If you happen to be in Iberia anytime soon, it might be best to leave your kayak at home...

https://www.wsj.com/articles/mystery-on-the-high-seas-as-iberian-orcas-bump-into-boats-757502d4

Here are a few quotes from the article.

"Since July 2020, Portuguese and Spanish researchers with the Atlantic Orca Working Group, or GTOA, have counted roughly 536 Iberian killer whale interactions with boats around the Strait of Gibraltar. In some cases, the orcas approached the vessels but didn’t touch them. Approximately 20% of the interactions ended with a vessel damaged to the point where it could no longer navigate, according to Alfredo López, a biologist and killer- whale specialist who is part of GTOA."

"Three sailboats sank after killer whales damaged rudders and caused serious water leaks, López said."

"There are fewer than 50 Iberian killer whales that swim in Atlantic waters around the Strait of Gibraltar, according to the most recent count by GTOA. Researchers have identified a total of 39, of which 18 are adults and the rest are juveniles."

"The idea that orcas could also be amusing themselves with the boats is rooted in long-term study of the marine mammals..."

Here's a video of one interaction with a sailboat:

We had (and still have) Farmers insurance, but they sent us a non-renewal notice a while ago, supposedly because we're in an area that is at a high risk of wildfires. Perhaps ironically, there is a brand new fire station about 1/4 mile away.

In any case, we're in the market for home insurance. Does anybody have any recommendations? I figured that I'd fill out a couple forms online, then get inundated with offers. But each time I fill out an online form, the first page asks for my address, then after about 10 more pages of non-stop form filling, I'm informed that they cannot insure us, because our address is in a high-risk fire zone.

I've talked to the neighbors, but the companies that they use don't seem to be writing new policies in this area. I've gotta find something by early August...

Yesterday was the first time in a couple of eons that I had my AI on the water. I've done a lot of minor mods, and was sure that something would be off kilter, so it was more of a shakedown cruise than anythings. Anyways, here are a few details...

I was up by 4:15 and left home at 4:30, only to find construction traffic on 17. Once I got to the harbor, I noticed that there were no other boats launching or having launched. I took my time, and after I launched, I realized that I'd forgotten to prep my jib sail properly so I headed back to the dock (fortunately, I was not even out of the harbor when I remembered).

There was absolutely no wind when I finally made it out of the harbor at almost 6:00am. It was overcast with cool air temps, and the water was cold, at 53 degrees. After pedaling out to 35 fow, the wind picked up to where it was enough for reasonable sail-trolling (5+ knots wind, I'd guess). The wind was pretty much straight out of the west, and I wanted to go that direction, so I started trolling and tacking back and forth. That's when I realized that I'd forgotten my daggerboard, which reduces sideways slippage, and helps a lot with that kind of sailing. That was annoying, but regardless, I was puttering along at about 1.5 mph, which would be pretty much my consistent speed all morning.

It seemed to take forever to get to the wharf and a second forever to get to Steamer Lane. I made it about as far as Mitchell's Cove and out to about 65 fow. To that point, I'd only landed a couple of small blue rockfish (released), and in spite of there being abundant bait, my sabiki had only managed a couple of anchovies.  By then, I was cold, and getting bored with the slow, slow sailing/fishing, so I turned directly towards shore, and cruised at about 4 mph in to about 30 fow. I left my line in the water, as I was heading towards shore, and I somehow hooked a speedy 20" lingcod.

I then did a long slow stroll thru the halibut zone until I was past the harbor entrance with no success. Then I turned to the harbor and was able to briefly reach sailing speed of almost 6 mph, which was a nice way to end a slow fishing day. I was back in the harbor by shortly before noon.

There was a bit of a swell early in the morning, and that was probably the main reason for the lack of fish activity. That settled down later in the morning. There were a couple of kayakers around the wharf area as I was coming back in, and at the dock, I met another kayaker who I'd talked to a couple of times last year. The fish survey people were at the dock, and they said nobody had come in with halibut or anything too exciting by that point.

Does it become a hovercraft, like this SUP?

 

I’ve got a rare opportunity to multitask this Friday, with some shore fishing in the AM then touristy stuff with the family in SF for the rest of the day. So I’m looking for some place to car camp (literally, “camping” in my car) Thursday night. Ideally, it would be sort of somewhere between San Jose (or Santa Cruz) and SF, safe, quiet, and a slight downhill slope would be the icing on the cake.

Let me know if you have any suggestions—PM me if it is a secret…

We’ve got 3 propane tanks, each 120 gallons—the kind that look like Minions, if you paint them yellow. They are connected together and all valves are open. We’ve got a 2-stage regulator system.

The tank attached to the regulator is below 20%, and when that happens, there does not seem to be enough pressure to run the generator, which is about 25’ away (1.25” pipe). Oddly, the tankless water heater does not complain, and it’s further downstream than the generator. Propane deliveries are backed up, so not sure when we can get a refill.

It seems that I should be able to increase the pressure at the red (high pressure) regulator. To do this, I believe I’d remove the black cap and turn the valve thingy clockwise to increase the pressure.

Let me know if this sounds reasonable. If so, how much should I turn the valve?

And it isn’t over yet…

In case you happen to be heading to the Santa Cruz Wharf over the long weekend...

https://www.ksbw.com/article/do-not-engage-man-dressed-in-cookie-monster-costume-at-santa-cruz-wharf-police-say/42954711#