San Diego, Que Haceres

There is a real storm passing through San Diego today. In the past hour we have had winds clocking to 35 knots in our Shelter Island moorage, and pelting rains. The temperature is a chill 58 degrees, more Portland than San Diego.  Just exactly the kind of weather to spawn a rainbow with the first sun break.

We arrived in San Diego on October 26th in fog and generally gray conditions. Within hours, the fog abated, and we have had mostly brilliant sun and warm weather ever since.  Great weather for....

chores?  In Spanish, "que haceres", which you could translate "what to do". We had a long list of things to attend to - normal boat maintenance, some updates for this boat - now into it's seventh year of service, some new acquisitions to make the sailing life better. We figured we would only be able to accomplish a few of the things on our long list. Little did we know that San Diego's marine services industry would make (gulp) virtually anything possible.

So - new boat carpets. The crew shows up at 8:30 am to make patterns for the new carpet pieces. At 1:30 pm, they are back with nine odd-shaped pieces, perfectly cut and bound, and have them installed by 2:00. Engine service - can do (the Captain tries to get the mechanic sign on as crew). New mattresses - four days. Troubleshooting our aging dodger - no problem. Restitched with new plastic (strata glass) in a week.  Wetsuits for the crew - accomplished in an hour, leaving time for a SoCal classic, the In and Out Burger.