"I'm Wired"................!

A couple of blogs ago, if you remember, I made a promise to try and minimize my lambasting of West Marine and their prices that send my wallet into twitching like a dumb kid in a spelling bee.....and, you must admit, my promise held true........till now!!  When ZOSHA first came into my stewardship she had ratty old frayed lifelines fabricated from 5/16" nylon three strand that were lashed to the stanchions ......the lashing part is OK.......matter of fact, the Offshore Racing Council or whatever that offshore sailing guru organization is prefers life line lashings over turnbuckles. The old nylon three strand is what has to go. Now, what to replace them with ? First a few HA measurements......mmmmm lets see....28' on deck another foot or two to accommodate the midships deck curve and to clear the outboard shrouds and then 3' up the bowsprit to the terminal end on the pulpit and figure a 10% fudge factor ..........mmmm my figuring according to the semi-marine calculator  in my $8 cell phone indicates  36.3' per line times 4 lines equals more or less about 145 ft of life line material....I think ?  OK....now what?  There are a number of acceptable choices here in no particular order....first: solid life line fabricated from welded stainless steel tubing like our friend did on Namaste  in Australia.....my wallet is convulsing as we speak so this option is not for me.....second: get on the AMSTEEL/ DYNEEMA bandwagon ....soft lifelines made from the newest, greatest, most powerful, awe inspiring, gift to nautical cordage since Kevlar.....13,700 lbs of breaking strength for 5/16 "! this line is fantastic. Riggers are using this stuff for lifelines, running backs, lazy jacks, and complete standing rigging set ups !! its truly a miracle product....I bought 200' of it from Defender on sale for 99 cents a foot....BTW its $2.71 per foot in the current West catalogue.

This stuff is great but, at least for me its a bee itch to splice....my Locking Brummels come out looking like Whoopie Goldberg dreadlocks!! crappy.....the local rigger  does beautiful Locking Brummel's...for $13 each!!  Plus $75 per hour surcharge to come to the boat to custom splice around the stanchion holes..

OK plan C...... standard wire lifelines..... first question..."covered  or uncovered" ? 

7x19....3/16".. uncovered....$2.83 per foot in current West catalogue 

7x7..3/16" covered wire size, 5/16" OD....$3.56 per foot in current West catalogue

7x19 ...3/16" stainless wire from Home Depot.....125 ft for $59.77.... 48 cents  per foot!!

N

Now lets go back to West Marine......look what I found in another part of the store away from all the lifeline stuff................ 5/32" ....316 stainless rail cable.....100 feet for $87.99 !!

My purpose here was not to price out a complete lifeline set up but to look at the costs of a major component of the system.....the fittings and terminals are going to cost the same regardless of what wire you buy and are probably comparable in cost to all the Locking Brummel's and thimbles you'll need. if you go the AMSTEEL route....unless you can master the splice yourself!!!

I was all set to go with the AMSTEEL....stronger than steel cable, won't rust, it stretches less under load than steel cable , its lighter and easier on hands, butts and other body parts that inadvertently tackle it....then someone on the dock.....Radio Free Darryl  if I remember right said "yes but you can cut it with a knife or scissors or some kind of sharp instrument"....this comment started me thinking....!  

Take care my friends.....HAPPY THANKSGIVING.....Peace to you all......

Betrayal...!!!!

Have you ever sat with with a loved one and all of a sudden became overwhelmed with dread because you suddenly realized that you have  betrayed them..?.........you trampled their trust...!.......you lived a lie...! These are my thoughts as I sit here down below in ZOSHA talking to you. The warm embrace of her lovely salon holds me in comfort and security as a nasty front moves through. The sound of creaking dock lines emanates through her  hull as she gently bucks in her slip keeping time with the jumbled wave pattern rolling through the fairway. The little tempest howls outside but it's peaceful in here....warm....quiet...comfortable. Oh! what have I done...?
Our time together was supposed to be forever....that was my promise ! Now ??? I don't know...!
Maybe its my years that prevents me from being true. Maybe its a realization that my limitations outweigh her potential...! Maybe I've concluded that she is unworthy of me. It's not her fault. She has been true to me...always....I've never doubted that....She's been there patiently waiting for me to deliver my promises It's not her!! It's me that screwed this all up!!!
Some of you probably know that I just got back from hanging around the west coast of Mexico on the Sea of Cortez. While there, I became one more victim of an irresistible siren. My will power vanished. My resolve melted away. My promises of fidelity forgotten.
What have I done? How could I have done this to you my lovely ZOSHA? What am I going to do?
How can I fix this???  "You bastard", I think of myself. "You did it now, you dumb ass !" is another self recrimination that continually crosses my mind.... !
"Dude! what the heck did you do?" you must be asking yourself by now? Well, let me tell you, I fell in love and succumbed to temptation and...and.....and..... rented a house for a year overlooking the Sea!.  1500 miles away from my ZOSHA.  "Where does this leave her" you ask? "Can you afford to keep her and the house too?" you ponder. "I don't know and NO" is my answer...........The house will be available to me in April or May 2014.......maybe by then the solution to this dilemma will present itself.....

Street view...gate on left leads down to front door.......

View from street in front of the house.........

Another view up the street from the house.......

Front entry....................

My street.....on the way down off the mountain.....

Take care my friends





What day is it...????

HELLO my friends, you all know by now that my grand blog idea for introducing ZOSHA to you via a comprehensive interior pictorial tour has, so far been a partial disappointment.....we toured the v-berth and head,,,,OK that's a start ......but, nothing else has come forward....you guys must be so disappointed in me...my shame knows no bounds...! So, I betcha you're asking yourself....."Mmmm wonder what this goofus has been doing?" ...... It's funny that you should ask....so I'll tellya......screwing around on the Sea of Cortez in Mexico......in a beautiful place....No,...not Cabo or LaPaz or Los Cabos or even Todo Santos....this place is kinda of a secret.....no planes or cruise ships come here.....two ways to get here unless you have yourself a private plane and that is drive your own vehicle or take a Mexican bus down from the border 250 or so miles away. There is nothing much to do here except fish, go to one of the many beautiful deserted beaches that are within minutes of the little town and snorkel and swim and lay around, sail, drink beer or whatever, eat some good food at one of the many local eateries, play golf on a course with dirt fairways and greens, visit with friendly locals, sleep, hang out with the ex pat crowd at the gin joints at night and take in some good music.....you can hike or mountain bike or 4 wheel in the surrounding mountains and canyons or visit some of the surrounding little villages and towns..... that's pretty much it.......PARADISE!!!!!  Here are some photos of a place where time becomes meaningless and schedules nonsense........

Nice shot of the town......

The beach in the middle of town.....

A local open air market.....

Main drag on Saturday afternoon around 2pm........

One of many nice little coves within 20 minutes of town.......

Another beach about 10 minute from town.......

15 minutes from town......on a Sunday afternoon about noon.....

Like pool water.....crystal clear........

Long hike from the road but........

Yeah Buddy......!!!!!!!

Saturday afternoon....20 minutes from town.......

Thinking about buying this place.........

Who said....."if you surround yourself with negative people, how can you expect to live a positive life"?

Let me know if you can.....

Hasta pronto !.........Take care my friends