May 24, 2001

Photos of the Day

May 24 – San Francisco Bay, San Pablo Bay
and Carquinez Strait

While sailing from Sausalito to Napa Valley on Tuesday, we sailed
by these folks who were also enjoying a great day on the water.
There’s nothing like mid-week sailing!

Max Props

May 24 – Napa

The reason we’d gone up the river was to readjust the settings
on our three-bladed feathering Maxi Props. We had a Max Prop
on Big O for many years, and put two on Profligate
when she was launched. Max Props aren’t cheap, but they really
improve boat performance over a fixed three-blade prop, and we’ve
been very happy with them. In fact, the only problem has been
mechanic error.

When you put a Max Prop on your boat, you
sometimes have to fiddle with the settings to find the correct
one. Too much pitch and your engine lugs. Too little pitch and
your boat doesn’t move through the water. The problem is you
can’t change the pitch without hauling the boat out of the water,
which is expensive, particularly for big cats. So you darn well
better remember your correct setting, and you’d better get it
right.

When we hauled Profligate about
two years ago, one of our crew members removed and serviced the
props. Inexplicably he reassembled the props willy-nilly. So
when the boat was launched and both engines were put in forward,
one went forward with way too much pitch, the other went in reverse!
On the way up from Mexico this year, we hauled Profligate
at Channel Islands Boatyard to replace the Saildrives. One of
the workers there seemed really familiar with Max Props, so we
left them in his hands. When the boat was put back in the water
and the engine put in forward, they went into reverse. When put
into reverse, they went forward – but not very fast. Once we
got the boat hauled again at Napa Valley Marina – for which Channel
Islands is graciously picking up the tab – we discovered the
cause of the problem. There are two letter settings that have
to be made. They got the right letters, but they had them reversed.

In the photos here, Tom List of List Marine
is shown getting things straight. Due to the complicated nature
of the props, you can see why they can’t be changed in the water.
Actually, Max Prop now offers a more expensive model that does
allow for changing in the water, but they don’t fit on boats
with Saildrives, such as on our cat and many other sailboats.

Eat Your Heart Out Mexico!

May 24 – Barillas Marina, El Salvador

“Having spent two seasons in Mexico, and annoyed at the
constant check-in/out and related costs, a lot of us are so pleased
to have headed south to El Salvador,” report Dorsey and
Janice Warren of the San Francisco-based Mariner 48 Sun Dazzler.
“Eat your heart out Mexico, with all your hassles. When
we arrived at the Barillas Marina Club, the panga boys helped
us with our mooring, and within minutes the manager of the Marina
arrived – with Customs and the Port Captain! After a cursory
boat inspection, we were checked in. Our visas cost $10 each,
and that was the only fee.

“It is very quiet here – no blaring
music from the beach – with lots of land birds, free van rides
into town to shop, a short walk to a troop of spider monkeys,
and a lovely pool and restaurant. The Internet service has to
be seen to be believed: there are 12 new machines in an air-conditioned
room, or you can take your own laptop to one of the 12 palapas
which are wired w/power & telephone and connect to a local
service for $1.40/hour. So here we are, typing this next to the
pool under a palapa. Some of the girls are sewing an awning or
doing other large projects in the air conditioned room made available
for them. Other girls are doing aqua exercises in the pool, someone
is folding a sail on the lawn, and others are pulling dinghies
up a nice ramp. There are also free dinghy rides to your boat.
The river water is murky, so we don’t make water but rather pull
up to the fuel dock once in a while to hose off and fill up.
There are potlucks every Thursday night and other special dinners.
We had planned to stay a couple of days; now it’s been three
weeks and we have to extract ourselves from the embrace of Barillas.
The moorings cost under $6 a night. The security and boat care
is good, so many folks leave their boats here while traveling
home for the summer.”

The Balboa Ferry, Dummy!

May 24 – Newport Beach

The other day we ran a photo of a pedestrian/car ferry in Newport
Beach, and identified it as the “Lido Ferry.” John
Bousa knows better. “It’s actually the Balboa Ferry that
runs between Balboa Island and the Balboa Peninsula.” Thanks
for the correction.