Done Got Fixed

I hired an auto mechanic to repair/adjust the boat's steering.  James, the mechanic, showed up at the dock at 2 on Sunday and promptly went to work.  I had e-mailed him photos and information on what had to be done so there was no doubt in his mind where to start and how to finish the job.

It was a great day to be at the marina.  October weather, slight breeze, close to 80 degrees.  Sometimes it is great to live in California and by gawd yesterday was one of those times.

James had to lay on his back to access the bulkhead to make the repairs.  There is a 4 inch high lip at the entrance of the bulkhead that James had to lie on in order to reach the steering.   Not good.

After 90 minutes work the job was done.   I was happy.  James was well compensated and he was happy. 

We'll sail later today in checking the steering along with other adjustments that have been made to the sails.

BTW:  We encountered a storm on the lake several weeks ago that took us by surprise as noted in a previous post here (see October 4th).   We had heard that a 22' Catalina had sunk during this storm in addition to several others which had capsized.  That story was verified on the dock yesterday when we spoke to a fellow sailor who had witnessed the boat going down.

The boat that sunk had a swing keel meaning that it can be lowered and retracted depending on the situation.  The fellow sailor and I surmised that the skipper likely had forgotten to lower the keel.  With no weight where it's needed there's no stability.  Because it lacked stability it was likely tha the boat capsized in the strong winds, filled with water and went to the bottom.

Whiskeytown Lake often yields more wind than many sailors can handle.  The loss of this sailboat is a good example of  just that.