Aboard Astraea

Invest in experiences

January 12, 2012
by Nate

Still no word on Miles of View. At least we went sailing

Yup, that’s right, no new news about Miles of View. In the meantime, we sailed Airborne last Sunday with friends Chris and Jaymie.

We got underway around 10am and there wasn’t a breath of wind, but once we got near the bridge it picked up and we were able to sail all the way north to the Point Loma ASW base marina. We tied up to the dock there and grilled out for lunch, then jibed back down through the bay. Finally we poled out the genoa and sailed the rest of the way back wing and wing.

Don’t believe me? Here’s the proof!

December 29, 2011
by Nate

The trouble with a sailboat is the engine

The engine lives in a dark hole under the floorboards. No wonder its cranky about being exposed to light and the prospects of being used!

The trouble with having a sailboat is the engine. People often ask me, “What do you need an engine for? It is a sailboat, after all.” Well, the engine is what gets us out of the slip and out to sea so we can sail. It turns the alternator to recharge the batteries when we’re away from the dock. It’s a good tool if the weather gets bad to motorsail, or keep going when there isn’t any wind.

We need a good engine on Miles of View. The engine surveyor suspected bad fuel was causing the engine to not come up to cruising RPMs. The owner had a mechanic work on the fuel, taking it out, cleaning the tanks, polishing it to remove any water or impurities, and then return it to the tanks. It hasn’t helped the engine yet. Now we’re waiting to see if the owner is going to pay for more work on the engine to get it running right before the boat becomes ours. I really need the engine running well before we move it down to San Diego. It would be horrible to buy the boat and realize the engine needs completely overhauled or replaced.

We’re working with Marc Bay of Bay Yachts. He’s taken the lead as our broker since Matt is no longer with the brokerage. We’ve been slogging through this deal now since the end of October and I’m really thought we’d have this boat deal squared away by now. Good things do take time though, so Natalie and I are just going to have to wait it out.