Our days at the dock in Chula Vista have now settled into a rhythm of reading, a little boat work, running errands, riding the bike and sleep.

Our big project completed so far was to decide if a new three burner stove would fit in the galley, and if so where to buy it. Kathy, the Customer Service contact at Caliber Yachts was a big help with the decision. She told us that new Caliber 40s have an option to install the Force 10 at the factory. Kathy even sent us pictures of a Force 10 installed in a Caliber 40.

Our next door neighbors here in Chula Vista just purchased a Downeast 45 sailboat that has a new three burner Force 10 installed. Jim and I were able to get good measurements of all the details and reassured ourselves that a Force 10 would fit, albeit tightly in the location currently occupied by our two burner Galley Maid stove.

We then tried to order the stove from some of the large retail outlets. They all quoted us at least a six-week delivery with no commitment as to the actual date. Kathy at Caliber was able to order us a stove with a committed ship date of September 3.

We have been trying to sell the 135% Genoa that came new with the boat in April '95. I was astounded to learn that there is no used sail store or location in San Diego. The closest store, Minnies, is in Newport, about 75 miles north of here. The Doyle Offshore 7.5 oz Dacron sail is in very good shape and was reinforced and recut by North Sails in April '99. Minnies offered us $95 for the sail. I hope we can sell it at the big swap meet on October 6. We'll try to sell the Galley Maid propane stove at the same swap meet.

I am the proud, but pissed off, owner of a new Specialized Stumpjumper Comp mountain bike.  I purchased it Sunday afternoon to replace my Klein Rascal that was stolen on Thursday afternoon, Aug 9.   

Someone stole the Rascal while it was chained to a bike stand at the Chula Vista visitors center, right in the middle of town at 5 PM with dozens of commuters standing there watching.  They reported the theft in progress to the police but the bike was gone when the police arrived.  I got back from San Diego on the trolley about 15 minutes after the police were called, only to be told by the police that my bike was gone.   

I am hoping that our boat insurance will pay for it.  I need to send them photos of the old bike and a copy of the police report.  When I arrived at the police station, I was told that report would not be ready to pickup until August 19.  They forgot to tell me that when I called to ask them where I should go to pick it up.  

BOAT/US insurance has told me that my "personal effect" policy should cover the cost of the Stumpjumper, minus a $50 deductible.    The Stumpjumper is heavier than the Klein but has pretty good components and nice RockShox on the front end.  

The lady in the transit center who sold me the trolley ticket told me it was safe to leave the bike during the day.  The policewoman who took my report said that "a dozen cars a day are stolen from that parking lot."  She said they have no idea how many bikes are stolen but it is a lot.  I have never been at the trolley/transit center when there weren't several transit cops there.  I used a 3/8" cable and a heavy brass boat lock.  The bike was chained to a bike rack about 20' from the benches where everyone sits and waits for the trolleys that come by every 8 minutes.   

OH WELL!  I got 9 years of use out of the Klein.  

We have been struggling with the Spectra 380c Watermaker. We used it last summer and then pickled it in July 2000. Pickling is the process of flushing all the saltwater and freshwater out of the system and replacing it with an acidic solution that prevents the growth of anything biologic. We followed all the procedures in the Spectra manual and talked to Spectra before we starting pickling.

Now Spectra tells us that pickling solution can only be left in the system for six months at a time AND the chemicals they sold me for the pickling were incorrect and might damage the high pressure (900 PSI) hose connections. There is nothing in any Spectra manual about time limitations for pickling.

I have cleaned the entire system with their recommended cleaner and have carefully tested the system. There are no leaks and the system works, as it should, with one BIG exception.

The 380c Spectra has two feed pumps. When only one feed pump is used, the system should make about 9.3 gallons per hour of water when there is 13.9 volts at the pump terminals and 72 degree feed water. Our system makes 9.1 GPH when either feed pump is used by itself. That is good, I am happy.

However, when both feed pumps are used our system makes only 14.7 to 15.1 gallons per hour compared to the 18.6 GPH it should be making. Spectra is trying to tell me this is caused by air in the feed water. We have tested the system with a short feed line from a bucket connected directly to the feed pumps. Even under those conditions, there is air in the feed water, as seen at the first 20 micron pre-filter, and the output is only 14.9 GPH. The brine output from the high pressure reverse osmosis membrane is 180 GPH just as the specs call for.

We are not sure what to do next. The problem is not critical since we only use about eight gallons a day of fresh water. Nevertheless, it would be nice to get the performance for which we paid so much.

My next big project is to connect the TNC (modem) to the HAM radio so we can send and receive e-mail from the boat.

We are also trying to figure out where to store the second propane bottle. The Caliber dealer in Seattle installed the T-connection for the Force 10 propane Bar-B-Que right in the middle of the propane locker where the second, i.e. spare, propane bottle should live. Caliber put a very nice teak holder in the locker that is designed to hold two 2.4 gallon bottles, but the T makes that impossible. However, the place where the 2nd bottle should be has always been our storage for gasoline jugs, acetone, MEK, and other stuff that goes BOOM.

Maybe we'll go sailing one of these days!