Happy New Year from Bezerkeley

Light wind off Treasure Island

Hello all! January finds us at the dock in Berkeley, living the East Bay dream. Although our lives aboard have not been nearly as focused as they were when we were on the hard, we've kept quite busy earning money, singing and pickin', hanging out with friends, and, as always, chipping away at the Libertatia project list...

I heard recently that one should spend the first day of the new year doing what one wishes to be doing in the coming year and, unknowingly at the time, we did a great job of this. On New Year's Eve, we cast off the docklines from the fuel dock and headed out into the bay bound for our favorite SF bay hunt, Aquatic Park, just down the hill from Ghiradelli Square. We had made plans to see our friends perform in the city (The Range of Light Wilderness) and after some discussion about how to get to and from the show, decided that we should take advantage of our mobile home and sail on over. We were graced with the presence of our good friend Kat, who we met in Hawaii, and had a delightful run across the bay, dropping the hook as darkness fell. Shortly thereafter we loaded the bikes in the dinghy and rode off towards the Mission to celebrate the new year with a long night of dancing and fun. 

Part of our inspiration to take the boat out that weekend was the annual  New Year's Day regatta and chili potluck, hosted by the Master Mariners Association. We made the acquaintance of several wooden boat enthusiasts while out in the yard who invited join in the fun. Despite the condition of the boat (splotches of primer, piles of wood on the half-painted deck, missing boomkin bobstays and lifeline stanchions, etc.), we were seriously encouraged to come out by our friends from the yard and so we tightened the running backstays and met everyone in Clipper Cove for the sail to Richmond. Often you can't wait for everything to be ready, you just have to go! The race (more of a fun rendezvous than anything else) was quite fun, with a steady breeze picking up in the afternoon, and we poked along to a last-place finish and grand entrance at the Point San Pablo Yacht Club. We had a very fun night of whooping it up with our friends, old and new, playing music, and talking about boats. Truly a great group of people.

The following weekend we again made our way back out onto the bay for an awesome daysail, out under the bridge and ending up again on the hook in Aquatic Park. As with the previous weekend, it was great fun to be out as well as quite important for get out there and remember why we are working so hard. Sometimes it's easy to forget...


We were joined by a great group of friends from the bay area and were accompanied by many at the monthly chantey sing, aboard the Balclutha at the Hyde Street Pier. If we thought that we had a lot of boat on our hands with the Libertatia, it was sure an eye-opening experience to be aboard the big square-rigger. It was very fun just to be aboard to marvel at the scale of the whole operation and imagine the energy it once took (and continues to take) to maintain and operate the sophisticated ship. Truly incredible. The chantey sing was just as amazing: loosely led by a core group of singers, over one hundred enthusiastic people filled the ship's topmost cabin with beautiful and spirited songs of the sea. Many different people (including Lowell and Vincent) led chanteys over the four hours which the sing spanned, punctuated only by the hourly hot cider breaks. All and all a great night. The next day we spent the morning in the city before hauling anchor. For us, one of the best parts about being in Aquatic Park is the no-engine policy which gets us practicing our maneuvers and seamanship without the old iron spinnaker. On the way in the previous night, Vincent towed us in the dinghy and Lowell provided the assist as we ghosted out the next day. That we experienced our first grounding in the mid-channel silt on our way into the Berkeley harbor on a big tide but we took advantage of the situation to have a group meeting free from distraction before floating off and back to the dock.

Vincent's valiant yet unsuccessful attempt to heel the boat and unstick us

We all have spent a good part of the past few weekdays off the boat earning money but we've had time to get a few things done. We are almost done with a fresh coat of paint on the trim, cabin , deck, and spars and we've gotten started on a few large projects. Vincent has begun to tackle the engine maintenance and I've been up in the rig addressing the soft eye thumbs which seem to unfortunately be migrating down the mast as the stays pull down on them - a good thing the address before doing any serious sailing again!

All and all, things are well aboard and spirits are high. Special thanks goes out to the Master Mariners for including us in their festivities, to all our friends who brighten our life (and sometimes help on the boat) and especially to the Berkeley Marine Center for being such excellent hosts. We'll be in touch as things progress. Don't forget to have a surfalicious day and happy new year!



For more pictures of our past few weeks click here. For a handful of pictures from our adventures and exploits in SF before the haul-out click here. Thanks!