Another day on the water

Rog is heading out to sea again today. Or brief stay at the Long Beach Yacht Club is over and Di's Dream will be going to San Diego with our son's Joe and Rob along for the ride. They have great plans to fish along the way, Rog is not so sure about it. The boys have filled the boat with fishing rods, reels and more tackle you one could possibly need.

Do you think they will catch and release or bring the fish on board for cleaning and cooking?? More about that tomorrow.

Another October Wedding

We made a quick trip back to Jacksonville, Florida this past weekend. This generation of Frizzelles have choosen October to be the month of weddings, this is our third in three years!! It was wonderful getting the family together before we head off on our adventure. Everyone looked great including Mike who was wearing his uniform. Ina took a turn on the dance floor to show the younger crowd how to shake a leg.

Bob with Chris and Mike. Steve was off dancing --sorry no pictures

Jenny and Andy had a great time talking to Grandfather Nolan. He is showing off the tie that Rob designed back in the seventh grade.Deanna and Patrick Frizzelle--best wishes to the both of you. We had a fabulous time at your wedding this past weekend.

Now in Long Beach

Roger decided to leave very early Sat Oct 11, the sun has not quite come up yet. Somehow he coxed me into getting up very early to fix coffee for our crew and cereal for those who wanted it. The guys were ready to get going, they had no idea what lay ahead but they were determined to get out the Gate. Before the end of the trip they would see whales, dolphins, a fire off Pt Dume, and gusts of wind up to 39knts. They would also see the knotmeter peak at 11knts on a number of occasions. But all is well that ends well and they arrived at the Long Beach Yacht Club right on schedule. The trip from the Gate to the entrance to LB Harbor took a total of 54 hours.

Rog, Tony Barone, Ron Konkle and Bruce Tomlinson--no one was quite awake yet

Mark Koehler came by to make sure the boat left the dock. Far too often plans change, boats don't get ready and the owners don't get the chance to through off the dock lines.


Just leaving the Estuary, not sure of what is going to happen next but Bruce has decided to check out the Raider's game before he was too far off shore. Little did he know that the reception would be so good that he would be able to watch his beloved 49ers game too. Shame he didn't loose reception before the game was over.
This story has it that the guys saw 8 to 12 ft seas with 25knts of wind the first day, doesn't look that way to me!! Can you find the dolphin in the picture??
Through the salt spray the guys could see the Porter Ranch Fire early Monday morning. The morning started out with 39knts of Santa Ana Winds and fetching seas that would eventually lay down so that they could motor into Long Beach.

The Long Beach Yacht will be home for the next week while we are back east for a wedding. Clean up after the trip down took the better part of two days, I am still doing wash! But the gang had a great time and we appreciate all the help. Great crew and a wonderful adventure was had by all.

One more day

I think we have finally gotten the boat as ready as she can be. Sheets have been changed, water tanks filled and all food on board. Now if the weather will co-operated we will be able to pull away from the docks early, early Sat morning before the Navy fleet comes in. Yes, as it is scheduled now Rog will be trying to go out under the Golden Gate just as the Fleet Week Fleet of Navy warships are coming in. Guess who has right of way--it is not us!!

It has been very busy the last few days getting everything ready. The computer has been updated with charts all the way to Acapulco--we are not going that far--Rog has gotten paper charts, we have visited with all our close friends. We took the boat over to the fuel dock to top off, only needed 5 gals, filled all the jerry cans. What else can we do but wait for the crew to arrive and hope the wind drops just a bit

We will see what happens tomorrow, very very early.

On week to go

Friday has arrived so that means we have just one week to go. The last two days have been very busy ones with my final doctor's appointment, yes I am well and can go, several trips to the storage unit, and the most important trip to Bev Mo! The wine in Mexico just can not compare to our local ones.

Tonight I am having a small party to celebrate Rog's birthday. I want to have it tonight rather than the 9th to make sure there is no hangover on departure day. We learned last time that it is not a good way to start a trip. Seasick or hungover--not good on a boat.

So now back to what we have been doing to get ready. All the work clothes have been take off the boat and packed away at storage. The fun warm weather outfits are folded, rolled or hung up in every little nook and crany. Our aft cabin is just like the suitcase you take on vacation, I better not buy anything or I will be towing a barge back to San Francisco behind Di's Dream. Rog has a bit more work in this department but the plan is to have him attack his closet Sunday. He has been very busy putting on the jack lines, the extra fuel cans, changing out the E120 Chartplotter for a new one and just generally making sure the boat is ready.

Just one more week and we will be underway!!

In the beginning

In the beggining Di's Dream was going to be the ultimate boat Roger could ever imagine. She arrived on a beautil day in early March 2006 after months of decisions making and multiple change orders. Warren at the Catalina plant in Floriday was never so happy to see a boat leave the factory, he had finally said "no more" to Rog. Deciding on the perfect electronics, fuel and water tankage, and the perfect dodger required many hours of hair pulling. The electric winches, bow thruster and genset were the easy decisions--they were all must haves for Di.

As the trucker slowly brought the boat around the corner of Clement and Grand Ave we waited with great anticipation. This would be our second Catalina 470 and would she be as beautiful as the first?? Would she be as fast, as easy to handle, would she ever take us cruising?? All these questions would be answered over time.

She looked so large on the travel lift, much larger than she ever would look in the water. And all those through hulls, hope they never leak.

We quickly called all the friends that were down visiting their boats for the weekend to share in our excitement. Hopefully this celebration will be the first of many to come! Di's Dream is already exceeding our expectations.

Cheers

The bottom has been painted so we are finally ready to launch

So many wires---hope they ran everything we will ever need

She is finally ready to leave the boat yard, mast has been stepped, boom attached, and rigging secured. Now Rog can finally take the boat to the office where the rest of the work is ready to begin.

One month before

One more month of work before we get to leave for southern California. We have our crew all on board for an October 10th departure from the Oakland Yacht Club to a temporary slip at the Long Beach Yacht Club. The boat is staying there for just one week while we head back to Jacksonville, Fl for Rog's nephew's wedding.
We have gone through all the systems on the boat and believe we are ready. Watermaker checked and working well, anchor windless goes up and down, fuel tanks are full, dingy is onboard but still need the landing wheels added so I think all we have to do is unplug the TV. Not quite ready to do that yet.
Our friends on SueBee have already headed south and are currently in Monterey awaiting the arrival of KatDenRie. The plan is for the two boats to harbor hop south together so that they can enjoy a beautiful fall. Wish we could join them sooner but we will catch up them in San Diego