From: dudley Date: Fri, 20 Jul 2001 12:30:24 EDT Channel Islands crew and interested CyberCruisers, Kia Orana sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge at 10:18AM yesterday (Thursday, July 19), 2 days ahead of schedule. Steve, Chris, Cliff, and Dudley returned the boat, in occasionally nasty conditions, in only 66 hours (including stops in Morro Bay and Pillar Point). Trip Highlights: 1) The Channel Islands. They are nothing short of spectacular. Beautiful water, fabulous geology, lots of wildlife, fascinating coves for anchoring and caves for exploring, great hiking. I could have spent a month there! 2) The Crew. Eight CyberCruisers contributed to a slough of great memories. Thanks to all. 3) The Wildlife. Whales, whales, and more whales. Dolphins. Pelicans. Sea lions. Gulls. Massive schools of fish. Wildflowers. 4) The Boat. Kia Orana performed flawlessly (with the exception of small head flushing problem caused by my own stupidity). Everyone should be as lucky as I feel to have visited such a wonderful place with such nice people. dudley . The Chris Courier by padrino13 Location: Triscuit Addicts Wherehouse Age: 16 Sex : M previous entry : Stolen Survey from RedSummerSun next entry: I'm BACK!!! --------------------------------------------------------------- Temporary Farewell 7/16/2001 I won't be here for the next couple of days. Therefore, i won't be on OD either. My dad and I and a few other people are going on a sailing trip up the West Coast. The seas may be rough, and the winds may be strong, but it's okay, we've done all this before, we're practically professionals. I'm being picked up tomorrow by a stranger and being driven to somewhere in south california, i'm not really sure where. But don't worry, i know his name. Then we rest for a while there and start our (estimated) five day journey north back to San Francisco. I spent all of today packing and remembering things i would otherwise forget. My aunt doesn't trust my "being able to recognise someone without ever seeing them and simply knowing their name" abilities. My parents have a bet going about whether or not she's going to ask to see some ID when he comes to take me away. I'm thinking she will, and actually i'd appreciate knowing if the guy is really who he says he is *before* i drive hundreds of miles away. it gives a sort of sense of security. Ironically yet fortunately, tomorrow will be the last day i see my relatives in their three week visit. I will miss both of them, but my aunt has become much crazier than she used to be and i've returned to my "keep your mouth shut or something regrettable will be spoken in reply" strategy to battle her insanity. ugh. when seen for such long and constant periods of time, my aunt is by far harder to be polite arround than is Mrs. Ganske... ugh. Well, i'm off to get away from relatives by officially leaving the boundaries of the united states for a few days (12 miles off shore is international waters where there are no laws.) but yea. My birthday party was loads of fun, despite the horribly unbalanced 2:7 guy:girl ratio. that's ok. I still had fun. Even if i didn't get a lap dance from Rosa or freak with Mishga. lol! although i did get away with murder for what i said to edith...hahaha! that was fun. (sorry edi!!) and i need more practice dodging pillows. but i doubt there are many pillows 12 miles off shore. whatever. whatnot. hahaha. This is Chris...casting off. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Chris Courier by padrino13 Location: Triscuit Addicts Wherehouse Age: 16 Sex : M previous entry : Temporary Farewell next entry: I'm BACK!!! (con't) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- I'm BACK!!! 7/20/2001 A journey that was supposed to take 5 days miraculously took only 3. That is very cool. Things went fine on the way down there. Cliff picked me up, i remembered everything i needed to, and then i said goodbye to my aunt and grandmother while my brother played his kill-everybody-now! games. The drive took about 4 and a half hours and i realized when we got there that we were leaving from Santa Barbara, just north of LA (by two inches on the map, probably by another hundred miles in real life). We ate lunch, bought more 6-packs (soda for me, beer for the other three members of the crew: My dad, Dudley, and Cliff) and set out for sea. I thought we would have at least waited a day, but i guess we were in some bizzare form of a hurry because of good weather. whatever. We made sure to wear scopolomene (sp?) patches as well, and they worked beautifully for me. Scopolomene is this drug like thing that looks like a circular band-aid that you wear behind your ear to stop you from getting sea-sick. Thus far it's been the only thing that's worked for me as neither the wristbands, gingersnaps, nor Dramamine have kept me from tasting food more than once. And we scientifically determined that beer and scopolomene don't mix; as dudley and I were the only part of the crew who didn't mix the two (dudly didn't have scopolomene). NOTE: Most of the following may or may not be about stuff you never heard of. Upon realizing you have no idea what i'm talking about, proceed to nod your head in agreeance without saying much else. We set out motoring on the edge of the Pacific ocean up the coast of California. The smog of south California provided a disgustingly beautiful rainbow of polluted colors that chased the sun arround the horizon. Surprisingly enough, the clouds didn't follow to go into shore yet, so we could see HUGE amounts of stars. I mean huge. I sat back staring strait at the sky and saw three shooting stars within half an hour of watching. Then as night began to settle in and my mind, which was still on the landlover's sleep-durring-night-and-work-durring-day schedule, decided to go find a dry bunk until my shift was up. My shift was from 2AM to 4AM. The clouds had rolled in by this time, so i couldn't count stars to stay awake as i had planned. I watched some Oil rigs float by and kept a watch out for the lights on land and other lighthouses making sure they still were far away. We were considerably lucky as far as weather goes. We rounded Point Conception, the nastiest part of the coast of California as far as weather goes, when it was considerably calm. I ended up discovering that incessantly hitting my hands on my legs is an efficient way of keeping blood flowing and making sure nerves are still working, not to mention keeping warm and active. lol. When my shift was over i went to go sleep again, for the allowed 6-hour interval between shifts. This, for all of you who don't know, is how boat-time works. lol. before i knew it, it was the second day and we were still out at sea, headed for Morro Bay to re-fuel and set timing right to reach the Golden Gate on a flood. And the story continues... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Chris Courier by padrino13 Location: Triscuit Addicts Wherehouse Age: 16 Sex : M previous entry : I'm BACK!!! next entry: I'm BACK!!!(con't 2) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I'm BACK!!! (con't) 7/20/2001 We motored into Morro Bay, refueled, and spent our time waiting walking arround at all the restaurants that served Fish and Chips. We ate a small lunch, took some pictures by a really big rock; the only thing Morro Bay is famous for, as far as i could tell. Then we proceeded to take a 2-hour nap before heading back out to sea. All this walking on land reset any achievement i had made at obtaining my sea-legs. Let me take a moment to explain how it is to be in a boat on the ocean. IT IS ALWAYS MOVING. It's just up...and down...and up...and down...it's this up and down and back and forth and repeating motion that is simply so perpetual that it does not stop! Anyones normal sense of balance proves to be the worst thing you can have out at sea, because when you're down below (in the cabin) you don't see the waves coming that are causing the boat to shift uncontrollably. So, in essense, on the ocean, gravity has a mind of its own throwing you wherever you want to teaching you the first golden rule of ocean sailing: ALWAYS HOLD ON TO SOMETHING! This motion is what makes everyone seasick (even if you're not down below), simply because noone is used to it. After a while however, (about three days naturally, which is why they make drugs for this sort of thing) the inner ear becomes accustomed to such swaying motion, and the brain learns how to consistantly tighten and relax the muscles with each new wave tumbling the boat and all if its contents. After a while, you become so accustomed to the motion, it's sort of relaxing in a way (well it was for me at least) and there is no possible way of getting sick (except, possibly, drinking some rum, something which my dad failed to keep down for longer than a minute). The adapting to the motion is what is referred to as gaining of sealegs. You lose them when you go on shore and have to re-adjust to gravity that remains consistant from one direction. heaven forbid. Now where was i? Oh yea. We left Morro Bay and headed further North. The next golden rule of ocean sailing is to find a bunk for almost all of the time you're not on watch; if it's not to sleep, it's to conserve energy, but in any case if you don't you'll be falling asleep at the helm. I followed that rule as well, until it was my watch again. Now, lots of time passed and so did a couple of watches. Dudly came up to substitute for me since he couldn't sleep at all with the hull bashing into every single oncoming wave and his bed being in the v-berth (the *inside* of the front part of the hull). The next watch that had any significance was a morning one i had from 8AM to 10AM. That was considerably the fastest shift i ever had. After 30 minutes of looking like i was doing something important while the auto-pilot steered a satilite-directed, perfectly straight course, i saw a whale spout at about 11 o'clock off of the bow. At that instant, i did which was another rule (yet this one was merely accustomed to the boat and trip) and shouted out "WHALE!!" to all those asleep down below. They stayed sleeping. For that instant i realized that i had three men in a boat who trusted me to guide them safely. I felt proud and trusted, but that didn't last long, because the more important part of the situation was that i had spotted a whale and everyone was in too deep of a sleep to join me in this occurance(even the guy who was sleeping on deck just three feet away from me. This is how tired sailors get on the ocean). I figured if they woke up and didn't see a whale, they'd be mad, so i didn't say anything for another 3 seconds when i saw another one spout at just the same location. I shouted "WHALE" even louder, and EVERYONE jumped in a synchronized motion to go see what was up, making sure to grab their digital and/or waterproof cameras on the way. We shut off the motor and just drifted so the whales wouldn't be scared off by the sound. It was the most beautiful thing ever to see, i swear. But the even more amazing part of a seeing a whale, is hearing it. They exhale so loudly...it's just...lol...omg...it's incredibly hard to explain, but simply breathtaking(no pun intended). Before long we were surrounded (not closely) by a bunch of whales, who we saw no more than six at one time, meaning there were probably about 10 or so, but who knows. Dolby Digital, eat your heart out. Every now and then we saw a couple of them raise their tail at us...which was very kool, though it didn't make a sound. Then... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Chris Courier by padrino13 Location: Triscuit Addicts Wherehouse Age: 16 Sex : M previous entry : I'm BACK!!! (con't) next entry: Quotes from Kia Orana -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I'm BACK!!!(con't 2) 7/20/2001 ...we saw one breach. I thought their breathing was loud. Again, it's just amazing how these huge things throw themselves out of the water and come splashing back down. It wasn't at all close to us, but the sound it made...omg...it's truely indescribable. Then the amount of water it kicked up was tremendous! I saw a total of 4 whales breach; kind of. I saw one whale actually do it, i saw 3 humungous splashes resulting from the displacement of gallons and gallons of water. it sounded just the same though. You know your species is cool when you're admired for doing belly flops. By the time the whales disappeared, into the depths of the Pacific, it was 10AM. As i said, fastest shift ever. Although, i think i had a Cup of Noodles to eat, which would have been my second sea-meal after the Instant Potatos. By this time i completely had my sea-legs back, though i was still cautious about eating anything, fearing i would taste it more than once. Then we pulled into Half-Moon Bay because the weather was horribly rough, from what i hear at least. I was sleeping, awaiting someone to wake me up for my 1AM to 3AM shift. My dad didn't seem to be having too much fun though (I never knew he knew so much french!). I hung out with them until 1:30AM, while they had a beer each and i finally decided to try and make a dent in the 12 Pepsi's we bought by having my first one. We planned to get up at 6AM to get into the Golden Gate. This is what i mean by ocean-time: to us this *didn't* seem unreasonable. Then our homecoming. We pretty much had screwed the shift schedule (which we made up generally whenever nobody *wanted* to stand guard and *someone* had to) and everyone was up and peering through the familiar San Francisco Fog trying to make out the outline of the Golden Gate just beyond Mile Rock. It felt so good to be home; and of course, as soon as we were in the gate the miniscule waves which would have seemed moderate to me about two years ago were nothing. There is no rolling sort of motion inside the Bay; or at least, nothing as serious as on the *outside*. Then we realized how much food we had on the boat. When you pack food for an ocean-going boat trip, you assume you'll eat as much as you do any regular old day of being on land. You eat CONSIDERABLY less, so we had all these supplies of good food we had to try and go through, and at least eat the good stuff before leaving Dudley with a shipload of free food. We had honey roasted cashews, triscits, milanos, pepsi(and other drinks), more instant potatoes, some more noodles, and whatnot. We sailed into port by Coyote Point, greeting Dudley's family who had arranged the mechanics for getting us home precisely according to my dad's "Ultimate Solution" for the ride situation. We unloaded our stuff and set out for driving back home; with Dudley and his family all in his family's car and Cliff, my father and I all in Cliff's car headed towards our house. We came home and unpacked. Then to further adjust to this highly-populated-land-society, i decided to enjoy luxuries unavailable in the middle of the ocean(just off the coast of CA). Such as showers. And shaving. And deodorant. And shampoo. And Thai food. But most importantly, showers. That was yesterday. Last night i played Myst III to my hearts content after dinner. At about 9:30PM i began to get tired, and by 10 i was so dizzy from the ground *not* moving while my inner ears were still on "ocean" mode...i couldn't stand it anymore and had to go to bed. by the way, that's called getting land-sick, though it isn't as drastic or common as getting sea-sick. from what i remember after going to bed last night, i think i dreamt i was still on a boat. I had some interesting dreams *while* i was on the boat too. lol And i'll reply to emails later tonight, or if anyone wishes to talk sooner, they can call. I don't think i'll be going anywhere for a *while*. This is Chris...signing off. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Chris Courier by padrino13 Location: Triscuit Addicts Wherehouse Age: 16 Sex : M previous entry : I'm BACK!!!(con't 2) next entry: *poof* ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Quotes from Kia Orana 7/20/2001 Kia Orana is the name of Dudley's boat: the boat we took on the journey up the coast of CA (see previous 3 entries). Here are exerpts from the funnier parts of the conversation, because there's not much to do on a boat. plus laughter is the best medicine, even for sea-sickness. most of it is paraphrased. []'s denote what i added in to explain the context or other notes. if i remember more later, i'll post them in another entry. ~Chris -------------------------------------- [my dad tried to catch fish the whole time we were out at sea. he didn't succeed.] Dad: Well, friends and fish both smell bad after three days. Dudley: Well, we don't *know* about fish! -------------------------------------- [there are side-effects to scopolomene][oh yea, and my dad's name is Steve] Dad: Oh, by the way Cliff, there are some side effects to the scopolomene Cliff: What kind of side effects? Dad: Well, it'll cause drymouth and affect your vision. Cliff: Affect my vision in a good way or a bad way? Dudley: Lemme put it this way, Steve will start looking GOOD to ya. -------------------------------------- Dudley: Yeah, it's amazing how you always hear about the president's health. I distinctly remember one time when i was a kid that president Regan [i think he said Regan] had to go to the hospital because of constepation. When that happened my mom turned to me and said, "Son, if you don't take a crap everyday--" Cliff: You'll become president. -------------------------------------- Dad: If you see a whale and we're asleep, wake us up. If you see a whale and you're asleep, shut up and keep on dreamin'. -------------------------------------- Dudley: If you're gunna pull a senior prank, ya gotta make it clever. It really can't be dangerous or possibly harmful in any way, but it really has to be clever...Like...taking the principal's bra and flying it up the flagpole... Dudley: ESPECIALLY if the principal's male. -------------------------------------- [on the drive home] Cliff: *laughs* it's funny...The moving truck behind me has the title "MAD DOG" for the name of the company...but in the rear-view mirror i read it as "GODDAM" -------------------------------------- Dudley:That whole "God Bless You" thing when you sneeze is such crap. So a buddy of mine in the navy decided to sound really really mad and yell "SHUT UP!!!" whenever we heard somebody sneezed, since essentially it was the same thing. They'd always jump back scared and say something like "sorry...". The thing is now though that when i'm at work and somebody in the cubicle next to me sneezes i have to like resist the urge to jump up and yell "SHUT UP!!!" at them. [from then on whenever somebody sneezed we either hesitated to see if dudley would say "SHUT UP!!!", or we would say it ourselves. Even if a whale sneezed.] --------------------------------------
