The Great Reef Aquarium Project has been temporarily suspended. Well, actually, I'm still waiting for additional stuff to arrive before I attempt to set it up - so it's just as well...

DH's company, like many, is on shut-down this week. This makes things a bit "challenging" for me - since I work from home most of the time. But thankfully many of my clients are also on shut-down, so things have been mercifully quiet (and I took the opportunity to burn a vacation day).

Anyhooo... Since Rog has all this Free Time, we decided this was a good opportunity to call the boatyard and see about arranging our off-season maintenance. G&J, the former owners, took fastidious care of the boat - but it had been at least 2-3 years since it's last bottom job. And, based on how quickly she'd grow a beard, we figured she's about due again.

No more DIY Bottom-Jobs for me, though (although it would be "relatively easy" to slap a coat of paint on her, while she's on the trailer). We decided it'd be best to just take her to a yard and get "everything" done in one fell swoop.

"How much do ya think this is gonna cost?" asks DH.

"Well, the last time I hauled (about 10 yrs ago), it was about $1,000 for haul, power-wash and bottom paint for a 32-footer. So I'm gonna guess it'll be right around $1,000."

"But our boat's only 26-feet."

(Answer: It's $1,100! That's *just* haul/power-wash/paint)

We're also getting some other work done. Boat has a couple of topside leaks around the chainplates - I think (hope!) they just need to be re-bedded. Outboard needs a basic service. And there are a couple of fiberglass/gelcoat repairs needed. One down near the waterline could prove to be problematic if water gets in it (Delamination??? Nooooo!!!). And the other is a scar she got when Rog ran aground and ended up colliding with another boat's anchor - the day we moved into our slip for the first time! ("Hi! I'm Nancy and this is Roger. We're your new neighbors!!")

So Rog got on the horn with San Francisco Boat Works yesterday. Seems they're running all kinds of Specials right now - which is a very good thing. It's definitely the off-season and they are particularly dead this week. So they were most happy to have us come up and drop her off today.

Well, as soon as Rog did the over-the-phone "handshake," he immediately went into Panic Mode. Ohmygawd-we've-got-to-prepare-the-boat-and-drop-the-mast-and-check-the-trailer-and-what-are-we-gonna-do-about-the-roller-furler-and-what-if-it's-this-or-what-if-it's-that-and-this-is-gonna-take-a-LOT-of-time-and-maybe-I'd-better-just-call-them-and-postpone-it-and-yayayayayaya............"

We went up to the storage-yard yesterday afternoon and started breaking stuff down (in cold, dismal, dreary rain!).

I have something of a fear of heights, so I stayed stuck to the ground. But Rog handed stuff down to me and I did what I could from below. He removed the boom and handed down the sail (I flaked it myself thankyouverymuch!); Stowed all the loose crap inside the boat securely; We dropped and secured the mast ("Whoa-Whoa-Whoa-Whoa-WAIT!!! You're gonna hit that other boat!! We need to pull the trailer forward!!!") (See, it helps to have someone on the ground!!!). Zip-tied all the standing rigging so it wouldn't rub the gelcoat; Bungeed everything else; And generally buttoned-her-down as best we could.

The roller-furler was a challenge though. See, we had to undo the forestay at the bow in order to drop the mast. We didn't want to remove the forestay from the top of the mast and we had to be careful not to bend the foil. Annnnd, with the forestay still attached to the mast, the roller furler extended beyond the base of the mast (and would have been flopping about madly and damaging the foil as we were hurtling down the highway). I suggested securing it as best we could (bungee-mania!)- until we could come home and Google it...

Found an Egg-zellent suggestion online (Gotta love the intertubes!). You take a boat hook, extend it fully and bungee it securely to the base of the mast - so that it becomes an "extension." You then bungee the bottom of the forestay and roller-furler to the boat-hook extension. Worked like a charm! No flopping around. No bent foil. Yay!

Not the greatest shot, but you can almost see the boat hook lashed near the bottom. R/F is inside the bag.

So as Rog was puttering around on and in the boat, I wanted to check-out how "secure" the boat was - on the trailer. Well, as Rog trundled about, the bow of the boat kept bouncing up and down and I discovered I could actually stick my fingers under the fwd (bow) support on the trailer. Not Good! The center of gravity was waaaaay too far back and yes, we now have a Super-Beefy-Manly Winch on the trailer, but I still didn't feel too warm-n-fuzzy about the 30 mile freeway trip. I decided to keep my mouth shut about it yesterday (Rog was still pretty wound-up about what-all needed to be done)...

See, the last time we pulled her out onto the trailer, her ballast tank was full. We'd cinched her up and pulled her out, but the weight of the ballast pulled her back about half-a-foot. We didn't bother fixing it since we were just moving her across the street to the dry-storage yard.

This morning, we went up (In the sunshine! But it was still cold) to secure the roller-furler and get ready to take off. Once we were hitched up, I pointed out the whole "center of gravity" issue and suggested that we plunk her in at the launch ramp, and cinch her up tighter to the trailer. So we did - and all was MUCH better.

All secure now!

Then we drove up to The City. The drive up was rather uneventful (Yay!). Even exiting the freeway and heading to the yard wasn't *too* terribly awful (in spite of all the construction on Mariposa St). I'd called ahead to the yard to inquire about the best way "in" to the yard. See, most boats come by water and get scooped out by a Travelift. We were trailering in and I didn't recall an open gate on the street. I did remember an open gate over by The Ramp, an adjoining (WAY COOL) restaurant. The office gal suggested that the "come in thru The Ramp's parking lot" way would be the preferred entry.

So in we went!

Well, into the parking lot anyway.

Once we pulled all the way into the lot, it became painfully clear that there was NO WAY we could make the (sharp, narrow) turn into the boatyard (Ooooops!) And once we were in the parking lot, there was NO WAY to turn around (Double Oooooops!). Begin Panic-Mode: "Oh sh*t, NOW what are we gonna do?!!"

I know Rog is damn good with maneuvering the boat and trailer. We had *quite* the dramatic Fun-Time the day we drove her up from SoCal (an all-day drive) and arrived at a dry-storage facility that had NO (and I do mean ZERO) turning room. We got good-and-stuck that day, but managed to get out of it (by unhitching the boat and backing the truck - from a completely different angle, then re-hitching it to get out of a seemingly impossible situation).

But I digress (Surprise!!!). Anyway, I was all prepared to have Rog back-out onto the street - with me blocking traffic. Luckily, a boatyard worker appeared and offered his assistance. He started by moving a dumpster and attempting to open the gate further, but then a second worker appeared who said he could bring her in using his forklift. No, he didn't hoist her up! He had a ball on one of the forklift fork thingies and he did a stupendous job of maneuvering her in.

Forklift got her in!

We got all checked in, and left our Laundry List of things to do. We then had free lunch at The Ramp (did I mention that it's an awesome joint?!). While we were eating, they put her up on the Travelift and I got a few good shots. Then we met with the yard manager to discuss what-all we want done. We still don't have the "full" estimate, but I'm guessing (hoping) it won't go much past $2,000.

The Ramp

She'll be in the yard for about a week............

That's two in a row!

Gonna try to make this "An Update a Day" kinda thing... Although there really isn't much to report today!

Spent the better part of the afternoon "partying" at the Skilled Nursing Facility with mom, family and friends (woohoo!).

And we stopped by to check on the boat (currently in dry-storage for the winter). We do have some leakage at the chain-plates (minor, but troubling nonetheless). We're going to be driving her to a boatyard in San Francisco in the coming weeks - since she's due for a bottom job and, while she's there, we'll have them re-bed the chainplates and touch-up some gelgoat blemishes

We'll shell out the $$ and have all the work done professionally (my days of DIY Bottom Jobs are over - thankyouverymuch!).

B.O.A.T. = Break Out Another Thousand!

Nothing new to report on the Great Reef Aquarium Project (yet), other than bombarding my buddy with emails; reading Reef-Tank message boards (and getting Information Overload!); looking for local reef-clubs; and going online to order gee-gaws for the tank set-up. I've ordered a bunch of stuff, so far. Just waiting for it to arrive. Once it does, I'll post a list of what-all I bought and how I intend to set it up.

So if you look at yesterday's picture - well, that's exactly what it looks like today! (The stand is even still covered with dust!).

Boooooooring, I know! I'll try to do better!

Santa was good to me! (OMG - She's Alive!!!)

Sometimes... Life just gets in the way!

Been extremely absent, I know. Ahhh, the Joys of Middle Age! One of those chapters they conveniently left out of The Handbook was the one about how your parents, at some point, turn into children that must be cared for.

My mom's been in and out of the hospital three times in as many months, and that has taken a LOT of time (and created a LOT of stress). And since I really don't want this blog to be a place for whiney-stuff, I've pretty much set it (the blog) aside.

Good News Is: Mom is on the mend now. But, having had the stuffing knocked out of her, she's got a LONG way to go to fully recover (and it's debatable whether she ever will recover fully, unfortunately). But she's getting ready to come home and we're all hoping things will continue to improve...

Too much "stuff" has transpired in the past several months to even begin to bring things up-to-date, so I'll just Fast-Forward to now :-)

I am embarking on a New Project. And we know how I loves me a Good Project! And it gives me a good, solid excuse to blog. So that's a good thing (I think)!

Okay, maybe a *little* background/digression is in order here:
Part of all the Goings-On while mom was sick, was me trying to find *some* way to relieve my stress. And while I was at the local pet store, picking up a bag o' dog kibble, I wandered into the aquarium section and hit on the "Brilliant" idea of buying myself a fish tank because staring at fishies is kinda relaxing, right?

Now I used to keep freshwater tanks when I was a kid, and I didn't recall that it was all that difficult. And the Pet Store had a 2.5 gallon aquarium "kit" for cheap. And a MONDO-COOL Tacky Tiki Sculpture! So, after confirming that the Tiki would fit in the 2.5 gallon tank, I bought them. A tank, tiki sculpture and a red Crown Betta fish who I dubbed King Frederick I. And a few itty-bitty Neon Tetras (whom I'd named 1,2,3 4 & 5).

King Frederick I - R.I.P.

Welllll... There's an amusing/sad/sick story that goes along with that. Seems I'd forgotten about the "Cycle the tank before you add fish" part of aquarium ownership. I also ended up deciding (rather quickly) that 2.5 gallons was a little too small. So I upgraded to a 5 gallon all-in-one tank. And my 2.5 gallon - which was destined for eBay - got converted to a Hospital/Isolation Tank.

It ended up being a Hospice Tank as poor King Frederick I died a very slow, agonizing death. I tried EVERYTHING (within reason) to save him. I surfed the internet and learned WAAAAAY more about Betta Fish than I ever thought I'd need to know! And between duplicating my tank setups, and buying assorted chemicals, medications and whatnot, I figure I spent close to $75.00 trying to save a $7.00 fish!

I watched him decline over a period of several days. Poor guy just laid on his side, on the bottom of the hospital/hospice tank, gasping for whatever it is that fish gasp for. Getting duller and duller until he was almost white.

At one point, DH berated me for allowing him to suffer so. "Can't you just scoop him out of the water and put him out of his misery? This is agonizing to watch!" And I burst into tears "I CAN'T KILL FRED!!!"

In the end, King Frederick I gasped his last gasp, and he got the Royal Flush...

So much for aquariums reducing stress, right?!

(I was telling one of my colleagues my Sad Tale and she suggested that maybe an Aquarium Screen Saver might be a more reasonable alternative!)

In retrospect, I suspect that Fred I was probably sick to begin with. Armed with my newfound knowledge of Betta Fish Ailments, and looking back at pictures I'd taken when I first got him, I think he had parasites because he was rather pot-bellied from the start...

Undaunted, shortly after Fred I's demise, DH and I headed back to the pet store and picked out a Delta-Tailed Blue Betta. He's iridescent blue with red streaks on his fins. Actually rather pretty - to tell ya the truth. Although he blends-in a little too much with the Neon Tetras (of which I only have 1 & 2 now). Anyway, Fred II is thriving and quite full of himself. Whenever I approach the tank, he flares his gills like he wants to fight me!

King Frederick II (Alive and Well)(Corey the Cory Cat in the background - also alive and well!)

Oh, and I don't feed freeze-dried bloodworms because they cause constipation in Betta Fish (who knew?!!).

So annnnnnyyyyyywaaaaaaaayyyyy... The latest tank, an Eclipse 5 gallon corner tank (all-in-one) is doing just fine now. Fully cycled and all my numbers are in line. I did have a bit of an algae-bloom, but I'm treating that chemically. Anyhow, all is well and all tank inhabitants are doing just fine. That would be Fred II, 1 & 2 (Neon Tetras) and Corey the Cory Cat.

So I suppose *this* is the point where Aquarium Ownership would provide the Stress-Relief I so desperately craved, right?!

HAHAHAHAHA!

Yes, I am a Glutton for Punishment! Not only do I want a bigger, better tank. But I want to upgrade to Saltwater. Not only do I want to do Saltwater, but I want to do a REEF Tank!

During the Holiday Season, Rog and I have this thing where we maintain Wish Lists on Amazon. And anytime I see something that piques my interest, I can add it to my Amazon Wish List using the Universal Wish List button on my toolbar - even if it's not sold by Amazon. It's a pretty cool gadget, actually (and no, I don't get kick-backs for posting it!).

So first I stumbled onto this Aloha Tiki Aquarium. That link, BTW, is the cheapest price I found. I thought that was the coolest thing since sliced bread (since I *love* kitschy tikis!) so I Wish-Listed it. But then I got serious and decided I'd much rather have something suitable for running a Reef Tank. I consulted a friend/colleague of mine and he has a BioCube 29 Reef Aquarium. So I ended up Wish-Listing a Biocube 14.

Long Story Short (too late!). Santa brought me a BioCube 14 and I am Happy as a Clam (get it?!! Clam?! Aquarium?!! Arr Arr!).

Actually, it's pretty cool. No, it's EXTREMELY cool! I actually did maintain a 10 gallon reef tank about 20 years ago, in my apartment (Gawd, did I just say 20 years ago?!! Sh*t I am OLD!). And this was "back-in-the-day" before anyone coined the term Nano-Reef. In fact, back then, it was generally believed that you couldn't run a saltwater tank unless it was at least 50 gallons. Things have come a long way since then and the newer tanks are a WHOLE lot easier to setup and maintain (she says hopefully delusionally).

So I'm surfing the Reef Tank Message Boards and emailing aforementioned Reefer Buddy. There are quite a few modifications that folks have done to their BioCubes and I am hoping that I can set this thing up right - the first time!

My PLAN (hahahaha - don't hold your breath!) is to document my tank set-up here. I've already joined a couple of Reef-Tank message boards, so there *might* be some copy/paste action going on, but the general idea is that I'll post here about how things are progressing with the new Reef Tank Project!

I do loves me a Good Project!

So the status right now is: I've taken the BioCube out of it's box and removed the Bioballs (apparently they attract detritus which can cause nitrate spikes). I've ordered a media basket that will make it easier to tweak around with different types of filtration and not make TOO big of a mess! I also dug out an old TV/Stereo stand that seems to work just fine, size-wise, for the BioCube. That'll save me $100 (which will undoubtedly get spent on OTHER tank gear!). I need Rog to beef it up a bit by cutting a piece of plywood to cover the back, and I'll probably put a coat of sealant on it (b/c the rack itself is probably made of particleboard!).

Old TV stand - now a tank stand (excuse the dust!)

(and the mess - it's the day after Christmas!)

HA! I also have to re-decorate the living room. I want to move the 5 gallon tank to a corner b/c the Reef Tank will now take center-stage in the living room.

So basically there's no water in it. No nothing!

I absolutely DO intend to cycle the hell out of the tank before I add anything to it. It's one thing to kill a $7.00 fish (even spending $75 trying to save it!). It's another thing entirely to kill off several-hundred-dollars' worth of sealife (Trust me, the cost of the tank is probably the CHEAPEST part of setting up a Reef Aquarium!). I intend for the tank to be mostly corals and invertebrates, and maybe a couple-three fish...

So anyhooooooo... That's the Latest 'n Greatest! Hopefully this will evolve into something remotely interesting. Hell, maybe even educational!!!

Stay tuned for updates! :-)

I oughtta just retitle this blog: "Confessions of a Bad Blogger"

Save myself the trouble of making excuses all the time, right?

:::sigh:::

Suffice it to say, it's been a Berry Busy Summer. Much boating. Much sunshine. And yes, even some fun worked in!

The boating, as you may have gathered from my last post, has been on Overkill, unfortunately. We did take a week's vacation and moved the boat up to Brisbane Marina in August. I was rather hoping that this would temper Roger's enthusiasm, somewhat. At least wear some of the "shine" off of "New Toy Syndrome!"

Rog motored up early one morning - took about 1-1/2 hrs @ WOT. I drove my car up, and met him there (I *needed* my own mode of transportation readily available, if "Abandoning Ship" became necessary!)

Roger had compiled quite the list of Things We Must Do: Sail out the Golden Gate (:::rolling eyes:::); Sail around Angel Island; Go to Berkeley and/or Jack London Square for lunch; Have dinner at Pier 39; yada-yada... Well, wind conditions on the bay are pretty challenging most of the time - even down where we're docked (which is significantly calmer than up around the 'Gate). Winds are especially gnarly in August - when the coastline is cool and foggy, and inland temps can top triple-digits. And there's an awful lot of water flowing in and out of the bay (year-round). That all equates to rough, windy, "challenging" conditions...

Lazy Lightning - while she's a very nice boat - she just isn't a boat who's well-suited to challenging conditions. She's 26-feet long, 8-feet wide, foam-filled and self-righting, with lots of interior space which means she's got lots of freeboard (freeboard = the stuff that's up above the waterline and subject to wind and waves). And, with the water ballast tank full, she displaces only about 4,000#. In other words, she bobs like a cork and windy, rough conditions make for a very uncomfortable ride...

My bay-sailing experience has been on heavy keelboats - and, even then, my Sailing Friends were of the ilk that *wouldn't* go out when conditions weren't damn-near perfect (yet I still had more than my share of "rails in the water/balls-to-the-wall" sailing!). Yes, I've sailed out the 'Gate on a 35-footer - on a dead-calm day. But that was on a BIG HEAVY CRUISER. Roger's enthusiasm - at least initially - exceeded Lazy Lightning's capabilities. And that made me pretty nervous.

But I digress...............

And, with us docked next to San Bruno Mountain - sharing the same channel as Oyster Cove (aka "Hurricane Gulch"), my home for six years, let's just say that the list of Things We Must Do got shortened significantly!!!

I've utterly given up on reminding Roger that "conditions change *instantly* on the bay" and "if Small Craft Advisories start at 1:00pm, I wanna be back at the dock by 12:30." Instead, Rog took the helm and took it upon himself to always sail "just a little bit farther" and stay out "just a little bit longer" than we should have. We were never in danger, but it made for some mighty dramatic sailing - hauling @$$ at breakneck speed, trying to make it back to safety! And I assumed a new role: "Ballast Girl." Whenever the conditions got really rough, I'd go down below to lower the center of gravity and shift my weight around to offset the tossing of the boat ("If not for the courage of the fearless crew, the Minnow would be lost. The Minnow would be lost!").

Ohhhh yes... A Grand Time Was Had By All!!!

To be fair, Roger has finally figured out that "conditions change *instantly* on the bay" and "if Small Craft Advisories start at 1:00pm, we should probably think about at least being CLOSE to the marina by about 12:30..." And he figured that out All By Himself!!! :::sigh:::

We actually did do some sailing (early in the mornings), and we did motor across the bay to Ballena Island and had breakfast at a cool little waterfront restaurant over there. But we never made it out the GG, nor to Angel Island, nor Pier 39, or wherever... It was just toooooo nasty out there for a little 4,000 lb. 26-footer.

Come October, we might be able to tackle some of those list items, but definitely not in August! Trouble is: The City is sooooo far away from where we're docked, it'd almost have to be an overnighter.

Anyway, I'm happy to report that I *did* survive our "Vacation" on Lazy Lightning. And I am totally convinced that she is suitable for a "Weekend" away. But definitely NOT a week! (There is, quite honestly, no way to store a weeks' worth of provisions on her!!!)

Why yes - I *am* an abysmally bad blogger - why do you ask?!!

Wow. Almost two months since my last "blog!" How bad is that?!! (don't answer - that's a rhetorical question!).

There's actually been plenty of blog-worthy "stuff" going on (being wed to an un-diagnosed OCD is "good" that way!), but I just-plain-haven't been able to keep up with all of it!!!

My bad - but what're ya gonna do, right?!!

You can lodge a complaint to 1-800-Who-Gives-A-Sh**! Right?!!

Yeah, so... Anyway - Yes, we have a BOAT now. Rog, in his typical OCD fashion has taken Tazz-The-Spazz's refrain of "Throw-my-Toy, Throw-my-toy!" and converted it to "Let's go sailing, Let's go sailing!" It's positively f*cking maddening, I tellya!

Well, one of the clinchers for us (initially) was the fact that Lazy Lightning (who IS a good boat, BTW) came with a 110% genoa. Well, San Francisco Bay SUMMERS are pretty challenging - windwise - all on their own. Add a genoa to that and, well, that's just a bit TOO much sail for MY tastes!

And my goal, after all, is to spoil ALL of Roger's fun!!!

But - and let's Get Real here - all of my bay-sailing experience has been with folks who have - wisely - only had 90% Storm Jibs.

And - for those who might be unfamiliar with "sailing stuff" - let me clarify: The foresail on a sailboat is the sail on the FRONT of the boat. Jibs, generally-speaking, only go as far back as the mast (100%). Storm jibs fall slightly shy of the mast (90%). Genoas exceed that (110-150%+). And Spinnakers (big, colorful "hot-air ballooon" lookin' things) are like genoas on steroids. The foresail is your "Power-Sail." They are particularly powerful on downwind runs (Spinnakers, especially).

Well, with the "challenging conditions" on the SF Bay, I had some reservations about the idea of sailing with a genoa. In fact, I pretty-well "dug my heels in" and made it PAINFULLY clear that we would NOT be sailing w/a Gennie... So the first half-dozen sails (or so) were Mainsail Only - much to Roger's dismay (so no upwind-runs - since you can't go upwind w/o a foresail).

In fact, I took it a step further and indicated (quite clearly) that we needed to order a "working jib" and a roller furler. Working jib = foresail that makes it "as far as" the mast (and does allow you to sail upwind). Roller Furler = a doohickey that makes it possible to open (and CLOSE!) the sail from the cockpit by "spinning" the foresail around the forestay - as opposed to having someone scramble up onto the cabin top to hoist (and/or unhoist) the sail.

The beauty of a roller-furler is that it enables you to decide how much foresail you have "open" to the wind. We opted for a CDI FF2 Roller Furler and IT ROCKS!!~!

Anyhooooo.... We ordered the Furler and a new 100% Working Jib. We opted to hire a professional rigger to install the sumb*tch. It's on the boat and all is good....

We got the roller-furler and new, working jib installed just over a week ago, Life is good.

But "Small Craft Advisories" STILL apply to us! I really don't want to turn this blog into a b*tchfest so I'll skip much of what I'd like to blog about.

Anyhoooo.... I figured I'd post some videos to keep ya'all (whoever ya'all might be!) entertained, in the meantime!

Rog haulin' @$$

Rog getting ready to dock the boat...