We sailed out of the marina about 11:30am and headed East towards the Delta. Well as luck would have it 30 minutes later the winds were down to 3 knots. Time for plan B. Spun Sereno around and headed West towards the Bay. We spent the rest of a fantastic day mostly close hauled with favorable winds of 15 to 20 knots and blue sky. What a great day to be on the water!

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A couple of months ago I posed a question on a popular cruising forum ( Whats your favorite cocktail after you anchor or tie up from a day on the water? ). My post had over 5000 lookers from around the World and about 120 replies so far. Just thought you might like to see some of the more interesting cocktail recipes.    Cheers!     G.

A picture of our first sailboat almost 30 years ago on lake Berryessa in Napa County, CA. It was a 14 footer and plenty fast. We trailered that boat to a few different lakes in Northern Ca sometimes camping with our 2 dogs. Fun times!

The story of why and how we got started sailing began the summer before Cindy and I moved to California. It was 1982, and I worked for Xerox at the time. My team had decided to have a BBQ party at a lake in New York State. At the time, we lived in New Jersey. A couple of the guys had brought boats. A ski boat, the one I wanted to get on and a Force 5 sailboat. While waiting for a chance to go skiing my friend with the sailboat kept asking and asking to take me out sailing. I really had no interest but eventually caved in. Within a minute of the wind catching that sail I was hooked. I’m not sure why I guess maybe the interaction of wind and water but hooked I was. Ok call me a ‘sailboat junkie’ the passion for sailing has never wavered.

Oh and by the way our first sailboat…A Force 5.

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Every Sunday morning our day starts with our signature breakfast. Over easy egg on ciabatta half roll. Its not so much the dish but the process that intrigues me. Cindy and I are both talented in the kitchen but transferring that expertise to a galley of a boat is challenging. I start by heating the gas grill on the stern while Cindy slices the ciabatta roll and sharp cheese in the galley. Like a well oiled machine she passes me her contribution up to my waiting hands in the cockpit. Cindy has the timing down perfect as she starts frying the eggs while I first grill the rolls then add the cheese. After just a few minutes the rolls are piping hot with the cheese dripping down the sides. I then pass the dish back down to Cindy in the galley where she tops the rolls with the egg. Meanwhile I have the table ready to go in the cockpit and again the dish is handed up to me and set on the table. Coffee follows along with the silverware. This well choreographed event  takes place evey weekend with hardly a word spoke between us. We don’t need to I guess.   We’ve got it down.

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The chores were starting to add up again on Sereno so Oakley and I headed down to the marina today. On our list was installing a 12 volt outlet at the helm. I plan on using my smartphone as a chartplotter sometimes and it would be nice to be able to keep it charged while doing so. The front hatch has had an annoying little leak so I’m going to replace the gasket on it. And last on the list today Oakley and I will be putting a new port side jib sheet on.

In my past career I had lots of helpers and trained many apprentices. Some of these men wanted to learn and were very good. Some just wanted a paycheck. Work sometimes require a couple more hands and two heads are always better than one. Oakley as it turns out is no help whatsoever. With a full belly and a cool breeze blowing thru the cabin she made herself right at home. No paycheck for Oakley but she knows the dinner bowl will be full at the end of the day so,   What the Hell.

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